Credit Card recs?

kingofpop

Since you guys are so wise. . .what credit card would you recommend for someone who will be graduating soon? I really would like something that builds points or flyer miles but I dont want to get stuck with a card that I am unhappy with. 

I heard some people build enough miles for their honeymoon, is that possible? or does it take years of use.

Any help is appreciated!

aggiebug

I would not expect you to build enough points for a honeymoon if you are very close to the wedding unless you are going to carry a lot of debt on your cc which is bad!  but maybe for a 1yr anniversary trip?  As far as which one to choose.  Research around and see what the benifits are.   My dad builds Delta miles with his American Express card, FI builds AA miles with his card ( I cant remember right now)

I simply googled credit cards and came up with this site which compares different credit cards and their benifits.  you can even look for ones with airline miles. 
http://www.creditcards.com/

The best advice I can give you is get as big of a spending limit as you can and don't use it all.  (if you have over 50% of your credit limit used it negatively effects your credit score).  Pay it completly off by the end of the month.

Hinaj

Ditto aggie's advice on CC and also if you will have a balance on the card it should be 30% or less of the credit limit you have or else it could have a negative effect. 

Also if you are just graduating, you won't be showing the credit card company much of an income which will probably would mean that it will be a lower credit line, especially in this current economy.  Bank do not want to extend anyone credit, but rather they are taking back credit lines from people if they think there might be a risk.  Or they will give you CC for a really high interest rate which is not worth it.  You really have to do your research to find one I think Discover has a low APR and I believe American express cards have it that you have to pay off your entire balance at the end of the cycle which will make sure you are not spending more than you can afford. 

Since I am a spender, I try to stay away from CC.  I had to use it to get by in school but now that I am working full time I just want to pay that debt off and run.  But I too wanted the miles or points, so I upgraded my chase debit to get me Continental Airline miles everytime I use my card.  This way no debt, I am getting my rewards as well. 

If you are going on your honeymoon right away, you might not have enough reward to pay for the honeymoon but maybe enough to upgrade your seats to first class.  That is what we are doing.  Most likely we are not going on our honeymoon right away and that will give us time to save for enough miles. 

In short, research research and more research. 

mb2712

I'm not very much help, I just got what my parents have.  We have a Disney Chase card, and you get points that can be used in Disney World... on park passes, food, activities, etc. 

Good luck!

miss.jawright

I love the REI card but I know not everyone has REIs near them. Another option is the Amazon.com card. You can use your points for miles, rental cars, anything on amazon and even more. My FI has it loves it.

LauraT25

I don't know if your school offers this, but my college had a CC through MBNA Mastercard (now it's a Bank of America MC) that was specifically for college students, with a relatively low interest rate considering my nonexistent credit.  It builds points which can be used for a variety of things, and it donates something to my school's alumni association.

Now that I have credit, I also have a Mastercard through Chase and I love it - it has the best rewards of any card I looked at.  American Express and Discover have good rewards programs, but they charge fees and a lot of smaller stores don't accept them anymore, so I would never get one.

Like others said, do your research.  See which card you can get with the lowest interest, and pay attention to fees.  You might also talk to your bank - I know mine offers a pretty nice low-interest card that can be hooked up to your checking account for built-in overdraft protection that won't charge you an overdraft fee.

I doubt you'll get enough points for your honeymoon; we've been charging a lot of wedding stuff on my card (and paying it off immediately) and the points still take a while to add up!

nefariousmango

I agree w/ PPS about the credit card cautions, BUT as a frequent flier I have a few tips about miles cards:

1) Look at the miles programs and try to figure out how you earn the most miles.  I personally put all our monthly expenses on our Capital One reward card and then pay it in full, so I get 2.5 miles per dollar.  Because I use miles to fly almost everywhere, I don't EARN miles via airtravel and this way I can use the miles I get on purchases on any airline :-)

2) Do your research.  Seriously.  Air Canada will give you rewards status sooner than any other airline and they partner with United, Contenintal, Air Singapore, etc, making it a good choice if you want to get upgrades etc and get most of your miles via actual air travel.  Continental holds the most miles seats open on their partner airlines of anyone, meaning I can book a ticket using Continental miles on a United flight after being told by United that there were no more mile-fare seats on that flight.  This is a huge advantage if you're like me and you fly enough random places last minute that you need to get rewards seats on booked planes!

3) Figure out where you want to travel and make sure the airline you pick has regular, direct flights or partners with airlines that do. 

4) I'm bashing on United for a reason.  I flew with them for years, my uncle and cousin both worked for them, and they treated us very well... but recently their program has gone to $hit.  It's the most expensive, least flexible, and has the worst customer service (aside from Delta, imo).  This is a massive generalization, but I do think I travel enough on miles to have a good feel for who treats their clients well and who doesn't. 

5) Save your miles for big trips.  Going to visit a friend for Thanksgiving is great, but if you pay the $200 pp for those sorts of tickets you're earning more miles for that business class trip for two to Europe that costs <$200 when booked with miles.  Obviously I don't take my own advice here, but hey, I wish I did!

SteveandKris

I use:

1)  A Bank of American Card:  (Upromise - pays back my student loans)

2)  A citicard ("thank you points")

3)  Discover Card (shared with FI, cash back)

kellylove22

If you are looking for a first credit card with pretty good interest rates Citicards has a great student card that I got during my senior year of college. I think they convert to regular credit cards when you graduate, but since I went on to grad school, I still technically have a "student card."

The amazon card also has a pretty good rewards program. FI and I buy groceries, textbooks, and other "planned expenses" on the card and pay them off right away, and we usually get 3-4 $25 gift cards a year. This is also a good way to build credit, by using the card to buy things you know you already have the cash for, and have the $$ set aside to pay the card off as soon as the bill comes. Clothes and other luxuries come out of our debit accounts because it's risky for us to charge things we don't need to the credit card since by the end of the month, we might have spent the $$ we'd use to pay it off.

Good luck!

JustPeachy89

#1 Delta is the only airline that I will ever fly one anymore because every other one I have had a bad experience. 

#2 American Express offers 10,000 Delta miles right now which is almost a trip. But AMX has bad fees but if you cancel it before 12 months you don't get charged the yearly fees.

#3 Discover is a awesome all time card. The alternate items which they offer 5% cash back which is awesome and they have some great hotels like Hyatt. 

but have a "back up" Visa or something as a not used card because not everywhere accepts discover but I LOVE my card. I have had it for over 2 years now and never had any issues with them and have received at least $500 in points. 

A good thing to do, if you have rent, put your rent on your card and just pay it back. Number 1 tip though is don't spend it if you don't have it. Be able to pay everything off before you spend it. Good Luck!

JustPeachy89

http://www.deltaskymilescard.com/?ccsgeep=36355&openeep=29741&psboth=CCSG_Google_B_Delta_MS

Here is the link to the Delta AMEX.

It's 25,000 miles also not 10,000* which is equivalent to a free flight in the continental US