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What Credit Card to Get?
DJ-99
Registered User regular
Registered User regular
I am in the market for my first ever credit card. I have virtually no credit history, as I just graduated college. I pay my rent and TV/internet, and that is it. I have a well-paying job.
I need something that gives me cash back on plane tickets, rental cars, food, hotels, and gas. Basically anything travel related. If I can't get cash back on all of those, I just need it on as many as possible.
I don't really think that APR will be an issue for me, as I will be able to pay off my expenses at the end of every month. Is this logical thinking? Even if the APR is 25%, if I pay my bill on time every month, it doesn't matter, right?
Ideally I would find something with cash back greater than 1%. Maybe 2% or 3%, but offhand I haven't been able to find anything. I don't really need any other types of rewards.
What credit card company should I go with? Any specific cards people can recommend?
Thanks for any input.
I need something that gives me cash back on plane tickets, rental cars, food, hotels, and gas. Basically anything travel related. If I can't get cash back on all of those, I just need it on as many as possible.
I don't really think that APR will be an issue for me, as I will be able to pay off my expenses at the end of every month. Is this logical thinking? Even if the APR is 25%, if I pay my bill on time every month, it doesn't matter, right?
Ideally I would find something with cash back greater than 1%. Maybe 2% or 3%, but offhand I haven't been able to find anything. I don't really need any other types of rewards.
What credit card company should I go with? Any specific cards people can recommend?
Thanks for any input.
DJ-99 on
0
Posts
I just applied for a Chase Visa card that offers either 1 or 2% cash back, I can't remember. But it also offered 3% cash back on whichever "category" you spent the most in each month. I'm not sure what the categories are, but it sounds like it could be what you're looking for. I applied for it because I currently only get 1% cash back.
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Discover goes on about their cash-back programs a lot, Chase (who I have) has some rotating-thing where you get points/money on whatever you spend the most on.
As for APR, yes, if you pay the balance every month, it doesn't matter. Just make sure there's no fees for the card. Always, always pay the balence, even if it's $1.00.
If you have other bank accounts (check/saving), I'd look into their cards, as if nothing else, having all your accounts under one login/name is pretty handy.
I'm fucking drowning in debt because I was stupid enough to get in over my head.
Otherwise the Bluecash/Bluesky AMEX stuff is probably a little better, but not everyone takes AMEX.
That's up to you.
I've had the Chase for a little over a year now and I think they've paid me about $1500 in cash ($250 for every $200 you save up). I don't carry a balance.
I'm pretty sure this is what I have, Chase Freedom Visa Signature. 3% on your 3 primary categories every month, and 1% on everything else. Looking at the Chase selection (here), the two Chase Freedom Plus cards seem even better, in that you get 6 categories instead of 3, but that's just at a quick glance.
I also have Discover Open Road which has 5% cash back for car-related expenditures, including gas.
On top of those two, my brother has a Chase Professional card, which has 3% cash back for:
1. Restaurants
2. Office supply stores
3. Gas stations
4. Building supply stores
5. Hardware stores
6. Home improvement centers
I applied for it, but was turned down. I've never had a credit problem, but he's a lawyer and I'm not, and I had also just applied for the Chase Freedom 2 months prior.
If you're only going to have one credit card, it needs to be a Visa or Mastercard; don't get me wrong, AmEx is great, but it's not taken at as many places as Visa or Mastercard is. Forget about Discover; they're not even taken at as many places as AmEx is.
Hmm... I'm looking for some hard evidence on this, but in my experience it's the other way around. I find more places take Discover than AmEx. So far my Googling has been fruitless in providing any evidence one way or the other.
That's the best thing you can do as they have your banking history to show you're not a total deadbeat (unless you are). As well, they will probably be VERY happy to try and make money off of you in interest. Just don't expect a $100,000 card but a $1000 is fine when starting out.
When I first started college, I applied for a student Visa that started $500 limit and by the end had a $3500 limit. When that was expiring, applied for my bank's Reward Visa (cash back). It's 1% for the first $2000 on it and then 2% for the next $2000 ($4000 limit per year).
I've found Discover to be at least on par with AmEx, though it's most likely that if a place doesn't take one it won't take the other... but yeah, if you're only going to have 1 card it needs to be Visa or Mastercard
With no credit history, your best bet may either be a company that your parents have a card with (how I got my Discover card originally), or through some other service (if you're buying many plane tickets, do you have a frequent fliers account? Many of them also have an associated credit card)
That's a secured card, right? An unscured (the more common type), going off what gneGne said, gives you a limit based on your credit score/risk, which is theoretically based on your income vs. your expenditures.
Someone mentioned those earlier, but I would try for an unsecured first.
For your first credit card go Visa or Mastercard, basically whatever your bank offers. If you go through your bank it will be linked to your other accounts so you can manage it online, which makes everything that much easier. You might not get great rewards to start, but once you build up your credit you'll have a few more options to choose from.
Things that improve your credit score:
Paying for shit on time
Things that hurt your credit score:
Not paying for shit on time
Massive simplification, but that's the basic of it. You build credit by taking the credit you have and using it responsibly. You lose credit by being irresponsible with using the credit you have. Knowing your credit score is useful if you're about to make a large purchase (housing, car... something rather big, basically) and you want to find out how good/bad of financing you'll get. You're entitled to one free report each year by the major companies that track your score -- the report you'll get from them is very basic, and they'll try to charge you if you want any sort of frills. You can obtain that report here:
https://www.annualcreditreport.com/
The TV commercial sites you see are generally trying to fuck you over. Don't use them.
Pay your bills on time and your credit score goes up. It really is pretty much that simple.
But, to be more specific. Paying more than the minimum on your payments is good. Carrying a low amount of debt is good. Having a history of paying your bills/loans on time is good.
Having a history of credit is probably the most important thing. The longer you've had credit and not screwed it up the more financially responsible it shows you to be. If you've had a credit card for 10 years and never missed a payment and still carry a relatively low balance, it shows that you know what you're doing and can be trusted. If you just got your first credit card a few months ago, you're new to the whole thing so the rating agencies (and the people looking at them) have less of an idea about your credit worthiness.
Bad things:
Missing payments. Having a large debt/credit ratio (ie maxing out your cards). Bankruptcy, foreclosure, defaults etc. are obvioulsy bad. Opening up a lot of credit card accounts is bad (it is usually interpreted to mean you're increasing your debt load).
Things that affect your credit a little, but you shouldn't worry about:
Getting your credit checked, for any reason, including changing insurance. (This is interpreted as you're thinking about borrowing more money).