Reward my spending please!
October 12, 2011 4:12 PM   Subscribe

Looking for cash back credit card recommendations in US.

Most important is the highest cash back percentage on all transactions with no limit and no foreign transaction fees. Would be nice if the cash back was automatically credited monthly to the account as well. I am not concerned about interest rates.
The best I've found so far is this Capital One card. 1% cash back with a 50% annual bonus. Anyone have something better?
posted by cosmac to Work & Money (10 answers total) 6 users marked this as a favorite
 
Last time I looked, Capital One was the only bank in the U.S. that didn't charge foreign transaction fees. USAA charges only 1% rather than the standard 3%, but I don't think they have cash back, or if they do, it's a very low amount.
posted by still_wears_a_hat at 4:27 PM on October 12, 2011


Why not do the Capital One card only for foreign transactions, and get something like the Chase Freedom card for domestic purchases (which offers up to 5% on certain rotating categories)? You can get $200 back instantly on the Chase card...

Are you open to using two different cards? Might even help your credit since it would lower your credit utilization ratio...
posted by BobbyVan at 4:31 PM on October 12, 2011 [1 favorite]


Thinking more about what I wrote, I think what I was looking at was currency conversion fees, not foreign transaction.

As BobbyVan suggested, why not get different cards for different uses?
posted by still_wears_a_hat at 4:48 PM on October 12, 2011


Response by poster: Good point re using two cards. Yes, I am happy to use one for travel, and a different one for domestic. The specific use case is my son's university lets me charge his tuition, room and board to a credit card. I then pay off the card immediately with other funds and pocket the cash back bonus. I used to use the most excellent Schwab card which returned 2% on all transactions and had no foreign transaction fees. Probably too excellent as it is being discontinued...
posted by cosmac at 4:57 PM on October 12, 2011


I like my discover card because I often shop online and if you go through their website you get 5-10% on a LOT of retailers. Tons.
posted by fshgrl at 5:01 PM on October 12, 2011


Best answer: I've found this thread, which is maintained by members of the Fatwallet forums, to be an excellent summary of available credit cards. Fidelity offers an AMEX with 2% cash back on everything.
posted by questionable accounting at 6:16 PM on October 12, 2011 [3 favorites]


Pentagon Federal Credit Union has rewards cards with no foreign transaction fees and they credit the cash back to your statement monthly (and high limits, if you like that kind of thing). I've had their Platinum Rewards card for a few years now and it's my most-used card. I also have the Fidelity Amex card linked above, I don't use it nearly as much, because a) Visa is more widely accepted; and b) the rewards go to my Fidelity retirement account, and can only be used to buy into my Roth IRA in $200 increments, so it seems a waste to let money sit there so long.
posted by rabbitrabbit at 9:38 PM on October 12, 2011


I just got a message from Discover yesterday indicating that "We are pleased to inform you that, effective 11/06/11 we will no longer charge a Foreign Currency Fee on any international purchases made with your Discover® card. Additionally, we will no longer charge a Research Fee for any copies of billing statements or receipts that you request. "

The rewards structure is a bit silly. The first 3k in a year is .25 percent, and 1 percent after that (no limit). There's also rotating 5 percent categories, but there are caps on that. The retailer bonus fshgrl mentions is nice but there's other sites (fatwallet, bing) that do the same thing.
posted by pwnguin at 10:56 PM on October 12, 2011


rabbitrabbit, I have the Fidelity card as well, and I can dump cash back into my brokerage account $50 at a time and then transfer it to my checking.
posted by questionable accounting at 8:21 AM on October 13, 2011


Best answer: This post on the blue answers the question best.
posted by cosmac at 2:34 PM on December 13, 2011


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