Credit Card noob, advice welcome

[ch33zw1z]

What are some advisable Credit Cards for a person who's never had one, with moderately good credit. I believe 700+ last time it was checked...

Doubling a manufacturer warranty is a must. I'm mostly doing this to pickup some new phones this year, and it seems like a good time to jump in.

The cash back cards seem ok, but we don't go out to eat, don't spend much money in general and not at very many big box stores.

So far I've looked at AMEX Blue cash everyday and a couple Mastercards, one from Citi called double cash.

Here's a catch though, I'm going to be purhasing a Oneplus 5t, and they don't take AMEX. I saw people on their support forum say to use the Paypal method, and choose your AMEX (after added to paypal of course).

Does AMEX still honor the Extended Warranty they offer when used in this way?

I was thinking, after I get a card, I should probably freeze my credit with the 3 bureaus...

 

[Svnla]

You did not say you want to pay annual fee or not so let say you do not.

If you do not want to pay annual fee and 2X the warranty is important to you then Citi DoubleCash is a good one. From its website "Extended Warranty
Extends the manufacturer’s warranty so you can feel more confident when you make purchases with your Citi card".

I like it and use it as my main card for most of my spending because of the 2% cash back (except travel and eat out - Chase Reserve will give 3% but with a cost of $450 annual fee per year but you do get $300 back for travel related expenses).

Be prepare to jump several hoops to use the 2X warranty (I am doing it right now with my HP LCD with Citi).

 

[ch33zw1z]

Thanks for the reply. The annual fee is not welcome, unless reasonable. like 50/year max with some good perks.

I will look at the citi one a bit more. I assumed any E.W. will be original receipt, copy of original credit card statement, credit co. form...along those lines.

 

[deadlyapp]

Do you have any lines of credit or any credit history? If not, you're going to be very hard pressed to get any sort of reasonable credit limit on most of the cards, if they'll even approve you.

I still wholesale recommend the Discover cards, excellent cash back, a great 0% introductory APR, and a wide slew of benefits (including increasing the warranty by 1 year).

https://www.discover.com/credit-cards/resources/extended-product-warranty

 

[Dr. Detroit]

Best beginner card is the Capital One Journey - no real perks to getting it other than its an excellent way to establish credit.

 

[shortylickens]

When I joined the Navy I jumped on Navy Federal as soon as I left boot camp. They made me put 200 bucks in a 2nd savings account and it was locked. Then they gave me a 200 dollar credit card. Worked great for building my credit alongside automatic payments.

Twenty years later I have a platinum card and something like a 30 thousand dollar limit, which obviously I dont need but whatever.

My recommendation is a card with no features and rock-bottom interest. And dont be afraid to call up once a year and threaten to leave them if they refuse to lower your rate. It works.

 

[ch33zw1z]

Do you have any lines of credit or any credit history? If not, you're going to be very hard pressed to get any sort of reasonable credit limit on most of the cards, if they'll even approve you.

I still wholesale recommend the Discover cards, excellent cash back, a great 0% introductory APR, and a wide slew of benefits (including increasing the warranty by 1 year).

https://www.discover.com/credit-cards/resources/extended-product-warranty

No real lines of credit. Car loans and a mortgage, paid on time for a decade, never missed payments

I will need a limit of about $700 to pick up a new cell phone. I will keep this in mind while looking

 

[allisolm]

I still wholesale recommend the Discover cards, excellent cash back, a great 0% introductory APR, and a wide slew of benefits (including increasing the warranty by 1 year).

https://www.discover.com/credit-cards/resources/extended-product-warranty

Agree.

 

[ch33zw1z]

I called AMEX, using a third party like Paypal doesnt qualify the purchase for Extended Warranty

 

[Scarpozzi]

The only card I carry is AMEX because they have the best customer service.

When I was young and first got married, we took a few trips and I had 4 credit cards at that time. (all with reasonable balances well under $2k each) I used to mail all my payment checks in. I would send them a week or more in advance of the due dates. Chase, Bank of America, and Capital One all hit me with late charges at different times when I sent the checks in with plenty of time to spare. Basically, their processing delays were to blame and their customer service response was really poor. I got all those late charges reversed after making numerous calls to each firm and then closed the accounts. I don't trust any of them....even if they've changed practices. Amex is the only one that didn't try to screw me because they're already earning their 7%. =P

If you need a CC, call your local bank or credit union and see what they have to offer. You can get a very low-limit CC with them for Visa AND the Amex for everything else. I don't recommend using credit cards unless you must. I use it for buyer protection where possible, but not really the warranty thing.

 

[deadlyapp]

No real lines of credit. Car loans and a mortgage, paid on time for a decade, never missed payments

I will need a limit of about $700 to pick up a new cell phone. I will keep this in mind while looking

Car loans & mortgage will put you in good shape. You just need to show credit history and as long as those have your name on them, you'll be set.

I'd go the route of the Discover IT card, or the Chase Freedom card. Chase Freedom will get you a $150 cash back after spending $500 within 3 months. Both cards have 0% APR intro offers, but the Discover card will have a lower overall APR typically once the intro is up. Discover card will do double cash back over the entire year within opening, which is nice, but if you're not using it for a lot of purchases, the Chase will probably outweigh it.

 

[ch33zw1z]

Went with the Discover.

Wife was in the same boat, went with Kohls card, since we spent a reasonable amount of money there throughout the year.

Thanks!

So on to protecting my identify...advice welcome again...how do you guys and gals go about it?

I'm thinking creating an account on each credit bureau website?

 

[spacejamz]

Went with the Discover.

Wife was in the same boat, went with Kohls card, since we spent a reasonable amount of money there throughout the year.

Thanks!

So on to protecting my identify...advice welcome again...how do you guys and gals go about it?

I'm thinking creating an account on each credit bureau website?

if you shop regularly at Kohls, you definitely need their credit card to get the best deals since many deals require you to use the Kohl's credit card...

As far as protecting your account, you can 'freeze' your credit but you have to do it individually at all 3 credit bureaus, Equifax, Experian and Transunion. Fees vary by state to freeze and then unfreeze them when you need to open a line of credit.

 

[ch33zw1z]

Ok, that's what I'm planning on doing. We just traded in a car for an upgrade and don't plan any more credit inquiries in the near future.

Gotta make an account on all 3 bureaus for both the Mrs and I

 

[purbeast0]

IMO the Chase cards are the best with the rewards. There are a bunch where you get bonus points for spending X in Y months. They typically have annual fees though, but those are offset big time with the points you get.

I haven't paid for a flight (other than taxes) in like 3 years due to credit cards. I've probably saved around $8k in flights thanks to points over that time period. I'm in the middle of earning some huge perks with SouthWest right now due to their credit card bonuses and perks.

 

[RLGL]

I have had them all, Amex is the best

 

[bfun_x1]

I have an Amazon Prime card that I use on Amazon purchases. 5% cash back is hard to beat.

 

[zinfamous]

Chase Freedom is a great no fee, cashback card that should be relatively easy to get in your situation.

 

[Riverhound777]

I use the Fidelity Rewards Visa, 2% back on everything, goes into my Fidelity account. Not sure on the warranty part, but great card otherwise. I also use a Penfed card that gives 5% on gas/Groceries. Between those cards i'm pretty much set. Could use an amazon card I suppose, but meh.

 

[zinfamous]

I use the Fidelity Rewards Visa, 2% back on everything, goes into my Fidelity account. Not sure on the warranty part, but great card otherwise. I also use a Penfed card that gives 5% on gas/Groceries. Between those cards i'm pretty much set. Could use an amazon card I suppose, but meh.

I have this card, but I got it when it was an AMEX. It is/was a good card, but I preferred it for keeping me within AMEX customer service sphere. But now that I no longer have Fidelity, and I have a Chase Sapphire Reserve, I really have no need for this card. :\

 

[RossMAN]

IMO the Chase cards are the best with the rewards. There are a bunch where you get bonus points for spending X in Y months. They typically have annual fees though, but those are offset big time with the points you get.

I haven't paid for a flight (other than taxes) in like 3 years due to credit cards. I've probably saved around $8k in flights thanks to points over that time period. I'm in the middle of earning some huge perks with SouthWest right now due to their credit card bonuses and perks.

I also highly recommend the Chase cards in particular the Sapphire line but it may not be a good fit for OP's situation. I love my CSR and earn thousands of points a month by paying for parking, mass transit (buses/trains), travel, restaurants, etc. Easily worth the $150/yr net annual fee but that's 3x the OP's annual fee preference.

Thanks for the reply. The annual fee is not welcome, unless reasonable. like 50/year max with some good perks.

I will look at the citi one a bit more. I assumed any E.W. will be original receipt, copy of original credit card statement, credit co. form...along those lines.

If you or your wife are CostCo members then their CitiBank co-branded card is worth considering, great benefits, good rewards and $0 annual fee.
https://www.nerdwallet.com/card-details/card-name/CitiBank-Costco-Anywhere

Have you considered a credit which offers both extended warranty and insurance (after $25 deductible)?
https://www.doctorofcredit.com/credit-card-cell-phone-insurance-compared-get-600-coverage-free/

A few other no annual fee credit cards to consider:
http://onemileatatime.boardingarea.com/2017/07/24/best-no-annual-fee-personal-credit-cards/

When do you plan on buying your phones because you may want to read this. Hopefully purchases prior to 2/28/2018 are grandfathered in:
https://thepointsguy.com/2017/12/discover-discontinuing-benefits/
https://awardwallet.com/blog/discover-ending-5-card-benefits-february-28-2018/

 

[Beer4Me]

For no fee cards, I'd go with Amex Blue Everyday, Chase Sapphire Preferred or Freedom, and the Amazon Visa (but only if Prime member, due to 5% CB for Prime).

If you're credit is >800 and depending on your spending, what I use daily, Amex Blue Preferred or Amex Platinum, and Chase Sapphire Reserve.

 

[Exterous]

If you're credit is >800 and depending on your spending, what I use daily, Amex Blue Preferred or Amex Platinum, and Chase Sapphire Reserve.

I'm not entirely sure where the lower floor is but its somewhere below 770 for those

 

[Cozarkian]

Went with the Discover.

Wife was in the same boat, went with Kohls card, since we spent a reasonable amount of money there throughout the year.

Thanks!

So on to protecting my identify...advice welcome again...how do you guys and gals go about it?

I'm thinking creating an account on each credit bureau website?

I think you'll be happy with Discover. I once had a problem where a credit bureau showed my 5-year old cancelled credit card as a $0 balance, negative account and I couldn't get a home mortgage until it was fixed. I could have contested it through the formal process, but I was already under contract and couldn't wait that long so I called Discover. I hadn't been a customer for 5 years but they wrote me a letter to give the agency to clear it up.

As for protection, Discover used to have some software that would create one-time use CC numbers for online purchases. I think it was DiscoverPass.

 

[Beer4Me]

I'm not entirely sure where the lower floor is but its somewhere below 770 for those

Depends, but some creditors scoring goes to 900 pts now, which is why I suggested 800.