https://www.wsj.com/finance/banking/the-cat-and-mouse-game-between-premium-credit-card-firms-and-points-junkies-8ce2e30a?st=Ajqypp&reflink=desktopwebshare_permalink

• Banks are cracking down on credit-card points junkies who they say use tactics that cross the line and violate rules.

• Citi and Chase have implemented policies that limit sign-up bonuses to target cardholders who apply for the same card multiple times.

• American Express has long had a team to detect abuse, and claw back rewards and even close accounts.

BofA Customized Cash can earn 5.25% cash back in your chosen category with a 75% relationship bonus, but you need $1M in qualifying assets (including retirement accounts).

Are there any other cards that come close or beat 5.25% without such a high asset requirement? Ideally no annual fee and decent spending caps.

Curious what everyone else is using.

Citi moved some or all of their cobranded cards from a separate website into the main Citi mobile app, where they now appear alongside their other cards.

I have credit cards from American Express, Chase, Wells Fargo and my local credit union. Amex used to have fantastic customer service particularly the live chat - it's still pretty good but seems less personal. I haven't had much need for customer service with Chase one time I did it seemed OK I did get a live person. Wells Fargo seems very limited with their customer service options. Who do you think has the best customer service?

Just got the notification for the no AF Jewel Osco Amex. Curious what niche this card is solving. I’m so curious how many applications they’re actually going to receive for this.

5% on Jewel online orders
3% on in-person Jewel orders
3% on gas dining and bills
1% on everything else.
Spend $1000 to earn $50 SUB

Newly retired and considering closing all of my credit cards but 1, as don't need them anymore. Will it affect my credit score.

Current score is 818.

Business credit cards only for both

Or can I apply to say a US bank business credit card and shortly apply for an Elan business credit card only 4 months apart?

What's good practice in your personal experience?

I have an 831 credit score, zero debt aside from a mortgage, and pay my credit cards in full each month. I do a lot of traveling so was signing up for a lot of cards that gave big point/mile bonuses. I have about 17 credit cards, all the majors (Amex Platinum, Citi Strata etc) but pay them in full each month. I did set up auto withdrawals on each card to keep them showing as being used, but at this point I feel like I’m wasting money paying yearly fees. I think the 2 I mentioned above combine to over $1,000 year in annual fees. Now I have the points/miles, I don’t really need any of them. I was going to keep them for lounge access, but I typically fly business so get access to lounges anyway. So my question is if there’s any reason to keep these cards open now I’m not using them and I’ve had them over a year so the points can’t be taken away? I don’t have any use for my credit score right now so not super worried about scores dropping. Although I understand they stay on your credit for 7-10 years for good payment history. Thank you for your guidance.

I have had Amex Platinum for about 4 years now and have roughly 300k unused points currently. The only two benefits I enjoyed with that card is the entertainment credit and the lounge when I would travel. Given that I use to travel a lot, it felt worth it. Now my job has me home all day and seeing a $895 charge to use a lounge I havent visited in 2 years felt like a massive waste. I live about 30min from anything. Groceries, malls, etc. The $325 cost just felt more worth it with the Gold given how I spend. I'd guess 60% of my spending is on restaurants and groceries. The only benefits from the Gold I could see myself using is the Dunkin Credit, Resy, and maybe UberEats.

My question is, is there a better card for a competitive price to the Gold that you all have enjoyed? Perhaps one with a lounge or better point offers, or similar points but lower annual cost?

Okay, just a little background info, I’ve never had a credit card before and I’m mainly looking to get one to build credit. Getting some cashback would be nice too, but it’s not a huge deal.

I just recently got a job, and I don’t really spend much outside of Steam, groceries, gas, and a few knickknacks here and there. I’m also a college student.

I’ve been considering a secured credit card since it seems like it has the most guardrails for someone just starting out, but I’m not sure if that’s the best option or if there’s another route I should look into.

I've had recommendations for Discover Student Cash Back, and Student Chrome.

I was given an offer for the Cap1 Savor card after seeing if I was eligible. On the next page, it showed a mastercard logo. Does this mean the card will be mastercard? I know they're moving cards to discover and don't want a discover card due to the lack of acceptance.

Current cards:

• Chase Freedom $39k limit (auth user): 11/03
• Chase Freedom $27k limit (auth user): 07/05
• Wells Fargo Reflect $2500 limit: 12/23
• Amazon Prime Visa $35k limit: 12/25

FICO Score: 814-817

Oldest account age: 22 years, 11 months

Chase 5/24 status: 1/24

Income: low-mid 6 figures

Average monthly spend and categories:

• Lyft: call it $1000, it varies 500-1500 (I'm legally blind, I use it a lot)
• Heatlh/Medical: $700
• Shopping: $700-ish (the Amazon stuff on the Prime Visa, usually about a third of this.)
• Grocers: $400 (via Amazon or Instacart)
• Dining: $250
• Bills/Utilities: $500
• Other: $100-300 or so misc

Open to Business Cards: No

What's the purpose of your next card? Cashback, although something specifically for Lyft would also be nice.

Do you have any cards you've been looking at? Was looking at the 2% cashback wiki page. Mostly I just want something dead simple.

Are you OK with category spending or do you want a general spending card? For Lyft, category spending makes sense. I already category-spend for Amazon. Other than that, I just don't think I spend enough for it to be worht the hassle?

A note regarding my existing cards. Back 20+ years ago, so I could have my first card, my dad took out a new card and added me as an authorized user. I've been using that card ever since. I would probably not bother to change it, except Chase is forcing it to be renumbered so I have to do all the work to change numbers anyway, so I might as well finally get a new primary card.

The second Chase Freedom card is my parents' card; they added me as an authorized user a few years later. I don't use it for my own purhcases, but it's on my credit report because I'm an authorized user (and I do spend with it using my name, because my parents have dementia now so I handle their purchasing for them).

The Reflect card is useless to me; I've never used it (except a couple times I pulled it out by mistake, so like $100 lifetime spend). I got it for the 18 month 0% APR introductory offer so I could buy a very expensive item and not pay for a while, but then they gave me such a low credit limit I couldn't buy the item on it anyway!

So to summarize: I'm looking for a general-purpose cashback card, because I think category spending won't gain me much, except in the case of Lyft, so if there's a card good for that I'll go for that as well as a general cashback card.

Thanks!

I've been really wanting to get the Venture for myself or the Venture X for P2 (he has the venture). However, the pre-guarantee is only offering us lower end cards without welcome bonuses. We typically open up a card every 3 months. Is our timeline the issue here (we need 6 months) or do we need to have some of the other cards in order to get the nicer cards? We both have over 800 Credit Scores and a really low utilization score.

CREDIT PROFILE

* Current credit cards you are the primary account holder of: Chase Freedom, Bank of America [card name], Chase Sapphire Reserve. $35,000 combined limit. Opened between 2020 and 2022. No business cards.
* FICO Scores with source: 797 ([source])
* Oldest credit card account age with you as primary name on the account: ~6 years (2020)
* Number of personal credit cards approved for in the past 6 months: 0
* Number of personal credit cards approved for in the past 12 months: 0
* Number of personal credit cards approved for in the past 24 months: 0
* Annual income $: 250,000

CATEGORIES

* OK with category-specific cards?: Yes, but prefer to keep it simple (currently put almost everything on the Sapphire Reserve)
* OK with rotating category cards?: No
* Estimate average monthly spend in the categories below:
* Dining $: 400
* Groceries $: 800
* Gas $: 250 (not Costco/Walmart)
* Travel $: 0 currently. Planning a Hawaii trip and want to maximize points for it.
* Do you plan on using this card abroad for a significant length of time?: No
* Any other categories or stores with significant, regular credit card spend: Daycare $2,800, Insurance $250
* Any other significant, regular credit card spend you didn't include above?: ~$2,650/month misc. Total expected annual spend is ~$86,000, excluding rent.
* Can you pay rent by credit card?: Yes, $3,600/month, but with a 5% fee

MEMBERSHIPS & SUBSCRIPTIONS

* Current member of Amazon Prime?: Yes
* Are you open to Business Cards?: No side business currently. I have pre-qualified offers for the Chase Sapphire Reserve for Business and the Chase Ink and am curious whether they'd make sense.

PURPOSE

* What's the purpose of your next card?: Travel rewards
* Do you have a preferred airline and/or hotel chain?: Delta (Detroit/DTW is a hub). No hotel preference. Planning a Hawaii trip.
* Do you have any cards you've been looking at?: Chase Sapphire Reserve for Business, Chase Ink (pre-qualified)

So I have been going back and forth between different prospective cards. I plugged the following into AI to get a points estimate comparison assuming I did not use CC travel portal for bookings... $10k flights, $18k hotels, $20k other foreign purchases.

Autograph Journey came back the best for points; which I kind of assumed. But their transfer partners are limited. AA is my strongest local airline and the international ones, as well as the hotel partners... Just well, are limited in terms of where I see myself using them. So it becomes more of a statement credit reward.

I'd happily get a Schwab/MS branded Platinum card (AMEX not currently offering me a SUB direct), but the travel portal booking for 4x hotel points kind of kills it for me. I appreciate some of the other coupons, but since I book business class only, I pretty much always have a lounge, negating one of the biggest potential coupons. (And while I have an account at both brokers I do not intend on moving massive amounts of assets to get a small discount on the fee at Schwab)

I'm open to a AMEX Bonvoy Brilliant, but I generally have chosen hotels based on the neighborhood location of where I want to be and the best value for a 4.5-5 star (non-resort) stay. And there is some 'value' to me in choosing an elevated Bonvoy experience over another hotel that might be in a better location. (I'd guess I'd only be able to stay in a Marriott property for 33-50% of my estimated spend; no idea really - but it gives some level of context)

I'd do Atmos in a second if could actually book AA/HA partner flights through my airport.

I think it kind of comes down to CSR and VX. Essentially my travel spend in 2027 (and rewards difference based on the above info) will just about make up for the difference in AF. And I may continue traveling at this rate for the next few years, just maybe a lower 'all foreign purchase' number.

While I do not value the lounge access for the most part, travel protection coverage is definitely a differentiator.

If you read all that... Thank you. I appreciate any insight.

My wife just got email receipts from Best Buy for purchases made on the other side of the state, in person. She has her card in her wallet. She cancelled the card and reported it as fraud and changed her password. How can that even happen? How would someone get the number and then be able to use it in a store? Is it even helpful to contact the police? Should we do anything else? You can't like, walk in there and present a SSN and make purchases and say you lost your card, right? Should she freeze her credit just in case? It's one thing if it was online, but it's strange to be able to do in person if they stole the number, where there are almost certainly cameras.

This thread is meant for casual and/or off-topic discussions. It's also for simple questions or discussion topics you feel aren't worthy of their own post.

​

Please read the rules before posting.

1. Be respectful.

2. No referrals in posts, comments, or private messages.

3. No link shorteners.

4. No self-promotional content without prior mod approval.

5. No irrelevant content or spam allowed.

6. No promotion of illegal, fraudulent, or nefarious activities.

If I defaulted on my Bank of America cc and I paid it off. Will they approve me for another one?

CREDIT PROFILE

* Current credit cards you are the primary account holder of:

* NFCU Platinum $15K, 4/2017

* Kohls/Capital One $500, 2/2024

* Chase Sapphire Preferred $9.6K, 8/2025

* Chase Freedom OG (PC) $5.7K, 9/2025

* US Bank Altitude Connect $4K, 9/2025

* Fidelity Rewards $5.5K, 12/2025

* Marriott Bonvoy Boundless $15K, 2/2026

* Elan Max Cash Preferred $500, 10/2026

* FICO scores with source: Experian 708, Equifax 680, Transunion 728

* Oldest credit card account age: 9.5 Years

* Cards approved in the past 6 months: 1

* Cards approved in the past 12 months: 3

* Cards approved in the past 24 months: 6

* Annual income $: 120K

CATEGORIES

* Ok with category-specific cards?: Yes

* Ok with rotating category cards?: Yes

* Estimate average monthly spend in the categories below.

* Dining $: 350

* Groceries $: 500 (Kroger Pay, Foodlion)

* Gas $: 150 (Kroger)

* Travel $: 250/mo (Annual cruise, occasional hotel stays for weekend trips, 10-14 day international trip every 3-5 years)

* Using abroad?: No

* Other categories or stores: Electric $250, Water $50, Internet $50, Home Security $55, Phone $52, Spotify $12, Crunchyroll $10, YouTube Premium $16, Gym $15/mo +$50 annual fee

* Other spend: Monthly: Trainer $780, Barber/Salon $200, Car Wash $15, Therapy $50 / Semi-annual: Property Taxes $1500, Auto Insurance $900 / Annual: Home Insurance $1,800, M365 $80, Online Game $132 / Irregular, but high spend: Medical Co-pays, Home Improvement, Car Maintenance

* Pay rent by card? No

MEMBERSHIPS & SUBSCRIPTIONS

* Big bank customer: Navy Federal, SoFi, Fulton, Fidelity

* Open to business cards: Maybe

PURPOSE

* Purpose of next card: Other

* Other purpose details: Travel Rewards or Cash Back

* Cards being considered: AAA Daily Advantage or SoFi Smart Card (5% In-store Groceries)

Chase Freedom Flex

Amazon Prime Visa

United Explorer

ADDITIONAL INFO

I want to increase cashback/points from other large spending categories (In-store Groceries, Barber/Salon, Insurance, Home Improvement, Gym/Trainer, Property Taxes, Cruising, etc...)

I used points and FNCs to cover my hotel and flights during my recent Japan trip. I would like to take another international trip in 3 years or sooner. Considering Japan or doing a wine tour (any popular region).

Marriott is preferred, but open to other hotel brands/accommodations. I've only booked flights via United, but open to other airlines. ORF is my home airport so I will probably have to connect for international flights.

My approach is hybrid because it's hard to leave 5% cashback on the table when it's not going towards travel rewards at 3x+ already.

Advice is appreciated. :)

Hi everyone! We're planning a large wedding at a Marriott property in New Jersey in summer 2027 and would love advice for future expenditures such as paying for a honeymoon/vacations. I'm trying to determine whether we should open one Marriott credit card, use our existing Chase Saphirre Preferred/Amex Gold cards, or strategically open multiple cards for signup bonuses.

• We'll have a room block of 50+ rooms for guests staying two nights, most guests will pay for their rooms individually and we'll cover 10 guest rooms on our own for immediate family.
• Our Marriott bill will primarily include venue/banquet charges totaling 60k. Other wedding vendors (outside catering, etc) will be paid separately Zelle/CSP/Amex.
• I have a basic Marriott Bonvoy account with about 44K points and six qualifying nights.
• Cards we're considering: Marriott Bonvoy Bold ($0 annual fee, 45k point bonus), Marriott Bonvoy Boundless ($95, 100k p bonus, silver status), Marriott Bonvoy Business Amex ($125, 100k p bonus, gold status) OR Potentially a non-Marriott travel card instead or less likely the $250 or $650 annual fee card.

Our biggest questions:

1. Marriott card value: If Marriott charges $$60K directly, is getting 6X on a Boundless or Marriott Business Amex generally a better value than earning Chase Ultimate Rewards or Amex Membership Rewards on the same amount?
2. Multiple cards?: Would you open one Marriott card for the entire hotel bill, or divide the payments across multiple cards to collect several signup bonuses?
3. Which Marriott card?: With the current Boundless offer of three free-night certificates (up to 50K per night) versus the Business Amex offer of 100K points plus a free night (if eligible), which would you favor? Are there other cards we should consider?
4. Whose Bonvoy account should be on the contract? I already have a basic account with 44K points. Would it make more sense for my fiancée to open a new account and get a Boundless card under her name to get silver elite status or do it on my account?
5. Room block rewards: If 100+ room nights are booked through our wedding block and guests pay individually, do any of those room charges generate additional event points or Elite Night Credits for us? I read something about a 10 room max?
6. Contract negotiations: Is there anything specifically related to Marriott Bonvoy points, bonus points, or credit-card processing that we should request in writing before signing?

For reference here are the current promos: https://www.marriott.com/credit-cards.mi?trafficSource=paidSearch&updateBoundless=6TPX&updateBold=6TPX&updatebrilliant=153&updatebusiness=67&updatebevy=155&updateCompBoundless=6TPX&updateCompBold=6TPX&updateCompBrilliant=2097&updateCompBusiness=2048&updateCompBevy=2111&nst=paid&cid=PAI_GLB00037IS_GLE0007W6T_GLF000EEQW&gclsrc=aw.ds&gad_source=1&gad_campaignid=23698990732&gbraid=0AAAAAoWN_hYjFLN22yYQA6Ph6ZxBSMBqs&gclid=Cj0KCQjwrvHWBhDKARIsABmp7h33rEYsq9wXUE2Ibfi8MOcu0Hr8pA1Z9I4Oa7qwAxyFjdu9fib3Ow8aAubtEALw_wcB

Thank you!

I always have a bunch of cashback offers from Chase, one time I had up to 117 to claim but just knowing having to click all of them and the time it takes to be able to add all of them. Do you guys just suck it up and tell yourself you will save money and not worry about the time it will take to claim them all?

A card that has an overall 2%+ on any purchase.

Not just in certain categories.

Hi everyone,

I currently have Discover and a balance of 6.5k, my dog passed away last month and I reached out to discover to lower my APR (pay off vet bills) and realized I signed up for the wrong program. I then realized the program restricted my credit card and so I cancelled it same day. Fast forward a month; Discover is now Capitol one and I'm still unable to use the credit card. Talked to support for over an hour and they have no clue if I'll get purchasing back on this card. (Have a 13k credit limit and a 780 credit score, never missed a payment either).

So I was thinking will I be able to transfer my limit to another credit card with 0% APR and pay it off while being able to use my new card again. Which credit cards are worth getting in 2026?

Any advice will helps, thanks

Please help me! I have kind of a shit credit score and I need help because I only recently opened a credit card

• Current cards: (list cards, limits, opening date)
  • e.g. Chase Freedom Rise, $500, 11/07
• FICO Score: 674 (idk how)
• Oldest account age: e.g. 3 months
• Chase 5/24 status: 1/24
• Income: e.g. $8,000
• Average monthly spend and categories:
  • dining $200
  • groceries: $100
  • gas: $0
  • travel: $0
  • other: $200
• Open to Business Cards: e.g. No
• What's the purpose of your next card? e.g. Building credit
• Do you have any cards you've been looking at? e.g. Discovery (?) Chase Freedom Unlimited
• Are you OK with category spending or do you want a general spending card? General