Which credit card offers the best point system?
 

Hey guys, I currently only have one credit card. It has a 1% back of everything I purchase. I haven't sat down and done all the math yet, but I remember seeing cards with much higher cash back % ratio yet with an annual fee. I was looking at the AMEX blue cash preferred card. It has a 75$ annual, yet a 6% point system on groceries up to 6k a year. At 360$ a year that would pay for the card in itself. It also offers 3% on gas which isn't capped, and 1% on everything else.

Now, that all being said, I'm not worried about interest. I pay off my card every month and have never paid interest. Anyone else have any suggestions on better cards that offer such a system? I don't care if it has an annual fee, if the card will pay for itself with a greater return than 1%.

That's what I'm currently using now. Couldn't find other card that beats it.

I don't fly often, but I do plan on visiting Japan soon. And maybe Chicago later next year. I don't know if I'll be flying to Chicago or not, but I do know that card isn't the best for flying.

I looked at the MasterCard from Miles and More also, it seemed to be pretty awesome overall. It looks like a 2% on everything, so I don't know if that would even out to be about the same or not as the AMEX.

If you want to maximize rewards, then look for sign-up bonuses. Apply for card, meet spending requirements, get bonus, close card. Rinse and repeat. Getting 50,000 miles for spending $3000 will beat any rewards program.

But doesn't that hurt your credit opening and closing accounts so often?

Agreed. Look for the ones with non-expiring, transferrable points. Some cards will offer 1:1 transfer to most major airlines, etc. This means you can hold the points until you find an airline deal, then transfer what you need, and still have the flexibility to use the remaining points however you choose. I previously used the 'cash back' cards, but the points used towards airline offer more value.

I use the bank of america 123 card

1% cash back on purchases, 2% at grocery stores and 3% on gas for the first $1,500 in combined grocery store and gas purchases each quarter
0% Intro APR on purchases and balance transfers
No annual fee†
10% customer bonus offer

I'm considering the Amex, but I need to do the math to see if the reward beats the fee, which it should pretty easily for my family. What does the amex give for gas?

What this guy said. If you want to rack up points/miles then churning is the way to go. I've slowed down my apps over the past year but I might start up again soon. Opening multiple cards helps your score since your amount of available credit is increased but closing them may hurt since the average age of your accounts will go down. It's a balancing act between what you're willing to spend on annual fees vs. increasing age of credit lines.

Of course, YMMV

I researched this at the end of last year to find my 1st "points" card. It seems nowadays one of the best ones is the one I ended up with - The Chase Sapphire Preferred. You have to have decent credit to be approved but if you are, its great! You get 40,000 points for spending $3000 the 1st 2 or 3 months and then 2 points for all travel and dining related expenses and 1 point for everything else! 1:1 transfers, no blackout dates, and a large variety of rewards! Amex is known for being easy to work with for chargebacks, fraud, rewards, etc. but like you said have an annual fee and is not accepted as widely as Visa. Plus, the Sapphire is a metal card and ladies love the metal cards!! :D

Along with the points previously mentioned about the age of accounts, every time a company checks your credibility with a credit agency to see if you can have the credit card, your credit score gets affected.

In my case my score will go down a point or two for each card opened but then will go up another 5 or 10 because of the increase in my debt-to-available credit ratio. By the end of the day your score should be about the same if not better than before.

But then it drops again when you close it... Otherwise, you have 10 CC's and some of them have annual fees...

I've got this same card, but I only use it for gas. My main card is the Citi card that gives double cash back (1% for everything you buy, 1% on everything you pay off) I use this one for everything but gas. Doing this gets me about $17 a month in cash back. Doesn't sound like a lot, but it adds up, and I'm spending it anyway, so why not. :)

I'm using a capital one card. 1.5% cash back on everything with no limit or annual fee. I have a business credit card with them and get $1000-$1500 a month in cash back.

That new Citi one if they have a business account one I will look into as another .5% will make a big difference since I do so many charges a month.

Old thread, but figure an update isn't a bad idea. I picked up the Capital one venture card. I've already earned about 600$ back from it. Well worth it in my opinion.