Unbiased Credit Card Reviews

Guest: tater686
Post subject: Unbiased Credit Card Reviews
Posted: Mon Jul 04, 2005 7:30 am

I've really been looking for is a card that offers 2% cash back on ALL purchases. I finally found a card. The Sam' Club Discover Card.

SAM'S CLUB ADVANTAGE PLUS MEMBERS
Upto $1,500 0.25%
$1,500.01 - $3,000 0.50%
$3,000.01 - $5,000 1.00%
$5,000.01 - $10,000 1.75%
Over $10,000 - 1M 2.00%

You need to purchase a Plus membership ($100 a year) to qualify for these rates. Non-plus members get 1/2 the return. This is by far and away the highest cash back card I've seen for people that charge up to 1 million a year.

Has anyone seen ANY card that offers cash back in the range of this discover card?

Here are the cards I am currently using and a short review:

BANK OF AMERICA US Airways
MBNA Cashback 1% Cash back
AMEX Green Card
BANK ONE Rewards (1%)
FLEET Savings Bond (1% when issued, 2-3% when matured savings bonds)

Living outside of Philadelphia makes the US Airways card a very valuable card. Philadelphia is US Airways' hub city and there are countless options available for flights. Very rarely am I unable to get what I need. Most flights are only 20,000 miles.

MBNA Cashback - Its ok, your standard 1% cashback issued as a statement credit when you call them. No known cap.

Amex Green - Another 1% card with most purchases and a higher percentage (not known) for supermarket, gas and pharmacy purchases.

Bank One Rewards - 1% cash back, no known cap.

Fleet Savings Bond - 1 Point per dollar spent. You will receive a $50 savings bond (worth $25 now) for every 2500 points. Limited to 20 bonds a year.

---

CardRatings.com is the most comprehensive source for comparing credit card offers. Please visit CardRatings.com to view the best rated credit cards!

---

Guest: Alexis Rios
Post subject: Unbiased Credit Card Reviews
Posted: Mon Jul 04, 2005 7:49 am

i like Sams Club Discover Advantage Plus card , but require a lot of expenses to see a cash back.

Guest: Board Monitor
Post subject: Unbiased Credit Card Reviews
Posted: Mon Jul 04, 2005 9:21 am

Greetings and welcome to the board tater686! Great post. I think you could only do better with some of the other cash back cards that offer 5% on grocery, drugstore and gas purchases. This, of course, assumes that you have a lot of grocery, drugstore and gas purchases.
_________________
Best Regards,
Curtis Arnold
Board Monitor
http://www.cardratings.com
(501) 663-0314

Guest: Polonius
Credit Expert (100+ Posts)
Post subject: Unbiased Credit Card Reviews
Posted: Mon Jul 04, 2005 11:21 am

The card has a couple of built-in "gotchas." It's not bad, but it isn't as good as it appears at first glance...unless you're a Sam's Club member anyway.

What is your actual cash rebate? Suppose you spend $10,000 per year. Do you get 2% back (i.e., $200)? Nope.
Quote:
If a Purchase causes Year-to-Date Purchases to span multiple rebate tiers, the applicable rebate percentage for each spanned tier will apply to that portion of the Purchase falling within such tier. For example ,if a Cardholder who is a SAM'S CLUB Advantage member already has Year-to-Date Purchases totaling $2,000,makes an additional $2,000 Purchase, $1,000 of that additional purchase would be eligible for a 0.50% rebate and the remaining $1,000 would be eligible for a 1.00% rebate.
So it's like a tax bracket--you only get the full 2% on the purchases you make AFTER your annual buying is over $10,000. Then you have to spend that $100 per year for membership.

And what do you get back? You don't get cash. You get a rebate check.
Quote:
Rebate checks may be cashed only at the SAM'S CLUB. Cardholders who are not members of SAM'S CLUB may cash their rebate checks by obtaining a one-day pass at SAM'S CLUB.
Source:
https://www.onlinecreditcenter2.com/consumer/samsdual/layout/CashBackDisclosure.jsp

Not a problem if you shop at Sam's Club, but it would be a problem for me, since there isn't a Sam's Club for hundreds of miles from me.

And it's a Discover card. Not as many places accept Discover as AmEx, Visa, or MasterCard. I do the majority of my credit card dollar volume at Costco each year; it only takes its own cards and AmEx now.

I use the Costco TrueEarnings American Express card. As with the Sam's Club card, you need a Costco membership of some sort. I pay $100 for executive membership. That gives me a 2% rebate on all purchases (maximum $500 per year) at Costco itself. (Rebate has to be cashed in at Costco, but you can get cash on request.) To that I add the AmExp card: True cash back- 3% for eating out, 2% for traveling, 1% everywhere else, including at Costco. So I get 3% off everything at Costco, and the 3% eating out and 2% traveling are good too. The remaining 1% on all purchases doesn't sound as good as some other offers, but there are other advantages to the card--balance transfers with no fees, fairly low interest rates with the ability to carry a balance if you so choose, and so forth. Since Discover, Visa, and MasterCard aren't accepted at Costco, it's a nobrainer for me to get this one, since I shop at Costco a lot.

Guest: Alexis Rios
Post subject: Unbiased Credit Card Reviews
Posted: Mon Jul 04, 2005 12:36 pm

I think that i'll try to call to GEMB customer service to try to combine Walmart Discover with Samclub Discover an keep the Walmart Discover card. I've tried to combine the Sams Discover with the regular Sams account , but is not possible.

---

CardRatings.com is the most comprehensive source for comparing credit card offers. Please visit CardRatings.com to view the best rated credit cards!

---

Guest: tater686
Post subject: Unbiased Credit Card Reviews
Posted: Mon Jul 04, 2005 6:42 pm

Got back from Sam's Club a little while ago and got approved for the card. Limit is only $10,000 as of now so I'm gonna have to pay the card off a couple times a month for a while. The tiers dont bother me so much. I will definitely put at least $750,000 a year on the card and will probably put the required $10,000 on it in the first week to begin earning 2%. This is a business card, although they do offer a personal card.

Obviously for every day purchases this is not the best cash reward card, but I will be using this card for B2B purchases (I own a ticket agency) and the large majority of brokers I buy from accept Discover. The local Sam's Club is a mere bike ride away so its not much of a problem getting to a store to cash a rebate check.

I am pretty psyched. 2% back on up to a million a year in purchases. I've looked long and hard and this just seems to good to be true. Heck, as a merchant I only pay Discover about 1.8% for processing their credit cards and I know brick and mortar merchants probably pay about 1%. Doesnt make much sense to me from the business standpoint of Discover.

Guest: Board Monitor
Post subject: Unbiased Credit Card Reviews
Posted: Tue Jul 05, 2005 11:16 am

tater686-
Interesting! Let us know how things turn out.

Polonius-
Guess I'm confused. How exactly do you get 3% off everything at Costco? Please explain in further detail.
Best Regards,
Curtis Arnold
Board Monitor
http://www.cardratings.com
(501) 663-0314

Guest: Polonius
Credit Expert (100+ Posts)
Post subject: Unbiased Credit Card Reviews
Posted: Tue Jul 05, 2005 12:53 pm

Curtis, the Executive Membership ($100 per year) gives 2% off everything at Costco; I pay for everything there using the Costco AmEx TrueEarnings card, which gives an additional 1% on purchases anywhere, including Costco. 2%+1%=3% was all that I was saying.

There's apparently no maximum to the AmEx rebate; the Costco rebate is limited to $500 per year. I have a friend who makes large purchases at Costco every year, so he just pays for additional memberships--he switches membership cards when he goes over $25000 in purchases (that's when the Costco 2% rebate maxes out).

I actually make a bit more than that using other methods which I've mentioned here. For instance, I never use the Costco AmEx card when I purchase online--I'll use a different cashback Discover, Visa, or MasterCard. I still get that 2% from Costco and roughly 1% (cash or rewards) from the other card. But if I ever have to return anything to Costco, the local stores can't handle a refund to anything except AmExp, so they give me the refund in cash/check--and I keep the 1% rebate on the card I used...

tater686, that does indeed sound like a great deal for your circumstances! Nice find! I read through the fine print and the only possible problems I see are that the terms can change at any time. Also, since you're planning to spend about 80,000 a month on a 10,000 limit card, you might find that there's a delay between the time you pay and the time your credit limit is again available for use. That's happened to me a few times. I was told once that I could not charge more than my credit limit every month even if I paid it off in full. The Customer Service Representative who told me that was wrong...but make sure you check your availability online. You sound like a careful person who would do that anyway, but I thought I would just mention it for other readers...

Guest: Board Monitor
Post subject: Unbiased Credit Card Reviews
Posted: Wed Jul 06, 2005 8:46 am

Great tips! Thanks for the follow-up Polonius.
_________________
Best Regards,
Curtis Arnold
Board Monitor
http://www.cardratings.com
(501) 663-0314

Visa Signature and World MasterCard Credit Cards

Guest: creditnewbie
Post subject: Visa Signature and World MasterCard Credit Cards
Posted: Tue Jul 05, 2005 7:47 pm

Does anyone here have either one of these cards? if so, did they report your credit limit even though it's not pre-set? I have platinum Visa and MC and I think I can convert them to those two but afraid that my limits might not get reported.

---

CardRatings.com is the most comprehensive source for comparing credit card offers. Please visit CardRatings.com to view the best rated credit cards!

---

Guest: Alexis Rios
Post subject: Visa Signature and World MasterCard Credit Cards
Posted: Tue Jul 05, 2005 7:54 pm

some of these cards have a credit limit for credit report purposes. Sometimes is to avoid a drop on your score. Call to the credit call issuer for more information about these cards.

Guest: creditnewbie
Post subject: Visa Signature and World MasterCard Credit Cards
Posted: Wed Jul 06, 2005 6:47 am

My cards are with citi and bank of america. I'm afraid that if I asked them about reporting my limit, they might not tell me the truth or maybe the customer service reps don't know. Anyone has these cards with these 2 banks? Are your limits reported?

Guest: guessindigo
Post subject: Visa Signature and World MasterCard Credit Cards
Posted: Wed Jul 06, 2005 12:47 pm

No the credit limits are not reported since there is no preset spending limit. If they did report a limit and you went over it; hence no preset limit then it would show you were overlimit, and that is worse than not reporting limits. If you are absolutely positive you will NEVER charge more than your exposure limit than you can request the issuer to report the exposure limit as your credit limit. Otherwise, your credit limit on your credit reports will be the highest balance you carried at any point in time.

Also, since signature cards have very high credit lines, if they were reported correctly, you might get stung by too much available credit. This will really hurt you if you are close to purchasing a home. If you already have a home and are not going to buy another home, then having too much available credit won't hurt so much.

Guest: creditnewbie
Post subject: Visa Signature and World MasterCard Credit Cards
Posted: Wed Jul 06, 2005 2:01 pm

My credit history is very short--only 22 months, but my credit limits are $18K Visa and $10K MC. I chose those limits. I requested increases on my visa until it became $18K, and MC was opened with $1500, so I called them and told them that it was too little and I wasn't gonna accept it. They asked me how much limit I wanted then I said $10K--it's only 3 months old. I know if I want to switch my cards to Signature or World MC I won't have a problem, but I'm scared that my score will drop big time. My visa has 8.9% fixed APR, and the MC is Citi dividend. I'm not a big spender--the max I charged was 56% of MC limit and 35% of visa limit in the same month and I paid them in full always-- but I like the idea of concierge. So should I apply for one of those cards and leave my cards alone, or should I switch only one of them? If so, then which one should be switched?

Credit Card Balance Transfer Terms

Guest: Starwaves
Post subject: Credit Card Balance Transfer Terms
Posted: Fri Jul 08, 2005 11:42 am

Hi,

I'm need to double check this strategy to make sure it works the way I think it does. I have 1.99% BT's 4 life with Citibank, I used it once so that the whole balance is a 1.99% BT, nothing else is part of the balance.

My question is, if you add another BT that has the same terms, ie, the same 1.99% offer is it disadvantagous in any sneaky kinda way. I know it gets locked under the other BT, but they are the same interest rate, so I don't think it matters,

If it doesn't I want to add another small BT.

I'll follow your expert advice on this, in case I've missed something.

Thanks for checking this out,

---

CardRatings.com is the most comprehensive source for comparing credit card offers. Please visit CardRatings.com to view the best rated credit cards!

---

Guest: Polonius
Credit Expert (100+ Posts)
Post subject: Credit Card Balance Transfer Terms
Posted: Fri Jul 08, 2005 12:48 pm

No problem. You can even take advantage of different credit offers with different interest rates too--each will be listed separately on your statement then.

I recently had a 3.99% for life balance transfer on one Chase card--and then I received a 1.99% balance transfer offer (9 cycles) on the same card. I just paid off the first and then used the second...

Guest: JaneiR36
Post subject: Credit Card Balance Transfer Terms
Posted: Fri Jul 08, 2005 4:38 pm

Posted: Fri Jul 08, 2005 4:38 pm

There's one thing you have to double check, even though I'm quite sure that in your case you may not have to worry about it.

A lot of companies charge you no fee for the very intro offer, when you transfer your very first balance after getting the card. But after that they begin to charge you fees to execute the other offers. I would give them a call and check first to see if any subsequent balance transfers would get a charge on them.

Credit Cards With Airline Mile Rewards

Guest: prayer warrior
Post subject: Credit Cards With Airline Mile Rewards
Posted: Fri Jan 14, 2005 5:27 pm

Help!

I just read all the recommendations/stats/facts on these type of cards, and am really overwhelmed.

Does anyone have any words of wisdom for me? I would love a great card with no annual fee that could be used on several airlines, US and S. America, or on purchases, maybe with a great initial bonus of points.

I have an outstanding credit rating. (Taught to me by my dad, who is now in heaven!!)

So, I don't want to go on year after year with a card that gives me nothing. It is just plain silly!

Thank you ALLLLLLLLLLLLLLLL!!

Blessings,
Prayer Warrior

---

CardRatings.com is the most comprehensive source for comparing credit card offers. Please visit CardRatings.com to view the best rated credit cards!

---

Guest: nativechild48
Credit Expert (100+ Posts)
Post subject: Credit Cards With Airline Mile Rewards
Posted: Fri Jan 14, 2005 7:20 pm

Of course I am going to recommend this bank:

http://www.bankofamerica.com/creditcards/index.cfm?template=cc_airline_cards
_________________
native

Guest: Board Monitor
Post subject: Credit Cards With Airline Mile Rewards
Posted: Sat Jan 15, 2005 8:51 am

prayer warrior,

Thanks for your post and welcome to the board! Check here for our latest ratings of airline reward cards:

http://www.cardratings.com/cardrepfr.html

I personally like the new Citi Premier Pass.

Out of curiosity, how did you find out about our website?
_________________
Best Regards,
Curtis Arnold
Board Monitor
http://www.cardratings.com
(501) 663-0314

Guest: prayer warrior
Post subject: Credit Cards With Airline Mile Rewards
Posted: Sat Jan 15, 2005 2:39 pm

Hello,

I found your website by going to yahoo search and putting in something like: credit cards airline mile rewards, and a bunch of sites popped up. Lots of comparisons. Yours and one other were the best, in my humble opinion!

Blessings,
p.w.

Guest: KARKAUAI
Post subject: Credit Cards With Airline Mile Rewards
Posted: Sat Jul 02, 2005 6:18 pm

Hi, Curtis, Thanks Soooo much for the great site!!!
I saw your recommendation for the Premier Pass Citi card and looked it up. Looks promising, but I'm always leery of what looks too good to be true. Can you really fly on any airline for the posted # of points, and the only restriction is a 14 day advance purchase with a Sat. Night stay? Or are you limited to seats that the airlines have set aside for frequent flyer rewards? I also don't understand the Companion Travel feature...it says they'll let me know more when I get the card.

---

CardRatings.com is the most comprehensive source for comparing credit card offers. Please visit CardRatings.com to view the best rated credit cards!

---

Guest: Board Monitor
Post subject: Credit Cards With Airline Mile Rewards
Posted: Mon Jul 04, 2005 9:32 am

Kent,

My pleasure! Haven't heard any negative reviews of Premier Pass. Please post a review in our consumer reviews section if you end of getting the card:

http://www.cardratings.com/cardreviewfr.html

Let us know how things turn out!
_________________
Best Regards,
Curtis Arnold
Board Monitor
http://www.cardratings.com
(501) 663-0314

Credit Cards For Use Abroad

Guest: ahsia
Post subject: Credit Cards For Use Abroad
Posted: Sat Jul 23, 2005 11:37 am

I've recently accepted a job where I will be traveling 95% of the time internationally. I was looking into getting the United and the AA card, but realized that since my company will be booking my travels and hotels, I won't get the points and rewards with those cards.

So I am looking for a card with no fees when I use abroad from the US and will get me the most rewards possible. Please let me know what you think, appreciate your time! Thanks...

---

CardRatings.com is the most comprehensive source for comparing credit card offers. Please visit CardRatings.com to view the best rated credit cards!

---

Guest: Alexis Rios
Post subject: Credit Cards For Use Abroad
Posted: Sat Jul 23, 2005 12:22 pm

Ahsia , check Value Milessm Platinum Visa® Card from Chase/BankOne
http://www.bankone.com/answers/BolAnswersDetail.aspx?top=you&segment=PFS&topic=CreditCards&item=2Q7W

How Many Credit Cards Is Enough?

Guest: milavant
Post subject: How Many Credit Cards Is Enough?
Posted: Tue Jul 19, 2005 4:15 pm

I now only have an AMEX cashback with a $20,000 limit and a Chase Signature Visa with a $40,000 "access" line. (I also have a Sears card for special offers).

I use AMEX for everything and Visa as a backup for when AMEX is not accepted. Both offer cash rewards.

I have no more Mastercard or Discover.

I pay all my bills in full each month and get rewards that I consider good on both cards.

I do not care about balance transfers, 0% financing, etc.

My house is paid off, and I have a home equity line of credit with a $130,000 limit, should I need it.

Are these two cards enough for my situation? I don't see the need for a third card, or am I missing something?

---

CardRatings.com is the most comprehensive source for comparing credit card offers. Please visit CardRatings.com to view the best rated credit cards!

---

Guest: hesiden
Post subject: How Many Credit Cards Is Enough?
Posted: Tue Jul 19, 2005 4:22 pm

Doesn't look like you "need" one. Many people like to have more.

Guest: Alexis Rios
Post subject: How Many Credit Cards Is Enough?
Posted: Tue Jul 19, 2005 6:13 pm

Just in case try for a MasterCard .

Citibank's Mortgage Credit Card

Guest: lauren75
Post subject: Citibank's Mortgage Credit Card
Posted: Tue Jul 19, 2005 5:00 pm

Does anybody have this particular credit card from Citibank? I wonder if it makes sense, since its only a 1% where their other cash back and rewards cards can earn 5% at gas stations, supermarkets and drug stores. They do have an attractive 6% cash back intro for certain transactions. I seem to be ADDICTED to their credit card offers.

---

CardRatings.com is the most comprehensive source for comparing credit card offers. Please visit CardRatings.com to view the best rated credit cards!

---

Guest: Board Monitor
Post subject: Citibank's Mortgage Credit Card
Posted: Wed Jul 20, 2005 8:34 am

lauren75,

Greetings and welcome to the board! Neat card, but you can do better with some of the other cards in terms of rebate percentages. However, I do like the fact that the mortgage card has a "forced debt reduction component". Still seems strange to me that you can use a credit card to pay down debt, though.
Best Regards,
Curtis Arnold
Board Monitor
http://www.cardratings.com

Low Interest Credit Card Balance Transfers

Guest: pumpkin
Post subject: Low Interest Credit Card Balance Transfers
Posted: Wed Jul 20, 2005 12:26 pm

hi-
I'm looking into transferring my current balance on my credit card. It's the only credit card I've had, but the interest in very high. I have a decent balance and I think by transferring to a lower interest card I'll be able to make a dent. What cards are out there that make sense? And is there information on the minimum payments: if I transfer say 5,000 do I have to pay that off on the new card right away? Sorry if that's an obvious question, just making sure my bases are covered.

Thanks!

---

CardRatings.com is the most comprehensive source for comparing credit card offers. Please visit CardRatings.com to view the best rated credit cards!

---

Guest: Board Monitor
Post subject: Low Interest Credit Card Balance Transfers
Posted: Thu Jul 21, 2005 4:29 pm

Greetings and welcome to the board! You may find this article that we recently published to be helpful:

http://www.cardratings.com/lowinterestintroductorycreditcardoffers.html
_________________
Best Regards,
Curtis Arnold
Board Monitor
http://www.cardratings.com
(501) 663-0314

Getting A Student Credit Card

Guest: seltar
Post subject: Getting A Student Credit Card
Posted: Thu Jul 21, 2005 4:51 pm

Hi all,

I found this site a few weeks ago and have perused it at my convenience, and I've really learned a lot about credit. So thanks for that. I've got just a few miscellaneous questions about credit.

For a long while I've wanted to get my first credit card but the time didn't seem appropriate, but now I think it's time. Here's my situation. I'm 19 years old and will be returning to college as a sophomore at the end of next month. As this will be my first card, I don't have any credit history (building a good credit history is the main reason I want a card). I've had a Chase MC since I was 16, which is attached to my parents' account, and I hardly use it. So I know I will be responsible with my own card. I get several "pre-approved" offers each month but I never apply because they require minimum income levels that I don't have. I'll have a job on campus but can realistically only make like $1000 in an academic year (both due to time constraints as well as employment rules by the college).

So I've been looking at student cards. The one featured on cardratings.com (Citi mtvU Platinum select Visa) looks pretty good but so does the Chase Platinum for Students (MasterCard) that someone mentioned in a different thread. I really don't know what's better. Anyone have ideas? Both APR rates look really high (approx. 16%) compared to the offers I am sent in the mail (7.99%, stuff like that). Is that normal?

What is a minimum finance charge on purchases? The Chase MC is a $1.00 charge. Does that mean I pay $1.00 every time I use it?

And finally, how long does it take to get approval? I'd like to time it so that Citi/Chase can offer me a card as I return to campus.

Thanks for any advice you can give!!

---

CardRatings.com is the most comprehensive source for comparing credit card offers. Please visit CardRatings.com to view the best rated credit cards!

---

Guest: maddybeagle
Post subject: Getting A Student Credit Card
Posted: Thu Jul 21, 2005 9:13 pm

What is a minimum finance charge on purchases? The Chase MC is a $1.00 charge. Does that mean I pay $1.00 every time I use it?

- no it means when you do carry a balance, the min. finance charge will be 1 buck. This really doesnt mean much except if you have balances for 1 day at the end of a cycle. I only know this because I did a balance offer on a 1.99% card and they charged me the min. finance charge because the interest would have been lower. just another cc game.

I dont know about college students getting cards, a lot of card companies target them as a whole. I est. credit once I was in the work force and had several years before I bought a house (the only real reason you need credit).

Guest: cled
Post subject: Getting A Student Credit Card
Posted: Thu Jul 21, 2005 11:46 pm

- no it means when you do carry a balance, the min. finance charge will be 1 buck. This really doesnt mean much except if you have balances for 1 day at the end of a cycle. I only know this because I did a balance offer on a 1.99% card and they charged me the min. finance charge because the interest would have been lower. just another cc game.

I dont know about college students getting cards, a lot of card companies target them as a whole. I est. credit once I was in the work force and had several years before I bought a house (the only real reason you need credit).

i would suggest first to go and see how your credit report looks(www.myfico.com)-

check to see if everything is correct, scores are good-

if that is the case, you may go ahead applying for new cards-

Guest: seltar
Post subject: Getting A Student Credit Card
Posted: Fri Jul 22, 2005 10:39 am

Can anyone tell if the Chase MasterCard requires a minimum income? For the life of me, I can't find it in their disclosures or FAQ.

The site is http://creditcardsatchase.com/portal/index.jsp?pgTitle=pg_card_features&card=student

Guest: rain
Post subject: Getting A Student Credit Card
Posted: Fri Jul 22, 2005 2:30 pm

Student cards generally don't require any minimum income. I went to that site and didn't see a min. income requirement. If you apply for cc, I find you generally want to look below the summary box for income requirements, but even this requirement is usually so low, everyone qualifies...

Btw as a student, your scholarship counts as income.

Guest: maddybeagle
Post subject: Getting A Student Credit Card
Posted: Fri Jul 22, 2005 10:12 pm

Quote:
i would suggest first to go and see how your credit report looks(www.myfico.com)-

check to see if everything is correct, scores are good-

if that is the case, you may go ahead applying for new cards-


I dont know why you are saying this? if he doenst have any credit history, why would he look up his credit score? - Note that I do know a friend that was able to use good credit through college (and paid off books etc. with).