Any Benefit To Using Dedicated Credit Card For Certain Purpose?

[brett]

We use different cards.

One for travel and foreign purchases because it has no hidden add on admin FX fees.

Another for auto rentals because it provides insurance.

Still another in booking some travel because we were pleasantly surprised that it covered travel cancellation for cause insurance. The one time we have ever needed it we found it covered potential loss.

The balance...dependent on rebate levels.

 

[MichaelB]

We switched to a dedicated card for the regularly scheduled bills after a couple of inconvenient fraud issues meant getting a new card. Over a decade so far that has worked well. We never use it anywhere else to minimize exposure.

We also do this. It’s one of the many tips I’ve picked up here on ER Forum.

 

[sengsational]

If I'm reading the OP message correctly, it sounds like the purpose of the extra card would be to segregate vet spending. For me, that's not a thing because all expenditures go into the computer, and I can run a report to get totals for various spend totals. But say you monitor your routine spending through the monthly CC bill. In that case, the monthly CC bill amount could be used to keep an eye on routine spending, and you could then not have the dog wagging your routine spending. Or in fact any "lumpy" spending could go on the "lumpy" card, and each transaction there could be eyeballed, whereas the regular card could be eyeballed at the stable monthly spend total.

 

[Chuckanut]

I use my hotel chain affinity CC when I stay with that chain. The chain gave me 5,000 points for my stay. Then I received an extra 3000 points because my CC gave me a status level that earned 60% more points from the hotel chain. Later, the CC bank added another 2800 points for using the CC.

IOW, having and using the chain's affinity CC earned me more points than the "normal" points earned by my stay.

 

[easysurfer]

I decided to not use a separate credit card and just charge to my most often used card. I will just tell my mind to mentally expect to have a higher cc balance than before the vet bills. Less of an inconvenience than having to track another credit card bill.

 

[Winemaker]

We have a Southwest Chase Card. We charge everything on it until we qualify for the Companion Pass. Once we qualify we use the Delta Amex or United Chase for points.

 

[Walt34]

I use a feature that Capital One offers, that of creating "virtual credit cards" for a specific vendor. It still gets billed on your "regular" credit card but the merchant doesn't know that, or care, since it behaves the same as a regular credit card anyway. But if someone gets hold of the "virtual card" number and tries to use it elsewhere the charge will be denied and you'll get a notification of the attempt and can then take appropriate action. They're also great for subscriptions since you can close the card on a whim if a subscription is being difficult to cancel.

 

[Lateboomer]

3 cards mostly driven by fraud prevention: one cash back card for everyday use in public; one cash back card that never circulates anywhere (it is for all recurring charges, Amazon, Netflix, etc); and one dedicated gas station card. When the everyday card gets compromised, I just get another overnighted and there is nothing else to change or update. The gas card seems to have cut down on the fraud since my impression is that is the primary source of skimmers, and since sticking to that, very rare compromise of the primary card.

 

[Chuckanut]

I use a feature that Capital One offers, that of creating "virtual credit cards" for a specific vendor. They're also great for subscriptions since you can close the card on a whim if a subscription is being difficult to cancel.

+1

I use the virtual card number for subscription deals and then lock it so they can’t auto renew without my OK.

 

[Doribe]

I use specific cards for specific purposes to maximize my rewards up to the quarterly limit.
I also use one card specifically for recurring automated expenses.

+1

 

[Cerys]

The only time I did that was when we were tight on funds. We had one credit card that we would put large amounts on that had a payment amount of $250 a month. So if we bought a refrigerator for 600 bucks it would be 250, 250 and then the last payment. The regular credit card was used on a regular basis, and paid off in full monthly. This allowed us to manage the large purchase without getting charged interest on everything else that we purchased.

Now that I don’t have to do anything like that, I just put everything on the same card, and occasionally use another card that gets automatically paid in full when I use it just to make sure I have two different credit cards from two vastly different companies. In case one of them decides that maybe I’m not a good credit risk and closes an account. Although I can’t imagine that but I have heard about it happening. Which is why I have a Costco credit card which is from Citibank, and a Capital One credit card.

 

[Souschef]

When we were traveling, I used a card linked to British Airways. I got lots of miles, and if I spent a certain amount, I would get a free companion ticket.
We were always flying Business Class.

 

[bluelight]

You may want to take a look at care credit. You can use it for medical, dental and Veterinarian fees. There are a couple of different versions of it, but one of them will allow you to pay over a set amount of time with 0% interest as long as the total amount is paid in full by the due date, which can be up to 24 months. I had to use it many years ago when my dog required $5K in emergency vet expenses.

 

[Sunset]

I decided to not use a separate credit card and just charge to my most often used card. I will just tell my mind to mentally expect to have a higher cc balance than before the vet bills. Less of an inconvenience than having to track another credit card bill.

You don't have to wait for the bill, you can simply go online and pay a couple of thousand towards the CC debt anytime, then when you get the bill it's smaller.

 

[JJpop]

I don’t understand the problem. If you are a person who doesn’t care about rewards or cash back, it doesn’t matter.
If you do then use the one that gives you the best return. Some people become obsessed with this and it becomes a part time job. Whatever.

 

[skyking1]

I have a card that I use for the new house construction to help me track those costs.

 

[Idnar7]

I could see having one card only for automated payments. It is a pain when you have to replace a card due to loss or expiration. It might make it easier to control the various payments, monthly, quarterly, annually.

 

[Dtail]

I could see having one card only for automated payments. It is a pain when you have to replace a card due to loss or expiration. It might make it easier to control the various payments, monthly, quarterly, annually.

And that's why I do just that.

 

[Sunset]

I could see having one card only for automated payments. It is a pain when you have to replace a card due to loss or expiration. It might make it easier to control the various payments, monthly, quarterly, annually.

Especially if that CC is set to automatically pay the balance off monthly. Nice to not worry about it when traveling.

 

[5Miler]

I went my entire life with only 1 credit card and that first one I didn't get until I was almost 30 years old. The one card served my needs until I opened a USAA account to share with DGF and suddenly I have two cards.

That was about eight years ago. Feb last year, I broke down and opened an American Express SkyMiles Gold card and have all my accounts auto bill to it and then auto pay each month. This was major for me as it was the first time I ever paid an annual fee for a credit card. But, I fly only Delta when traveling and have earned several free tickets via miles flown and purchases. Just bought 1st class for next weekend to attend my Uncle's funeral, all paid by miles. Flying to Miami for a cruise in March, again, miles. DGF is Platinum Medallion so we purchased main cabin with miles and were instantly able to upgrade to Comfort Plus for the short flight to Miami.

Just opened my 4th card last month, American Express SkyMiles Reserve card at $650 per year. Who would have thought. I switched everything to the new card including auto bill pay, then use my original Visa if a vender doesn't take AMEX. I think the AMEX Gold card was my gateway drug and now I'm hooked although I am cancelling my Gold card before the next renewal as the Reserve card makes it redundant. The new card gets me SkyMiles Club access, free 1st class companion ticket annually, boosts mileage earning and all but guarantees Medallion status with Delta among other things. All things that I used anyway but paid for or tagged along with someone as a guest to enjoy. I think I was missing out for many years.

 

[old medic]

I started a thread a while back about using CC for 0% interest offers for materials to remodel our house. What cards currently not paid off have nearly $800 in pending interest, and will be paid off in the next couple months....
Our next big purchase is wood and trim to finish out the interior.... about $2K.... applied for a new CC.... 0% interest for 18 Months with $300 cash back if we spend $1K. Will use our store card to get 5% back too...
Win Win

 

[twirler]

The biggest advantage of a credit card is the ability to dispute. Probably not the case here. Next biggest advantage is the cash back. If the Vet adds a card surcharge, it’s a wash (or worse). If no surcharge, use the card, it’s money back.

What this person said here, also: split your bills. Use one card for all reoccurring bills things like utilities. Use another card for one off purchases. The point of this is that if the one off purchases card has a fraud alert, gets stolen, gets skimmed, or lost you don’t have to disrupt everything else. For the one off purchase card make sure you have a card that has the best protection for the customer in mind(like a zero tolerance policy for fraud) while still taking advantage of as many cash back/airline miles options as you can.

Always pay off the entire card every month set this to automatic NEVER go over your limit.

 

[sdtech]

Target card for Target
Amazon card for Amazon
Everything else on the 2% back Fidelity Visa