What credit card are you using that is not Citi 2% cashback?

[new2bogle]

I've been almost exclusively using the Citi Double cashback credit card which gives 2% cashback on all purchases. Only exceptions are AmEx 6% for groceries and Costco card for gas/costco purchases.

Now that the Citi double cashback card has removed all perks (warranty extension, purchase protection, etc) which card are you using that has as much cashback and also still has perks?

Only one I've found is https://www.alliantcreditunion.org/bank ... ature-card which also has a $99 annual fee but is 2.5% flat cashback.

ETA:
Breakeven on the Citi 2% vs. the alliant 2.5% is $20k spend per year. Our CC spend is closer to $30k/year.

[HomeStretch]

I use the Citibank Double Cash card and Fidelity Visa card for all purchases that I can’t get a better cash rebate on with another card. Both cards are no fee and offer 2% back. I added the Fidelity card after Citi eliminated all the great card features you listed. It helps keep our credit utilization % down plus I received a $150 bonus from Fidelity after spending $ within the first xx days.

If you are a BofA / Merrill Edge customer, search the forum for the BofA thread about enrolling in the Preferred Rewards program which offers a bonus (highest tier requires $100k on deposit/invested). The bonus boosts the everyday cash back % > 2%.

ETA: I like that the Fidelity Visa is a contactless/tap-and-pay card. Oddly though they are the only credit card that still shows the full credit card # on the monthly statement.

[JDP]

In addition to Citi Double Cash 2%, I use:

Ducks Unlimited - 5% gas and sporting goods stores
Bank of America Cash Rewards - 3% dining
American Express Blue Cash Everyday - 3% groceries
Lowe's Advantage Card - 5% off store purchases. I use this card if I can't find an item cheaper at Menards, online, etc.

[Jack FFR1846]

Citizens Bank Master Card, which is paying 5% on everything without limit until the end of the month. Fidelity Visa at 2%.

Once April starts, I'll re-assess and check the rotating categories on Freedom, discover and my other cards. Citizens reverts to 1.8% in April.

[Quercus Palustris]

Penfed power cash rewards - 2% cash back, no fee, 1yr warranty extension (up to 3yrs), rental damage coverage, no foreign transaction fee, $100 sign up bonus. Have to keep $500 in a checking account though.

Amazon card for 5% back on Amazon / Whole Foods.

[calvin+hobbes]

Costco for Gas and restaurants.
Discover It with rotating 5% categories. No fees.
Chase Freedom with 5% rotating categories. No fees.

[mbasherp]

We keep using Citi Doublecash for most regular expenses, but recently added Chase Sapphire Preferred for the bonus. 60,000 points when you spend $4k in 3 months. That's equal to a $600 cash bonus or $750 in travel, far offsetting the $95 annual fee.

We had hoped to use it toward vacation, but worst case, we still come out $505 ahead if we take it as cash.

[ridebikeseveryday]

I use the alliant visa. However, they have increased fees, capped rewards, etc. in the last three years since I've had it. I'm seriously considering switching to BofA Premium Rewards/Preferred Rewards.

[abner kravitz]

I use the Fidelity 2% card and the Amazon Prime card as backup and for the 5% back at Amazon and Whole Foods.

[Broken Man 1999]

Costco Visa for restaurants and gas.
Sam's MC for gas.
Discover for 5% categories.
Priceline Visa 2% for any category that doesn't have a better rebate via other cards.

Broken Man 1999

[tomd37]

I use credit cards for virtually all my purchases; the original AMEX Blue Cash Rebate card for 99% of my purchases and a Navy Federal CU VISA card for purchases at Costco.

The no annual fee AMEX Blue Cash card gives me a 5% cash rebate on grocery store, gasoline, and drugstore purchases and 1% on all other purchases after reaching the $6,500 tier of all purchases. Before the tier is reached it is a 1% and 0.5% rebate respectively. I do an average of $28K annually on that card so it is easy to reach the $6,500 tier. Food is a big expenditure for us. As a matter of fact, I just noted today's date and my new anniversary year starts today.

I would have to do some investigating to see if a 2% cash back card would be worth considering. But then is it worth the hassle at our advanced age? Also I like these two current cards for the online services and the security or potential fraud watch they offer. Each has caught a couple of potential fraudulent purchases in the past three years and prevented the purchases. Online services are also great!

[dropdx]

I'm looking at getting the Wells Fargo Propel card:

https://www.wellsfargo.com/credit-cards/propel/

Earn 3x points on:

• Eating out and ordering in

• Gas stations, rideshares, and transit

• Flights, hotels, homestays, and car rentals

• Popular streaming services

[j0nnyg1984]

Same cards as always

BoA cash rewards: 5.25% on gas, 3.5% on grocery
BoA premium rewards: 3.5% on travel and restaurants, 2.625% on everything else.

Fantastic combo.

[HomeStretch]

... The no annual fee AMEX Blue Cash card gives me a 5% cash rebate on grocery store, gasoline, and drugstore purchases and 1% on all other purchases after reaching the $6,500 tier of all purchases. Before the tier is reached it is a 1% and 0.5% rebate respectively. ...

Which no-fee amex Blue card do you have that gives 5% cash back on groceries/ gas/ drugstore purchases after $6,500 in purchases?

The no-fee Amex Blue Everyday Cash card advertises 3% groceries (up to $6000) /2% gas/ 1% everything else. I pay a $95 annual fee for the Amex Blue Cash Preferred with 6% grocery (up to $6,000)/streaming/ 3% gas / 1% everything else.

[JDCarpenter]

BoA travel rewards for everyday purchases (with platinum preferred status you get 2.625% statement credit against a very wide definition of travel; no annual fee)

Chase Sapphire Reserve for restaurants and core travel charges. (At least up until March 2020 ( ) we travel[ed] at least 6 months of the year; so the annual fee has been well worth it for us. YMMV)

[Bud]

Amazon Prime for 5% on Amazon purchase

Lowe's for 5% at Lowe's

Thinking of adding Kroger card because we spend so much at Kroger (family of 6). Anyone with the Kroger MasterCard here?

[JuniorBH]

Same cards as always

BoA cash rewards: 5.25% on gas, 4.5% on grocery
BoA premium rewards: 3.5% on travel and restaurants, 2.625% on everything else.

Fantastic combo.

Same here, though I'm not sure how you're getting 4.5% on groceries, I think it's 1.75% x 2% = 3.5% on groceries. I also use the amex blue cash preferred until I hit the $6K limit on groceries, then move to the BOA card.

[wander]

Priceline 2% rebate VISA for any purchase. Penfed 5% rebate any gas.

[PhoebeCoco]

Amazon Prime Chase Visa. 5% back on Amazon/Whole Foods. Got a free Whole Foods grocery delivery yesterday; very useful.

[yohac]

For non-category spends, University of Wisconsin Credit Union. 2% back on everything, no minimum redemption, no foreign transaction fees. No annual fee but includes some features typically found on travel cards with fees, like trip cancellation or delay coverage. However you pretty much need to do all your banking there to qualify.

[Osterix]

Same cards as always

BoA cash rewards: 5.25% on gas, 4.5% on grocery
BoA premium rewards: 3.5% on travel and restaurants, 2.625% on everything else.

Fantastic combo.

Will you elaborate more on this?

I just opened a taxable at Vanguard yet haven’t started funding it. I’m considering the BOA/ME combo in order to use their credit cards. I probably wouldn’t haven’t the funds until years end, and I know you have to have the account funded for 3 months before the CC % kicks in.

[PavlovsCat]

CSR for 3% Dining & Travel
Amex Gold for 4% Grocery Store
CF for 5% categories
Chase Ink Preferred for 5% at office stores, which I use to buy Amazon GC to fill my Amazon account... 7.5% back on travel when paired with CSR.

[HomeStretch]

Same cards as always

BoA cash rewards: 5.25% on gas, 4.5% on grocery
BoA premium rewards: 3.5% on travel and restaurants, 2.625% on everything else.

Fantastic combo.

Will you elaborate more on this?

You may find this long-running BH thread (with recent posts in later pages) about the BofA Preferred Rewards helpful.
viewtopic.php?f=2&t=150033

[tomd37]

HomeStretch - As stated in my post, I have the original AMEX Blue Cash Rebate card that came out many years ago and is no longer available. I believe it was replaced by the card you mention with the annual fee but we were able to retain what we had.

[Jags4186]

... The no annual fee AMEX Blue Cash card gives me a 5% cash rebate on grocery store, gasoline, and drugstore purchases and 1% on all other purchases after reaching the $6,500 tier of all purchases. Before the tier is reached it is a 1% and 0.5% rebate respectively. ...

Which no-fee amex Blue card do you have that gives 5% cash back on groceries/ gas/ drugstore purchases after $6,500 in purchases?

The no-fee Amex Blue Everyday Cash card advertises 3% groceries (up to $6000) /2% gas/ 1% everything else. I pay a $95 annual fee for the Amex Blue Cash Preferred with 6% grocery (up to $6,000)/streaming/ 3% gas / 1% everything else.

The legendary Old Blue Cash. This used to be the biggest moneymaker of them all. 0.5% cashback everywhere and 1% cashback on "everyday purchases" (groceries, pharmies, gas). Once you hit $6500 in annual purchases those rates jumped to 1% and 5%. In 2016 or so they restricted 5% categories to $50,000 in purchases annually. Still an incredibly profitable card for those who can max out the $50k annually.

No longer available but those who have it are grandfathered (until shot by AMEX for maxing the $50k limit ).

[beyou]

... The no annual fee AMEX Blue Cash card gives me a 5% cash rebate on grocery store, gasoline, and drugstore purchases and 1% on all other purchases after reaching the $6,500 tier of all purchases. Before the tier is reached it is a 1% and 0.5% rebate respectively. ...

Which no-fee amex Blue card do you have that gives 5% cash back on groceries/ gas/ drugstore purchases after $6,500 in purchases?

The no-fee Amex Blue Everyday Cash card advertises 3% groceries (up to $6000) /2% gas/ 1% everything else. I pay a $95 annual fee for the Amex Blue Cash Preferred with 6% grocery (up to $6,000)/streaming/ 3% gas / 1% everything else.

The legendary Old Blue Cash. This used to be the biggest moneymaker of them all. 0.5% cashback everywhere and 1% cashback on "everyday purchases" (groceries, pharmies, gas). Once you hit $6500 in annual purchases those rates jumped to 1% and 5%. In 2016 or so they restricted 5% categories to $50,000 in purchases annually. Still an incredibly profitable card for those who can max out the $50k annually.

No longer available but those who have it are grandfathered (until shot by AMEX for maxing the $50k limit ).

I had this and Amex reduced the deal retroactively for me.
As of today best they offer is 3% on groceries so we sometimes use Amex for that, but otherwise stopped using Amex as my primary.
Not happy as I do think they offer the best service of the major issuers, but at a price now.

[FrugalProfessor]

Same cards as always

BoA cash rewards: 5.25% on gas, 4.5% on grocery
BoA premium rewards: 3.5% on travel and restaurants, 2.625% on everything else.

Fantastic combo.

Will you elaborate more on this?

I just opened a taxable at Vanguard yet haven’t started funding it. I’m considering the BOA/ME combo in order to use their credit cards. I probably wouldn’t haven’t the funds until years end, and I know you have to have the account funded for 3 months before the CC % kicks in.

https://frugalprofessor.com/best-credit ... 9-edition/

[FrugalProfessor]

Duplicate post.

[j0nnyg1984]

Same cards as always

BoA cash rewards: 5.25% on gas, 4.5% on grocery
BoA premium rewards: 3.5% on travel and restaurants, 2.625% on everything else.

Fantastic combo.

Same here, though I'm not sure how you're getting 4.5% on groceries, I think it's 1.75% x 2% = 3.5% on groceries. I also use the amex blue cash preferred until I hit the $6K limit on groceries, then move to the BOA card.

Uhhhh yeah you’re right. For some reason it was stuck in my head at 4.5%.

Still, fantastic value, especially since it works at Costco and the like.

[rj49]

If you've looked at your stock portfolio lately, then saving .5% on a credit card really doesn't matter. I used to max out my quarterly 5% Discover bonuses, until I realized it came out to $75 on $1500 of spending, when the excess spending wiped out any bonus, and paled in comparison to the daily rise and fall of investments, or even the cost of a nice dinner out.

So simplicity is the best approach for me. I have a 1.5% BECU credit union VISA with no convenience checks, no urges to do unnecessary spending on categories to chase bonuses or points, and no minimum redemption, and it's easily paid through my BECU checking on their app or website. It has dramatically cut my spending that I used to do on credit cards with bonuses and categories.

The other card I use is the Apple Card through Apple Pay, simply because it's also so easy to monitor and pay through the Wallet app, and I don't have to bother staring at a credit card terminal and all the swipe/insert nonsense, I just point my phone at a terminal and it works. That's especially nice now, so I don't have physical contact with anything that could give me a virus, and the 2% cash back is a nice bonus.

The only exception I make is for restaurants and coffee shops. I don't want the pressure of writing legibly on a little slip of paper or doing tip math, I want to help local dining spots by cutting out swipe fees and giving cash directly to servers, so I use cash in those cases. I also don't want the risk of credit card swipe fraud in a restaurant or somebody misreading my written total and overcharging my card, so I feel better all around by using cash.

[michaeljc70]

I've been almost exclusively using the Citi Double cashback credit card which gives 2% cashback on all purchases. Only exceptions are AmEx 6% for groceries and Costco card for gas/costco purchases.

Now that the Citi double cashback card has removed all perks (warranty extension, purchase protection, etc) which card are you using that has as much cashback and also still has perks?

Only one I've found is https://www.alliantcreditunion.org/bank ... ature-card which also has a $99 annual fee but is 2.5% flat cashback.

ETA:
Breakeven on the Citi 2% vs. the alliant 2.5% is $20k spend per year. Our CC spend is closer to $30k/year.

But is your Citi spend $30k after the Amex/Costco card spends?

I use the Citi Double for the vast majority of my purchases. Since they don't take it, I use a Visa card at Costco (varies depending on if I am working on a bonus). I use Discover/Chase Freedom occasionally if it is obvious/easy to get 5% back without too much hassle. I mostly use Discover at Amazon at Xmas time for 5%. I use an alternate card when buying something that might need the warranty protection that Citi Double dropped or a car rental. I've considered the Costco card as I do shop there a decent amount but don't buy much gas.

[vbdoug]

Costco Citi for Costco and restaurants.
Fidelity for all automatic charges done electronically.
Priceline [Barclaycard] for everything else.
All are non-fee cards that offer 2% or more,

[mikep]

Chase Freedom Unlimited for most purchases, since the 1.5% cash back comes in the form of Ultimate Rewards points that are worth a minimum of 1.5 cents each when I transfer to my Sapphire Reserve. Only downside is that is the value when redeemed for travel.

[phisher4]

One additional data point:

In my (anonymous internet) opinion, Alliant has poor, disjointed customer service relative to Citi.

Another drawback is that the cashback is capped at $10,000 per month in spending (i.e. $250/month).

Anyone know of another 2.5%+ card that doesn't require a huge bank deposit/brokerage relationship?

[bryansmile]

I've wondered about this: is it better to use the Penfed 2% cash back visa card at Costco or the Citi visa card? I use Penfed since their cash back is per month, not once a year. Thoughts?

[HomeStretch]

No longer available but those who have it are grandfathered (until shot by AMEX for maxing the $50k limit ).

Thank you, it sounds like a good card!

[HomeStretch]

HomeStretch - As stated in my post, I have the original AMEX Blue Cash Rebate card that came out many years ago and is no longer available. I believe it was replaced by the card you mention with the annual fee but we were able to retain what we had.

Thanks, sounds like I missed a good card!

[new2bogle]

Citizens Bank Master Card, which is paying 5% on everything without limit until the end of the month. Fidelity Visa at 2%.

Once April starts, I'll re-assess and check the rotating categories on Freedom, discover and my other cards. Citizens reverts to 1.8% in April.

Let me look up the Fidelity Visa, I did not know about this one.

[new2bogle]

I've been almost exclusively using the Citi Double cashback credit card which gives 2% cashback on all purchases. Only exceptions are AmEx 6% for groceries and Costco card for gas/costco purchases.

Now that the Citi double cashback card has removed all perks (warranty extension, purchase protection, etc) which card are you using that has as much cashback and also still has perks?

Only one I've found is https://www.alliantcreditunion.org/bank ... ature-card which also has a $99 annual fee but is 2.5% flat cashback.

ETA:
Breakeven on the Citi 2% vs. the alliant 2.5% is $20k spend per year. Our CC spend is closer to $30k/year.

But is your Citi spend $30k after the Amex/Costco card spends?

I use the Citi Double for the vast majority of my purchases. Since they don't take it, I use a Visa card at Costco (varies depending on if I am working on a bonus). I use Discover/Chase Freedom occasionally if it is obvious/easy to get 5% back without too much hassle. I mostly use Discover at Amazon at Xmas time for 5%. I use an alternate card when buying something that might need the warranty protection that Citi Double dropped or a car rental. I've considered the Costco card as I do shop there a decent amount but don't buy much gas.

Yeah, the $30k spend is just on the Citi doublecash back card.

[mega317]

I'm considering a new one now. I got a mailing for Bank of the West cash back card--3% on gas, dining, groceries. No fee. I only found one post about it in the monster credit card thread. Seems like it would be a good complement to my Chase Freedom/Discover It.

[somekevinguy]

Same cards as always

BoA cash rewards: 5.25% on gas, 3.5% on grocery
BoA premium rewards: 3.5% on travel and restaurants, 2.625% on everything else.

Fantastic combo.

This, except have 4 cash rewards cards between wife and I so 2-3 are always set to online, 1 to gas, and 1 to travel/dining. Thats 5.25% for all those categories and then the travel/premium rewards for 2.625% as a base on everything.

We still use CSR and chase freedom/chase ink plus given the 1.5X from CSR portal and 5% categories as well.

[Waiting_for_Godot]

I'm considering a new one now. I got a mailing for Bank of the West cash back card--3% on gas, dining, groceries. No fee. I only found one post about it in the monster credit card thread. Seems like it would be a good complement to my Chase Freedom/Discover It.

I'm strongly tempted to simplify my system (now that I am writing it all out) and also got that mailer, either try that or go all-in on BoA/Merrill.

Current system is as follows:

Chase Freedom: 6.25% on rotating categories (paired with annual fee card for travel)
Chase Ink Cash: 6.25% on phone and internet (ditto)
Citi Dividend: 5% on rotating categories
CapitalOne Savor: 4% on restaurants and entertainment (annual fee, but waived thus far)
Citi Premier: 3.75% on travel/gas, 2.5% on restaurants (will use for gas starting in April, annual fee)
Chase Preferred: 3.75% on tolls (annual fee)
Citi DoubleCash: 2.5% (paired with the Premier for travel)

Most of these cards either had very nice signup bonuses, or were product switched from those cards (citi dividend, chase freedom)... but the ongoing benefit is debatable for the hassle of rotating categories and paying so many disparate cards.

[Snuffycuts99]

... The no annual fee AMEX Blue Cash card gives me a 5% cash rebate on grocery store, gasoline, and drugstore purchases and 1% on all other purchases after reaching the $6,500 tier of all purchases. Before the tier is reached it is a 1% and 0.5% rebate respectively. ...

Which no-fee amex Blue card do you have that gives 5% cash back on groceries/ gas/ drugstore purchases after $6,500 in purchases?

The no-fee Amex Blue Everyday Cash card advertises 3% groceries (up to $6000) /2% gas/ 1% everything else. I pay a $95 annual fee for the Amex Blue Cash Preferred with 6% grocery (up to $6,000)/streaming/ 3% gas / 1% everything else.

The legendary Old Blue Cash. This used to be the biggest moneymaker of them all. 0.5% cashback everywhere and 1% cashback on "everyday purchases" (groceries, pharmies, gas). Once you hit $6500 in annual purchases those rates jumped to 1% and 5%. In 2016 or so they restricted 5% categories to $50,000 in purchases annually. Still an incredibly profitable card for those who can max out the $50k annually.

No longer available but those who have it are grandfathered (until shot by AMEX for maxing the $50k limit ).

It is a great card. I use it pretty much exclusively with the exception of the Citi Double card for purchases that aren't gas, grocery, or pharmacy. I've timed large purchases like insurance to occur right after the anniversary date to reach the $6500 threshold within a month or so. And then it's off to the races! It will be a sad day if AMEX ever closes it for good.

[RomeoMustDie]

Fidelity 2% Cash back visa and looking at the duck's unlimited 5% on gas visa.

Capital One Savor One 3% on dining and entertainment is also tempting.

The 5% rotating category cards may be ok, but it's too much fuss for me.

[xcrunner]

I use...
Duck's unlimited - 5% on gas and sporting goods stores, Chase and Discover's 5% rotating cash back (usually for 5% on groceries), BoA Cash Rewards 3% for travel (could be 5.25%), Capital One Savor 4% on dining, and Citi's Double Cash for 2% on everything else

[manuvns]

chase reserve for everything
penfed visa for gas
occasional cards that offer 0% intro rates .

[anoop]

ETA: I like that the Fidelity Visa is a contactless/tap-and-pay card.

So is the Citi DC. I actually asked for a card without it previously for security reasons. But now they have issued an updated card with contactless tap-and-pay and I'm not able to get through to customer service.

[Vanguard Fan 1367]

Fidelity Visa.

[HomeStretch]

ETA: I like that the Fidelity Visa is a contactless/tap-and-pay card.

So is the Citi DC. I actually asked for a card without it previously for security reasons. But now they have issued an updated card with contactless tap-and-pay and I'm not able to get through to customer service.

Thanks for mentioning that as my Citi card (issued a couple years ago) doesn’t have that feature. I’ll have to request one.

[anoop]

ETA: I like that the Fidelity Visa is a contactless/tap-and-pay card.

So is the Citi DC. I actually asked for a card without it previously for security reasons. But now they have issued an updated card with contactless tap-and-pay and I'm not able to get through to customer service.

Thanks for mentioning that as my Citi card (issued a couple years ago) doesn’t have that feature. I’ll have to request one.

You could also just add it to the wallet in your phone and then it becomes contactless in that way. I'm a bit of a luddite when it comes to such things because of security.