Best Cash Back Card?

[rlu929s]

Trying to find a good card. I'd really like to only have one. I have a small business and make pretty frequent charges on my Chase Platinum. It does not offer rewards but has a great rate. I want to keep and it get one rewards/cash back card to use for all the piddly stuff like gas, expenses, eating etc.

I've looked at the American Express Blue and The Discover card on this forum and they look really good except I'd be worried most places would accept it.

I checked and my hosting company which is a 368.00 per month charge only excepts Visa/MC.

Would I be better off with one of the cards above and just take the not accepted everywhere risk or just find a decent card that's visa or MC.

Thoughts?

[rlu929s]

To add after really looking things over I'm leaning between the Chase BP Visa or the CHASE Freedom Visa.

If I put all my charges on the card I could easily get around 22000 per year so the AMEX Blue would be good but the fact that it's not accepted everyone would cut that down quite a bit.


I like the Freedom because of the 3% on $600 per month and could easily get that + all the others.

I also like the BP because of the 2% on travel, dining etc. To my knowledge we have one BP in town and it happens to be right down from my work so I could make a point to gas up there every week and get the 5%. Would work on the wife but that may be harder.

I'm torn. I really do think the AMEX would be good but would hate to get it and find I can't use it as much. I'm going to start looking where I shop to see what they accept.

But Chase is looking to be the winner since I already have one with them and could manage it all under one account. Now to figure out which one would be the best. Can one really commit to getting gas at the same spot every day?

[rlu929s]

After crunching some numbers I decided we would have 3 cards after all. As long as I keep the credit limits down it should be that big of a deal. I ***ume anyways.

We'll keep the chase we have and I'll probably remove it from the wallet and use it only if we needed to make a purchase I know would carry.

I got the Amex Blue Cash and was approved and got the Chase BP Visa and was approved.

Let me ask you guys if you don't mind saying what you keep your credits limits at? For instance Amex gave me 6000 and hate to have that much since we pay these cards off all the time anyways. I'm thinking of dropping it down to 2000 or 3000.

The BP either 1000 or 2000.

That way I don't have so much open credit if I ever wanted to get another loan of some kind.


How do you generally use your card those that have several. I obviously want to get to 6500 on the amex as soon as possible but if at a BP station I get 5% on the bp so I'll always use it.

My plan is to put as many of the bills etc on the amex and all fast food.

The BP give 2% at dining restaurants and also at lodging so I'd had to put in on the Amex at .5% but then I'm not increasing my balance.

I can see where this can get tricky

[freddyg]

It looks like you have made the right choice.

Regarding the amex blue cash, to get past the $6.5k limit quickly, it is best you use the card to a bulk purchase - like buying a TV or office equipment. If you can charge something close to that amount (on your business expense), that would be great.

[creditqueen]

Don't ask them to reduce your amex credit lines because how much credit lines you have affect your credit score via your debt utilization ratio (ie how much balance you are carrying versus how much credit you have available). So even if you pay off every month, do not ask them to reduce it. It is also an option you want just in case.

[rlu929s]

Just wondering the proper method for doing this. I've always kept my balance paid of but my method on my old card was to just login every so often and make sure it was at 0.

Sometimes small balances would be carried.

Of course now that I'm playing the cash back game the interest rate is more and I don't want any charges.

How does everyone make sure they are paid in full.

Do you wait till a day before you statement date and pay the full balance?

Or does is work another way?

THX!

[SageMother]

Originally Posted by rlu929s

et me ask you guys if you don't mind saying what you keep your credits limits at? For instance Amex gave me 6000 and hate to have that much since we pay these cards off all the time anyways. I'm thinking of dropping it down to 2000 or 3000.

The BP either 1000 or 2000.

That way I don't have so much open credit if I ever wanted to get another loan of some kind.

I keep my cards at 2000 or under, which keeps the companies raising my limit, and I only have 2 credit cards. I rely on my debit card for most things. I am considering closing the credit cards because their limits are now pretty high and I don't want he potential debt showing up on my credit bureau as active.