Best Rewards Credit Card

[MovingtotheCove]

Got the same letter from Schwab. In addition to the cash to brokerage account feature they had NO foreign exchange fees charged at all. DD used it in UK and Europe while abroad for a semester. Like so many "good deals" expect all perks of the Schwab VISA to now end with FIA taking over the account.

 

[FUEGO]

Got the Schwab letter today, too. We have had their card for only a few months. I have to assume that "FIA Card Services" will eliminate the cash back and start charging foreign exchange fees. I predict we will be cutting them up shortly.

At least we still get something back on the REI Visa.

FIA Card Services is the company that runs the Fidelity Amex 2% card. Good experience so far for the last 1.5 years.

One slightly annoying feature of FIA card services is that you cannot set up automatic monthly payments to pay the balance in full.

 

[Coderguy]

Capital One does not charge currency conversion fees or other extra fees for overseas use. They also have a decent rewards system. Try to get a high credit limit when you first sign up, though -- they have been very stingy with requests for increased credit limits. We have asked for a credit limit increase 3 times and been denied each time, in spite of stellar credit. I guess it is pretty obvious we are not making them any money as we pay off the bill every month. It is annoying to have our credit limit on that card be stuck at $4000, as it means we cannot use it to buy international air tickets for the family. Amex and our Credit Union visa work as a backup, but have to be sure to book flights through US sites -- made a mistake of booking on Air CAnada's canadian site once using our credit union visa and got dinged quite heavily with the international use
fees.

lhamo

My Capital One rewards card has a $1000.00 limit. Eight years, no budge; they won't raise it. Just an emergency card because of it.

I don't have an 'awesome' rewards card; just a Bank of America World Points card; but I've had it nine years and they haven't added any fees or anything so I like the stability.

(Back from honeymoon!)

 

[ERD50]

FIA Card Services is the company that runs the Fidelity Amex 2% card. Good experience so far for the last 1.5 years.

One slightly annoying feature of FIA card services is that you cannot set up automatic monthly payments to pay the balance in full.

None of the cards I have allow auto-pay-in-full. Bummer.

This would have been a nice thing to mandate when they passed the latest credit card overhaul bill.

Another thing would have been a very standard presentation of basic info. It's not always immediately obvious which number is the amount to pay by which date to avoid all fees. I think that info should be in big, bold letters with standard formatting. It's not difficult either, but I think it should be painfully obvious for busy people who may not take a second look at the bill. Pay $X.XX by mm/dd/yyyy to avoid all fees. Simple.

edit/add: My work-around is to put an auto-pay amount that is larger than my normal expected bill. I edit before the processing date so I don't overpay. This way I avoid fees by paying too little or too late. If I slip up and overpay (I never have), no big deal, it would get balanced out on the next bill.

-ERD50

 

[FUEGO]

Another thing would have been a very standard presentation of basic info. It's not always immediately obvious which number is the amount to pay by which date to avoid all fees. I think that info should be in big, bold letters with standard formatting. It's not difficult either, but I think it should be painfully obvious for busy people who may not take a second look at the bill. Pay $X.XX by mm/dd/yyyy to avoid all fees. Simple.

All the recent "added consumer protections" did for me was make my credit card bills harder to read. The added chart that shows how many months it will take to pay off the balance if you make the minimum payment and how much you pay in interest is completely irrelevant to my decisionmaking. All this chart does is add clutter to an already cluttered front page of the CC statement. I have to spend a while searching for "balance amount", "minimum payment" and "due by" info. Not as easy as it used to be with all the additional mandated disclosures.

None of the cards I have allow auto-pay-in-full. Bummer.

Chase is the only card that I routinely use that allows auto pay in full. Very handy since all I have to do each month is enter the statement balance in my electronic checkbook, and skim the bill to make sure I'm not subsidizing the lifestyle of some credit card scammer.

 

[Lakedog]

None of the cards I have allow auto-pay-in-full. Bummer.

PenFed added this feature not too long ago - sure simplifies things.

 

[travelover]

I auto pay in full my Costco Amex, my Fido Am Ex and My LLBean Visa. Some make it easy, some make it hard, but it can be done.

 

[Texas Proud]

All the recent "added consumer protections" did for me was make my credit card bills harder to read. The added chart that shows how many months it will take to pay off the balance if you make the minimum payment and how much you pay in interest is completely irrelevant to my decisionmaking. All this chart does is add clutter to an already cluttered front page of the CC statement. I have to spend a while searching for "balance amount", "minimum payment" and "due by" info. Not as easy as it used to be with all the additional mandated disclosures.



Chase is the only card that I routinely use that allows auto pay in full. Very handy since all I have to do each month is enter the statement balance in my electronic checkbook, and skim the bill to make sure I'm not subsidizing the lifestyle of some credit card scammer.

What You actually LOOK at the paper version....


As for auto pay, I do not want anybody to have access to my checking account... I pay online for almost everything... but through the checking account.

 

[WanderALot]

None of the cards I have allow auto-pay-in-full. Bummer.

Some credit cards, like Schwab, allow you to setup auto-pay-in-full by sending in an authorization form. You have to call them up to setup this up.

 

[FUEGO]

I auto pay in full my Costco Amex, my Fido Am Ex and My LLBean Visa. Some make it easy, some make it hard, but it can be done.

Share the secret! I would like to set up auto pay in full if it is an option.

 

[FUEGO]

What You actually LOOK at the paper version....

I have a LOT of credit cards. I stick the bills in a folder, and usually "pay" them 2x a month. By "pay" I mean enter the amounts from the bills into my electronic checkbook register, except for the few that I must manually enter an electronic payment online. I guess I find paper bills easier in this case. Skim for accuracy, pay, and destroy.

 

[travelover]

Share the secret! I would like to set up auto pay in full if it is an option.

You have to call them and have them send you the form, which you sign and return.

Oddly my other three cards let me do this on line.

 

[FIREd]

I have a USAA cash reward card. Up to 1.25% cash back on purchases. But I get much more back when I use their Membershop when ordering stuff online. I ordered some clothes from Banana Republic yesterday and will be getting 7+1.25=8.25% cash back on my purchase. Add that to the 2 coupons I got from the Membershop (free shipping + 20% off my entire order) and I got some nice winter clothes for relatively little money.

 

[FUEGO]

You have to call them and have them send you the form, which you sign and return.

Oddly my other three cards let me do this on line.

Thanks, and yes, I am accustomed to signing up online for most things like autopay in full. It is bizarre FIA card services doesn't allow auto pay in full, yet they allow auto pay the minimum payment. I assume it is simple profit motive.

 

[REWahoo]

Got an email today from PenFed about another cash back promotion on their Visa card:

Get 3% cash back on electronics and sporting good purchases when you use your Visa Platinum Cash Rewards Card now through December 31, 2010.

 

[ziggy29]

Thanks, and yes, I am accustomed to signing up online for most things like autopay in full. It is bizarre FIA card services doesn't allow auto pay in full, yet they allow auto pay the minimum payment. I assume it is simple profit motive.

One of the things I hate about FIA is that you can't update FIA credit card accounts in Quicken in real time - you can only download an entire statement at the end of the billing cycle.

 

[FUEGO]

...autopay in full. It is bizarre FIA card services doesn't allow auto pay in full, yet they allow auto pay the minimum payment. I assume it is simple profit motive.

I guess FIA Card Services has been trolling the ER forum. Upon logging in today I noticed that you can now sign up for auto pay in full from the web.

The link is a little banner-ad looking box on the main credit card screen (on my page, located on the right hand side, halfway down the page between a promotional rate offer and my recent transactions summary list).