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Credit Card recommendations.

N

Njord Noatun

Super Member
Banned
I have had more bad experiences with my current credit card company (BofA) than I care to remember, and canceled my card today:thmbsp:. So I need to hook up with another credit card issuer - do any of you guys have any suggestions?

First of all, I always pay off my balance in full, so the APR interest is of no importance to me. I am looking for an issuer with low overall cost, good online services and good customer service. A good rewards program would be a nice bonus.

Why ask for CC recommendations on an Audio site, you may ask? Well, I seem to get an answer for everything else here whether audio related or not, so why not:thmbsp:?
 
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I've had a GM Master Card for close to 20 years and never had a hiccup.

Got close to $7000 knocked off new vehicle purchases with it, but I'm a GM fan.

I'm like you - always pay off the balance. If you let it ride, they pork you on the average daily balance just like the others. They're all crooks when it comes to their "creative" financing. IMHO
 
Money Magazine give a monthly review of the better card rates in two categories: Those who keep a balance and those who do not. Pulaksi Bank out of Arkansas usually has the lowest rate but as far as I am concerned they run their company like Nazis. Mine is with 5Star Bankcard Center and my rate is presently 8.9 and varies with the prime. They are reasonably fair, if that is possible with a credit card company.
 
I've had bad experiences with service from Capital One Visa...bad enough to really recommend that you NOT go with them.
I've had good experience with my credit union which offers a card. If you have some connection like that (credit union) you may wish to give that a try. As far as I'm concerned, I've had better luck doing business with my credit union than any bank (Wells Fargo, BoA, etc), I've ever tried so at this point I pretty much just go there first.
 
I like Discover: "the card that pays you back". They pay us money (in the form of a rebate) to use the card.

For any card you have/use: don't run a balance on it! Pay it off every month. A credit card is far too expensive of a way to borrow money. If you need to borrow money due toa cashflow challenge, borrow against yourself (e.g., a 401(k) or a bank account or CD).
 
Njord Noatun said:
First of all, I always pay off my balance in full, so the APR interest is of no importance to me. I am looking for an issuer with low overall cost, good online services and good customer service. A good rewards program would be a nice bonus.
Click to expand...
Smart man.

If you do much camping, biking or outdoorsy stuff and aren't already a member, join the Recreational Equipment, Inc. (REI) co-op and get one of their cards. No cost (other than a one-time fee to join the co-op, currently $15, I think). The co-op offers a 10% dividend (rebate) on most non-sale-item REI purchases most years (whether you use their card or cash) and 1% dividend on other CC purchases. The dividend can be taken as cash or used to buy stuff from REI. I travel a lot for work and most of the hotels, car rentals and meals end up on that card as do most day-to-day purchases like gas, groceries, beer, CDs and audio gear, so the 1% adds up. I wish I could put my kids' college tuition on it! I have no idea what the interest rate is; like you, we never carry a balance.

Card is administered by USBank. I haven't used their Internet service, but I think it's available. A few questions over the years have been handled promptly and well. Only quibbles I've had are that they started me at a low limit (raised it just by asking soon after getting this card) and the card, up to now, has had a 2-year expiration (most are, I think, 3 or 4) so we have to update various on-file instances too often; I see the current card expires after 3 years, so that's better. It's a Visa, if that matters.

A few years ago (10 maybe), REI switched card providers. They'd been getting complaints (that's what they said, anyway), so they dumped the old provider, sent an application to their new one and suggested we destroy our old cards. If that's true (they may just have gotten a better deal... don't know) they're looking out for us.

:thmbsp:
 
American Express, their service is outstanding, never had a problem with them at all, in 27 years.

Stay away from Chase!!
 
IMHO -- after much research/ experience definitely stay away from Chase and Capital One-- Watch out for Chase, they love to rate jack for the smallest reason.

If you are looking for a prime card, (v. subprime): Citi products, they've always had great customer service.

Check out what the good folks at creditboards.com say. :)
 
How about no credit card at all. I use my Visa debit card. Credit card debt is just not a good idea. All of them are a bad deal. I have no need for a credit card of any kind, ever. And that includes car rentals. If I were to buy a car I would pay cash if possible, or finance a minimal about for the shortest term possible (usually 12 months) and pay it off early. If I were buying a house (which I am not, because mine is paid for) I would have a substantial down payment, and finance for 15 years at a fixed rate, then work to pay it off early.
Debt, especially credit card, will cause you to be a slave to some bank forever if you let it. While it is good to pay the card balance off every month, what happens when an emergency comes up and you have to miss a payment? It happens all the time to well meaning people who have always used credit cards responsibly. Suppose your income drops overnight from 6 figures to about $20,000 a year then, Lets say out of the blue one day the I.R.S. sends you a letter wanting another $18,000 dollars, now. Guess who is more important on the payment food chain. Overnight credit cards that were once in good standing and always paid can no longer be paid. You have to put off a payment, just once, then they add a late fee, which doesn't go away, the interest rate goes up to the max rate, making it even harder to make the payment. That causes more fees to add up until you are over the limit then they charge you more fees. Been there done that with lots of zero's on the end. It is not fun. So for me the best credit card is still no credit card.

Bill R
 
Ditto with REI.

They do their members good! What other store can you vote on the board members, who are environmentalist, campers, hikers, Phds, people who like to have fun and care. I've been a member for at least 25 years. I bought some trail runners and socks today and got 20% off!

I buy more sports/outdoor stuff than audio. :D
 
We have Amex Gold and Optima Platinum, but you will need a Visa or MasterCard since the odd place will refuse Amex. Like you we pay it off when billed, so interest rates are of no concern. We keep a BofA Visa Platinum Plus (whatever that means) just for that purpose but agree they are a bunch of a**holes.
 
Anyone who buys even a modest amount of "outdoor recreational equipment" annually should be an REI member! They're a co-op, pay a dividend annually, and offer (IME) excellent service and advice in their stores. We're fortunate to have one 15 min away from my workplace.

Dunno about their credit card, though.

Debit cards frighten me, since they're a direct link to a bank account.

Remember: Credit cards (that charge no fees) cost nothing if you don't run a balance on them! Don't use a credit card to get cash (i.e., a "cash advance") since most if not all credit card companies charge interest on the "loan" instantly (i.e., no grace period).

As to car loans... much as I hate debt... if you can get a car loan at a rate that's less than you could earn on your principal; it's really more cost-effective to borrow and repay than to pay cash.

In fact, I'll reiterate. If you have any sort of savings at all, you can always borrow against yourself. This is usually (if not always) the cheapest way to borrow. In fact, we financed our first car this way (a long time ago)... I think the net cost was 2% -- at a time when mortgage interest was in the high 'teens.

Find a good, local banker, and ask him/her. Here's an example:
http://www.stcsb.com/

(I'm a little biased; a very good friend of mine is its president)
 
jcmjrt said:
I've had bad experiences with service from Capital One Visa...bad enough to really recommend that you NOT go with them.
I've had good experience with my credit union which offers a card. If you have some connection like that (credit union) you may wish to give that a try. As far as I'm concerned, I've had better luck doing business with my credit union than any bank (Wells Fargo, BoA, etc), I've ever tried so at this point I pretty much just go there first.
Click to expand...

jc I agree, Capitol One is bad.

Last I spoke to a car loan officer he told me they purposely do not report your credit limit. So it makes your credit used (vs available credit) look higher and gives them an advantage when you go looking for other credit - they do it to lock you in.

I had a cc from them, so I checked my report, sure enough they didn't report the limit (but everything else of course) so I called them. They told me they did it to save ME money!!

Anyway I don't use them anymore.

Pete

Pete
 
I could do without one and use my debit card EXCEPT...you can't rent a car in this country w/o a cc. Even if you have a suitcase full of cash.

I got one from Citibank and I always pay off the balance, but I'm bad about not paying bills ON TIME. The last time this happened I had some plane tickets on it, totalling maybe a few hundred bucks, paid about 5 days late, and they dinged me for $39 in late fees PLUS $10 in interest. I got so mad I cut up the card and sent it with my check. Fair is fair but that's ridiculous. And it's where they make their money. Neither of us is impressed with Citibank.

My SIL who works for the Treasury Dept. examining banks, said go with your own bank. I'm getting a Visa with my bank's name on it.
 
I have a Chase CC and never had any problems with it. My interest rate kinda sucks, at 13.25%, and I do tend to always have some balance on it. My limit is only $1k though, so the charges are manageable.

I haven't encountered any other fees either, though I know there is a charge ($10?) for late payments.
 
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