Best credit card?

[Retiredmajor]

Hi all, I'm wondering if there is advice on a really good credit card that offers rebates, cash back or valuable points? We never carry a balance, but now that we are close to retiring, I started thinking about this. I'm not sure I'm a fan of airline miles, but maybe there are good options for a solid "cash back" card" Thoughts?

 

[Aerides]

For solid cash back, most might prefer the Fidelity Visa. Gives flat 2%, can be allocated into your FIDO account directly as well.

 

[sengsational]

An article from about 6 months ago. Clark Howard. I think they use this site to sift through the details.

 

[Done]

Fidelity Rewards Signature Visa gives 2% cashback on all purchases, paid to a (free) Fidelity account.
Citi Double Cash Card gives 1% cashback on all purchases and another 1% when the balance is paid.

There are other cards that pay higher cashback in specific categories (such as gas, travel, restaurants, supermarkets or rotating categories) but these are both good all-purpose cards. I use the Costco Anywhere Visa for those categories paying 3-4%, and Fidelity for 2% on everything else. Cards that give travel benefits or rebates can be a better value if properly utilized but I find it too much work to manage the benefits.

 

[Blue Collar Guy]

The best credit card is the one where someone else pays the bill. A few years ago my nephew said he just puts "it" on the credit card. I said "whoa" you still have to pay the bill later. He told me "nope" my parents pay. Yeah thats my kind of credit card.

 

[calmloki]

Fidelity Visa is our solid, simple, zero hassle or fees card. THE go-to card and a great one to put autopays like utility bills on. That said, I enjoy having credit card companies give me sign-up bonus rewards. Equaling a $500+ sign-up bonus takes a whole bunch of purchases at 2% back to be equivalent. And so the gal and I both have Chase Sapphire and Ink preferred plans and bank several thousands/year in bonus money.

 

[Cobra9777]

We use the Fidelity VISA 2% cash-back card for most purchases, including routine bills. We also have a grandfathered AMEX Blue Cash that pays 5% on gas, groceries, and drug stores. And finally, we have the Chase/Amazon card that pays 5% on all Amazon purchases.

 

[TrophyWife]

Chase Sapphire Reserve.
-very flexible points that transfer almost immediately to Southwest, Marriott and others.
-3x points on travel and eating out
-Global Entry reimbursement
-a bunch of other perks.

Don't apply unless there is at least a 50,000 point bonus If you are thinking about getting involved in travel hacking, this is a great free course. We travel monthly and I don't pay anything (aside from taxes) for my Southwest flights.

 

[pb4uski]

We prefer simplicity and have the Citi Double Cash card... since we pay our bill in full every month and have it on autopay it is like a 2% cash rebate on all purchases. .. and no annual fee. It replaced our long-term relationship with Discover.. we had a grandfathered 2% cash back card with an $70 annual fee which was competitive when we got it but better offerings came along... I called Discover and asked them to waive the annual fee and they refused... so bye-bye.

A handy feature is Citi Price Rewind.... you register certain purchases on a website that they have and if you or they find the item at a lower price within 60 days of purchase then they credit you with the difference... I register most major purchases of $250 or more and have received $74 in credits in past year. In one case I found a cellhone that I bought discounted $50 shortly after I bought it... rather than return it and buy the cheaper one I just submitted documention to Price Rewind... they confirmed what I sent them and credited me $50.

Their extension of manufacturer warranties for an additional is also a useful feature IMO. We have yet to use it with this card but did get a $700 check for refridgerator repairs after the manufacturer's warranty but within the extended warranty period from Discover back a few years ago... Discover doubled the manufacturer warranty... Citi adds 24 months.

Warranties run out. Get an extra 24 months added to your warranty when you purchase items at least in part with your Citi card and/or ThankYou® Points. If your eligible item breaks, we’ll repair, reimburse or replace it, up to the amount charged on your Citi card and/or ThankYou® Points or up to $10,000 per item, whichever is less.

 

[audreyh1]

Our mainstay is the Fidelity VISA 2% card, but we also use our Costco VISA for the 3x hotel and dining cash rewards, the PenFed VISA for 5% cash rewards on gas, the American Express Blue card for 6% cash back on groceries, the Bank of America Travel Rewards cards for no foreign transaction fees and 1.65% cash back and when we travel overseas, the Amazon Store Card for 5% cash back on Amazon purchases, and the United Mileage cards from Chase for primary insurance coverage on car rentals. So as you can see we swap cards around a lot, although we only carry a few on us personally, and generally swap out what we are carrying when we travel - especially overseas where we only carry our no foreign transaction fee cards.

It does seem like a lot of trouble, however somehow I do keep them all straight.

 

[sengsational]

Nice pattern you have there audreyh1! DW uses the Amex Blue on everything now, but her biggest category is groceries. Unfortunately, Wal-Pit (as we call it), doesn't count as a grocery store. I get 2.2% on the Barclay Arrival for travel and restaurants, if I remember not to use my Discover, which is the default and only 1%.

 

[Scuba]

For solid cash back, most might prefer the Fidelity Visa. Gives flat 2%, can be allocated into your FIDO account directly as well.

+1. Keeps things simple. There are other cards with higher % back on certain categories (dining out, travel, gas, groceries, etc.) but the idea of having to use a different card for different types of purchases is a level of complexity we aren't willing to deal with. 2% back on ALL purchases with no cap works for me.

 

[meierlde]

If shopping at Amazon a lot the Amazon Prime rewards card gives 5% back on Amazon purchases, that you can apply to later Amazon purchases.

 

[gerntz]

I don't have the interest/energy beyond 2% cash with Fidelity VISA or Citi MC on everything & 6% AMEX Blue P on groceries & 3% on non-grocery/club affiliated gas & national restaurants. Even then Costco gas is better - when I can get to it. Chasing all the different categories is too much bother given I don't spend a lot on any one area plus the hassle of dealing with so many cards.

 

[Koolau]

After the discussion so far, I'm going to look into the Fidelity Visa.

Currently, we are playing "pick a card" (based on cash-back for this, that or the other.) What a pain. 2% on everything sounds pretty good. Oh, and we don't do "miles" or "points". YMMV

 

[Chuckanut]

My two best cards are:

Fidelity Visa - 2% back on everything

Costco Visa - 4% on gas, 3% on travel plus a few nice travel insurance benefits.

 

[RetiredGypsy]

Discover It right now has double cash back for the first year. That's double 1% on all purchases, and double 5% on quarterly rotating categories.

 

[stephenson]

We have been collecting points from sign up bonuses the past few months ... have been remodeling so meeting minimums is easy.

Got two Chase Sapphire Reserve cards with 100,000 points each, then last month got the Hilton Rewards Amex Surpass card with 100,000 points. We should be able to use these points up on air travel alone in the next card cycle and then terminate and recycle through the next group of card offers.

We are just learning our way, but if you work the chronology for travel, and can meet the minimum spend amounts, it is worth it.