If you only had ONE Credit Card, What would it be?

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ToInfinityandBeyond

ToInfinityandBeyond

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Hypothetical: Taking everything you know about credit cards, if you only had one, (which would make all our lives better) what would it be and why?
 
Coles Mastercard platinum

$0 annual fee 1st year. $99 after that.

Pay a lot of bills in US$ without any card surcharge & get very good exchange rate at same time & no international fees.

Get a few million flybuys points which are hard to use once get to 138k annual limit on transfers to velocity, but save money on exchange rates
 
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Bankwest Zero Platinum Credit Card
- no annual fee
- no international fee (I travel overseas a fair bit and shop a lot from online stores )
- no points accumulation (So, less headache. Credit Cards are only good for their sign up bonus points and not for regular points accumulation)

In fact this is the one card I have for years now. I also keep churning cards for bonus points but don't use those churn cards for day to day use.
 
cqtiger said:
Except for their customer service.Tried to get additional card for wife and they wanted a kidney. You'd think as I am still liable it wouldn't be that hard.
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maybe you need to split the limit although banks seem to be getting tough on people with many cards.

I had 6 at one stage as was starting a new business & they were very very handy. Asked one bank recently to increase limit & instead they reduced limit.
 
ozfflyer said:
maybe you need to split the limit although banks seem to be getting tough on people with many cards.

I had 6 at one stage as was starting a new business & they were very very handy. Asked one bank recently to increase limit & instead they reduced limit.
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Not sure what you mean. There is no change on limits for an additional card under same account.
 
I would be inclined to say the Amex Platinum card due to the many benefits that come with it (and the reasonably good points-earning rate).

But in my case, as I only spend a couple of months per year in Australia, the Coles Rewards Mastercard is actually a very decent option and the one card I would keep if only allowed one. No international transaction fees and the earn rate for Flybuys (which I obviously transfer to Velocity) is surprisingly decent. Shame about the 138,000 point annual transfer limit to Velocity, though.

I would have said ANZ Rewards Travel Adventures, if not for the reduced earn rate that applies after you spend $2,000 in a month.
 
I've had the Bankwest Platinum Zero card mentioned above for a while for the reasons mentioned above but if you are going to use the card, you want to earn some points on it. It got the lemon and sars once I got the ANZ Travellers rewards. The fee is coughpy and you do have a flight to offset (if you need a flight it's OK), but the 2k limit before your points earning is not so good.

I'm about to apply for the Coles Mastercard - I think that is a better proposition with earn rate relative to yearly fees, and of course the common them here is no forex fees.

Outside that the AMEX Velocity was good, but I've excused myself from Amex for 18 months expiring on Boxing day and will go back again on this one.
 
Daver6 said:
the Amex QF Ultimate card has the best earn rate.
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By keeping this card for the earn rate, you miss out on the 100,000 bonus points that you can get approximately once every 18 months. So, I still stand by my advice to never use credit cards for the earn rate. Just churn them for bonus points.

Use a fee free credit card for regular use. You'll save a lot on fees. And you don't have to worry about choosing a place to shop that gives the best earn rate (you buy what you really want), you don't have to worry about earn rate caps ( don't have to delay or advance purchases), you don't have to chase earn rate promotions which is often to promote non selling products, etc. Overall, less headache.
 
fwmonger said:
By keeping this card for the earn rate, you miss out on the 100,000 bonus points that you can get approximately once every 18 months. So, I still stand by my advice to never use credit cards for the earn rate. Just churn them for bonus points.

Use a fee free credit card for regular use. You'll save a lot on fees. And you don't have to worry about choosing a place to shop that gives the best earn rate (you buy what you really want), you don't have to worry about earn rate caps ( don't have to delay or advance purchases), you don't have to chase earn rate promotions which is often to promote non selling products, etc. Overall, less headache.
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Not sure if that advice is directed at me (I'm assuming it is given you've replied to my comment). That advice might apply to some circumstances. In mine I'm better off keeping the card, earning the points etc and getting retention points. My situation is much more complex than just this one card. So your advice would have me worse off.
 
Well ToInfinityandBeyond's question was about keeping 1 card (not churning) so Id also vote for the Amex Qantas Ultimate. Best earn rate and zero real cost if you can use the Qantas voucher each year. Plus quite regualr Amex cash back on places I spend money, ticket offers etc.

I choose to churn Visa and Mastercards for sign-on bonuses but Ive kept the Amex Ultimate for 3 years.
 
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