Which credit card to get?

[kittykorat]

I know there is a 600 page thread on credit cards.. is there a nice concise thread I can read? Looking for a good rewards card. I currently have the SW rapid rewards- and should be getting the companion pass at the end of the current billing cycle. My husband wants to get a rewards card in his name- as the 1% for SW isn't great now that we have the initial reward...

We have fair-good credit, not excellent.
Our biggest expense is groceries so a larger cash back for groceries is good.- we have a family of 6- two very athletic girls and two teenage boys.

 

[rockawaybeachgirl]

I know there is a 600 page thread on credit cards.. is there a nice concise thread I can read? Looking for a good rewards card. I currently have the SW rapid rewards- and should be getting the companion pass at the end of the current billing cycle. My husband wants to get a rewards card in his name- as the 1% for SW isn't great now that we have the initial reward...

We have fair-good credit, not excellent.
Our biggest expense is groceries so a larger cash back for groceries is good.- we have a family of 6- two very athletic girls and two teenage boys.

A couple of answers needed before you can really make a decision:

- What do you want as your rewards - straight up cash back, or points to use for travel?
- Do you travel frequently? I ask because if you do, many of the 'premium' cards with high annual fees can be worth it IF you can utilize the benefits. I have multiple cards with high fees because of this very reason. If not, there are some very good cards with no or low annual fees that would be better for you.
- If you do intend to use the card for travel, what airlines serve the airports closest to you?
- What other categories other than groceries do you spend heavily on? For us, living in a very walkable NYC suburb with kids who use public transportation for school, gas is not a big expenditure. But restaurants is. So, we prioritize cards as such.

Personally, my go-to grocery card is the American Express Blue Card. It gives me 6% back on the first $6000 in groceries. There is an annual fee of $95, but I would gladly pay $95 to make $360. I alternate that card with my Chase Freedom, a no-fee card that offers rotating categories of 5% rewards every quarter. One quarter a year is always groceries, so I use the Freedom for that quarter and save my Amex for the other three, since I spend more than $6000 a year at the grocery store.

So, if you could answer the above questions, people could give you more pointed guidance.

There are a lot of credi card bloggers out there if you do a Google search....

 

[afan]

I know there is a 600 page thread on credit cards.. is there a nice concise thread I can read? Looking for a good rewards card. I currently have the SW rapid rewards- and should be getting the companion pass at the end of the current billing cycle. My husband wants to get a rewards card in his name- as the 1% for SW isn't great now that we have the initial reward...

We have fair-good credit, not excellent.
Our biggest expense is groceries so a larger cash back for groceries is good.- we have a family of 6- two very athletic girls and two teenage boys.

I would look at the sticky's on the first page of the credit card thread and then post. There's no reason to read them all or be intimidated by it at all. New people post in the thread every day. A lot of the reason for the number of pages is because it's not just about CC's, there's other deals discussed or just off topic stuff.

It's also better to use that thread than create a new one. I promise no one there bites and you'll get great info

 

[kittykorat]

sorry.. the size of that thread is totally overwhelming!!
We don't travel a lot- maybe once a year to Disney, and a few nights in hotels within a few hours drive from home for my daughter's competitions. We live in RI - we tend to fly SW as they offer direct flights from PVD to MCO. We use CC for groceries, bills, gas, and assorted stuff.. rarely restaurants. We spend about $1000 /mo on groceries.

ETA - I am going to answer the questions on the main thread..

 

[afan]

sorry.. the size of that thread is totally overwhelming!!
We don't travel a lot- maybe once a year to Disney, and a few nights in hotels within a few hours drive from home for my daughter's competitions. We live in RI - we tend to fly SW as they offer direct flights from PVD to MCO. We use CC for groceries, bills, gas, and assorted stuff.. rarely restaurants. We spend about $1000 /mo on groceries.

I understand that but honestly all you need to do is read the first page and any replies to you. You'll get way more answers there than you will in a thread on your own.

 

[_19disnA]

The answer isn't a one-size-fits-all, so I doubt others can tell you what worked for them and assume those things will work for your family. Which airlines fly from the airport you most often use, how often do you fly? How much do you typically charge each year on a credit card? If you end up with several cards each having a small number of points, they might expire before you ever accumulate enough to make it worth anything. All credit card companies make money on the fees they charge to the merchants so obviously they each make their card seem like the best deal in order to attract new customers.

As someone else stated above, you also have to determine which benefits are the most valuable for you and look for the card that is the best fit.