The only time I paid an annual fee was when i was traveling for work and the card gave me access to Star Alliance airport business lounges.
It was $500 well spent. Think it was a Barclays card.
Visa points card $50 a year fee vs none
- Thread starter oilboy123
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It was $500 well spent. Think it was a Barclays card.
GON
$175 Site Donor 2026
Assuming Citibank is the servicer for that card. I will never ever willingly use a Citibank anything.
Having been forced to use Citibank, I have discovered many things. They don’t credit wire transfers as soon as backwater credit unions do, which equates to they are trying to make a huge float in one day on massive interest income. Citi plays games with timeliness of crediting payments , assume that is also a macro interest grab. A payment somehow doesn’t get credited, interest rate rises from 6.99 percent to 32 percent.
Anything related to Citi bank is a sign to not walk, but run away.
GON
$175 Site Donor 2026
My Barclays American Airlines credit card just involuntarily converted to Citibank. Peel back the onion and one discoveres how secretly Citibank exploited its customers.Same for CitiBank Double cash 2% everything
Discover 5% on rotating quarterly merchants 1% everything else
Citibank custom cash 5% on whatever category you spend the most on for that month
We use all the above, plus Wells Fargo 2%
Also, Chase Manhattan 5% on quarterly merchants
Gotta love cash back!
The custom cash works out well because between all the above we only use custom cash for the one category we don’t get 5% back which for this first quarter is restaurants.
Sadly, there’s always a category too, that we only get 2% back
One of numerous examples, Barclays charged zero foreign exchange fees. Barclays is already ringing the register on the transaction. Yet Citibank chargers a king’s ransom in addition to what they are already making in a transaction in foreign exchange fees.
It’s a full time job to beat Citi at their game, I don’t have the time to play the game.
Gon, you are angry because American Airlines is no longer co-branding with Barclays and extended their co-brand with American Airlines. This had nothing to do with Citibank 2% cash back cards. Actually has nothing to do with Citibank either. American Airlines cancelled their relationship with Barclays you no longer have the deal Barclays was giving you. I too would be annoyed and dont blame you but ... that's business.
Exploited? You are willfully using their card because AmericanAirlines is no longer co-branding with Barclays.
You have an American Airlines CitiCard
For the benefit of others, I have had a Citibank 2% CASHBACK card gosh, for well over a decade and they have been fantastic for my wife and I use. Im talking top of their game good. 2% back on everything we buy. We use this card as a back up to our 5% cash back cards. Even better, in the very rare occasion I had a problem with a vendor, one click on on my online Citibank site to dispute and issue is taken care of.
My wife has a Citibank custom cash card and gets 5% back every month on the category we use it on.
As posted before we also have a Chase with rotating 5% categories every 3 months and Discover with rotating categories every 3 months
There is one other 2% cash back and that is Wells Fargo. I have both, I prefer Citibank for no other reason than I had it for so long and like their web interface. I only have WellFargo because they paid me $450 to open a credit card and savings account. AS soon as I got paid I closed the savings account but still holding the credit card. Pretty much we collected over $3,500 in free money last year in cash back and banks promotions.
I've never had an issue with any credit card company. However we are people who use the banks for their offers and cash back, we are completely cashless in everything we buy, we use these cards only in the USA and we pay in full every month.
If you use a card in a different way then we do, well then, know what those cards are offering.
The big 4 consumer banks - JPM, Citi, BoA and WF are all dirty. There also the best banks if you need to store your current accounts and transact - broad availability, low fees if you meet there minimums, etc.
I have some type of account with all but Citi.
If you need to actually do actual banking - like loans and such - find a local bank or CU.
I have some type of account with all but Citi.
If you need to actually do actual banking - like loans and such - find a local bank or CU.
GON
$175 Site Donor 2026
@alarmguy , as I have posted before, you are a master of the credit card explotation game. 99 percent of the American population can't do or accomplish what you do with credit cards. If a minority percentage of credit card users accomplished what you accomplish with your credit cards, these two percent cash back offers and the like would be very uncommon.
I have a lot more to do in life than play credit card reward games and rebate games. Not a hit on those that invest the time to play those games, just not a match for me.
As far as Citibank and Barclays. American Airlines is under duress in many ways at this time. I am typing this sitting on a American Airlines 737.
American Airlines had a good and balanced partner with Barclays. I loved my Barclays card and their customer service when I occasionally needed it. Now American Airlines partners with what is arguably the most nastiest major bank in US history. Not a good way for American Airlines to motivate a flyer like me to want a American Airlines credit card.
Of note, in the last year I cancelled my Citibank American Airlines credit card after having it for I believe two decades. I never used the card, but kept the card for the Admiral Club membership. Th annual fee on the card was nearing $1k USD annually, so I decided to just pay directly for Admiral Club membership.
On a side note, many iof my peers and myself have Citibank corporate cards. Simply a horrible card, especially if used regularly OCONUS. Customer service beyond brutal.
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PrimeVisa is only 5% cash back on Amazon and you have to pay $140 a year for a prime membership. Which in our household may or may not be a good deal.
If you do not pay the $140 for a Prime Membership then you only get 3% cash back still an ok deal and my wife has this card.
I use my 2% Citicard on Amazon however for 3 months of any giving year one of my rotating cards gives me 5% at Amazon and possibly this can happen two times a year, 3 months on one 5% card and 3 Months on another. Also my wife has a CITI custom cash that she can get 5% on the highest category for a month.
If we were Prime Members @$140 a year I would get their Prime Visa as it just makes sense to do. Heck, as much as I have a distaste for Amazon we buy an awful lot of stuff from them... no you make me think of adding yet another card ... to my arsenal
WOW!!
1. 99% of the population cant make charge card purchases and pay the total at the end of the month? That is what my wife and I do. We have fall back 2% cards for everything we cant get 5% on. Not difficult, but yeah, people are lazy, they like to complain instead of taking action for their own good. Im glad most dont either. My wife and I are far from cheap, we are just people who collect free money.
2. Im glad you are wealthy enough that you dont care about saving money but these are NOT games. I highly question and take offense to that remark coming from someone who had the time to buy a damaged refrigerator and then hunt down another refrigerator to get the door off it. I am only saying that because the refrigerator thing you did is not a hit on you but would not be a match for me.
Understand? We all make time for things important to us as a hobby. Obviously you are about saving money so you are no different.
3. Your anger is misplaced. Your much beloved American Airlines sold you out to Citibank who is going to pay American Airlines more money by giving you less. You're a very intelligent person. Im surprised at your anger at a credit card company that does not offer you what you want after your Airline dumped them for another company. Im also surprised at your remarks regarding "playing games" as that ridicules anyone doing something you are not.
If a fee card works for you then excellent
I just don’t want that as a retirement clown just paying for junk and geeze $500 fee?? Wah. KISS right now
Fidelity Elan
Costco Visa
Always paid off 10 days before due
That’s it. We get around $2000 back more less maybe a tad more. The only thing is to keep track of which card where.
I just don’t want that as a retirement clown just paying for junk and geeze $500 fee?? Wah. KISS right now
Fidelity Elan
Costco Visa
Always paid off 10 days before due
That’s it. We get around $2000 back more less maybe a tad more. The only thing is to keep track of which card where.
Yeah, this is a good deal if you are already a prime customer, really a no brainer. As an example we buy a fair amount of stuff from Amazon, maybe $5,000 a year? If we had an Amazon Prime Visa would save maybe around $70 because we are not prime members and not getting 5% cash back The cards we use now are 2,3, and 5% cash back. So we would have to pay the $150 membership fee to save $70 ... but there is more *LOL*
Wife has the Amazon 3% card but we get, for instance, this year 5% at Amazon for three months over the Holidays Sept through Dec on my Chase or Discover card on Amazon.
Anyway, now you have me thinking. I can get Amazon Prime for free for 12 months right now PLUS 5% cash back. How? They are offering $150 sign on bonus if you get the Prime Visa. SO that pays for the first year, then I can cancel.
Every holiday we sign up for Prime, example, for Dec 1st to the end of March we Paid $8.99 for 3 months of Prime other years it was free for a month
Now you have me thinking, I might actually apply for Prime Visa for the year. However my current $8.99 for three months does not end until/towards the end of March so will rethink it by then.
Like I said, it works for us. As far as the Amazon Prime Membership goes, we made that back in card credits pretty quickly, in fact, probably 4 -5 times the cost of membership each year! And of course we don't keep a balance on that card.
Yeah, yes, I understand that.
When I was telling you my calculations, the difference between me getting 5% on Amazon prime is only 2% in worst case scenarios. So it doesn’t justify me paying for prime.
However, thanks to you when I looked at Amazon prime card. They will pay me $150 for signing up so that takes care of the first year of paying for prime. More or less I get prime free +5%.
my wife has an Amazon card a 3% and I have my 2% everything
However, three months and possibly sometime six times of the year I get 5% at Amazon through the rotating categories on my Chase and Discover card
All good as you can tell, I think too much but we are on the same page
Just get the Amazon Prime and the Amazon Visa CC.
Keep life simple.
But yea...I do see where you are coming from-we are similar..translated:"cheap"
No corporations are cheap, not me.
They switch and bait and use psychology to get every last percent of profit out of the American public.
I just got a cut of the profit.
I don’t need Amazon Visa card. If I do anything, I will get an Amazon prime Visa card, which will give me one year free of prime and 5% cashback on all purchases. After the year is up, I cancel because I don’t need them
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