Preferred Credit Cards - RV-Dreams Community Forum

luvn2rv · RV-Dreams Community Member

Preferred Credit Cards

bjoyce · RV-Dreams Family Member

Check the terms closely, a big name might be making its money by gouging you with fees.
We keep our credit cards paid off so the cash back options are nice and we don't pay attention to the interest rate. We get restaurant gift cards from Discover and AT&T Universal Mastercard (really a Citibank card) for restaurants we go anyway. The gift cards come with higher amounts than the cash back.
Keep the credit card you have had the most years, it controls your credit score more than you can believe. You don't have to use that credit card, but hold on to it. Credit scores are the king no matter how the rest of us think.
You need at least one Mastercard or Visa since anyone who takes plastic will take them, which is not true of American Express or Discover.

-- Edited by bjoyce at 19:23, 2007-03-03

ahoweth · RV-Dreams Family Member

Hi:

Bill is right. Be sure the credit cards don't have annual fees and if you use them be sure to keep them paid off every month. A Master Card, A VISA and a discover card are what we have. None of which have an annual fee.

We have found that using the cards almost elimates the need for a checking account. We haven't written more than a dozen checks in 2 years. We do keep our checking account because we don't use the cards to get cash. Most have a fee for getting a cash advance. Most all of your expenses can be charged to one of the three cards and they can be paid by phone or on-line. They also give you an itemized statement every month so you know exactly where your money is going. Also you can check your expenditures on line almost any time and if you see anything that isn't legit they are just a phone call away.

But PLEASE watch your accounts and don't let them get out of hand. Credit card debt isn't a pretty thing.

luvn2rv · RV-Dreams Community Member

Know what you mean on watching the credit cards. Thanks for information, we plan to go as paperless as possible. Didn't know if one card was better than another. Appreciate your addressing this question

mcw50 · RV-Dreams Family Member

Like the preivious comments, we have continued to use the VISA that we have always had...it has no annual fee and a "cash back" program. Can't tell you the interest rate as we always pay it off each month. We also rarely write a check as we charge everything possible and pay the bill on-line. We also check our account several times a week on-line just to keep track. (My husband went back east for a week and phoned to ask me if I enjoyed all the shopping I'd done while he was gone

) We have a second VISA with a different bank that has a small credit limit that we keep in case we prefer to not use the main card (ordering on-line or with strange vendors, etc.) We use very little cash. Do phone your credit card company when you begin traveling and let them know that you will be traveling. Our credit was turned off several years ago when we charged $300 for fuel in an out of the way station late on a Saturday. When we were finally able to talk to the bank on Monday to find out why, they said "Who would spend $300 on fuel at one time?" We said we didn't even fill our 150 gallon diesel tank @ $3.00 a gallon. We thanked them for their observance to our account and haven't had any trouble since. Luckily we had the back-up card for the rest of that weekend.

CanAmCpl · RV-Dreams Community Member

My card of choice is my United Miles Visa. Like most others here, I carry a 0 balance, so the interest is a non issue. This card does have an annual fee of $49, one I am glad to pay - the free airline travel is more than worth that fee.

I get one mile for every dollar I spend - two miles per if I am booking a United Flight. I went to the Olympics in Greece and paid $182 for the taxes on my round-trip flight. I will be returning to Greece this summer, and have enough miles yet again to fly for free (pay taxes only)

My brother uses an Alaskan Air Visa - and he and I are always fighting over who GETS to pay the dinner bill, ha ha ha.