CREDIT PROFILE
* Current credit cards you are the primary account holder of: Discover Student It
* FICO scores with source: Experian 807, Transunion 756, Equifax 756
* Oldest credit card account age: 5 years
* Cards approved in the past 6 months: 0
* Cards approved in the past 12 months: 0
* Cards approved in the past 24 months: 0 (just haven’t applied for any)
* Annual income $: 65k
CATEGORIES
* Ok with category-specific cards?: Open to it but would rather not
* Ok with rotating category cards?: No
* Estimate average monthly spend in the categories below.
* Dining $: 150
* Groceries $: 400 total
Breakdown:
Walmart: 200
Costco: 50
Other (Trader Joes, Aldi): 150
* Gas $: 120 (Costco)
* Travel $: I mostly travel for work once a month and take 1-2 international trips a year where I typically pay for the flight and someone else covers lodging/car. I currently put all my work expenses on a work credit card but I’d like to switch to putting those expenses on a personal credit card to earn benefits/rewards toward travel.
Flights (personal): 100-200/month budgeted for intl travel
Flights (work): 400/month
Hotels (work): 100-200/month
Car rental (work): ~100/ month
* Using abroad?: Yes, but only for a month at a time at most
* Other categories or stores: None
* Other spend:
* Pay rent by card? Yes, amount and fee: 1600; no fee
MEMBERSHIPS & SUBSCRIPTIONS
* Amazon Prime member: Yes
* Costco or Sam's Club member: Costco
* Big bank customer: USAA
PURPOSE
* Purpose of next card: Travel Rewards
* Travel rewards preferences: I typically fly Southwest for work, but I prefer Delta personally. I usually use IHG for hotels. For personal international travel, I just need an airline that has routes to India (AirFrance/KLM, British Airways, etc)
* Cards being considered: Citi Strata Premier, Capital One Venture, Chase Sapphire Preferred (would like the AF to be $100 or less but am open to a higher AF if the benefits effectively pay for the AF)
Need help choosing my second credit card please
byu/Ok_Fun_3934 inCreditCards
Posted by Ok_Fun_3934
1 Comment
Your credit scores are solid so you should have good approval odds for most cards. Since you want to use personal card for work expenses that’s actually smart move for building rewards
The Chase Sapphire Preferred might be your best bet here – the transfer partners work well for international travel to India and you can transfer points to both Delta and Air France/KLM. Plus the dining and travel multipliers will help with your work spending categories. The annual fee is higher than you wanted but the benefits usually offset it if you travel regularly
Capital One Venture is simpler redemption but less flexible for international routes. Citi Premier could work too but Chase ecosystem is probably better match for your travel patterns and spending
Just remember if you start putting work expenses in personal card make sure you pay it off before work reimburses you to avoid interest charges