The Best Credit Cards (Updated!)
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FacebookTwo weeks ago I asked readers to name their favorite credit cards. That requst spawned numerous comments, so I thought I’d distill down the results for you guys. What follows is a breakdown of the cards that received the most love.
Best Balance Transfer Credit Cards
Here are the most popular 0% balance transfer credit card offers from different issuers. Balance transfer credit cards are good for off-loading your high-interest credit card debt. When combined with a high-yield online savings account these cards are also great for 0% credit card profiteering. These cards offer 0% APR and some offer rewards and/or signup bonuses.
0% on balance |
0% on purchases and |
0% on balance |
 |
|
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Top 0% Balance Transfer Cards
» Discover More Card
» Discover More – American Flag
» Discover More – Clear
» Discover Miles Card
» Discover Monogram Card
» Citi Platinum Select Card (+ 0% on purchases!)
If you’re more interested in a card that offers 0% on purchases, then check out the following six cards. Note that there’s some overlap with the above list of balance transfer credit cards.
Top Cards With 0% Interest on Purchases
» Discover More Card
» Citi Platinum Select MasterCard
» Discover Open Road Card
» Discover Monogram Card
» Discover Student Card
» Discover Escape Card
The Best Rewards Credit Cards
Rewards credit cards are great tools for maximizing your expenditures. Earn rewards for everyday purchases.
Discover More Card
» 5% cashback in select categories
» 1% cashback on all other purchases
» 0% APR on purchases and balance transfers
» No annual fee
Citi Forward Card
» 5% rewards in select categories (including Amazon!)
» 1% rewards on all other purchases
» No annual fee
True Earnings from Costco and American Express
» Earn 3% for eating out, 2% for travel, and 1% on all else
» No limit on cash back
» Must be Costco member
» No annual fee
You can also check out this credit cards resource – they aggregate over 1,200 cards from retail cards to rewards cards.
Published on December 18th, 2007 - 33 Comments
Filed under: Credit Cards
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About the author: Nickel is the founder and editor-in-chief of this site. He's a thirty-something family man who has been writing about personal finance since 2005, and guess what? He's on Twitter!
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33 Responses to “The Best Credit Cards (Updated!)”
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December 18th, 2007 at 3:20 pm
I have the True Earnings from Costco–there is a cap of $500 a year you can earn.
Interesting no Citi card represented. I guess everybody has learned to dislike Citi as much as I have.
December 18th, 2007 at 3:28 pm
Siena: They must’ve updated the program since you signed up, as the application page clearly states that there is no limit on the amount of cash you can earn with the Costco card.
December 18th, 2007 at 3:48 pm
That true earnings Card from AMEX looks like a stinker unless you are a traveling salesman. It promotes eating out which goes against basic personal finance rules for saving money.
I think that should be removed from the list as it is counter productive in the end.
December 18th, 2007 at 5:37 pm
I have the True Earnings, and Nickel you’re right, there’s no cap, I’ve already earned over $700 this year. (Yes, I travel and eat out alot, but the majority was when I was able to charge my wedding reception @ 3% cash back) I pay off the card each month, so it’s a good deal.
Cheapster – It doesn’t actually promote eating out. I mean, when deciding between eating at home and going out, it was never that 3% cash back that pushed me over the edge.
It’s just about being realistic on what you spend your money on – and picking the most advantageous creditcard.
Eating out isn’t always evil. My friend is an attorney and works 70+ hours a week. He rarely has time to cook and eats almost all his meals out. But he also makes $175,000+ a year. I guess he could get a job with less hours, and cook himself every meal, but that doesn’t really make sense.
I know that’s the extreme, but the bottom line is everyone likes to spend their money on something, and works hard to be able to afford that “luxury”.
December 19th, 2007 at 6:53 pm
True Earnings for Costco Business if you can qualify is really good since it also adds 5% on Costco gas to the normal card. (most other gas cards disqualify warehouse gas)
December 21st, 2007 at 10:22 am
As regards the Blue Cash vs. Fidelity:
For the first 6500, your redemption rate is 0.5% vs. 1.5%: Basically, you give up $65 in rewards for the Blue Cash card…
Is giving up $65 in rewards worth the 5% cash back on groceries. Well, just compare the 1.5% you would get at Fidelity with the 5% you get with Blue Cash. How much grocery shopping would make up for the $65 loss: Answer: $1800 of groceries. Most people do spend more than $1800 in groceries, which makes the Blue Cash a good deal.
A lot of places don’t accept American Express, so the Fidelity card has a good use as an overall card (once you’ve hit the $6500 limit for Blue Cash).
I am grandfathered in on a 5% cash back on Groceries through a Chase card (no longer offered). That makes the Blue Cash card redundant for me.
December 21st, 2007 at 10:31 am
Most people don’t spend more than $1800 in groceries? You’ve gotta be kidding me! That’s only $150 per month. Maybe if you’re single, but I’d be willing to bet that the vast majority of people spend more than $150/month on groceries.
And you also forgot to account for gas station and drugstore purchases. These also qualify for the 5% reward.
Don’t get me wrong… Pairing the Blue Cash Card with something like your Fidelity card, or Chase Freedom (3% on you 3 highest spending categories) is a smart strategy. But if you have “typical” spending patterns (and especially if you have a family) it’s hard to beat the Amex Blue Cash.
December 24th, 2007 at 9:24 am
Another good thing about Amex Blue Cash is its Buyer’s Assurance Plan which Mirrors manufacturers’ warranties for covered products purchased entirely with your Card account, for up to one additional year.
December 30th, 2007 at 11:31 pm
I currently have four main cards:
1) Discover Open Road: 5% cash back on gas and car repairs (on first $100 in purchases a month — this is usually a tank of gas and some months an oil change), 0% APR for the first year. The other rewards are not much to write home about but the 0% has in handy. (I have cash in hand to pay it off when the time comes.) They also will give you a temporary credit card number that’s only good for one purchase, which is a nice security feature when dealing with online merchants you’ve never done business with.
2) Chase Freedom MasterCard: You all know this one. I use it for groceries and a couple of other categories I get 3% on. I was using it for everything, until I got…
3) FNBO Direct Visa: 2% on everything for the first year. I use this one for everything I don’t get 3% on with the Chase card.
4) Chase Buy.com VISA. Basically the same deal as the Amazon card, 3% on purchases from Buy.com and 1% on everything else, with a $30 spiff after your first purchase. Except that Buy.com offers 10% off most of Amazon’s prices on books. And I don’t have to pay sales tax like I do with Amazon (I live near Seattle).
I also just got a WaMu personal business card that is 0% on purchases for the first 18 months. They also give you a free FICO score every month, which is nice (though it’s from your TransUnion report). I have some fairly big technology purchases I will be making soon and not having to pay for them until 2009 will be nice; I will earn north of 7.5% by being able to keep the cash in the bank all that time.
July 16th, 2008 at 2:38 pm
Except discover has the worst customer service ever and is a pain in the ass to deal with. I have twice canceled discover cards because of how frustrated they made me. I like the Amex options. I might switch out my Amex card.
July 29th, 2008 at 1:17 pm
My experience with Discover has been quite the opposite.
Most of my interaction with customer service has been regard to payments
They have accepted 1 day late payments with no fees, and when I missed payments later than that, I was able to get them to reverse the charges based on my payment history.
Once, when I was in the hospital, and I didn’t have my card or number with me. I called them up and explained the situation, and helped me make a phone payment with fee. Plus they are the only credit card I have that allows me to pay by phone (on the automated system) with no fee.
Another thing I like is that I can choose the payment due date. Other cards I’ve owned move it around depending on whether or not I paid off the balance, and how many days in the billing cycle.
At one time I was really irritated with the interest rate on the card, so I called them up to complain. I told them that it was higher than all my other cards, and they reduced the interest rate to 10.99. It’s not phenomenally low, but it’s decent. Most of the time I pay if off, but it’s reasonable if I need some flexibility.
I’ve always been nice to the customer service reps and they’ve been nice to me in return.
Now Citibank … that’s another story.
Some time ago I got a Citi rewards card offer in the mail that promised a $100 gift card for my choice of a number of popular retailers. The only conditions were transferring a balance and spending charging at least $100 within the first 3 months. I followed the conditions and kept calling about when the bonus points would be added. They kept telling me it takes a couple of months to show up. They never did. When I escalated it, they told me they knew of no such offer, and I had to produce the original offer (which I had already tossed). They offered some measly compensation, which I refused. I cancelled the card and they lost a good customer.
July 31st, 2008 at 2:41 pm
Has anyone any feedback on the Capital One Card Lab? On the Capital One website, you can choose the rewards and the APR of your card. Of course, you have to be approved, but it offers a 10% CASHBACK rate on every purchase, with no annual cap. Everything else seems standard (25 day grace period, etc.) but I’d love if fivecentnickel could uncover any uglies associated with this option.
October 2nd, 2008 at 10:16 am
I would like to suggest a couple of other credit cards:
AssociatedBank pays 5% cash back at Gasoline Stations, Groceries and Drugstores. $300/year limit. Must apply by phone. 1-877-577-9485. (affiliated with Citicard)
Orchard Bank/Household Bank (both associated with HSBC) offer cards with 2% cash back, $400/year limit. May have to speak with a representative to see if they are still available. The 2% seems to apply everywhere, even WalMart.
I probably average 3.5% cash back using these two cards appropriately. Charge almost everything I can. Payoff balance each month.
October 2nd, 2008 at 10:19 am
Douglas: Last time I checked, the 2% on everything HSBC card was no longer available.
October 2nd, 2008 at 3:57 pm
Nickel,
Perhaps you are correct, especially given the uncertain financial situation.
The two HSBC 2% cards used to appear and disappear regularly on their websites. But even if not being advertised they seemed to be available if requested.
Personally, I would advise applying for one and then canceling it unless they are not/will not give the 2% cash back option.
I just called the Associated Bank phone number. The automated message clearly states the 5% card is still available.
Doug
ps – any insight on exactly why these cash back cards have a maximum limit? If the Credit Card companies are making money with a $300 limit, wouldn’t they make twice as much money with a $600 limit. The only reason I can see is people overspend the limit and then get no additional benefit.
October 2nd, 2008 at 4:24 pm
Nickel,
Following my previous post I went browsing. Found this link: http://www.disclosure.hsbccred.....7WA_UNJEI1
Apparently HSBC is offering a Weekend Card which pays 1% on weekdays but 2% on weekends. But if you read the fine print they seem to indicate that the 2% all the time card is still available as of 9/15/2008.
A final comment or two;
With gasoline selling at $4 per gallon, 5% cash back is a reduction in price of $0.20 per gallon.
Assume I charge $1000 per month and receive 3.5% cash back using the two cards I am proposing. That amounts to $35 per month ($420 per year) cash back, not small change!
Doug
November 3rd, 2008 at 3:09 pm
I was wondering why the Chase Freedom card didn’t make the top list? I noticed it was mentioned positively in a couple of the comments. At least for Chase banking customers, it’s a pretty good deal (0% intro rate, fairly low APR after that, and 3% back on the 3 highest spending categories).
November 3rd, 2008 at 5:12 pm
They used to be on the list, but Chase asked me to remove them. Don’t ask why.
January 12th, 2009 at 3:01 pm
My husband and I each have our own American Express Blue Cash card. In order to reach that $6500 threshold sooner, would it be a good idea for me to get an “extra” card on my account for us both to use this year, then switch and both use his account next year? Not as a joint account, but as an extra cardholder… Any thoughts?
January 12th, 2009 at 6:15 pm
@ nickel (post #18)
Why?
May 2nd, 2009 at 10:39 am
I would like to know why Chase asked Nickel to remove them too; all of my cards are Chase and the Visa Borders and Amazon reward cards are what I use the most. They are paid off every month so I haven’t had to pay the interest at 10.99 and 13.99 respectively. The problem I have now is that all my cards have sent the wonderful notice that the rates are no longer fixed. All of my Chase cards and my fiancee’s AmEX and Dicover have sent notices that the rates have been converted to variables. Anyone know who is still offering fixed rate cards?
May 24th, 2009 at 12:30 pm
i bet is bcoz Chase is about to change “some customers” benefits. And, would not like everyone compare.
May 25th, 2009 at 1:10 pm
Did I miss something on the Citi Forward offer? It looks like they only give you points which you can redeem for cashback at a 1:0.7 ratio. Is there another link for cashback instead of points?
May 25th, 2009 at 4:58 pm
ciswt: They give you ThankYou points which I typically redeem for higher value store gift cards. Once you hit the $100 price point, you can exchange them for a penny per point (i.e., $100 for 10k points). It’s not straight cash, but I shop at places like Home Depot often enough that gift cards are just as good.
July 10th, 2009 at 1:02 am
Discover doesn’t pay 1% until you’ve charged over $1,000 or even more than that. They start at .25%, then go up to .50%. It’s graduated, so basically I use Discover for the 5% promotions they offer throughout the year. Each quarter they will offer the 5% usually on up to $400 of purchases in certain categories. For instance, this quarter it’s on gasoline, hotels, bookstores and amusement parks. The best thing about this is that you can buy gift cards worth $25 with $20 of your Discover Card earnings. I’ve earned several gift cards over the years.
August 2nd, 2009 at 4:40 pm
Looking to get a new reward card soon. I currently have a Visa United Airlines card and am not happy with it. I was thinking I would get the Citi Forward card and an American Express Blue Card. I think I should be able to get over the $6500. The two cards would get be 5% on restaurants, groceries, and Amazon. Can I ask why you have the Discover Card over the American Express Blue? The Discover give 5%/1% and American Express give 5%/1.25%. Is it because of the $6500 minimum? Thanks
August 2nd, 2009 at 9:19 pm
Chetan: You only get the 5%/1.25% for purchases in excess of $6500. In other words, once you hit the $6500 level, the higher rewards apply from that point forward.
October 19th, 2009 at 9:34 pm
just a question just filed for bk then got one credit card from first premier any thoughts about this credit card
October 19th, 2009 at 11:13 pm
Marion, my thoughts are…stay away! Their cards has many, many fees, that are just not worth it! It’s much cheaper to get prepaid Visa/MC/AMex/Discover cards at your local store or bank. Look at all the fees that you will pay, most of the 1-time fees are imposed when the account line is open..usually minumum credit line of $250. The FirstPremier credit card fees include: Account Set-up=$29 (1-time fee), Program Fee=$95 (1-time fee), Annual Fee=$7 each month. Other fees: Credit Limit Increase Fee of $25 each time your account is eligible and approved for a credit limit increase; a $3.95 internet access, 1-time fee; an account maintenance fee $3 for any month in which you have an outstanding balance of $20 or greater after you have closed your account. Another fee: an Autodraft Fee, where they impose $11 charge for each payment made through an autodraft service they provide. Autodraft payments requested through their automated systems (like voice response, internet) is $7 per transaction. This is ridiculous! Late payment and over-the-limit fees=$29 each.
October 20th, 2009 at 9:30 pm
just found a credit card better than first premiere since i am waiting for my bk to be charge off. i been pre approve for a hsbc credit card. when should my wife and i apply for this card at 14.99%,should this be a everday card
November 5th, 2009 at 1:28 pm
Check out Charles Schwab’s Rewards Visa. It pays 2% cash (deposited into a brokerage account) and there is no limit. You can withdraw the cash immediately if you want, or invest it. It’s the best deal that I’ve seen.
December 2nd, 2009 at 12:22 pm
Hey all,
When you sign up for different cards over various times, what do you do with your old cards? Say I have older rewards cards I am not using, because I found a better one. Do I call and cancel them? Does that hurt my credit score? Thanks
December 14th, 2009 at 5:49 pm
well. this really freaks me out. i decided to pay down my credit card balances to increase my FICO score. Involves 3 chase cards. First card had credit limit of 5,800 and I paid it down to a balance of 300$. Second card had a limit of 5,000$ and I paid it down to a balance of 200$. Received letters from Chase after these payments that my limits were reduced to
900$ on each card. My FICO is 750. Wanted to increase it to 800. I closed these two accounts plus my Chase professional account that had also had the limit reduced from 12,000 to 5,000. I really don’t care if closing the accounts lowers my FICO score. It felt so good to tell that it lost a client for good. I’ll never do any business that involves Chase for the rest of my life. Reducing balances on credit cards lets them ruduce the credit limits. That’s all it does. Next month I’m going to decrease the balance on my Target card from 8,900$ to 900$ with a limit of
9,200$. I bet Target reduces my limit to 1,000$. And then I’ll close that account too. You can’t win with the credit card companies.