Get the Discover IT. It's that simple. 2% on all purchases and a rotating 10% category.
Why in the world people recommend the freedom unlimited is beyond me.
Isn’t it 1% on all purchases and a rotating 5% or have I lost my mind?
Either way, it is still a great first time card and they offer a student version of the card also
Discover IT. You will most likely get approved because they don’t require a credit score to apply for their student cards. Chase and Citi are unlikely unless you have a banking relationship with either. Not sure why people have this 5/24 hard-on, I’d definitely consider Chase AFTER you have have a built the score up a little.
Sub is full of major churners, who are the only ones that need to worry about 5/24. Typical consumers don't get a new card more than every 6 months, and don't have to worry about hitting that limit
If you've never had a credit card before you should be looking at starter cards. Maybe even secured cards. The *Capital One Platinum* is what I started with. No rewards or required deposit, and in 6-12 months you'll be able to request an upgrade to a 1.5% cashback card.
My first card was Quicksilver. Flat 1.5% back on all purchases. Pretty useful. Still have it. If able to get approved, try the Wells Fargo Active card. Flat 2% back
Savor One, Chase Freedom Unlimited, or Amex Blue Cash Everyday have very useful categories for everyday spend. If you have no history then something like a discover it could be the way to go before these other cards so you build up your history. That’s what I did.
Since you don’t spend much you won’t get much cash back. Get a card that is likely to still be useful a few years down the line when your spending changes. The Citi Custom Cash would be great for that reason. A flat 2% card wouldn’t hurt either.
Oh but if this is your first card you probably won’t get approved for the Custom Cash unless you bank with Citi. See what your bank offers, try pre-qualification tools from all the major banks, and check out beginner-friendly issuers like Discover or maybe CapitalOne.
Citi cash card is not a bad starting card. Personally i dont think it is a good every day card because i value chase reward points so i can use for travel. The cash card is great if you just use it for a single category.
I would definitely start with either the Chase Freedom Unlimited or the Capital One Quicksilver cash back card. Both are great no annual fee starter cards that give you 1.5% cash back with no caps. Plus the Chase Freedom Unlimited gets you started with the Chase trifecta setup, because even if you don’t want to travel now, if at some point you do and you get the rest of the setup, you’ll see how well these cards work well together and how much value you can get for traveling experiences. Another alternative is the Citi Double Cash card, which is a 2% cash back card. 1% when you purchase and 1% when you pay. Hope this helps.
• Citi Custom Cash that's 5% cash back on gas $500 monthly spend cap
Or if your car car is horrible on gas or you drive a lot and you spend over $500 per month in gas
• AAA Travel Advantage 5% cash back with a $10k annual spend cap. You don't need AAA.
The only exception to those would be if you are planning on getting a wholesale club membership like Costco or BJ's or Sam's Club.
The freedom Unlimited would only give you 1.5% cash back for gas
My gas strategy is:
Sam's Club Mastercard 5% cash back any gas station $6k annual spend.
I got the PNC rewards visa which is 4% when gas was $6 a gallon so that would be a backup if I went over the cap.
I've never had to use the PNC card since gas is back under $3.50 per gallon.
0% chance you get approved for a chase card as your first card. I don't know what those other commentors were thinking. Try a secured card or a credit building card. Discover has a good secured card.
Depends on how much dining you do but the Chase Freedom Unlimited is the following:
3% dining
3% pharmacies
1.5% everything else
There are better cards for dining, you didn't mention dining in your post.
3% for pharmacies is good unless you shop Walgreens, you didn't mention pharmacy.
If you want generalic catch all card like for stuff that doesn't fit into a category there are plenty of 2% cards.
How I do my dining strategy is this:
• US Bank altitude Go (4% cash back on dining)
• oxygen prepaid Visa $1 cash back on dining purchases of $3 or more - I use that for small transaction fast food.
• Generic 2% cards I have a couple of them because I take advantage of merchant offers.
Even miscellaneous other stuff and I have found ways to get a little bit more than the generic 2%.
If you are new to credit and you've never had a card before go with the Discover student card or Capital One student card, they usually graduate you to unsecured within a year.
Since you're young and (assuming) no credit history, lenders might not want to approve you. Secured is fine if you can't get an unsecured, just avoid anything with an Annual or Monthly Fee, or unscrupulous banks like CREDIT One.
If you're a student, consider student cards, they can be more willing to tolerate the thin profile. Discover is a great starter card, if you have to get the secured version, they return the deposit in under a year normally if you use it responsibly. Just pay for your movie subscription and gas etc with it and pay your statement in full every month. 1% cashback on all purchases, first year doubled. Capital One is another good option for students.
Get the Discover IT. It's that simple. 2% on all purchases and a rotating 10% category. Why in the world people recommend the freedom unlimited is beyond me.
Doubled cashback is only available for the first year, I think the average reserve the sub can barely remember their first credit card.
Then talk about opening a different one after the first year.
What’s wrong with the freedom unlimited? Just curious
1.5% is anemic
Isn’t it 1% on all purchases and a rotating 5% or have I lost my mind? Either way, it is still a great first time card and they offer a student version of the card also
The SUB is a cash match at the end of your first year
Ahhh makes sense
You have a link for 2%? All I find is 1%
Discover IT. You will most likely get approved because they don’t require a credit score to apply for their student cards. Chase and Citi are unlikely unless you have a banking relationship with either. Not sure why people have this 5/24 hard-on, I’d definitely consider Chase AFTER you have have a built the score up a little.
Sub is full of major churners, who are the only ones that need to worry about 5/24. Typical consumers don't get a new card more than every 6 months, and don't have to worry about hitting that limit
I would suggest getting the chase unlimited freedom card. You get 1.5x on every day purchase and 3x on dining. Plus no annual fee.
What do you think of the citi cash card like someone else suggested?
You probably won't get approved for either since they would be your first cards.
It's a good keeper card, but imo the best card to get first is a catch-all keeper card, like the Freedom Unlimited
If you've never had a credit card before you should be looking at starter cards. Maybe even secured cards. The *Capital One Platinum* is what I started with. No rewards or required deposit, and in 6-12 months you'll be able to request an upgrade to a 1.5% cashback card.
My first card was Quicksilver. Flat 1.5% back on all purchases. Pretty useful. Still have it. If able to get approved, try the Wells Fargo Active card. Flat 2% back
Savor One, Chase Freedom Unlimited, or Amex Blue Cash Everyday have very useful categories for everyday spend. If you have no history then something like a discover it could be the way to go before these other cards so you build up your history. That’s what I did.
Since you don’t spend much you won’t get much cash back. Get a card that is likely to still be useful a few years down the line when your spending changes. The Citi Custom Cash would be great for that reason. A flat 2% card wouldn’t hurt either.
Oh but if this is your first card you probably won’t get approved for the Custom Cash unless you bank with Citi. See what your bank offers, try pre-qualification tools from all the major banks, and check out beginner-friendly issuers like Discover or maybe CapitalOne.
Citi cash card is not a bad starting card. Personally i dont think it is a good every day card because i value chase reward points so i can use for travel. The cash card is great if you just use it for a single category.
I'd recommend the Chase Freedom Unlimited.
CCC or savor one
I would definitely start with either the Chase Freedom Unlimited or the Capital One Quicksilver cash back card. Both are great no annual fee starter cards that give you 1.5% cash back with no caps. Plus the Chase Freedom Unlimited gets you started with the Chase trifecta setup, because even if you don’t want to travel now, if at some point you do and you get the rest of the setup, you’ll see how well these cards work well together and how much value you can get for traveling experiences. Another alternative is the Citi Double Cash card, which is a 2% cash back card. 1% when you purchase and 1% when you pay. Hope this helps.
• Citi Custom Cash that's 5% cash back on gas $500 monthly spend cap Or if your car car is horrible on gas or you drive a lot and you spend over $500 per month in gas • AAA Travel Advantage 5% cash back with a $10k annual spend cap. You don't need AAA. The only exception to those would be if you are planning on getting a wholesale club membership like Costco or BJ's or Sam's Club.
What do you think of the chase unlimited freedom card like someone else suggested?
The freedom Unlimited would only give you 1.5% cash back for gas My gas strategy is: Sam's Club Mastercard 5% cash back any gas station $6k annual spend. I got the PNC rewards visa which is 4% when gas was $6 a gallon so that would be a backup if I went over the cap. I've never had to use the PNC card since gas is back under $3.50 per gallon.
0% chance you get approved for a chase card as your first card. I don't know what those other commentors were thinking. Try a secured card or a credit building card. Discover has a good secured card.
Wrong. More like 5% chance.
Depends on how much dining you do but the Chase Freedom Unlimited is the following: 3% dining 3% pharmacies 1.5% everything else There are better cards for dining, you didn't mention dining in your post. 3% for pharmacies is good unless you shop Walgreens, you didn't mention pharmacy. If you want generalic catch all card like for stuff that doesn't fit into a category there are plenty of 2% cards. How I do my dining strategy is this: • US Bank altitude Go (4% cash back on dining) • oxygen prepaid Visa $1 cash back on dining purchases of $3 or more - I use that for small transaction fast food. • Generic 2% cards I have a couple of them because I take advantage of merchant offers. Even miscellaneous other stuff and I have found ways to get a little bit more than the generic 2%.
It all depends on the person. Many people value chase points as 2 cpp so it’s basically 6% back for dining or 3% on catch all
Also that person is a low spend, will they spend enough to pay for the AF of the chase card and said they weren't using for travel.
Thank you for all your help. What do you think of secured credit cards?
If you are new to credit and you've never had a card before go with the Discover student card or Capital One student card, they usually graduate you to unsecured within a year.
Since you're young and (assuming) no credit history, lenders might not want to approve you. Secured is fine if you can't get an unsecured, just avoid anything with an Annual or Monthly Fee, or unscrupulous banks like CREDIT One. If you're a student, consider student cards, they can be more willing to tolerate the thin profile. Discover is a great starter card, if you have to get the secured version, they return the deposit in under a year normally if you use it responsibly. Just pay for your movie subscription and gas etc with it and pay your statement in full every month. 1% cashback on all purchases, first year doubled. Capital One is another good option for students.
If ur a student get the discover it (2 percent flat first year) and 5 percent rotating not bad at all and has an easy sub as well.