Best rewards credit card for hunters?

[glass eye]

THEN you build all these hotel or airline points and you spend a bunch more money on a trip that otherwise you wouldn't have gone on... more money down the drain

I go on hunts that I can afford. So if I can get free airfare to Alaska and hunt from a tent, that certainly beats hunting around home.
My last trip to Adak Alaska I didn't rent a vehicle there. Just my kayak and a tent. My biggest expense of the whole trip was the long term parking at the airport.

What's the point of making money if all you do is save it and never enjoy it.

 

[TOGIE]

What's the point of making money if all you do is save it and never enjoy it.

retiring before your kids graduate college

stop adding nuance to my broad brush

if the set budget remains where it was supposed to, great. credit cards create a tendency to breach budgets, is my point.

 

[VikingsGuy]

i agree in general that a properly used credit card isn't a bad thing

but i've heard that studies show credit cards cause people to spend more than they would have otherwise, even if you're not accruing interest. i.e. spend more than the 1-2% you gain on cashback, for example

i don't like my credit card. i've never paid interest on it. even if your goal is to treat it like a debit card, it still creates a disconnect from your bank account where the psychologically of using it doesn't feel like a loss of money, immediately at least

i think no matter who you are, even if you never pay interest on a credit card, it will have a tendency to cause you to spend more money over time than if you didn't have a credit card. especially more money spent than you get in rewards. THEN you build all these hotel or airline points and you spend a bunch more money on a trip that otherwise you wouldn't have gone on... more money down the drain

i generally look at credit cards as a gateway to lose money, no matter what

Fair points. Like alcohol, fast cars and guns - they are safe in the right hands, but a gateway to trouble for some . . . .

 

[RidgeRoamingRichard]

Not sure if its been mentioned, but credit cards are protected by the Fair Credit Billing Act as well as the Electronic Funds Transfer Act. They are the safest way to shop, hands down. Liable for $50 only. Debit cards are protected, but there is a very short time limit on when you report fraud.

 

[Deleted member 28227]

Not sure if its been mentioned, but credit cards are protected by the Fair Credit Billing Act as well as the Electronic Funds Transfer Act. They are the safest way to shop, hands down. Liable for $50 only. Debit cards are protected, but there is a very short time limit on when you report fraud.

I was able to charge back a plane ticket that was cancelled in March due to covid. Airline wouldn’t play ball, I got a full refund after the cc company stepped in... good luck doing that with a debit card.

Another time my card info got stolen and I someone tried to charge 5k of stuff in Texas. CC company held the charges and issued me a new card, all I had to do was update a few accounts.

I had a $100 fraud charge at a gas station on my debit took months to get the money back

 

[Bob-WY]

I don't buy the credit cards make you spend more, IF you are at all disciplined. If you're not, well, you're screwed anyway

We don't spend more, we just get free stuff occasionally because of what we spend.

Our last trip back to New England to visit our new grandson cost us $30. Bought airline tickets with miles, stayed at Hilton hotel with points, and paid off rental car with CC points. That was close to $1000 we figured, all paid for cause I travel for work a bit (well pre-covid) and we run most of our week to week expenses thorugh the CC for just that reason.

 

[RidgeRoamingRichard]

I was able to charge back a plane ticket that was cancelled in March due to covid. Airline wouldn’t play ball, I got a full refund after the cc company stepped in... good luck doing that with a debit card.

Another time my card info got stolen and I someone tried to charge 5k of stuff in Texas. CC company held the charges and issued me a new card, all I had to do was update a few accounts.

I had a $100 fraud charge at a gas station on my debit took months to get the money back

I'm an advocate for the elderly. We've seen thousands and thousands of fraudulent cc charges on their accounts. We get it all back in those cases. Debit card, no guarantee. Cash, no chance

 

[ignorethefringes]

I was able to charge back a plane ticket that was cancelled in March due to covid. Airline wouldn’t play ball, I got a full refund after the cc company stepped in... good luck doing that with a debit card.

Another time my card info got stolen and I someone tried to charge 5k of stuff in Texas. CC company held the charges and issued me a new card, all I had to do was update a few accounts.

I had a $100 fraud charge at a gas station on my debit took months to get the money back

Our CC card got skimmed at a gas station and the dirtbag charged up $20K in Walmat.com purchases overnight. It was over twice the current limit at the time. New cards and full refund within a couple days. It was piece of a cake.

 

[Jmnhunter]

I was able to charge back a plane ticket that was cancelled in March due to covid. Airline wouldn’t play ball, I got a full refund after the cc company stepped in... good luck doing that with a debit card.

Hmm, maybe I should do that, Delta CS would only give me a Ecredit...

 

[Jmnhunter]

I use the CITI double cash card, 2% back on all purchases (1% on the purchase, 1% on the payback), I redeem a check after it hits 100+.
After I use it for a purchase, I go to my checking account billpay and pay off whatever I purchased with the CC. Discipline is key as everyone has mentioned. It really is free money if you pay it back on time, Credit cards dont want to cater to those that are disciplined, they love the guys that hit their limits and pay the minimum monthly amounts

 

[Deleted member 28227]

I use the CITI double cash card, 2% back on all purchases (1% on the purchase, 1% on the payback), I redeem a check after it hits 100+.
After I use it for a purchase, I go to my checking account billpay and pay off whatever I purchased with the CC. Discipline is key as everyone has mentioned. It really is free money if you pay it back on time, Credit cards dont want to cater to those that are disciplined, they love the guys that hit their limits and pay the minimum monthly amounts

Totally agree, I pay off ours in full before the end of the cycle so my bill is always zero. If I don’t have the money in my checking to cover the purchase it doesn’t go on my CC.

 

[Irrelevant]

Totally agree, I pay off ours in full before the end of the cycle so my bill is always zero. If I don’t have the money in my checking to cover the purchase it doesn’t go on my CC.

With the rare exception I think this is was most prudent CC users do. It is nice that if you're stuck in a bind I have a little piece of plastic that'll get my 25k. I may not have 25k in checking, but I can damn sure figure that out after I'm out of the pinch.

 

[IAhawks84]

Credit cards are for losers. Similar to ponzi schemes and suckers’ bets. The House/Bank always wins. If you can’t pay cash then don’t buy the item. You don’t need to win a “free” blender or a set of encyclopedias with the silly points offered by the credit card companies! The creditors know that debt is a drug to most Americans. Its all about discipline. Good luck!

I think that you missed the point. He will not carry a balance. I do the same thing. You collect the benefits while never carrying a balance, therefore it costs you nothing for the benefits.

 

[Bob-WY]

Not using them is leaving money on the table, IF YOU PAY THEM OFF. The sucker bet is when you can't make a total payment and get hit with finance charge. The bank is making 2-3% off your purchase anyway from the vendor, not you (yeah I know it's passed on, but if cash/credit are the same price....). Get points, cash back, whatever you can find many different offers. If you run $1000/month through the card, that's $10/month of free money at 1% back which is low. We've moved to running most things via the CC and then use the points for airline tickets to travel back east to visit family. When combined with what I have to do for work travel, we get 2-4 cross country airline tickets for free a year. Tickets we'd be buying with our own money if not for the points.

 

[beagle001]

This has really been an educational thread.
I’ve always been a little afraid of them, despite being pretty sensible fiscally. Now with a growing family, it only seems to make sense to have a little short-term financial security in case of a pinch.
I still don’t know which card is right for me... more digging to do...
I like the sounds of the Alaska Airlines card even though I only fly once every couple of years.
The DU card DID sound good at the start of this thread but certainly seems less so now.
Capital One seems to reward the financially sensible folks pretty well.

 

[beagle001]

Does a travel card (like the Alaska Airlines card) make sense for me if I don’t use the miles more than once every few years? I’m only looking at having one card (to rule them all!) with most of the expenses being the usual monthly bills.

 

[glass eye]

Does a travel card (like the Alaska Airlines card) make sense for me if I don’t use the miles more than once every few years? I’m only looking at having one card (to rule them all!) with most of the expenses being the usual monthly bills.

If you get an AK airlines card and you go to Alaska, you will be going every year.

 

[NoWiser]

Totally agree, I pay off ours in full before the end of the cycle so my bill is always zero. If I don’t have the money in my checking to cover the purchase it doesn’t go on my CC.

Interesting. I never thought about that. I pay mine off, in full, every single month, but I do so after I get the bill. At times I can rack up a pretty big bill if I put work stuff on it, and my credit score will get a bit of a ding for using up a high percentage of my available credit. It always bounces right back, though. Is there an advantage to paying it off before the billing date so that you show a zero balance? If so, I may have to change the way I do things.

 

[Deleted member 28227]

Interesting. I never thought about that. I pay mine off, in full, every single month, but I do so after I get the bill. At times I can rack up a pretty big bill if I put work stuff on it, and my credit score will get a bit of a ding for using up a high percentage of my available credit. It always bounces right back, though. Is there an advantage to paying it off before the billing date so that you show a zero balance? If so, I may have to change the way I do things.

Credit score consistency

I do it to keep myself honest about spending.

 

[mtmiller]

Interesting. I never thought about that. I pay mine off, in full, every single month, but I do so after I get the bill. At times I can rack up a pretty big bill if I put work stuff on it, and my credit score will get a bit of a ding for using up a high percentage of my available credit. It always bounces right back, though. Is there an advantage to paying it off before the billing date so that you show a zero balance? If so, I may have to change the way I do things.

I am not sure if there is a difference of not, but I have been paying my credit card purchases within a couple days of the purchase, if not the same day. Sometimes I am even in the black when I get my monthly statement. Credit score has been very high for many years.