Unless you spend a high percentage of your income in a certain area (or spend so much the annual fee is worth it), I think it’s tough to beat city double cash card. 2% on everything; no annual fee. I’ve been very happy with their customer service.
Reading through these forums makes me have another rant. People who don’t use Credit Cards are literally throwing away thousands of dollars in rewards over the years. I’ve never understood why someone would ever NOT have a credit card (unless they don’t have control to spend within their means)
I think a lot of people lack the restraint to not run up a balance. The minute you run a balance and start paying the insane APR on a credit card, the rewards aren’t worth it, plain and simple. You are right tho – there’s an insane amount of free money out there for those that are smart about it. For example with your 2% cash back Citi rewards card you mentioned above, if you and your spouse spend $60k/year on normal spending, that’s $1,200/year in free money you are leaving on the table if you pay with cash or a debit card.
Another example, take the Chase freedom card, which is card with no annual fee that offers 1% cash back on everything with rotating categories @ 5%. They offer an initial sign up bonus of $150 cash back after spending $500 in the first 3 months. If all you did was make ONE $500 purchase with the card, lets say for a new marcum, then monetized the cash back reward and then closed the card, that $500 marcum only cost you $345 out of pocket after the $150 sign up bonus and 1% cash back. There are SO many cards out there like this with free money to take advantage of if you are smart about it.
The sapphire is solid too – spend $3k in the first 3 months, get 50,000 points ($500 cash back value or $625 value when redeemed for flights). refer a spouse, get 10,000 points ($100) and add an authorized signer (spouse) to your account, get 5,000 points ($50). So if you spend $3,000 on that card and monetize the cash back, it only cost you $2,320 out of pocket after all the bonuses and cash back. Cancel before year 2 starts because the annual fee is waived the first year.
