Hey Sunshine Funshine, sorry about the delay, but are any of these useful:

  • How many credit cards do you own? about 29 credit cards: https://www.wsj.com/articles/if-you-have-29-credit... That seemed to be an ... abnormally high number even if you want to rack up credit points and it go me thinking. So how many credit ... cards do you actually own? to Friday, April 7, 2017- 7:55pm ...
  • what credit card do you use? down these days what is your card and how long have you had it? credit card ...
  • What Credit Cards Do You Use for many credit cards have changed (Amex Gold is almost a completely different card now). What cards ... do you get the most value from, or use the most? I personally just upgraded my Amex Gold to the ... forward, but was curious to know which other cards are worth a look Credit Cards credit card ...
  • Incoming full-time Analysts: How much debt (student loan/cc debt) do you have? Thought this would be interesting to see. How much in student loans did you take out? Do you have ... any existing credit card debt? If so, are you paying interest? to Monday, December 3, 2018- 7:55pm ...
  • Which credit cards are you guys using? Premier or looking at the new Marriott card since I stay there a bit. What do you guys use? ... Looking to add a travel card. CSR may be alittle too ballin for me. Contemplating the Citi Thank you ... Right now I'm only using my Uber card (4% back on dining is insane) and my Discover IT. ...
  • Those of you who use credit cards....and are full-timers. How much do you find yourself racking up in credit card purchases over the ... looking at credit cards and might want to apply for Amex Blue Cash but don't know if I'd be able ... to charge $6500 a year to an Amex credit card to get the bonus cash back. Would also be curious to ...
  • Building Good Credit How many credit cards do you guys have? What rules/advice have you followed that helped you ... establish great credit? to Sunday, August 19, 2018- 1:55pm ...
  • Low self esteem may lead to credit card debt? explains how spending with touchless forms of payment (like a credit card or online) can lead to spending ... more money than with cash. : Our work was taking the well-established effect of credit card ... sense that people would be willing to spend more when using a credit card than when using cash, because ...
  • More suggestions...

You're welcome.

I'm an AI bot trained on the most helpful WSO content across 17+ years.
 

I have 3 - mostly just to maximize some points. My credit rating is approximately 800 and I'll probably shut one down and open and another soon.

The main reason to use credit cards is the discount that you get - which really adds up overtime, just like investment returns in stock market. It doesn't really matter how many you have. I think the Uber Credit card is really ideal for most people. Especially if you live in a city.

  • 4% cash back eating out (bars, restaurants)

  • 3% travel (uber, lyft, flights, )

  • 2% everything online (I buy almost nothing in person except milk, meat, eggs, and yogurt that doesn't fall in the above)

  • 1% everything else. I think you get $50 or 95 a year to go to spotify or newspaper subscriptions too. No fee.

Might as well throw this in - pretty much regardless of how many credit cards you have and for most peoples financial situations - you just need to track and consolidate your spending and all your various accounts. Most people use Mint, but I think Personal Capitol is better. It's basically same thing as Mint, but with more of a focus towards investing. Just pools all your data together.

https://share.personalcapital.com/x/6w8Sns --> This should get you $20 free cash just for signing up (I do as well)

 

Just curious, if you use the uber card to buy food through seamless or postmates (or any food delivery app that is not uber eats), how is that classified? Under restaurants or online spending?

 

Just one, and that's all I plan on having. Yes, you can maximize individual spending categories by having various cards that offer more money back by category. So why?

Because typically having multiple cards like that ironically incentivizes you to spend more on those categories, justified by "but I'm getting more money back so it's a good deal." Ultimately, the net amount you spend is significantly more than you would have otherwise, and most of it on crap you certainly didn't need, and most likely didn't even rate high on your list of 'wants' either.

It's the same principle as Uber/Lyft. In principle, it's an economist's wet dream, as pricing is all driven by demand (consumers) and supply (drivers), reaching an equilibrium at all times. However, what's funny is that people now Uber ~2x of what they would have driven before. It's so convenient and reasonably priced, that many distances that people would have walked before (~30min from Point A to Point B), they now just Uber instead. So is it really good for you? I would venture not.

Have 1 very good credit card, 2 if is absolutely necessary. I myself have the Chase Sapphire Reserve, which is $450 annual fee but $300 annual credit to travel (flights, uber, etc.), so the net cost is $150. But you get $625 dollars after spending 4k in 3 months (which I easily do more than), 3% on travel/dining (other than rent, personally my biggest expenses by far), and 1% on everything else, 25% more value when I redeem points on airfare, hotels, etc. and access to airport lounges at most airports. All in all, I get great value, can use this same card on everything, and I don't have to constantly worry about 'maximizing my points.' My spending habits since getting the card hasn't changed a bit, and that's just how I prefer it. I'd advise you to do the same; just my two cents

 

Great summary of the CSR, awesome card.

Small correction, the points are 1.5x if you use them towards travel, not 1.25x (that's the Sapphire Preferred) so you actually are getting even more bang for the buck than you thought :)

“If you ain’t first, you’re last!” - GOAT
 

Am I the only person who doesn’t give a shit about cc, Marriott, delta points/miles? If I get them, great, if I don’t, oh well. I tracked it when I first started traveling for work but who cares about a free night or flight if you have to rack up a bunch of exhausting trips or $10k on seamless in exchange
 

Don’t understand how there are entire YouTube channels and blogs dedicated to all of this

 

4.

  1. CSR
  2. Chase Freedom Unlimited

I use these two to maximize travel rewards. I could get the other chase card for the bonus categories but don't want to open another card.

  1. An old Wells Fargo card that I never use but keep active to have a longer credit history
  2. Amex Blue Cash Everyday (would like to get rid of this one - got it before I was aware of the CSR/CFU combo)
 
Most Helpful

6 different cards

  1. American Express Platinum - 5x points on all flights. 5x points on hotels booked through Amex. Centurion and Sky Lounge access. $100 dollars at Saks every year. $100 hotel credit. $200 in airline fees. Fine Hotels and Resorts offers. Marriott/SPG Gold. Hilton Gold.

  2. American Express Gold - 4x points on restaurants. 4x points on groceries. Another $100 airline fees. Weird $10 a month credit at Seamless, Shake Shack, Grub Hub, and restaurants I'd never eat at.

  3. American Express Blue Business Plus - 2x points on literally everything, used for anything that doesn't fit into a category above.

  4. American Express EveryDay - My first AmEx. Had 0% APR and 0 balance transfer charge for 15 months and a complicated point structure, but I keep it around because it has a $25k limit, which is good for my score. Don't use it much anymore.

  5. Amazon Prime Rewards Visa by Chase - 5% back at Amazon. 5% back at Whole Foods. 2% back at drug stores and gas stations if I really want to. I use the Amex Gold for restaurants and non-Whole Foods groceries.

  6. Credit Union Card - 9.9% APR for if I ever need to actually carry a balance in hard times or for big purchases, my oldest card by far, and a $25k credit limit that I never use. Good for credit scores and security.

My fiancee has 4, two of which overlap, and two of which don't.

Commercial Real Estate Developer
 

3 indefinitely + 1-2 temporarily for sign-up bonuses that I'll eventually cancel.

  1. CSR
  2. Chase Freedom
  3. Chase Freedom Unlimited

I use these to maximize Chase Ultimate Rewards Points for travel redemption.

I have a Delta Gold Amex right now since I was offered 75k bonus miles with the first year annual fee waived. I'll cancel it before the 1 year anniversary.

 

I don't like cards with annual fees. That up front hit can wipe out months of rewards, and they frequently only make sense for frequent travelers who don't otherwise have lounge access.

My go-to is the Fidelity Retirement Rewards card. It used to be an AmEx, now it's a Visa, but it's still no fee and 2% back on everything into an IRA. (send it to a non-deductible traditional, and convert annually to a Roth) No fuss, no categories and no games.

I also have a Chase Freedom for my SO ($2k limit to prevent stupid purchases) and a TD card to increase my available credit and my credit score. The amount of times Chase has told me I'm pre-approved for a credit increase is ridiculous. Somehow they don't get that the card has a limit for a reason.

The only difference between Asset Management and Investment Research is assets. I generally see somebody I know on TV on Bloomberg/CNBC etc. once or twice a week. This sounds cool, until I remind myself that I see somebody I know on ESPN five days a week.
 

BAML Premium Rewards w/ Preferred Rewards Platinum Honors. Gives 2.625% cash back on everything, 3.5% on travel and dining, $100/year airline credit, Global Entry credit, and all for a $95 annual fee. For my specific case this blows the CSR out of the water (except for the CSR's tactile feel).

Be excellent to each other, and party on, dudes.
 

$450 fee on the CSR vs. $95 fee on the BAML PR = $355. $355 / maximum 4.5% cash back on the CSR (assuming all 1.5x redeemed) = $7,888 in annual break-even incremental spend you would need to justify the CSR just to make up the fee difference alone. Granted, you have the $300 travel credit on the CSR vs. the $100 on BAML, so if you use everything available the difference is $200 less.

Even assuming you use the full travel credit on both, the remaining $150 annual fee difference is $3,300+ in incremental break even spend or about $275-300 per month. Plus peace of mind to not have to play the points game or redeem perfectly.

In reality the real break-even would be only the difference in rewards %, i.e. 4.5% CSR vs. 2.625% - 3.5% = a difference of 1% - 1.875%. $150 annual fee difference after travel credit in that respect adds up to $8,000 - $15,000 for you to incrementally spend to really break even on the CSR fee difference after travel credit assuming you would spend that amount on either card.

Be excellent to each other, and party on, dudes.
 

Those BAML rewards only kick in when you have $100,000+ in their banking products.

From BAML: must have eligible Bank of America personal checking account AND a 3-month average combined balance of $20,000 or more in a Bank of America account and/or Merrill Edge or Merrill Lynch investment accounts.

You need $20k just to get any additional rewards, $50k to $100k for the mid tier rewards, and $100k+ for the ones mentioned above.

So even with top tier rewards you only maybe are beating out CSR UR points, throw in no-fee chase freedom and freedom unlimited cards and you are likely around even and don’t have to put a single dollar of your money in any chase banking product if you don’t want to

 
semi.target:
I just use the ole' Bitcoin wallet. No credit cards needed because crypto is the future.

https://media3.giphy.com/media/3og0INyCmHlNylks9O/giphy-downsized.gif" alt="facepalm" />

Commercial Real Estate Developer
 
trustmeimanengineer:
I know this is a troll, but don't spend your bitcoin. Keep it and watch the USD value grow. Please

Beanie Babies are coming back, I swear! Buy them now!

The only difference between Asset Management and Investment Research is assets. I generally see somebody I know on TV on Bloomberg/CNBC etc. once or twice a week. This sounds cool, until I remind myself that I see somebody I know on ESPN five days a week.
 

Amex Platinum CSR AA Executive Card AMEX SPG Citi Prestige

I want to get the ink plus or whatever as they have the 80k point offer and great rewards for business expenses. I’d get the new Hilton card if I used Hilton though.

 

Restaurant - CSR, but I’ll probably switch to Citi P since they give 5 points per dollar.

I us my Amex for the following. $200 AA gift cards, Uber credits, Amex offers (I save a ton with these) and points/booking restaurants. I hit some of their lounges as well, although I find them overrun with kids.

Each one of my cards provides benefit above and beyond the annual fee. Points are gravy. That being said, lifestyle drives card utility. I travel a lot personally and professionally and I eat out often so these cards all help me. If you don’t then the fee isn’t usually worth it.

 

I got the Uber one before I got the CSR recently but it was great for the bars and pretty much most other things.

Quant (ˈkwänt) n: An expert, someone who knows more and more about less and less until they know everything about nothing.
 

CSR - use for all food, travel Target (5% off) - anything I buy at Target (top place I buy things not online) Citi Double Cash Back (2% everything) - for everything not in 1st 2 categories Old bank card I keep open for long credit history (1 recurring charge / month on it only)

Thinking of opening an Amazon card since I buy so much stuff there.

 

Copied from hedgehog9: "I myself have the Chase Sapphire Reserve, which is $450 annual fee but $300 annual credit to travel (flights, uber, etc.), so the net cost is $150. But you get $625 dollars after spending 4k in 3 months (which I easily do more than), 3% on travel/dining (other than rent, personally my biggest expenses by far), and 1% on everything else, 50% more value when I redeem points on airfare, hotels, etc. and access to airport lounges at most airports. All in all, I get great value, can use this same card on everything, and I don't have to constantly worry about 'maximizing my points.' My spending habits since getting the card hasn't changed a bit, and that's just how I prefer it. I'd advise you to do the same; just my two cent."

Also, no international txn fees for when you are traveling and $100 app credit for Global Entry or Pre Check.

 

i have 3. i dont want to hold many cards in my wallet but each is used in for a certain purpose, one to purchase online in amazone apknite or alibaba, one to pay bills and one to buy stuffs

 

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