What are your top five credit cards and why?

[ptatohed]

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@xenon3030 wrote:

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@ptatohed wrote:

If I could get 10% cash back on everything, I think I could easily become a 1 card guy.  lol    

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It is less likely that any credit card company would issue such a card in the world anytime soon . 

In the US, the credit card companies afford to provide chasback/reward programs (~2-5%) and SUB (~10%, one-time to attract new customers), because of their high processing fee (2-3%). They already collected such money from customers. They simply create a large pool of money (adding also AF/interest from balances to the equation), and afterward, pay back to the customers as rewards.

For comparison, this processing fee is only ~0.3% in the other countries (Canada, UK, etc). Since the credit card companies in the other countries cannot create such a large pool, there are limited reward/SUB programs outisde the US.

As a comparison, Amex Platinum in Switzerland has AF of 900 CHF ($1000!!!). Since there is a limited transaction fee, the AF is elevated to be able to provide several benefits like lounge access.

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Pretty sure we all knew the 10% CB card was simply a fun hypothetical.    

[Thomas_Thumb]

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@Saleen099 wrote:

1) American Express, Centurion card
2) JP Morgan Reserve
3) Ritz Carlton 
4) Hyatt 
5) Freedom, Unlimited 

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1. AMEX green

2. AT&T Citi Universal Mastercard

3. Discover More

4. Fidelity signature Visa

5. Best Buy store card

The cards have all aged over 10 years. I like AMEX and Discover service. I am dreading Discover's demise. No more respect once Cap One eliminates Discover's policies.

[Aim_High]

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@ptatohed wrote:

Pretty sure we all knew the 10% CB card was simply a fun hypothetical.    

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   Perhaps.  Unless @longtimelurker is indeed hiding his protected "secret weapon" which he has alluded to possessing.     Do tell, inquiring minds want to know.  

[longtimelurker]

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@Aim_High wrote:

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@ptatohed wrote:

Pretty sure we all knew the 10% CB card was simply a fun hypothetical.    

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   Perhaps.  Unless @longtimelurker is indeed hiding his protected "secret weapon" which he has alluded to possessing.     Do tell, inquiring minds want to know.  

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At small local stores, just use any credit card, handing it to the owner, and make sure they see the note attached to the back:  "Accidents happen at stores like this every day!  We can help, return 10% of this purchase"    So you get 10% PLUS whatever the card gives.

[galahad15]

I'll divide my top 5 into 2 categories:  rewards cards and fixed-rate, low-APR cards:

Rewards Cards

1.   AAA Daily Advantage card:  5% cashback rewards on groceries, 3% on gas and pharmacies

2.  Redstone FCU VISA Signature:  5% cashback rewards on restaurants and gas

3.  2x US Bank Cash+:  5% cashback rewards on cellphones, fast food, Internet/cable/streaming

4.  3x BoA Customized Cash Rewards:  3.3%/3% cashback rewards on online shopping

5.  AOD FCU VISA:  3% cashback rewards on all purchases

Fixed-rate, Low-APR Cards

1.   BEFCU VISA:  5.49% F go-to APR

2.  Dover FCU Rate Advantage MC:  6.99% F  go-to APR

3.  AOD FCU VISA:  7.49% F go-to APR

4.  PACU MC:  7.5% F go-to APR

5.  Unify FCU Fixed-Rate Platimum VISA:  8.99% go-to APR

[ptatohed]

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@galahad15 wrote:

I'll divide my top 5 into 2 categories:  rewards cards and fixed-rate, low-APR cards:

Rewards Cards

1.   AAA Daily Advantage card:  5% cashback rewards on groceries, 3% on gas and pharmacies

2.  Redstone FCU VISA Signature:  5% cashback rewards on restaurants and gas

3.  2x US Bank Cash+:  5% cashback rewards on cellphones, fast food, Internet/cable/streaming

4.  3x BoA Customized Cash Rewards:  3.3%/3% cashback rewards on online shopping

5.  AOD FCU VISA:  3% cashback rewards on all purchases

Fixed-rate, Low-APR Cards

1.   BEFCU VISA:  5.49% F go-to APR

2.  Dover FCU Rate Advantage MC:  6.99% F  go-to APR

3.  AOD FCU VISA:  7.49% F go-to APR

4.  PACU MC:  7.5% F go-to APR

5.  Unify FCU Fixed-Rate Platimum VISA:  8.99% go-to APR

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^^ Impressive!  Great lineup gala.  

[TyrannicalDuncery2]

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I moved groceries to Instacart (~25% off due to using discounted GC and using instacart pick-up, instead of delivery). 

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Awesome strategy @xenon3030 ! What are you seeing in the discounted Instacart gift card metagame? Interested in whatever your thought process is, like what you consider a good price, is there a certain price you wait for and pounce, where do you get them, etc. Or like what % gift card discount are you factoring into your 25%?

Best I see is 13%ish on Raise.

I know some people get pretty nice Instacart promo deals sent to them (example); do you get these or know a trick to getting them?

[xenon3030]

To stack multiple discounts for groceries, I purchase $100 Instacart GCs from Costco at 20% discount. The GCs are sold either online or in-store (2x per member). I pay it with a CC that gives ~5% discount. The purchase is eligible for the 2% Costco executive membership. There is another 5% discount for Instacart pickup orders (choosing only the stores that provide in-store prices without markup). So, the entire discount on groceries would be 32%.

I could not succeed to include any CB website in this formula, since none of my Instacart purchases via TCB or Rakuten were triggered in the past 6 months.

[Wu-Credit]

I think I've reached my endgame cashback setup. Just need to get keep increasing my Merrill accounts to reach Platinum Honors with BofA. Probably a few years lol.

1. Citi Custom Cash (5% groceries/gas/restaurants)

2. BofA CCR 2x (4.5% online, gas/restaurants/home improvement, 3% groceries and wholesale)

3. Addition Financial Premier Rewards (5% rotating, 3% travel, no FTF)

4. Discover it (5% rotating, 0% Apr offers)

5. BofA Unlimited Rewards (2.25% catch all)

[TyrannicalDuncery2]

Awesome, @xenon3030.  Thanks much! How do you find out which stores offer prices on instacart not marked up? Is it just this filter?

Also, what card do you use at costco to get the ~5% discount? Order online through CCR? Some other way?