I’ve been approached by several companies lately asking me to provide links to their credit card rate comparison sites. I’ve turned every single one of them down because I pay off my bills every month in full so rates are not important to me when I’m looking for a credit card. Those companies have, however, inspired me to share with you what I think is important: no annual fees, rewards I can actually use for things I’d be buying anyway, and great customer service.
I have two credit cards and use them both on a regular basis. I put as many of my purchases on my credit cards as possible so that I can get the rewards for them and so that my transactions are easily trackable over at mint.com. Here’s what I use and why:
First up is my Amazon Visa. It provides 3% back on Amazon purchases, 2% at gas stations, drugstores, and restaurants, and 1% back everywhere else in the form of Amazon gift cards (when you have enough for a $25 gift card it’s automatically mailed to you). I love Amazon, especially Kindle books lately, so I can never have enough Amazon gift cards and the rewards always get used in a heartbeat.
Next up I have an American Express Clear card. Clear is the only American Express card that doesn’t carry an annual fee (if you would have a Costco membership anyway you may consider that the American Express Costco card has no fee but I wouldn’t have a membership anyway so that’d be an extra $50 a year for me). Clear offers 1% back on all purchases in the form of $25 American Express gift cards that can be used anywhere American Express is accepted and those are also mailed out automatically. It’s easier for me to use the American Express gift cards on my day to day purchases so I tend to use my Amex for everything except what I can get more than 1% back on with my Amazon Visa.
The Amazon Visa would suit almost all my needs but I decided to get the Amex in addition to it for a couple big reasons.
- Sometimes I do shop at Costco with my mom or I borrow her membership card and go to the gas station there and Costco does not accept Visa.
- I got my iPhone the day they first came out, my dad got his a few days later with his Amex card. A few weeks later Apple dropped the price by $200. Apple gave customers who had bought their iPhones before the price drop a $100 credit. Amex demonstrated the most amazing customer service I have ever witnessed when they refunded their customers the other $100. I didn’t get that other $100 back since I had bought mine with a Visa but my Dad did get his $100 back.
It’s important to keep in mind that if you’re not paying off your credit card bills in full every month then a rewards card is probably not worth it since they usually do have higher rates. Odds are you’d be paying more in interest than the rewards are worth.
What are your favorite credit cards and why? Do you shop by rate or other factors?
Disclosure: Some links in this post are affiliate links.
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{ 4 comments }
My favorite is the Citibank Amex – I LOVE LOVE the Thank You points program…I think they are great . My favorite perk with then is that if you get enough points you can redeem it for $100 or $200 rebate checks that can be sent directly to your student loan (for those that have one). I have used that a lot..my student loan payments are very low ($75/mo) but being able to redeem points to make extra student loan payments make me feel good.
So right now I am all about thank you points.
I have thought about the Amazon Card but I dont want to open a new card…thanks for your review…love your site!
Costco accepts Visa debit cards. I think the American Express from Costco sounds good, but I don’t want another credit card! Thanks for mentioning the Amazon card; it sounds great!
They do take debit but I keep my checking account balance pretty low since it’s interest rate sucks so I tend not to use my debit card much.
I use Visa but after being robbed 1400 dollars I don’t trust any of them.
Someone got my credit card info and stole from me. since it happened at a time when many of my family members were dying I didn’t see the theft right away. When I went back and told them they said that it was too late and that they could not reimburse the money.
This makes it in such a way that we have to verify every single payment or else we can be stolen from.
The moment that I’m able to I will throw away all of my credit cards. I can’t stand the upkeep of having to verify everything. It’s too many hours of my life.
Anyways thanks for sharing.
All the best,
Eren
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