Best Credit Card - Spending $$$ For Rewards

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Dr_Ngo said:
You could get your parents to co-sign a card under you.

Or you could work on slowly building your credit. Get one of those credit cards for college kids and start paying your own cell phone bill.
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Why would that be? Is it because they wont give you a big limit because your too young and they think you can't control money?
I'm sure if you keep spending it will eventually go up in a month or something, or just harras them and show them your statements.

I wont be 18 for another 10 months so I have to rely on my parents to co sign a card, which will still be good because right now i'm not get anything for the money i'm spending.
 


hoyts said:
Why would that be? Is it because they wont give you a big limit because your too young and they think you can't control money?
I'm sure if you keep spending it will eventually go up in a month or something, or just harras them and show them your statements.

I wont be 18 for another 10 months so I have to rely on my parents to co sign a card, which will still be good because right now i'm not get anything for the money i'm spending.
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You can't get a credit card by yourself when you are under 18. Calling them up and harassing them isn't going to help.
 
hoyts said:
Why would that be? Is it because they wont give you a big limit because your too young and they think you can't control money?
I'm sure if you keep spending it will eventually go up in a month or something, or just harras them and show them your statements.

I wont be 18 for another 10 months so I have to rely on my parents to co sign a card, which will still be good because right now i'm not get anything for the money i'm spending.
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Because it's illegal you stupid dipshit.
 
No mate, I was referring to the dude who said get a card when your 18 and pay your phone bill with it.
So I said why wouldn't they give you a big limit at 18..

I'm not speaking about getting a card under my own name at 17.
geez.
 
I mainly use an Amex Blue Cash for Business card - 5% back at YSM, and the following cash-back structure:

Earn 1% on OPEN Savings Participants or 0.5% on all other purchases
when your year–to–date spend is $0–$7,500
Earn 5% on OPEN Savings Participants or 2.5% on all other purchases
when your year–to–date spend is $7,500.01–$15,000
Earn 2% on OPEN Savings Participants or 1% on all other purchases
when your year–to–date spend is more than $15,000

I also have a business MasterCard, but I rarely use it, and the rewards are no match (other than the fact that I got smething like $100 or $150 bonus to sign up depending on whether I get a gift certificate to a preferred vendor, or just a check).

If I really traveled, I'd choose a travel rewards card, but for now, cash back works well.

Prior to getting a business credit card, I just used my personal Citi Dividends card with 1% cash back, but that had a $300 cash back/year limit.
 
Starwood and Plum aren't available here. Plum DOES run superannuation funds here though.
Black credit is what we have in place of Plum.
In place of Starwood, well, there are a few programs, like Virgin Velocity if you have Virgin credit... But the interest rates with Virgin are insane.

Hoyts, you're not going to be able to get anything other than a basic credit card, unless you've been paying bills in your own name for a while and therefore have a credit score. It's not about age, so much as being able to prove a reliable income income and that you pay your bills on time.
I had a job as well as my own mobile and internet bill that I was paying from 16, paying by Bpay the day I got them. When I was 18, I was already eligible for a gold card (sadly, so are my pets thanks to the way my vet bills me).

Keep up a good score on the gold, pay your bills regularly, keep cash coming into the account that's linked to the card, and you'll be pre-approved for platinum soon enough, and then black if you start doing 6 figures a year.

Piece of advice for another Aussie. Get an account with St.George. The branches are a pain in the arse to find, but they do have the best credit cards on the market. They don't have fancy crap you'll never use, like an RFID tag to wave at a cash register. They just have an interest rate about 3% below the market average and lower annual fees.
 
hannahmcintyre said:
Because it's illegal you stupid dipshit.
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its not illegal. its just that a minor cannot legally be held to a contract so if they got a card and put $100,000 on it and didn't pay, the CC issuer could not collect from person - the judgement would be considered invalid by the courts.

to be illegal, that would mean one could be charged criminally for having a CC. obviously that's not the case.
 
Similar to what most people have said..

~50% of my PPC spend goes on Starwood and the other ~50% on Plum. I like the combo of comped Starwood hotels throughout the year and also the 2% Plum cash back. Starwood definitely kicks ass though, if you calculate it out it's often more than 2% return (if you travel) because the same price hotel room is much cheaper with points. Last time I stayed in a random Sheraton it was worth about 8% "cash back".
 
Yeah, my Starwood has a limit but it's high enough that I usually don't need to worry about it (one you start spending a lot just ask them for increases and if you have good credit it won't be an issue).. Plum on the other hand does not.
 
While on the topic I'm curious what other people agree or disagree...

I also have a Business Platinum which I actually would not recommend unless you use all the benefits. It's $450/yr and you actually do get some sweet benefits, the one that I thought would be good is you get 4 "companion" flights per year anywhere in the US. The only catch is that it has to be over $299 RT (my monthly LA -> Vegas or LA -> SF flights don't count cuz they're cheaper) and you can't do multi-destination trips (ASE didn't work cuz we went LA -> Boston -> NY -> LA).

I'm sure you could figure out how to use them but for some reason every travel situation I've had recently just doesn't work out.

Another cool benefit which I haven't really used is the concierge (1-800-345-AMEX).. I have a few buddies that use it, basically you call them with pretty much any random question you want and they get back to you. Examples: "find me the best sushi restaurant on the ocean in Santa Monica" or "email me 3 options of ground transport from LA to Santa Barbara" or "find me a painter to paint my Paris home, help choose the color, and make sure it's done by this date". I suppose if you're on the road and you need a random answer then it's cool, but in the era of Google and iPhones it's almost easier just to search for this stuff yourself.

And yeah, there's other benefits, my favorite funny one is their "private yacht, villa and jet program". OK maybe some crazy affiliates would use this stuff but even for my party habits it's a bit over the top.. haha.

I can understand the egocentric desire to get the Black card since that's the top of the top.. but the Business Platinum card is kinda just.. there. I put all my non-PPC Biz expenses on there to separate them for simplifying tax stuff (just a habit now) and rack up some Membership Rewards points, but Starwood is WAY better than MR. The MR points often translate to <1% cash back - I think the best way to optimize them in my situation is trade them in for Southwest Rapid Rewards credit since it's a good trade monetarily, and I fly SW about once a month.

That was sorta long-winded, but anyone have any comments about the Biz Plat card or other benefits? =)
 
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