Credit Card Question

[cowgirl836]

Our adult kids just had accounts with the local credit union until they went to college and then we got them college accounts through Wells Fargo that required them to get a Visa. They haven't charged much except big expenses or travel, and then they pay it off in full, so they have a great credit rating and have been able to finance their vehicles on their own credit with just part-time student jobs. They both get a ton of credit card offers but the one that seems the best if they wanted another card is probably Chase Freedom.

Just keep waiting. They started off sending me letters for $150 cashback if I got one and it kept increasing until I decided to get it at $300.


I forgot to mention we always pay in full so I have no idea how the interest % differs among them. But if OP has plans to charge something that will take several months to pay off, that would obviously be an important factor.

 

[CywinLannister]

Chase Freedom seems to be the card that everyone I know uses. It really depends on if you prefer the rotating bonus 5% category or just a flat 2%. I preferred the ease of the flat 2%!

 

[TitanClone]

Low limit if you don't trust yourself.

If you trust yourself you want the highest limit you can get and pay for everything with it. Don't buy what you can't afford, pay it off every month and you come out on top. As others have mentioned credit utilization is one of the most important factors in your credit score.

Bank of America Travelers Rewards pays about 1.5% if you use the points for cash, 2% for Amazon (and other) gift cards.

 

[cy4life94]

Do you shop at REI at all? I have the REI Mastercard and it's been great. 5% back on all REI purchases, 2% grocery, 1% everywhere else, plus the regular 10% REI Dividend (yes, REI purchases that are dividend eligible earn 15% back). Points are credited to you on your annual dividend, which you can opt to cash out. $5,000 limit for me and I don't really come close to it. If you're not an REI customer, probably not worth it but the dividend bonus is pretty nice for me.

Also recommend the Chase Freedom. Rotating 5% cash back categories, 1% on all purchases. Can use rewards points directly on Amazon to pay for purchases. I received 0% interest rate for first 15 months, and I think the limit is at $1500. I don't use this one as much, but it's handy. Bought a new bicycle and paid it off over several months interest-free.

I had to google what REI was so I'm pretty sure that one is out.

 

[CloneinWDSM]

Ask ISUcyclones2015

 

[cy4life94]

I have the Blue Cash Everyday card and like it; similar benefits to the Preferred with no annual fee. I get a solid amount of cash back with 3% at the grocery store and 2% for gas (1% for everything else). Would also be a good card for cy4life if he's just out of school; I'm not sure how high your credit score has to be to get approved for the Preferred.

That's the thing. I was an authorized user for my parent card for 4 years so even though I never used I still have 4 years of never missing a payment. I didn't realize this until I checked Credit Karma and it told my I had a 790 credit score so I ran my free credit report I saw that I had that card on there.

 

[cy4life94]

Ask ISUcyclones2015

I actually know him from college but we have different life styles so I don't think it would help too much. But I still like the guy though.

 

[theantiAIRBHG]

Ah ****. Here we go again.

 

[josh4cy]

citi double cash, unless you really hit those rotating high cash back categories
2% back is hard to beat with no fees

 

[SplitIdentity]

I had to google what REI was so I'm pretty sure that one is out.

Srsly? Go outside man

 

[ISUCyclones2015]

Beginner cards I would say Chase Freedom (or Freedom Unlimited), Citi Double Cash, or Discover It. You'll easily be approved if you have any sort of income.

I personally would lean towards the Chase Freedom (Unlimited) so if you do ever go into other "higher end" cards (Like the Chase Sapphire Preferred), you can pair them up and get Ultimate Rewards Points using the Freedom.

I will agree with the post regarding utilization though and I will say that Citi has always given me the most credit line per card.

 

[ISUCyclones2015]

I actually know him from college but we have different life styles so I don't think it would help too much. But I still like the guy though.

 

[cyIclSoneU]

I would get the Chase Freedom and the Citi Double Cash. Every quarter I evaluate the 5% Chase Freedom categories and use that card for those purchases and then the Citi card for everything else.

I also really like Citi's virtual account numbers for online shopping, but I track down cheap deals on things like Xbox Live on weird websites so they are more useful for me than the typical user

 

[cy4life94]

I would get the Chase Freedom and the Citi Double Cash. Every quarter I evaluate the 5% Chase Freedom categories and use that card for those purchases and then the Citi card for everything else.

I also really like Citi's virtual account numbers for online shopping, but I track down cheap deals on things like Xbox Live on weird websites so they are more useful for me than the typical user

What all types of categories do they have for this?

 

[CyArob]

Get all the credit cards.

 

[BCClone]

Srsly? Go outside man

I had no idea what it was either and outside all the time.

 

[heyguy85]

I took the over 157.5 therefore need to post.

You're asking for the best one. I'm going to tell you not to get one. And plenty of people on here will bash that. You actually can live a life without a credit card, believe it or not.

 

[DSMCy]

I took the over 157.5 therefore need to post.

You're asking for the best one. I'm going to tell you not to get one. And plenty of people on here will bash that. You actually can live a life without a credit card, believe it or not.

If you pay it off every month, there is no downside to a credit card. Instead, you can use/buy something and not pay for it for ~45 days.

 

[cowgirl836]

What all types of categories do they have for this?

https://creditcards.chase.com/freedom/calendarreminder

here is this year's. That's pretty consistent from year to year. The holiday shopping one is usually like department stores and Amazon.


and sure, you can live without a credit card but as long as you are a responsible person (and it would appear that your parents are with theirs, at least - which bodes well for you), there's no great reason to not utilize a credit card. A high credit score will be your friend.
Last year there was a problem with skimmers in our area. DH's Discover was caught in it. Within minutes of a second suspicious purchase, Discover had frozen his card and texted/called him. He was issued a new card and the purchases were removed as soon as DH said no, he was not currently shopping in Michigan. If that had been a debit card, he'd probably have been out the money and probably more as it would have likely gone unnoticed for a few days.

 

[Cyclonefan710]

1. Use the credit card the same as you would a debt card from your bank which means you should be able to pay your credit card off at the end of every month or at anytime during the month.

2. A credit card is not an emergency fund.

If you can't follow those two things I would strongly discourage getting a credit card.