As can be seen in a related posting, the 2% Fidelity card (which was I would argue the best to combine with a 5% grocery etc. card) is no longer being issued (the existing ones are still good though. Fidelity now has only a 1.5% 529 card and a 1.5% investments card.

LustfortheMoment said:Some have even seen a $0 annual fee for the Platinum card

I was only offered the $39 fee in spite of a FICO of 804. Perhaps their criteria for the $0 fee is not a function of credit risk. Only the shadow knows.
: )
Yeah, if they're not making some kind of assessment about which applicants might be willing to pay a higher annual fee (e.g. a function of FICO/income/card usage/etc.) or which applicants will be given a higher credit limit and therefore reap more 2% Cash Back (which can be then be somewhat offset with a higher annual fee), then they might just be throwing out different offers to learn "what the market will bear".


However, I'm just a stubborn babe and am not willing to fork over an annual fee to any issuer.
Yeah, I share your sentiments.


I also don't know what kind of CLs they provide with these Orchard cards.
Someone over on the FlyerTalk forums said they called Orchard Bank and learned that $2000 is the high end of the credit limit Orchard Bank will offer. If true, that's a bummer.

If someone does manage to get a credit limit higher than $2000, I'd certainly appreciate hearing their report.

A useful improvement would be to add foreign spending as a category.

This would lead to suggesting a card that had no special offshore fees for some people. Since most cards seem to charge 3% (and only 1% is from the credit card company) this amounts to 2% return if you have a no fee card. For some heavy traveler's people this might be decisive. Since the card can be kept in the drawer when in the US, the hassle factor in having a card for this is lower than for some categories. Because of how much may be charged on a single vacation, this could be important for some.

In terms of programming this would be the same as a 2% reward (and with no cap) and would be doable. A footnote would be needed to explain this.

ProfessorEd said:
In terms of programming this would be the same as a 2% reward (and with no cap)

It's the first time when I'm looking at my NoHassle card like to a 3-4% card.

As discussed in the thread on the Fidelity program, I was able to get a new Fidelity csrd with the 2% terms so some may be able to grab it still, and with a 5% everday card (or better) for groceries, gas, pharmacy, is probably best for most, or so I think.

I carry:

Citi Professional (3% on all restaurants including fast food, office supply stores, auto rentals)
Citi Dividend Plat (5% on sit down restaurants - special offer)
AT&T Universal Card (5% on gas/grocery/drug store)
Citi Premier Pass Elite (2% net on everything else with the matching flight points)

AORs aside, I don't see how anything can touch this.

I carry:

Chase Rewards Plus (everyone should!)

Discover Platinum (hey, it's exciting when the Get More is really cool categories and ability to credit account at $20 increments. And doubling by getting gift cards is pretty cool too. *I do not use it every month, only when the categories are useful to me.)

Discover Gas (to take my gas purchases off my CRP card, because it's very easy for me to max out on caps if I don't split things up. I love this for car maintanence. I love Discover. I also really love Discover's new merchant network... it blows away many. I use both FW and Discover to shop online).

Upromise (got rid of Dividend... this works very well for me as I also am an avid couponer)

mtvU (gotta have this for restaurants)

Orchard Gold 2% card


Emergency card: Blue from American Express... negotiated and granted an extremely low APR.

Total cards in my wallet: 6* - 7


Have but rarely use:

Bank of America Gold
Mercedes Benz

Miscellaneous Cards:

Overstock.com (ok I've been using this card a lot lately to spruce up my closet)
Amazon.com
Victoria's Secret (because they always remember MY birthday. $10 B-day gift card and a really good rewards program, especially when usually only I shop for their clearance or sale items.)
Nordstroms Signature (I've been using this card as well to spruce up my closet... though I shop at Nordstrom's Rack and rarely ever in Nordstroms. I love this, because I earn gift certificates that I can use in Spa Nordstrom or Anastasia to get services I'd otherwise pay out of pocket on).
Saks Fifth Avenue (I use for shopping at Off 5th when they have big sales, I only buy shoes at Saks at full retail... and must be fully convinced they have never been tried on by anyone)

and probably more I have forgotten

By the way, the Credit Card Tune-Up calculator has been updated to include several cards that it did not include before. Some cards were added by request. Others are just good, niche cards that had been previously overlooked (e.g. Chase BP Rewards Visa, Chase Borders 3-2-1 Platinum Visa, etc.).

they changed the rewards on ATT cards

psychtobe said:SUCKISSTAPLES said:they changed the rewards on ATT cards
right. I'm grandfathered in under charter membership; who knows how long that will last.

Usually Citi is offering at least 1 similar card which offers 5% on everyday spending for at least 12 months. THe advantage of my deal is that it accrues as Thank You points rather than Cash Back, and those are worth more than 1 cent each to me.
I'm curious about how you value ThankYou points. Which redemption option(s) make them worth more than 1 cent for you? And, if you don't mind sharing, what value do you assign to a ThankYou point?
TIA