<p>I’m wondering, what credit cards do you all have. What do you use these credit cards for? Are there cards you use for non-rewards/credit purposes, like the services those cards provide? What do you think of the cards you do have?</p>
<p>We have a Capital One Rewards Visa card. We use it for everything, business and personal. Then we get free airline tickets or refunds of other travel purchases. It adds up pretty fast since we use the card so much. You can also get refunds of other kinds of purchases, but the return is a lower percentage.</p>
<p>We have never paid a penny of interest in the 15 years we’ve had the card. No annual fee, either.</p>
<p>We use Costco Amex. Mr B charges every business expense to that card, and on average we get $1500 cashback (that also includes the 2% from Costco business membership on Costco purchases). The rebate is real money and not points or miles. One caveat is that the rebates can only be redeemed at a Costco. </p>
<p>We card hop. Always a 0% card. Never paid any interest either. My children have an ATM debit card and one CC at 0% interest for emergencies.</p>
<p>@aunt bea, do you use the 0% credit? As in, do you let the balance go for a while without paying it off, then pay it all off when it’s about to start charging interest? Do you need to do that, or do you find there’s more value in having that than having the rewards you could have with cards with normal interest rates?</p>
<p>@MaineLonghorn, is there a reason you choose to not take a card with an annual fee? Specifically, I notice many cards with an annual fee come with an intro bonus that covers the annual fee for 2 or more years, and have much better rewards that could make the annual fee easily worth it. </p>
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<p>Capital One cards are also convenient when charging things in foreign currency, as they do not add a fee or surcharge to the exchange rate, unlike most other cards.</p>
<p>Never have a balance. I use the cards for everything. I look for no fee cards with cash back or rewards I’m 100% certain I’ll use. (ie not airplane miles.) Life is too short to figure out if a fee is worth more cash back.</p>
<p>Having been burned, I have one card that I use for everyday purchases and another for online ones.</p>
<p>I have a Southwest card that I do pay an annual fee for. However, I get a free ticket about once every 6 months or so, so I think it pays for itself. Just learned yesterday that I can charge tuition with no extra fees from the college, so that will be a free ticket itself.</p>
<p>We have 4 cards. Best Buy no fee only used when we buy a computer or TV and they have a zero percent financing for x months. Lowes no fee same idea use when we are redoing a room and they have zero percent financing. Amex for online stuff. Citicard thankyou visa no fee for all other purchases, pay off each month now we use points for gift cards to pay DS’s college text books we used to use the points for airline tickets… </p>
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We have a Marriott Chase Visa that has a fee, but gives a free night each year that pays for it. The points earned on the card can be used for free nights, but they also contribute to status, which provides upgrades, lounge access, point bonuses, free breakfasts, etc. If you stay four nights on points, the fifth night is free. So far we’ve milked it pretty well.</p>
<p>We have a Barnes& Noble MasterCard. You get B&N gift cards as a reward, which is fine with us. We use them to purchase Christmas gifts. But we were looking to switch to the Costco card. Bunsen, are you saying the cash back isn’t cash at all, but Costco gift cards?</p>
<p>I have a 1.5% cash back on everything Visa through my bank that I use for the bulk of my spending, and the Amex Blue Cash Everyday that I use for 3% back on groceries</p>
<p>We have a Visa that we use for everything and we got rewards/free airline tickets in return. We also have Amex for Costco. We never paid interest on any credit card.</p>
<p>Just like Hunt, I have a Marriott visa. The $85 fee buys me a “free” weekday night at a very nice Silicon Valley hotel with Internet and breakfast included. Considering the fact that even Motel 6 there costs way more than $85/night on weekdays, that is a pretty good deal.
This Visa and our Costco Amex are my main cards. I have a couple more zero fee ones that I rarely use - mostly carry them just in case.</p>
<p>We have a credit union Visa (we get points on it, redeemable for stuff/gift cards/travel $) and a Costco Amex. Both are paid off each month. My husband uses them more then I do. He puts everything on a card, usually the Amex, due to the cash back. </p>
<p>I also have 3 store credit cards. I’ve had the Nordstrom card since I was 18. I’ll keep it til I die 
. I’ve had the other two for years and use them only to get lower prices. Like everything else, they are paid off as soon as charges appear. I haven’t carried a balance in close to 30 years.</p>
<p>Most of my purchases are made with a debit card on my checking account… </p>
<p>Add me to the Cap One rewards card list, because of the “travel purchase eraser” and the foreign exchange deal. </p>
<p>I have CapOne Spark Business Visa that they upgraded to give us added benefits like buyer extended warranty and primary car renters insurance coverage. We pay $59/year and get back 2% cash for alm purchases. </p>
<p>Also have Costco AmEx business card that gives 4% back on all gas, plus 1% on our Costco purchases and 2% on travel and restaurants. </p>
<p>Have a few other cards which I rarely use, including master cards for Sam’s Clubs (issued by various companies). </p>
<p>I have never paid a late fee nor interest, but charge mostly all I can and enjoy the frequent checks I receive. I have charged tuition, a minivan, home improvements and more! I pay off in full every month. Am quite satisfied. Have gotten thousands back in cash over the past few years. No problems with CC companies. </p>
<p>Also have a Macys card (rarely used). </p>
<p>We have two credit cards- one MasterCard, one Visa. Capitol One is a good one to have- choose the one with the points or whatever. We had their Orbitz card for points using that site but next month the company is switching to a different of theirs- keep accumulated points but they will go further! The other is with our financial investment firm. We have no annual fees and ALWAYS pay the balance every month so interest charges don’t play a role. It is nice to have two different cards in case something freezes one. Some cards don’t charge extra for charges in another currency- handy when traveling to other countries, even Canada.</p>
<p>At various times I have gotten Penneys and Sears cards when making large purchases- window coverings or appliances- to get the significant extra savings. We don’t bother having too many cards- easier to have problems.</p>
<p>I would only use a credit card as a convenience- only spend what you intend to pay for that month. They are safer than debit cards. Get a no fee card. Always pay your balance before incurring interest charges. Check your charges at least monthly- save your receipts until you verify the amount is correct. It doesn’t happen often but you may need to dispute a charge. We helped uncover a fraud ring by complaining about a charge over a decade ago.</p>
<p>I know some people who spend hours figuring out which card has a special this month on a particular category of purchase, and other people (that would be Ms. Bob, among others) who just reach for their overpriced Amex card. The former is too much work for me, and the latter leaves too much money on the table (we get $2500 to $3000/year of rebates, net of fees). </p>
<p>So, here’s my middle-of-the-road but lucrative approach to credit cards:
- I set them to pay off the balance in full automatically. Paying interest wipes out any gains.</p>
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<li><p>A Pentagon Federal Visa card pays 5% back on gasoline. I tie it to a ExxonMobil magic wand thingy (SpeedPass IIRC is the technical term) that treats the purchase as though it were cash (some stations have a higher price for credit), and every now and then Exxon will have a discounted price. We have three magic wands and three cars, so this adds up to a hefty sum every month.</p></li>
<li><p>Amazon Visa for Amazon purchases (3% back on Amazon purchases, 1% back on everything else).</p></li>
<li><p>American Express Preferred Blue Cash. This one has a fee ($75), but I easily make it back. There’s a version that is fee-free; it’s easy to figure out which version works best for your spending habits. 6% back on groceries at a grocery store (recently limited to first $6000 of groceries, after which it reverts to 1%, which is a bummer with our voracious teens, but that’s still more than $360 cash back). 3% back on department stores and some other categories. 1% back on everything else.</p></li>
<li><p>I recently opened a CapitalOne Quicksilver account for its 1.5% cash back, but they start with such a low limit that I can only use it for incidentals. I recently took a vacation that I would have loved to get 1.5% back on, but I would have exploded through the credit limit.</p></li>
<li><p>I also recently got a Fidelity 2% Amex but haven’t gotten into the habit of using it.</p></li>
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