Credit card recommendations person

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LenLen

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Jul 20, 2006
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I've been researching frequent flyer programs for the past couple of weeks and even though I have learnt quite a bit, I'm still not quite sure which credit card to apply for based on my own personal needs and whether I should get one. Is there a service available or someone nice enough to give any recommendations based on my needs.

Here's my details just in case
- Travel once a year, so mainly would be earning points via a credit card scheme
- I use my current no rewards credit card to pay for almost everything
- Not currently joined with Qantas FF yet, but most prolly my partner will join
- My partner is a builder so he would be using the CC to purchase materials for work, which could amount to a lot of money, so most probably he'll be the primary card holder and I'll just be a supplementary card holder (I'm assuming this will save on fees).

Based on my research I'm leaning towards:
- AMEX Rewards Maximiser
- Citibank Visa Silver

Questions:
1. Do we\should we go ahead with a rewards programme?
2. Do these CC suit my needs, are there any more recommendations?
3. Is it worth it to get 2 CC's?

Thanks for all your help in advance
 
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I am sure if you post your goals and spending pattern information here, plenty of people will provide you with their opinion of the best approach for you. That is pretty much what this community is all about.

Just be aware that you will get personal opinions, and need to interpret them for yourself.
 
Here's a link that you may find interesting.

AMEX
 
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If you plan to charge business expenses to the card make sure you read the T&C's carefully. A lot of personal credit cards don't allow business transactions and if you get caught out you might end up losing the points.
 
For business transactions there is an Amex business charge card, it does the BAS, GST etc and works with accounting software for small businesses. If you use it exclusively for business purposes, it is tax deductible. You can also earn points on it :)
 
Allo, thanks for all the replies, I'm gonna go ahead and apply for the Amex Rewards Maximiser and the Citbank silver card. But I'll have a read of the T&C when I'm applying for the cards in regards to the business transactions, and I'm getting him to ask his accountant about it as well. As these cards aren't exclusively for business.
 
Another question,when applying for 2 CC's is it ok to apply for both at the same time or should I wait for one to be approved before applying for the next one?
 
LenLen said:
Another question,when applying for 2 CC's is it ok to apply for both at the same time or should I wait for one to be approved before applying for the next one?

It won't really make any difference.
 
Some cards charge a fee for supplementary cards, so check that out. I think Citibank charge a supp card fee.
 
Was about to apply for the Amex last night, but realised that they just increased their annual fee to $192, so with the additional supplementary card fee of $36 plus having the citibank silver card annual $65 and supplementary fee, it all seems too much. So, looks like I'll just be applying just for 1 credit card and just ditch the Amex, except now I have to look into researching a bit more, something with no cap on points.

Any suggestions? Otherwise I'll update once I've made my decision. Phew, who thought that finding a credit card would involve so much research.
 
LenLen said:
Any suggestions? Otherwise I'll update once I've made my decision. Phew, who thought that finding a credit card would involve so much research.
Only if you give two hoots about credit card/ff points. I would have thought that saving money on interest rates and yearly fees would have been more important than points collected. But I guess that most people get sucked in like me.

I have been with Amex for 6 years and I have just made enough points, alone, for return award airfare with QF/BA SYD-BKK. It has cost me the membership reward fee for 6 years plus the taxes & surcharges of $320 for return flight. The cost therefore is around $800 + interest paid on credit card for a $800-$900 flight off peak.

Sounds better paying bills with cash and saving for airfare and accommodation deals that constantly pop up.
 
6 years:shock: what were you using it for? paying the milkman????
 
JohnK said:
Only if you give two hoots about credit card/ff points. I would have thought that saving money on interest rates and yearly fees would have been more important than points collected. But I guess that most people get sucked in like me.

Same here, but I would like to add that the interest rate on the card is no importance if it is paid in full.

People that put the interest rate into the equation shouldnt be looking at points collecting as this would be false economy.
 
vt said:
Same here, but I would like to add that the interest rate on the card is no importance if it is paid in full.

People that put the interest rate into the equation shouldn't be looking at points collecting as this would be false economy.
Absolutely true. If paying interest on a CC then forget points earning and just find the fastest way to get it paid off in full, and then keep it that way.

I cleared out my Amex points 3 years ago to use for a QF award. Since then I am back up to 190K points and that card does not get used for any business/work spending as our company policy is that all business expenses must be on Corp Diners Club where accepted and I have found very few places where my Corp Diners is not accepted for my usual business expenses (almost exclusively travel).

But I do benefit from my son's school accepting Amex for fees (there is 12K points per year), though I lose that one next year as they change schools.

Another good earner recently was purchasing a new laptop computer through our corporate Salary Sacrifice scheme. Under this scheme the employee purchases the computer and then is re-reimbursed in full and then regular deductions made from pre-tax salary. So another 5.5K points for an expense that is ultimately deferred and only 50% due to being pre-tax.
 
Just an update if anyone is interested, after reading the forums and researching the net, in the end I applied for what I originally had decided in the original post. Just got approved for the AMEX Rewards Maximiser and just applied for the citibank silver card. As one of my workmates said to me, you can go researching for ever and never find a card that exactly matches your needs OR you do but next year things could change.
Thanks for everyones help.
 
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