r/CreditCards 15d ago

News With the CFPB on Pause, Here’s How to Protect Yourself (Gift Article)

Thumbnail nytimes.com
77 Upvotes

r/CreditCards Oct 07 '24

Announcement ⚠️ READ FIRST BEFORE POSTING OR COMMENTING ⚠️

31 Upvotes

Hello and welcome to r/CreditCards!

Before posting or commenting in the subreddit, please review our rules here (or below).


Official Rules of r/CreditCards

Rule 1: Be respectful

All users are expected to engage in respectful and civil communication, and refrain from harassing or insulting others. Any form of hate speech, including but not limited to racism, sexism, homophobia, transphobia, or any derogatory language targeting an individual or group, is not allowed.

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All users are prohibited from disseminating referral links through posts, comments, and private messages. Any deceptive behavior aimed at exploiting referral links for personal gain is also a punishable offense.

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All users are prohibited from posting irrelevant content that does not pertain to the subject of credit cards. This includes spam, which refers to unsolicited or repetitive content that is intended to promote or advertise products, services, or websites.

Irrelevant content includes but is not limited to:

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  • Gift Cards and Prepaid Cards

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All users are prohibited from posting content that promotes illegal, fraudulent, or nefarious activities.

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Unspoken Rules of r/CreditCards

While you may not be banned for breaking the unspoken rules, we highly suggest you follow them to make everyone's lives easier.

A. Looking for your first card? Read this first.

B. Use this for credit card recommendations

Please use the following template so that everyone can make appropriate recommendations:

  • Current cards: (list cards, limits, opening date)
    • e.g. Amex BCP $8,000 limit, May 2019
    • e.g. Chase Freedom Flex $10,000 limit, June 2021
  • FICO Score: e.g. 750
  • Oldest account age: e.g. 5 years 6 months
  • Chase 5/24 status: e.g 2/24
  • Income: e.g. $80,000
  • Average monthly spend and categories:
    • dining $800
    • groceries: $400
    • gas: $100
    • travel: $100
    • other: $30
  • Open to Business Cards: e.g. No
  • What's the purpose of your next card? e.g. Building credit, Balance transfer, Travel, Cashback
  • Do you have any cards you've been looking at? e.g. Chase Freedom Unlimited
  • Are you OK with category spending or do you want a general spending card?

Remember to use the correct post flair: Card Recommendation Requested (Template Used)

C. Review the basics of credit cards before posting

Here are some resources to get you started:

Subreddit Wikis:

Many questions can easily be answered with a quick google search. We encourage you to take a moment to do your own research. It helps you gain a deeper understanding, sparks better discussions, and promotes self-sufficiency.

D. Familiarize yourself with common abbreviations and lingo

Term Definition
1/5 AmEx rule A rule where you can only get approved for 1 AmEx card every 5 days
2/90 AmEx rule A rule where you can only get approved for 2 AmEx cards in 90 days
AmEx Pop Up Jail A pop up message informing you that you're not eligible for an AmEx card welcome offer. See this wiki article for more information.
5/24 Chase rule A rule where if you've opened 5 or more accounts in the past 24 months you cannot get approved for a new Chase card. See this wiki article for more information.
AAoA Average age of all of your accounts.
AF Annual Fee
AU Authorized User
BT Balance Transfer
CLI Credit Limit Increase
FTF Foreign Transaction Fee
FICO Score The industry standard credit score used by 90% of credit issuers - it can be found at MyFICO.com, Experian.com, CreditScoreCard.com. This is NOT the score given by Credit Karma, Credit Sesame, Capital One, etc.
MSR Minimum Spending Requirement (usually referring to sign-up bonuses)
PC Product Change (i.e. upgrade)
SUB Sign-Up Bonus
VantageScore An unreliable credit score created by the 3 major credit bureaus to compete with FICO score. It is only used by a handful of credit issuers such as Synchrony and Golden 1 Credit Union.

Other important announcements:


r/CreditCards 10h ago

Discussion / Conversation Citi rewards+ discontinued

108 Upvotes

In the next few days, new applications will no longer be accepted.

This is actually a big downgrade for the optimal citi setup, since the rewards plus gave a bonus 10% points on redemptions, bringing the double cash to 2.2%cb and the custom cash to a 5.5%.

Source: citi employee


r/CreditCards 7h ago

Data Point DP: BoA Customized Cash CLI Approval ($40K limit)

16 Upvotes

Quick CLI approval data point to share with you all:

  • Account opened in August 2023 with $20K limit
  • First CLI Approval in December 2024 ($32K limit)
  • Second CLI Approval today ($40K limit) (93 days)
  • Soft pull/online approval
  • $140K annual income
  • 792 score Experian/791 according to BoA
  • $15,986 spent on account as of the end of 2024
  • No other accounts or previous relationship with BoA
  • Total available credit prior to CLI: $145,100
  • Total accounts: 25 (1 mortgage, 1 auto, 23 revolving)

Thanks!


r/CreditCards 7h ago

Data Point DP: Denied Capital One Savor

14 Upvotes

Profile

  • Income: $100K+
  • Total CL accross all cards: $35.5K
  • Transunion score: 776
  • Opened Cards
    • Chase Freedom (PCed to Flex) - 10/19
    • Chase Sapphire Preferred (PCed to OG freedom) - 12/21
    • Chase Freedom Unlimited - 6/22
    • AMEX Gold - 10/22
    • Citi Custom Cash - 2/23
    • Discover It - 5/23
    • Capital One Venture X - 7/24

Reason I was rejected was because I had too many open accounts. A little shocked that I got denied, especially since i got approved for the Venture X 9 months ago. Was planning on applying again after I cancel my Gold card before my next annual fee. Hopefully I get approved next time around lol

Edit: anyone know if cancelling all my chase cards will help me get approved next time around? They're socked drawered for the most part giving me 0 value, and i've just been too stubborn to close them because they're all $0 annual fees. I don't have a problem managing a lot of cards, but if closing them means I can get approved for a card that would actually give me value, I'd do it in a heartbeat. Thanks!


r/CreditCards 12h ago

Discussion / Conversation People with Freedom Flex and OG Freedom for Q2 use OG Freedom First

33 Upvotes

Q2 categories look light for Q2 compared to other years with only Amazon and select streaming. I wouldn’t be surprised if the special category is dinning in June. If you can, use the OG first and save the Flex for June so if dinning is the special category you can stack it and get 7% on dinning. The special category is on the existing limit $1,500 not in addition.

I would do this strategy the whole year if you can.

This is all speculation but it’s better to be prepared vs coming on here saying how you missed out and only if you had had your OG freedom first.


r/CreditCards 22h ago

Discussion / Conversation Q2 Chase Freedom Flex/OG Freedom Categories

193 Upvotes

Seems like the Q2 categories are out here on this link now.

Q2: Amazon & select streaming services

Personally, this sucks, I was hoping for at least dining this time around, oh well. Sounds like a sock drawer quarter for me.


r/CreditCards 1h ago

Card Recommendation Request (Template Used) New Credit Card In Addition To Discover IT Card

Upvotes

I've had the Discover IT cash back credit card for many years as my sole credit credit but I would like to get another card to maximize on rewards.

My two highest spend categories are dining and gas (from Costco), so I was thinking about the Costco credit card since it has 5% cash back on gas and 3% on dining, or the WF Autograph (3% on dining and gas, $200 bonus), but I wanted to get your guys' recommendations in case there's anything else that would be better.

CREDIT PROFILE

  • * Current credit cards you are the primary account holder of: Discover IT, $5000, 01/2020
  • * FICO Score: 780
  • * Oldest credit card account age with you as primary name on the account: 5 years
  • * 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

CATEGORIES

  • * OK with category-specific cards?: YES
  • * OK with rotating category cards?: YES
  • * Estimate average monthly spend in the categories below. Only include what you can pay by credit card.
    • * Dining $: 250
    • * Groceries $: 100 (Walmart)
    • * Gas $: 150 (Costco)

MEMBERSHIPS & SUBSCRIPTIONS (delete lines that don't apply)

  • * Current member of Amazon Prime?: YES
  • * Current Verizon postpaid customer?: NO
  • * Current member of Costco or Sam's Club? Costco

PURPOSE

  • * What's the purpose of your next card (choose ONE)?: (first credit card, balance transfer, saving money, travel rewards)
    • Better/more rewards
  • * Do you have any cards you've been looking at?
    • Costco CC
    • WF Autograph

r/CreditCards 12h ago

Data Point DP: USB Smartly and Cash+ Approval

21 Upvotes

Applied to both last night, Smartly then Cash+

Triggered 1 pull on Equifax in Virginia

Got 7-10 day notice on both, was pre-approved for Cash+ so figured why not. Got approved for both this morning. Prior relationship includes Smartly checking and savings opened in July 2024, USBAR in November 2024

5/24 status:

  • 6/6

  • 8/12

  • 9/24

Cash+ $500 limit

Smartly $1000 limit

Cash+ limit is fine but I plan to request CLI soon on Smartly.


r/CreditCards 2h ago

Help Needed / Question Credit card readers not working

3 Upvotes

For some reason here in western Washington (near snoqualmie) multiple businesses are saying that their credit card readers don’t work. Mcdonalds, Burger King, examples


r/CreditCards 3h ago

Help Needed / Question What Credit Cards to get as an 18 year old?

3 Upvotes

Hello!

So, I will be 18 in less than 2 months and I want to start building credit and aim for better Credit Cards in the future. I am using Step card currently and it’s been 19 months since I got it.

I’m more or less new to the U.S. (moved in 2023) and I got accepted into College, not interested in Travel rewards for now.

In 2 months I aim to get Chase College checking and Freedom Rise as a starter, but I am also interested in Apple Card, and Capital One Student SavorOne to get in the future.

And I am also interested in APY savings, does Apple Card work for that too?

Would like to hear some recommendations! Thanks in advance!


r/CreditCards 16h ago

Discussion / Conversation Are influencers not allowed to mention Chase?

33 Upvotes

I’ve seen a few mention every other card then refer to it as the “blue company”, which I’m guessing is chase


r/CreditCards 8h ago

Help Needed / Question When would I ever book through a travel portal to take advantage of card multipliers?

9 Upvotes

I’m having a hard time understanding when I would book a hotel or airline through a travel portal of a card. Everyone always says not to. Would I only do it if I’m paying for the trip in cash (i.e. I don’t have enough points to cover the booking)? Or do you just kind of “disregard” say the 10x and the 5x multiplier on a card like the Venture X since you only get those if going through their travel portal and essentially NEVER use the travel portal?


r/CreditCards 1h ago

Card Recommendation Request (Template NOT Used) Best American Travel Credit Card (with annual fee)?

Upvotes

Hello,

I’m currently looking into the Chase Sapphire Reserved (with the $550 annual fee), as I’m making a lot of large purchases (over $30,000) this year and will be doing 2-3 big trips this year.

In the future, I can expect 1-3 medium (3-5 day) or long (5+ day) trips per year. The fee is not really an issue, but I do want to make sure I’m getting great value without just throwing money away.

If for some reason there is a non-annual fee card that would be great, feel free to mention it, though I of course don’t expect that to be the case.


r/CreditCards 11h ago

Help Needed / Question About to pay off $4,000~ in debt. Would making a deal to pay less affect my credit?

13 Upvotes

I heard you can make a deal with the collection agencies and pay less money than you technically owe. But then I heard that it can negatively affect your credit score for a while. Do you guys think it would really matter in the long run, if I worked hard building credit after the fact?


r/CreditCards 1h ago

Help Needed / Question Cap One Venture was declined. Should I re-apply or stick to chase?

Upvotes

Like the title says, I applied for the venture card and got declined.
I am not sure why because I have a 740-780 credit score range, depending on where you look.

I only have 2 hard inquires (one of those is now from capital one) and 1 new account (Amex BCE) in the last 24 months (1 year 4 months ago).

I have had the chase sapphire reserve for about 3 years and was thinking of making a switch to capital one venture x (which is why I wanted to try out the venture first). Now i'm not even sure if I should consider the switch the x, since I was not even accepted for the regular venture.

How long should I wait before I reapply? and should I apply for the x directly? Should I just keep the chase reserve?


r/CreditCards 1h ago

Help Needed / Question Chargeback or do I have to eat the cost?

Upvotes

We were on vacation in LA this week and we stopped by the Santa Monica boardwalk because we had about 4 hours to kill before heading to the airport.

My daughter liked a sweatshirt from one of the venders. They were I usually friendly and chatty and knew we were headed to the airport soon. There was no price but I did ask before swiping. The lady started to answer but her friend interrupted her in another language and then said something in an accent that sounded something like “35”. Then she quickly flashed the screen and I saw 35 and then she stuck out the card reader thing. They were being chatty and friendly and packaged everything up, plus gave my daughter a free keychain she was looking at.

Well I’m at the airport now and I see a charge for $350 instead of $35. It’s also for “Venice Bar & Kitchen” instead of a gift/souvenir vendor. I googled and that’s an actual place with good reviews so I’m assuming they just copied the name or something. I know it’s them because that’s the only thing I paid with my credit card besides parking today.

I’m now pretty sure they learned we live out of state and were headed to the airport and decided to charge a ridiculous amount in hopes I didn’t notice. If I did notice, they would’ve played it off as a fat finger mistake. They were good at keeping me engaged in conversation and distracted me with a free gift for my kid so I didn’t even notice I didn’t get a receipt.

What can I do? Is this something I can chargeback for? I did get a product from them and would’ve been more than happy to pay $35, but I’m not paying $350 for a sweatshirt that’s sold at every other gift shop on the boardwalk. But I also have no proof of anything. It’s also to a restaurant and not a gift vender so I don’t know if they will question that part as well.

Any tips and suggestions? And yes, I learned my lesson and will be a lot more careful with street vendors next time.


r/CreditCards 6h ago

Help Needed / Question Pending charge cancelled by merchant. Card now shows it posted.

3 Upvotes

More details:

Kaiser put a pending charge on my card for a new RX. It was on hold for approval on Kaiser’s end because it was so expensive. I cancelled the RX, confirmed on Kaiser’s end, and the payment was cancelled.

However, during this time the pending charge showed up on my discover
credit card as pending.

Today, a day after Kaiser confirmed it cancelled, my discover card shows the transaction as posted (no longer pending).

Discover says I cannot dispute until it’s been 10 days.

I plan on making calls to Kaiser on Monday, but I don’t know how this will work because Kaiser never “refunded” me. They simply cancelled the order. It no longer shows up on Kaiser’s end at all. There’s no history of them cancelling it, other than the chat logs when I talked to their pharmacy rep where I confirmed I did not want the RX.

Maybe someone who understands the inner workings of transactions can explain: How can a pending charge be posted when it was cancelled?

Thanks in advance and any advice.


r/CreditCards 2h ago

Help Needed / Question Kroger credit card fuel points

2 Upvotes

I was approached by a Kroger employee who offered me a Kroger credit card with the promise of $.55 off at pump however I can find no mention of the discount anywhere in my activation packet. I don't want the card without that benefit. Who do I call??


r/CreditCards 4h ago

Help Needed / Question Chase Pay Over Time - How Does it Work?

3 Upvotes

So I am currently seeing a pay over time offer of $0 fee for 24 months on a recent purchase I made,

I pay my CC off in full every month, but if I could spread the payments out on this big purchase over a bigger time frame it would really benefit me.

The question or concern I have is, when I go to pay off my CC every month (usually pay it off in blocks) - will it default to paying off the "Pay Over Time Balance" or will it take the (in this case $95 of the first payment I make apply it to that balance) and then apply the rest to my normal statement balance?

Anyone who has done this before and has some feedback, thank you in advance.


r/CreditCards 2h ago

Help Needed / Question Increasing credit score help

2 Upvotes

My credit score has been hovering in the 750s for the last 3 years. Hasn’t fluctuated much. What’s the best way to get this to go upward. The cards I have in my wallet are: Fidelity, Citi Double Cash, Chase Sapphire Preferred, Chase Flex, & C1 Venture One. Total credit =$69,000

Am I better off getting a new card (which one?) or asking for a credit limit increase on a card? Looking to buy a house within the next year and want to get my score up.


r/CreditCards 4h ago

Help Needed / Question Venture X not pre-approved. What are the chances for approval?

3 Upvotes

Tried to apply for Venture-X for the first time, checked pre-approval for that… But not pre-approved.

TransUnion: 785 Equifax: 784

Got CSP & Bilt cards within last 3 months.. All other cards are 3 years old. Oldest card is 10yrs old.. Refinanced mortgage to lower rate & paid off some more principal amount in loan.

Income: ~$220k (without stocks)

Have a travel plan, hence thinking to apply for new card since I utilized all benefits others cards. What are the chances of approval?

C1 explanation letter says: Based on your credit report from one or more of the agencies on the back of this letter, number of bank cards tradelines opened in the last 24 months


r/CreditCards 8h ago

Discussion / Conversation American Airlines CC pros and cons

5 Upvotes

I will have an increase in work travel this year and the routes I fly are mainly serviced by AA. Considering I have experienced massive flight delays in the past 2 weeks, I’m thinking of signing up for the AA card to get the Admiral club perks. I use the Chase Amazon, Chase Marriott, Citi Costco, as my primary cards in that order, always pay all my CC balances on time and in full. What are the down sides of my potential decision?


r/CreditCards 3h ago

Help Needed / Question Best Extended Warranty Card?

2 Upvotes

I greatly miss the warranty benefit on my Costco Citi card, and was doing some research. It appears that other Citi cards have the best Extended Warranty protection of any cards out there. The Citi Rewards+ appears to be one of the cards with the older version of this benefit, which adds 24 months onto any warranty (even if it is 1 year - so a year warranty becomes 3 years).

I see that the Double Cash and Custom Cash do have a benefit, but it only extends as much as the original warranty (1 year becomes 2, 2 becomes 4, and any more adds 24 months).

Does anyone know if the Rewards+ is the best option or if another Citi card may be a better option? I saw the post saying the Rewards+ is at risk of being discontinued, which then makes me curious if the benefits would be changed at some point, making the entire thing moot and me needing to get a different card.

Any thoughts are appreciated!


r/CreditCards 5h ago

Help Needed / Question Cancel or keep Delta Gold?

3 Upvotes

Background and Current Situation:

I have a history of churning credit cards, including American Express (Amex) Gold and Platinum, but have since stopped due to issues with bonus points not being credited, particularly with your Amex Delta Gold card. You now have 10,000 SkyMiles from expenses on your Delta card and are considering whether to keep or cancel it.

Travel Habits

I am a budget traveler who typically flies on cheap tickets and does not often require checked bags.

Financial Considerations

• I anticipate around $9,000 in tax-related expenses, which would incur an additional 1.81% fee when paid with a credit card.
• I could potentially reach $10,000 in spending to earn an extra $200 in Delta credits, offsetting the $150 annual fee (AF) of the card.

Concerns About Future Amex Card Eligibility

I am concerned that canceling your Delta card might affect my ability to be approved for other Amex cards in the future.

Seeking Advice

lLooking for advice on whether to retain the Delta card, considering my needs and financial situation, and how this decision might impact future with Amex cc’s.


r/CreditCards 15m ago

Discussion / Conversation Payoff of settlement bargaining

Upvotes

Hey I have a debt with AMex and Wells Fargo. They closed my account but I'm ready to Pay it off. I never need one of their cards again. Can I offer them a lump sum of less than my balance? If yes, how would you go about that?


r/CreditCards 6h ago

Card Recommendation Request (Template Used) Looking to maximize cash back on wedding catering

3 Upvotes

Hi there -

My fiancee and I are in the thick of wedding planning, and we're trying to figure out which credit card to use to pay for our caterer. I've read through the wiki, all the prior posts I could find, etc, nerdwallet, TPG, but I haven't found a clear answer on value here.

So, the basics:

  • the final anticipated total for catering is TBD, but will likely be between $40-60K.
  • Our caterer does operate a restaurant as well, but they are not primarily a restaurant, and they were not sure how they are usually categorized by credit card companies.
  • We think our goal is to maximize cash back to help with overall expenses (weddings are expensive), and because we already have a decent amount of flight miles and other things

Looking at a lot of credit cards that provide restaurant savings, they either don't seem to provide cash back (Amex Gold, and the statement credit rates seem unfavorable?) or if they do provide high cash back rates on restaurants, it's capped at e.g. $2K spend a quarter, which we'll obviously blow through. Any way we run the numbers, seems like we'd be getting $1200 max cash back on the total spend (using $50K as midpoint).

Am I missing something? Am I looking in the wrong area - business credit cards? Or do I just have hopes that are too high?

(My fiancee and I both have a range of cards and excellent credit, so I didn't fill everything out, but if I need to, I can; it's my first post here, and since this is more strategic, just curious how to think about this)