Need to get a mastercard any good ones out there?

[dis2cruise]

Of course we only have Amex and visa, my dd is going to college in august they only take discover or mastercard for payment. So what mastercard should I get? Also...is discover still 5% back?

 

[Swimalie]

Do you have access to USAA? They have a good mastercard. I've had it since I was 17 and went off to college.

 

[QVCshopper]

I have a MasterCard that links up to our 529 plan at Fidelity. We are grandfathered in at 2% back on ALL purchases, but I think new sign-ups get 1.5%. Still, not bad.

I also have the MC through USAA, but I find the rewards are better through my college savings one.

 

[DaveClan]

Same situation here... I'm in grad school and they don't accept Visa. I use my Citi Platinum Dividend Mastercard. 1% cashback.

 

[dis2cruise]

Do you have access to USAA? They have a good mastercard. I've had it since I was 17 and went off to college.

What does usaa stand for?

 

[cheshireqt]

USAA stands for United Services Automobile Association. It is primarily for military service members and their dependents. They offer insurance (house and car) and banking services.

 

[cheshireqt]

sorry double post

 

[mommy2allyandaveri]

I just got a Discover card. They were offering $100 back after your first $1000 in purchases. Cool! They offer 1% cash back all of the time. Every few months they have special catagories where you can get 5% cash back on your first $800 (I think) in that catagory. Jan-March is resturants and travel.

 

[dkr7166]

I just got a Discover card. They were offering $100 back after your first $1000 in purchases. Cool! They offer 1% cash back all of the time. Every few months they have special catagories where you can get 5% cash back on your first $800 (I think) in that catagory. Jan-March is resturants and travel.

My parents and grandmother all love Discover, so that was my first big card. I still use that one for almost everything, except gas, stuff I get from Best Buy, and places that won't take Discover. Discover's 5% back category does change quarterly and the limit each quarter changes then too. Some of the other increased cash back options they do are home and fashion, movies, and grocery stores. I <3 the grocery store and and try to plan to get some gift cards that month! There was one quarter Discover had 5% on tuition. This was 4-5 years ago, but I cleaned up then pretty good since this was after I'd gone back to school!

 

[seashoreCM]

Do you need to belong to some club (such as Costco) to get a Discover card that gives 1% back? Mine only gives me 0.25% back (other than the 5% categories mentioned).

 

[4parkers]

Go to bankrate.com
they have all the cards rated from best to worse.

 

[Marionnette]

I have a Citibank mastercard with Thank You points. They've got a lot of options for cashing in your points. And they have been pretty good about sending the rewards quickly. No annual fee.

 

[Golf4food]

Citi Platinum Dividend Mastercard. 1% cashback.

This is what we have as well. Always been pretty good to us. Not as good since they dropped from 2% to 1%, but still not bad.

 

[ironpig70]

I just got a Discover card. They were offering $100 back after your first $1000 in purchases. Cool! They offer 1% cash back all of the time. Every few months they have special catagories where you can get 5% cash back on your first $800 (I think) in that catagory. Jan-March is resturants and travel.

Just got one also and I was told its 1/4% up to $3000 then 1% thereafter.

I love the 5% deal they do and yes you have to sign up but its simple as going online and clicking a link. Nice part of the card is if you go online and click on there prefered partners and then use the Discover card you get additional rewards from 5-20%.

And yes if you use your card for stuff that applies during the promo it adds up very quickly and you can use these reward dollars on gift cards where you pay say $45 for a $50 card. Not that great but if you are using the service anyway why not. Some cards are better deals.

 

[mommy2allyandaveri]

Do you need to belong to some club (such as Costco) to get a Discover card that gives 1% back? Mine only gives me 0.25% back (other than the 5% categories mentioned).

I've never heard of this. No club necessary and no annual fee. Just apply and start collecting the rewards

 

[leadfootlevi]

I think it's considered a card for people with less-than-stellar credit, but it gives 2% cashback, no limit, no annual fee. Orchard Bank. The interest rates are horrendous, but we PIF every month, so they don't touch us.

 

[lurkernj]

I have a continental airlines Mastercard. There is a fee of I think $65 or $85, but the first year is free, for this you get free baggage (one per person on your reservation) on their flights, plus 25,000 bonus miles for opening a card (which is enough for a flight within the mainland US). We have one and use it for everything and will be flying the four of us to Hawaii for the second time this summer. It would only be worth it if you use it often since there is a fee involved, but I'm thinking college tuition would certainly add up.