What is the best credit card?

Question

With the best features , rewards, possibly that offers low apr, trustworthy, average daily cycle!

Answer 1

OK - tough question, but I'll do my best to answer this cos I have done lots of research on this. Let's first breakdown the rewards into a few categories to compare :

1. airline tickets
2. other travel rewards like hotels, vacations, cruises etc.
3. gift certificates
4. merchandise catalog.

Before I go on, I just want to mention that there are a few major reward programs.

1. amex membership rewards
2. citi thankyou redemption network.
3. chase choosemyrewards (for flexible rewards card and travel plus card).
4. Bank of America Worldpoints (used to be MBNA until they were taken over).
5. Capital One No Hassle Miles & Amex Blue Sky (similar formula).

Alright, lets get the easy part out of the way. If you are looking for rewards mainly for merchandize, then the program with the most merchandize in their catalog is the membership rewards from american express. You should consider getting the Blue Card from American Express. But citi's ThankYou Redemption has the coolest apple ipod in their catalogs, which no other program has.

If gift certificates is what you are looking for, the both the Discover Platinum Card and Worldpoints from BOA have the most partners. The worldpoints require more points to get a gift card with a similar dollar value. But both have more merchants in the gift card category.

If you are looking for cruise vacations and hotels, then the membership rewards is the program to go for. It has more hotel partners (15 versus 3 for most) and more cruise vacations in their catalogs than all other programs. The Blue Card or the Amex Green or Gold charge card is the card to get.

Now for the most complicated decisions : Airline Tickets.

There are a few factors that you have to consider :

1. Do you fly any specific airline?

2. Do you mind restrictions like having to book 21 days in advance, staying over on a saturday and not taking your preferred flight?

For the first question, if you fly just a specific airline, you may want to consider that specific airlines credit card or the amex green or gold charge card where you can transfer points into miles for 21 airline partners. Or get the Starwood Preferred Guest credit card where you can transfer points to miles on about 30 airlines.

2. The second issue is more tricky. All airline credit card reward programs have similar restrictions, but they vary in a couple of subtle but very important ways. Let's go through them below.

Chase Flexible Rewards or Travel Plus program.

This card has the usual restrictions and you have to abide by them. But the best feature of this program is that you can choose your own flights. If you flight ticket cost exceed the limit for the set amount of points, you just pay the difference. This is one feature that all other programs do not have. The Travel Plus card allows you to redeem for business or first class tickets as well.

The other great feature of these two chase cards is that you can also transfer points to UA, Continental and BA miles.

Citi ThankYou - comes with the usual restrictions but gives you the flexibility to redeem for a ticket without the restrictions (you may require more points because of this). But unlike the Chase program, you cannot be guaranteed the flight that you want. Citi will choose which flights are available for the itinery you want. Hence, you may find that flights are available with other agents but not with citi. So you may end up having to take a longer connecting flight. (this is a common issue with all credit card reward program except chase).

The good thing about citi is that their cards allow you to earn more points for every $ you spend than other cards. The citi professional for example allows you to earn 3 points/$ on certain categories of expenses while the premierpass card allows you to earn points on the miles you fly as well.

BOA - similar program to thankyou network. But presently, their cards have the lowest apr if you have great credit. 7.99% apr for most of their worldpoints card.

Capital One and Blue Sky - these programs let you use points for a set number of tickets. So for example, if you ticket cost $xx, then you require yy number of points. So like the chase program, you can choose whichever flight you want and use whichever travel agent you want.

I hope this has been helpful. Below are a few links you may find useful.

Answer 2

The "best credit card" really depends on your personal needs and objectives. Since most REWARD credit cards have higher interest rates and may include fees, you have to determine which is more important to you: more rewards, or lower interest rate.

If it's not necessary for you to have a Visa or Mastercard, one of the best offers available is the Discover Platinum card. It offers 0% for 12 months (on purchases and transfers), 10.99% APR after the intro, and great rewards of up to 5% cash back (with no limits on rewards).

If you're looking for a Visa or Mastercard, I would suggest the Chase Platinum card. It has 0% for 12 months (on purchases and transfers) and great reward options. You can compare these offers and more at:

http://www.asapcreditcard.com/instant-approval.html

Hope this helps! GOOD LUCK!

Answer 3

Reward credit cards reward you depending on the amount you spend on the credit card. Usually, you can collect rewards through 3 methods. One method involves earning cash back on the card, which is generally a certain percentage of each amount you spend. The next method involves giving points or any other type of token to the customers to accrue. They can then redeem these points for gifts like luggage, cosmetics and other goodies that the credit card company offers. Most of these reward schemes have alluring gifts and huge variety of selections. But the better option is to go for a cash back reward as it allows you to use the money any way you like.

The last method of reward is giving airmiles. Airmiles are highly popular reward, since many customers prefer to redeem them for free flights or flight upgrades to business or first class tickets. Whatever type of reward credit card you go for, carefully note the amount or rate at which rewards will accrue. E.g. some credit cards will give you one air mile per pound you spend while others will give you four. This is a major difference. Also read carefully other terms and conditions.

Answer 4

The one that has the lowest interest rate. Don't get caught up in names/brands.

Look at the interest rate...
Penalities
Annual fees..etc..

In other words, look for a card that will benefit you not just look good to others...