Wells Fargo cash rewards tied into main account and pay off monthly to avoid interest, etc. I have earned a considerable amount of cash rewards and now use it for everything we purchase. They also gave me two cards-one for me and one for the wife.

Agree on this….I really need to take advantage of my points…I should use that card for every purchase instead of my damn debit card….it would be paid off monthly of course…I will NEVER have credit card debt again. The only exception is if I put a purchase on a 0% card…but I would only do that if I had the money in the bank to pay it off…just use it as a free loan instead of paying it all up front. The trick is to make sure you pay it off before the 0% period ends. Credit cards are the devil…never carry a balance on one that charges interest. These credit card companies are basically legal loan sharks….it should be illegal for the amount of interest they can charge…..once most people go down that rabbit hole they can’t afford to get out of it.

I have the Wells Fargo cash rewards but My friend gets more Rewards at Chase I think.

Chase Sapphire and Sapphire Preferred. Different fees with both, but the awards are pretty ridiculous.

Amex for over 25 years. I pay off monthly and have no fees other than once a year, which you also get miles from.
If you have to pay a bill every month. Auto pay it to Amex. Ie, elec, cable, gas, .
My wife and I easilly earn a free vacation once a year. Plane and car rental.
Second choice. Costco rewards Citi, if you do Costco a lot for gas and food. The cash rewards paid once a year pay for the renewal and usually a 500-1000 store run.

Damn…I need to look into that and maybe Amex then. I have a Costco membership so it could be worth it.

Determining whether you want cash back rewards or travel rewards is the first consideration.

You can find most or all of current offerings here:

https://www.doctorofcredit.com/best-current-credit-card-sign-bonuses/

Personally, I would caution doing business with Wells Fargo considering how fast and loose they have played with customer details the last few years.

https://www.forbes.com/sites/eriksherman/2021/09/28/wells-fargo-gets-into-trouble-yet-again-over-alleged-fraud/?sh=292a58223572

Citi double cash card gets you 2% back.

https://www.nerdwallet.com/cash-rewards-credit-cards

Also try to take advantage of sign-up bonuses. Some of those can be $200-$300, once you spend a certain amount in a certain period of time on the card.

None.

LTG : )

I use the amazon card. Pay it off each month. If you dont get stupid its win win. Get points to buy stuff and its safer then carrying cash and using a debit card.

I second forceflow’s caution about Wells Fargo. Look up their recent history. I’d never do business with a company with their lack of integrity.

Yes they are a piece of shit. Would never support.

https://finance.yahoo.com/news/wells-fargo-scandals-the-complete-timeline-141213414.html

If you've never had a card or much credit history, you probably won't get into anything with super crazy rewards, a high limit, or a phenomenal rate, so temper expectations accordingly .

For most "average joe" cards, your rewards are going to be pretty much the same no matter where you go...it just depends if you want cash, points, miles, etc.

I have the Amazon Visa and it has good rewards...5% on anything I buy on Amazon and I think 3% (maybe less i don't remember ha) anything else.

I basically use it for everything then pay it off. Using a debit card doesn't really earn you anything, and it's a liability to carry it around since it's almost impossible to charge back or recover funds if its stolen, doubly so if it is also your ATM card which most are.

If you can bear the annual fee, AMEX Platinum card is worth it for the Centurion clubs alone.

Double bonus if you're active duty: we get the $700 annual fee waved.

I second this. so long as you can pay off the balance each month, there are some good perks to be had. If you are going to carry a balance, then you are obviously paying more than you are making, but if an item or service is the same cost for cash or card, you are leaving money on the table by paying cash. Any reward is better than none, and I just have my citi card linked to most of my bills and I make a cash transfer every couple of weeks to avoid any interest charges. Unfortunately, more and more businesses are beginning to charge a card fee these days, so I switch to cash or go somewhere else when that happens. The key here is doing whatever it takes to keep from carrying a balance. Once you start down that path, you are now paying through the nose and defeating any rewards benefit.

Agreed. A few years ago went to the Emmy Awards & Governor's Ball afterwards, just on my points. (The most ridiculous night of my life -- I wouldn't know where to start.)

Chase is no longer a sponsor of the Emmys so that ship has probably sailed, but they do give 1-3% back on points, and have some pretty cool experiences -- especially if you're a foodie residing in LA or NYC.

I guess this is my area of expertise. I've been rotating credit cards for over 20 years now. It's not for everyone, but it can be very lucrative. If done properly, it will not have have a negative effect on your credit score. Mine is always well above 800, one month I even hit the max. Couple rules...

1. If you cannot control your spending, don't play the credit card game.
2. Do not apply for a credit card more than once every 6 months. I tend to wait for month 7 or 8 to be safe. More than that can mess with your credit score.
3. Do not carry a balance.
4. Keep the amount of credit used on any given card below half of your available credit on that card. Even if you don't carry a balance, having too much credit used can lower your credit score. You can pay down the card multiple times a month if necessary.
5. Don't get your spouse a card for your accounts. Chase started cracking down a bit a few years back and rejecting applications even if the spouse was not the primary cardholder.
6. If you have a spouse you can double you fun by alternating who gets a credit card (also works if you have a company).
7. Read the rules on how often you can apply for the same credit card and be allowed bonus points. Example, I think you can get a new United Card bonus every two years. Of course they won't give you a card if you already have one, so you will need to have cancelled at some point.
8. Cancel your card before or just after they charge you an annual fee. If you're waiting for the end of year bonus, most cards refund your fee if you cancel shortly after the fee is charged.
9. Keep track of when you get a new card and when you cancel it. You don't to screw up and get approved but not be eligible for bonus points.

On to the fun!

One note, I don't care about the APR at all since I have no intention of carrying a balance. I'm also lucky enough to have a wife that is also a saver type like myself.

Ideally I like to have one primary no annual fee card that give me a nice bonus. For that I use the Citi Double Cash card. You basically get 2% back on everything you ever buy. So if you do nothing else other than get that card, you will be saving 2% for the foreseeable future.

I also like to have 2 no annual fee cards that get me 5% back on rotating categories. One is the Discover Card and the other is the Chase Freedom. For the next 3 months Chase gives you 5% back on gas purchases, Discover was the prior 3 months, so that been nice.

Since I have those 3 keeper cards, I can now focus on loading up on points, miles, money or whatever. The deals are always changing so you just have to keep an eye out. The funny thing is, the more you take advantage of the the offers, the more (and often better) offers they will send you. Not a week goes by that we don't get some kind of offer in the mail. I assume this is because on average, credit card users will spend beyond their means and end up paying lots of interest to the companies.

We like to travel a lot, so I often try to get the right card at the right time to have enough points for a free flight and hopefully get free luggage if needed (comes in handy for ski trips). Some airlines now require you to book with the airline credit card in order to get free luggage, so keep an eye on that. In the recent past that was less common. You can really fly all over the place for next to nothing with a little bit of work. Admittedly it's gotten a little harder keeping up enough points to fly the whole family. That's where the 2 for 1 (plus about $130) Alaska Air bonus comes in handy.

As I mentioned, the deals are always changing. There are a number of websites/blogs/forums that will let you know the latest and greatest deals. So you just need to find the right one for you. Just keep changing companies and as long as you have good credit you should get the card/deal no problem. Here are the last 20 we got (me, wife, wife's company)...

Marriott
Alaska Air
Capital One
United
Chase Business
Alaska Air
Citi Premier
Chase Saphire
Chase Saphire
Amex
Capital One
Citi Double
Amex
Marriott
Citi Premier
Citi Premier
United
Marriott
Amex
Barclays

Lots of variety! As I said, it's not for everyone, but it's been great for us. Anybody else here playing the credit card game?

Assuming you are paying it off.

Amex for points and other benefits.

Best thing with them is they have your back on larger purchases with extended warranties and things like that. They are also quick to act on security issues anywhere in the world.

I used to travel a ton and their higher end cards are great for that with room upgrades and their own travel services.

Good thread OP maybe I need to look around too Been at Wells for a long time.

These are the same cards I use. Amex for almost everything but Costco Citi for places that don't take Amex and Costco purchases. Also have the Amazon Prime card for Amazon purchases to get 5% cash back. I have autopay setup to pay them off each month.

We are Sam's Club members and have a Credit Card from them. Credit card is also our membership card which makes it handy. Rewards are decent but my favorite part is I can pay my bill right in any Sam's Club store and also use the rewards I get when I make purchases at the club. Our local Sam's Club is normally the cheapest place for me to get gas (sometimes by as much as 30 cents cheaper) and I get rewards back for buying their gas. I love it but it only works if you live near a Sam's Club.

With all of the credits/discounts you can recoup most of the membership fee....but if you fly at all eventually you are going to be stuck in an airport for an extended amount of time and the Centurion Clubs are amazing. At least once a year I'm stuck in an airport for 4+ hours and even if I never used any of the benefits that pays for the card right there.

I second both of these points. Wells Fargo is quite sketchy if you read into their history.

My wife and I have been using the Citi Doublecash for some years now and it’s a solid $75-150 direct deposited a month depending on our spend. We also use the Capital One Savor which is 4% on eating out and entertainment and 3% on groceries. It does have an almost $100 annual fee but they waived it for me when I asked once so you won’t really have the fee for a couple years. Even then it didn’t take much for us to make up for it since we’ve been staying local more than traveling.

Adding to this the Savor card gave us $400-500 as a statement credit (can’t remember exact amount) for spending $3k in 3 months. Signing bonuses can be a big part of the appeal then you can downgrade the card to something without an annual fee if that’s an issue for you.

Paypal CC through synchrony is a flat 2% off
Amex has a card that gives 6% back on Groceries.
Citi, I can check gives 10% back on communication like internet cell phone.
Other cars help with restaurants or gas.

Southwest, with a spending amount will give around $1000 in airline tickets.
Capital one has a decent program, as do others.

Marriot Bonvoy, with spending gives 5 hotel nights.

If you are already in the Apple ecosystem, the Apple Card may be a good choice. There are some novel security/privacy features. Like others, there are some roving bonuses, and the cash back on Apple purchases offsets that Apple Tax grief on hardware upgrades.

I recommend the Apple Card. It is free and you get cash back.

You do everything from your phone, including pay off balance, get instant charge notifications, see list of charges, etc.

Excellent customer support. There was a fraudulent charge from Pakistan recently. They removed the charge, and sent me a new card right away.

I use the same exact cards for the same exact purposes.

I am not, but I must say...you have some wonderful knowledge there. Very interesting and something to consider for sure.

Now if stern would get a rewards card…..

JJP had one, all the way back in 2012. They unveiled it at CES…I wonder if it is still around…

As long as you don't maintain a balance, a credit card protects your money far better than a debit card. If someone steals your debit card info, you are relying on the bank to refund your money. If someone steals your credit card info, it's the credit cards problem.

I have been with Wells Fargo for 30 years and they are a great bank. Every institute has had breaches in security and dishonest employees. Didn't Chase have a huge breach years ago? Wells Fargo with the number of locations and FDIC coverage makes it a great bank to deal with. The portfolio management account (PMA) has multiple benefits including many free services.

Now travel vs cash rewards? The only way I would do a travel rewards card is if I had to travel for work and received reimbursement from employer. Those miles add up quick and you can take your family on vacations with it. If you do not get reimbursed then I believe there are better options out there. I used to have United Airlines card and received a ton of miles with use. The problem is the airlines are so overpriced-you will be wasting the majority of your miles to purchase fairs. I found that when I book through Orbitz vacation packages with airfare, hotel, and car rental-nothing even comes close to the pricing(trust me I have tried). With the hundreds and thousands saved through Orbitz packages it only made sense for to me to ditch the travel cards. I ended up trading all my airline miles for magazine subscriptions. Stick with the cash back cards

I use 3 cards:
Amazon Rewards Visa - use on amazon only for 5% back (requires prime subscription). Don't use the points for amazon credit, do statement credit (earn another 5% off that 5%...)
Amex Blue Cash preferred - use at grocery stores 6% back and for gas, 3%. Has annual fee, made up for by groceries alone (unless you're single and eat out a lot)
Fidelity Visa - 2% cash on everything else, goes into a brokerage account. There are other 2% cards, but IMO this is better than statement credit because you won't just spend it. Just invest it in chunks and leave it alone.