Reward Credit Card - which is the best?

Mrs Lapo

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We are traveling to Disney in October. I am a single Mom paying for myself and my three kids so I am penny pinching in every way imaginable to make this possible. I was thinking of opening a credit card with rewards and just using it for gas/food shopping & paying it off each month (not carry a balance) to rack up some reward points to be used for this trip. Which card has the best reward points, Disney Visa, Southwest Rapid Rewards or another card I don't even know about?

(side note, I just cleaned up my credit so shouldn't have a problem getting approved but definitely won't be getting myself into debt EVER again so this card will be paid off monthly)
 
This question pops up here frequently and others will certainly chime in.

We got tired of playing monthly or quarterly games so we use a 2% cash back card on everything all the time. It is the Fidelity Rewards Signature Visa. We can redeem our points for cash at 50 dollar increments.
 
Not sure how you would like the rewards back...in other words, do you want cash back versus flexible points that can be applied to rooms/air versus cash back only at Disney.

So if you have a Disney Visa (either regular or premier) you'll get cash back worth disney reward points (once you cash it in) you can load it on a card that looks like a gift card. These are sort of forced Disney spending since you can't use the Disney Rewards anywhere else!

If you want flexible points then Chase Ultimate Rewards and a card that earns that would be good (such as Chase Sapphire Preferred)-although it has an annual fee of $95 (deferred the first year I believe). American Express Membership Rewards can be earned with the Amex everyday card (earn a bonus if you use it more than 20 times a month, 2x rewards for groceries).

The downside to either Chase's Ultimate Rewards or American Express Membership Rewards is that you have to spend some time/energy figuring out how to best use them!

Good cash back options include Discover It-it has rotating categories 5% back on categories that rotate throughout the year- for example right now (until 3/31) the category is 5% back at Warehouse Clubs, next quarter is grocery stores, Q3 is restaurants, Q4 is amazon/warehouse again. After you've had the card for a year, Discover matches what you've earned. I earned $454 during 2017-2018 and when my first year's statement closed I earned another $454.

Citi has a double cash back as well-1% when spent, 1% when the bill is paid off so it's nice to have a reward (other than staying out of debt!) to pay off your statement.

Chase has two no fee cards that can be helpful for cash back/statement credit-the Chase Freedom which is 1% with 5% rotating categories like Discover It OR Chase Freedom Unlimited a flat 1.5% back on all purchases.

Neither Citi nor Discover It have annual fees; the Chase Disney doesn't either but the Chase Disney Premier does.


Chase has a promotion right now for the no fee-a $50 credit with any purchase; while the Premier ($49 card) has a $200 credit with $500 spent in the first three months. I don't know if you've applied for several credit cards in the past 24 months (2 years) but although the Chase Disney doesn't fall under the 5/24 (many of their cards have this rule--not approved if 5 cards from any issuers opened in past 24 months) they still look very closely at how many you've obtained in the past 6, 12 and 24 months. The Chase Freedom/Freedom Unlimited DO fall under the 5/24 rule, unfortunately.

If you're looking to earn free flights to Disney, then SW card (chase again) can be good but remember there is a minimum spend in the first 3 months-$2,000 for 50,000 rapid rewards, plus a $69 annual fee.

So, I guess first ask yourself how you want to earn rewards for Disney.

Then, do you have a preference for which bank issues this?

Please feel free to ask any questions!
 
It’s going to vary from person to person based on their spending habits, but for me The Costco Visa, along with my Executive Costco membership would be really hard to beat.
I do have Disney card that I only use at Disney and for Disney vacations though.
 

How disciplined are you in paying your credit card off? Will you ABSOLUTELY do it? If so here are my suggestions: I'd hit the no fee Disney for $200 statement credit after you spend $500. (This is available via referral only FYI, hopefully you know someone with this card already as they get a referral bonus of $100 Disney Dollars if you use their referral. If you need one those on i love credit cards thread can direct you on where to find various referral links on the internet, we are not allowed to share or solicit referrals here on the DIS :) ) Then I'd get a 2% cash back on everything card to keep it simple after hitting the Disney card & snaging the bonus. No fee, no chasing categories (I get the feeling that's not something you need to deal with right now). I know the Citi Double Cash will get you 1% back when you make a purchase and then 1% back when you pay it. Others may know other cards like that.

I recommend the 2nd card because I HATE Disney Rewards. The rules are stifling on how and when to redeem and you can only redeem for dollars to spend at disney- those will do you no good after your trip!
 
How disciplined are you in paying your credit card off? Will you ABSOLUTELY do it? If so here are my suggestions: I'd hit the no fee Disney for $200 statement credit after you spend $500. (This is available via referral only FYI, hopefully you know someone with this card already as they get a referral bonus of $100 Disney Dollars if you use their referral. If you need one those on i love credit cards thread can direct you on where to find various referral links on the internet, we are not allowed to share or solicit referrals here on the DIS :) ) Then I'd get a 2% cash back on everything card to keep it simple after hitting the Disney card & snaging the bonus. No fee, no chasing categories (I get the feeling that's not something you need to deal with right now). I know the Citi Double Cash will get you 1% back when you make a purchase and then 1% back when you pay it. Others may know other cards like that.

I recommend the 2nd card because I HATE Disney Rewards. The rules are stifling on how and when to redeem and you can only redeem for dollars to spend at disney- those will do you no good after your trip!
good advice....:thumbsup2
 
Thank you everyone! I'm very disciplined. I only fell behind when I separated from my husband. But I have found stability now so I thought it might be a good time to open a card and use it just for groceries and gas to build up some rewards. We are going to Disney in Oct but I would love to go every few years since Disney is always adding/changing. So I want to get into a groove with saving & building rewards. Thank you for all of these options. I will look into them
 
I like the Costco Visa for Costco, gas and dining out. I like a no annual fee 2% card like Citi Double Cash for everything else.

Disney Visa is just 1% - not a great option.

But as has already been said, just only use it for things you would have bought anyway.
 
My favorite card is the AMEX SPG. I mostly use the points to stay at the Swan and Dolphin at WDW. You can also transfer the points to many different partners. They usually offer at least a 25K sign up bonus, sometimes more.
 
If you are looking for 2% cash back, my vote is the DiscoverIt, no annual fee, 1% cash back now with 5% rotating categories per quarter, currently at the tail end of quarter 1-gas and wholesale clubs and you can already start quarter 2-grocery stores. The end of the first year they match all of your cash-back for the year.
 





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