What's in your wallet?

[Greencheese]

Just wondering what credit cards everyone else uses during their spending? Especially those of us starting out or living the single life who don't spend enough to make some of those more expensive rewards cards with annual fees really worth it. Haven't been too interested in churning yet but maybe someday...

Personally I use

Discover IT - Random purchases for the FICO score and 5% categories
Target Card - 5% off at Target since I don't live near a WalMart
Sallie Mae MasterCard - 5% cash back on gas, groceries, and Amazon
US Bank Visa - 5% cash back Restaurants/Fast Food

Still looking for a good American Express card so I have access to all 4 credit networks but nothing on the horizon yet. Don't spend quite enough to make the Blue Preferred worth the annual fee.

 

[Marita40]

Penfed Visa--no annual fee. I rack up enough points to earn $50.00 cash back about every 3-4 months.
Target debit Redcard --for the 5% discount. A lot of my shopping is at Target.
Local bank debit card--for ATMs and Aldi

These three are all I carry and all I need.

 

[growing_older]

Until recently: Only one VISA card, through which I route as much spending as possible for rewards. It's also issued by my bank, so everything is linked and quite convenient.

Amex Card for Costco purchases, they don't take VISA.


UNFORTUNATELY, this was a very bad and most inconvenient set-up when the VISA card got compromised (Target or some other retailer perhaps?). All accounts had to be shut down and new ones opened. Lots of police reports and dealing with credit bureaus. Almost two weeks to get a new credit card opened. Similar amount of time to track down every automatic payment or other place this card was registered and change to a new card.


NOW, I have the replacement VISA which is used ONLY for autocharge utilities. (Not actually in my wallet. It stays in a drawer at home).

A separate VISA card that is used for retail purchases.

A separate MasterCard that is used for on-line purchases.

Enrolled in the Bank of America program that issues new one time use credit card numbers to make any online purchase from a retailer I do not have a long relationship with.

Separate extra VISA card that is held in reserve to use if any of the above get compromised. Kept "active" and alive by once a month use.
(Not actually in my wallet. It stays in a drawer at home).

 

[travelover]

Costco AmEx for 3% back on gas.
Fidelity AmEx for 2% back on everything else
LL Bean VISA for free shipping and 1% back on purchases
REI VISA for 1% back on everything, added to my annual dividend
Target for 5% back, there, plus ironclad security

Plus a few light sensitive moths.

 

[FIREd]

I have a Chase Sapphire Preferred Visa- double points on travel and dining. Plus, using the rewards program's market place, I get multiple points per dollar spent on things like clothes, gifts, etc...
I have a Amazon Visa - triple points on Amazon purchases, double on gas and drugstores.

The points I earn with both cards can be used on Amazon to pay for purchases (since we don't have big box stores around here, I spend a ton on Amazon). This is like getting hundreds of dollars back each year.

 

[chilkoot]

Mostly I use a Chase MC (this started life as a Shell MC with a nice cash-back-on-gas feature but that morphed). The Chase card doesn't carry a lot of benefits, but it's tied to E-bay and Amazon so I haven't bothered switching.

 

[Khan]

American Express Blue - small credit limit, used occasionally, might change to a Costco in future
AAA VISA - used for travel
Kroger VISA - used for almost everything in Ohio, might have to replace as there are no Kroger stores in Florida to use rebates

 

[splitwdw]

I have a Chase Sapphire Preferred Visa. Not much of a credit card user. Mainly for online purchases & travel. Pay cash for everything I can. No money, don't buy.

 

[Donzo]

Visa for air miles

Amex for Costco and Hilton honors points

 

[Sue J]

I have a PenFed VISA. It's the one with the points rewards that have dropped in value. You used to be able to get a $50 prepaid VISA gift card for 5000 points, now it's 5900 points. We use it only for gas so after my next redemption I may go back to the old one with the monthly cash credited to your account. It takes us a long time to get to 5900 points.

That's the only card I carry. We have a Chase from long ago that is still open and a Best Buy MasterCard from when I bought a washer last year and they had a promo if you bought it on their charge card. Those are in the desk at home.

We've gone to all cash for normal spending. For online purchases we use PayPal or the PenFed card I mentioned earlier.

 

[audreyh1]

Costco AmEx for 3% back on gas.
Fidelity AmEx for 2% back on everything else
LL Bean VISA for free shipping and 1% back on purchases
REI VISA for 1% back on everything, added to my annual dividend
Target for 5% back, there, plus ironclad security

Plus a few light sensitive moths.

Similar setup

• Costco AmEx for 3% back on gas
• Fidelity AmEx for 2% back on everything else
• Bank of America Travel Rewards VISA chip card for 1.5% credit where they don't take AmEX and for chip plus no foreign transaction when traveling overseas.

We have a few cards we DON'T keep in our wallet but use for on-line, recurring bills and airline travel:

• Amazon VISAs for 3% back on all purchases through Amazon
• an old AmEx for some of the smaller monthly recurring bills
• United Travel Rewards VISA for points when buying airline tickets, early boarding, and free 1st checked bag for me and DH.

I also use Paypal for on-line purchases if with a new or unknown vendor.

 

[Alan]

Having had 4 cards stolen or details stolen, every time while away from home, we now try and minimize hassle more than maximize rewards.

I carry a Penfed Visa rewards card, DW carries an Amazon rewards Visa, and we also have an Amex Blue cash card that I keep in a different wallet as a back up for use when one of the other cards is compromised. We also have a Chase Visa rewards card that never leaves the house, and that card has all the automated charges (utilities, memberships etc)

 

[6miths]

A single 1% cash back Visa with annual fee waived.

 

[Nodak]

Amex Blue and Chase Slate MC. Used mostly for online purchases.

 

[Gumby]

American Express, PenFed Visa, USAA MasterCard

I have more cards left from my cash balance arbitrage days, but I never use them.

 

[jimnjana]

American Express, PenFed Visa, USAA MasterCard...

Ditto, my AXP card is a Delta rewards card, I use the penfed Visa for all my gas purchases, My USAA card is just a legacy card that I have some bills on autopay with, otherwise rarely use it.

 

[aja8888]

I have the usual cast of plastic characters, but in today's mail came an offer from Marriott (long time member here) to sign up for a CC from Chase and get 70,000 free points, one night in a Category 1 - 4 hotel of theirs and the $85 annual fee waived for the first year. You must spend $2000 in the first three months to get the offer.

That 70K points would bring me back to 330,000 and provide enough free rooms for a few driving vacations.

Anybody else get this offer yet?

 

[Walt34]

I have a credit union Visa, platinum! - does that mean I get a discount? Oh. A Chase M/C that used to be a Sears cc that I opened in 1972 to start a credit rating, and a BB&T Visa, also platinum. That one doesn't get any discounts either. None of these have any annual fees.

And the usual dust, scraps of notes, and once in a while I have actual cash.

 

[MichaelB]

Fidelity Visa, USAA MasterCard and American Express.

 

[foxfirev5]

I carry one AMEX and VISA card in my wallet. The AMEX is for Hilton points and VISA for Intercontinental Hotels. I also have a GM Mastercard I leave at home. The GM rebate will go unused, so I'm phasing this one out.

 

[truenorth418]

2% cash back Capital One Visa. No foreign currency exchange fees.

 

[martyb]

AAFES Card (military exchange stores)
Amazon

That is all.

 

[RetireAge50]

American Express/Costco and Chase for places that don't take Amex (and for certain places/categories where cash back is 5%).

 

[H2ODude]

I like to keep life simple; use the FIDO Amex everywhere we can for the 2% and a MC with no fee for the few places that don't take Amex. Hadn't redeemed the Amex points for several years, did a month or so ago and it was, well, quite rewarding! Have thought about investigating an airline linked CC as we spend $5-8k a year on tickets and could probably generate more miles or points to get upgrades. I find the airline FF miles thing very confusing though in terms of what can be used for what. Then again, I like things simple.

 

[scrabbler1]

Despite a flurry of recent use of my BofA cashback credit card, I don't use it very often. It is the only one I carry although its predecessor, a Citibank CC (with a worthless "Rewards" program), I keep at home as a backup card. I have one revolving annual charge with that card to keep the account open.