Credit Card Tune-Up
Looks like Ted (and others) may be looking for a new credit card. Clark Howard recommended the website creditcardtuneup.com where you can plug in your spending patterns, and the site will point you in the direction of the best rewards program for you. Kathy and I have always used Discover as our primary card because it pays you back in cash. But after running through the site, I found that Discover ranked far below other options. For us, the American Express Blue ranked at the top. I think this is because we spend so much on groceries and at department stores. It also pays cash back. (I'm not interested in trying to figure out how to maximize sky miles, gift cards, etc. Too complicated. Cash please.)
I signed up on the spot, and now Kathy and my primary card is American Express Blue. It has a smart chip in it, but no one makes use of that (yet.) After two decades with Discover our balances suddenly went to near zero.
I think I might try the Capital One No Hassle Cash Back card when the time comes. Hopefully they also have some kind of gold or platinum card that will double warranties too. I used to have one card that doubled warranties and one card that gave cash back, but the Citibank card did both.
Susan has a Capital One card and the whole card is a picture of her dog, Lilli. It turned out really well.
Sometimes gold or platinum cards have annual fees.
We use a Hilton Honors American Express card even though when I did the math we are getting points that have the same value as the cash we'd get back from the Blue Cash card. I guess we like the idea of forcing ourselves to travel.
The vending machines at work now have antennas and wireless modems with credit card readers that are swipe or touchless. I'm now spending way to much money "tapping" my Amex chip getting Coke Zeros or Peanut M&Ms. Smart chip for the vending machine. Stupid chip for me.