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Rewards, sign-up bonuses, balance transfers, fees, protections, and card reviews. Pick the right card and collect more from it than it costs you.
If your credit card statement shows a charge for something that never arrived, a purchase billed twice, or the wrong amount, federal law makes your card issuer investigate. Send a written dispute early enough to arrive within 60 days of the first statement showing the charge.
Your card issuer can close a credit card you stop using, and it doesn’t have to warn you first. Losing that card’s limit can lower your credit score. Keep each idle no-fee card open by moving one small subscription you already pay onto it, with autopay set to the full statement balance so it costs nothing extra.
Credit Karma’s Karma Guarantee, marked by a badge on some card offers, can pay you $25 or $50 if the card’s issuer declines you. It doesn’t promise approval, a credit limit, or an interest rate. Apply only if you’d still want the card at the highest rate the offer lists and a low credit limit.
Convenience checks, the blank checks your card issuer mails you, draw on your credit line. Unless they carry a promotional rate, most are treated as cash advances, with a 3% to 5% fee and interest from day one, often at a higher rate than purchases. Read the rate table printed with them before you write one, and shred the rest.
Paying rent with a credit card usually loses money, because rent portals charge close to 3% for a card payment and even a 2% cash-back card can’t cover it. Put rent on your card only when the fee is waived, the payment earns a sign-up bonus, or it bridges a short cash gap you’ll repay in full.
Get the Slate Edge® Credit Card only if fair credit is keeping you out of better cards and you need a no-fee card to rebuild with. It pays no rewards and charges 29.24% on any balance you carry, so put a few small bills on it, pay in full, and move on once your score climbs.
Open the Chase Freedom Rise® if you’re new to credit and want a card that can lead to a better one. Use it and pay every bill on time, and Chase’s yearly review can upgrade it to the Freedom Unlimited automatically. If you already have good credit, apply for the Freedom Unlimited directly.
Get the Chase Sapphire Reserve® only if its credits match how you already spend. The $300 travel credit applies to almost any trip, but earning back the other $495 of the $795 fee means using merchant-specific credits, such as those for dining, event tickets, and prepaid hotel stays. If those don’t fit your plans, skip it.
Get the Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card if you’ll book a $100-plus hotel stay through Chase Travel each year, since that stay’s credit, up to $100, covers the $95 fee with $5 to spare. The rest of the card, from 3x points on dining and gas to transfers to airline and hotel programs, then costs nothing extra.
Get the Chase Freedom Unlimited® if you want one no-fee card that earns at least 1.5% on everything with nothing to activate or track. It out-earns a 2% flat-rate card once restaurants and drugstores, where it pays 3%, pass a third of your spending, a share that drops if you also book through Chase Travel.
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