Recommended issuer/card?

[Nugget]

I'm looking for a Visa or MasterCard to supplement my primary card, which is an Amex Optima. A few merchants still don't accept Amex so I feel it's wise to carry a Visa/MC card as a fallback.

My priorities are:

Customer Service
Carrying Perks (not spending Perks)
Annual Fee
Looks nice (silly, yeah, but who among us would carry a CROSS COUNTRY VISA? /forums/images/smiles/icon_smile.gif


Does anyone have any strong advocacy for a card issuer or specific product they've had good experiences with? Since this is strictly a fallback card for me, I'm less interested in miles/points/etc but I am interested in perks that are simply a byproduct of carrying the card if I'm not already getting an equivalent perk from my Amex Plat/Optima Plat relationships.

Advice and input is welcomed.

[tfung]

have you tried to see if your local bank offers any credit cards? Sometimes if you already have a checking or savings account with them, their rates are significantly lower....

[Nugget]

I hadn't really considered this. Certainly worth looking into. I browsed past the Wells Fargo CC page (http://www.wellsfargo.com/per/credit_cards/cc_products.jhtml) and took a look at their offerings. The only thing that scares me is the "No annual fee when you add Overdraft Protection" but I can't seem to find the page that tells me how much overdraft protection costs (if anything).

The offering itself would be reasonable for a no-fee card, and I think it would be valuable in some ways to establish a stronger customer relationship with my local bank, but the card doesn't seem to offer anything I'd pay an annual or maintenance fee for.

If the overdraft protection is a no-cost service (or only costs through usage fees) then this is probably a good deal, less due to the actual card itself and more just for being able to create another account relationship with my bank.

It's a good suggestion, thanks.

[chodson]

I have had the MBNA Platinum Plus (http://www.mbna.com) for a few years now and they have always been good to me.

They have a travel agent you get to use as part of your membership, which has gotten me pretty good fares on a couple of occasions.

They don't have the best online banking (http://www.mbnanetaccess.com), but you can download statements into Money, which is acceptable to me.

They also send a failrly nice summary of where you spent your money at year end, including breaking it down by type of store.

the only bad thing is the ridiculously large credit limit they have given me. For a while it seemed like they were increasing my limit by $500 every month. At this point I could put a Miata on my card.

Click here (http://www.mbna.com/credit_platinum_r.html) to apply and/or get the nitty gritty details about the card

<font size=-1>[ This Message was edited by: chodson on 2001-10-23 01:11 ]</font>

[RyJones]

I can do online banking just fine, I have an MBNA account.

https://www.mbnanetaccess.com/NASApp/NetAccess/LoginDisplay

[afang]

I applied a Fleet VI/MA for my wife. It has up to 2% Cash back bonus...plus all the online goodies.

I primarily use DC,AMEX Starwood,and an AA MA...

[phule]

Well, despite their monolitic status, I've been fairly happy with Citibank. I just have their basic "Platinum" Mastercard.

The online services are nice, though I mainly only use them for checking purchases throughout the month. I still pay too many things by dead tree, I know...

<font size=-1>[ This Message was edited by: phule on 2001-12-18 12:42 ]</font>

[RyJones]

Stay away from BofA, the online banking / customer service has really gone to hell in the last few months. Lots of offline time, hard to get a human on the phone... etc etc. Also stay away from Capitol One, they have horrid online banking AND awful customer service.

[Nugget]

I went ahead and applied for an MBNA Quantum (http://www.epinions.com/finc-Credit-Cards-Standard-O-Z-MBNA_-_Quantum) MasterCard this evening. It looks like exactly the product I need to supplement my Amex cards. Once I've got it, I'll cancel this CapitalOne card that I've outgrown.

[afang]

Are you looking for a rebate card ?

Check this one out.

http://www.farmbureaubank.com/bankserv/creditcards.htm

Its a true 2% cash back card that doesn't make you carry a balance to get the full reward

[graceycat]

I just posted about my CitiBank PremierPass elite level card on another thread on this board... I do rather like it...