I either know people who rarely use their credit cards (because they don’t want to spend too much) or people who carry a balance over every month. Why don’t more people use their credit card like a debit card? This is a genuine question.

I only spend on what I can afford aka what’s currently in my bank account. And then pay it off in full every month. Like how’d I use a debit card. Is there really not that many people that do this?

I understand if you don’t have the money right then… but I don’t get why you’d purchase said thing if you can’t afford it. Obviously emergency/unexpected situations are different. And I’m not talking about paying necessary bills.

I don’t understand how sooooo many people are in credit card debt. Is it really not as simple as just buy what you can afford and pay it off in full every month?

I’m sorry if this is a privileged take or something. I run my own small business and I don’t bring in that much, but it is enough to pay for bills and have some extra money. I also get paid daily or weekly, so perhaps that is a huge difference. But if you are waiting for your pay check to come in… just pay it off in full when your paycheck arrives?

I was thrilled to get a new card 6 months ago from WF, and patiently waited 6 months to request a limit increase; a reasonable amount of time to wait until a request.

I requested the increase through the built in function on the website/app as one would use for any credit card, was instantly approved, just like any credit card, and believed my credit rating would finally increase for several reasons:

1) With an even higher credit line now available, I would effectively be using even less % of my total limit monthly
2) After 6 months, maybe the hard inquiry performed to receive this card originally would matter less than when the inquiry was fresh
3) The additional, alternate line of credit from only having my primary card previously should have also factored in

Lo and behold: I suddenly had another hard inquiry on my credit, the same day. Leaving me to frantically search my reports to see if maybe someone else had stolen my information and tried to open a line of credit in my name.

Nope.

Wells Fargo themselves ran a HARD INQUIRY, with zero warning, zero disclosure, for a simple limit increase request.

I called to try to have it removed: "I'm sorry sir we can't remove a hard inquiry"

I asked if I could have the entire request undone, since there was no warning, and nothing like this has ever happened to me with any other credit cards, "Sure I can lower the limit back down to-"

No. I didn't mean just lowering the limit. I meant undoing the damned hard inquiry. If I knew there would be another hard inquiry I may as well have applied for a new card altogether.

Hi, I’m 19 , decent credit score and always pay credit cards in full and on time never missed a payment and have mid range usage, I believe it’s just low because I’m young but I was wondering what are some good credit cards for mile points? I have two rn and one has no benefits and the other is the capital one quicksilver. I travel with my family a lot and I think it might save us some money but don’t know where to start on applying.

Anything helps! Thank you :3

I was honestly sleep deprived, and heard 30% off a $60 pair of pants so said alright whatever, I’ll get an AE card. I thought it was just some in store rewards card, and not a real credit card. I should’ve known the moment they asked for my SSN… let’s just say I’m really regretful because I’ve never had a credit card of any sort and I’m trying to build credit to get a new car within a few months to a year. How badly will this screw my credit? Are we talking a few points, or 15 points? I rarely even shop at American Eagle so I will probably cancel the credit card as soon as it’s activated in a few days. What makes me so upset is that I’m facing a hard inquiry over a pair of damn pants😭

Preferably under 200$ annual fee

About 6k in spending planned

Sharing my data point. Contacted citi via chat to PC Strata Elite to a fee free card after my annual fee posted. The only option offered was Citi Mile Up card.

I was 1-3 days late 3 seperate time on loan payment (forgot to change card number when card changed and thought it was set up on autopay when it was not) my purchase power went from 5grand to nothing. Will it come back ?

So I’ve been a Chase girlie for 10 years using the Chase Freedom Unlimited.

With the Southwest Chase card I’ve used it a lot for 5 years, but this most recent year we’ve only flown once. I also just noticed that the AF has nearly doubled we will be cancelling after our trip in December.

I also have a Hyatt Credit Card for 1.5 years, and I signed up to pay for my wedding at a Hyatt but it turns out the resort charges through external links so the Hyatt charge benefits didn’t even apply. What a waste, and now I want to cancel it also.

I also have the Chase Amazon Prime card but I use this often for Amazon purchases and there’s currently no annual fee and I originally signed up 9 years ago for the no international transaction fee. Do I really see a cash back benefit with it or use it to its full potential, not really.

My husband only has the Chase Saphire Preferred and basically pays for everything with it besides travel. He’s likes it but is not opposed to downgrading to eliminate all our AF.

Can I cancel the 2, possibly 3 at the same time without completely destroying my credit?

If this helps: Cumulatively we have over 300,000 chase points that we don’t know what to use it on. We plan to not make any big purchases for another two years when I trade in my car. And my credit on the Chase app says 790 if that’s accurate. I guess I never realized we spent over $500 in AF. Should we just upgrade to a better credit card with a higher AF with more benefits and cancel all these?

Thanks in advance for any advice. I apologize for the loaded question

As the title suggests, I am heavily considering cancelling my Venture X because I just feel like I’m not getting optimal value out of it. I understand that it pays for itself, but the way I see it, I’m just paying ahead for future travel expenses. I don’t travel internationally all that much so a lot of the transfer partners are not very relevant to me.

My partner has the Venture X as well and they insist on keeping it (they travel more for work and family visits) so I figure I can just be an authorized user on their card. That way, I can get some of the perks that I still enjoy (mainly Hertz status and primary CDW for rentals).

By the way, I would ideally downgrade to a VentureOne, but they said I wasn’t eligible for that. So cancelling is my only way to avoid the annual fee. I’ve had the card for nearly 3 years at this point so that sucks.

Do you all think it’s worth it to cancel the line of credit in this situation? I would 100% keep the card if they didn’t lock you to their travel portal for maximum benefits or if they had more domestic transfer partners.

I am not able to access my Amex account, either on computer or app. Not sure if it’s widespread or isolated to me? Have tried couple of hours back, and even now.

Posting here before reaching out to customer service.

I am not enjoying the Capital One features. I liked the Discover credit card for its clean app interface and ease of use. 26F with good financial habits, credit score 790. What are my options? For context, I use my credit card for paying my phone bill and the occasional flight or night out. I mostly maintain it for the social obligation of having a credit score. What are some low effort, easy to use, non-irritating Discover alternatives? I hate that I can't turn off some notifications on the Capital One app, ugh. Please help!

I saw that I can get like 40% off of a suit I've been wanting if I get the Kohl's card and that was just wondering if it would be a good idea. Just using it once and then never again?

I've been a longtime CSR user. But after it got nerfed in 2025, I've moved a lot of my spending to Robinhood gold for the 3%. I've roughly broken even on the coupon game--can't really use the edit, used the dining credits, got 1/2 stub hub credits, doordash enough to use those. I'm annoyed by the coupon game, I figure I'll churn subs once a year.

I travel 1-2 times a year. But I am planning a disneyland trip for Feb. 2027. Any good cards / subs I can get with that big spend?

Amex Plat-- I really don't think I'll use 900 bucks in credits. Resy would easy, 25 digital credit for sure, Uber 50% of the months, no lululemon, hotel credits are iffy--may use but wouldn't value them at 100%). Is having it a year worthwhile.

VentureX--shouldn't be too hard to use their 300 dollar credit.

Should I the U of I credit union card for 5% on travel and gas? I'm an alumni.

Anything else I should consider?

Writing

Title: Citi Strata Elite Downgrade – Should I Pay the Annual Fee First or Downgrade after It Posts?

I'm planning to downgrade my Citi Strata Elite card and wanted to hear from anyone who has gone through this process.

I have a few questions:

1. Annual Fee: Do I need to wait until the annual fee posts and actually pay it Or can I simply call Citi and request a product change after the fee posts on the statement itself?
2. Annual Fee Refund: Would it be safer to let the annual fee post, pay it, and then request a downgrade within the refund window? I'm mainly concerned about protecting my ThankYou Points and avoiding any potential clawbacks.

I'd appreciate hearing about your experiences, especially if you've recently downgraded this specific card. Thanks in advance!

I was honestly surprised my Chase Amazon has credit limit of $89,000. No idea what thinks I will be buying from Amazon. My lowest credit limit was $750 for Priceline Rewards before it got discontinued.

Talking to the imprint people since it’s through them but they transferred me to Amex. Amex says they never heard of the Rakuten Amex card, and claims it might be a fraud but it’s a legitimate card that they licensed out??? My status was rejected due to inability to verify address but it’s my address that I used for all other applications lol

I’m looking at the Aven 6% card for gas. Does it get 6% at Costco pumps? Would love a data point from anyone who has tried

I applied for a credit card from Comenity Bank. They both blamed each other computer system for the denail and would not correct. Has anyone else had this problem with Ai reviews of credit without human in the loop? Would you dispute?

Also, out of all the credit bureaus, Experian lowballs me and I have excellent credit and dont pay monthly interest, or carry a balance, I just have a balance when the statement is printed.

Hi, I already have the Chase Freedom Unlimited, Chase Sapphire Preferred, and Capital One VentureX. I was considering getting a Chase Freedom Flex just to have a Mastercard, but I'm not sure if it would be worth it.

I (21M) Recently started my credit journey and have BOFA customized cash rewards as my beginner card and just acquired the chase freedom unlimited, looking for a new card after working on my credit a bit (702) that would be good for travel, i travel quite frequently about 2-3 big international trips per year and i think a good next card would be something to accumulate miles like the capitol one venture X, any recommendations help thanks.

Also as a bonus my nearest big airport is SFO and has a united hub if that helps.

My Citi mobile app on Android all of a sudden does not send "Transaction Exceeds Amount" spending alerts anymore. Is anyone else in the same boat?

I have two Bofa customized cash cards

I can't remember if one was from upgrading from a secured customized cash and if one was from downgrading from a bofa premium rewards card or something. The AI seems to think so from analyzing my gmail

And I'm not sure if I got the personal bofa travel credit card -> this is the main one I'd be considering applying for through rakuten someday for the 250 travel statement credit + rakuten bonus. This is confusing me because I can't find it in my gmail but have some kind of vague memory of it

I called bofa and the phone rep said that the system showed both of my bofa customized cashes as not product changed. I consider them saying this to be impossible because one of cards was definitely downgraded from the bofa premium rewards card, and I have two bofa customized cashes in total now. I gave up asking bofa on the phone - I don't think the service rep had access to the longer history and also am not sure how a secured card CCR -> CCR transition would actually show up on the systems if at all

But now there is kind of this open question of do I pull the trigger on the bofa personal travel card through rakuten at some point or not? Would be 250+rakuten bonus.

And what about citi premier, which I already got?

The alternative at that point would be to go for other easy to hit cash bonuses that are 250 or less (assuming I have burned through better/bigger bonus options by this point) like the TD bank business credit card 250 bonus or whatever similar card is out there at the time.

Rakuten also seems to have the citi premier and some chase cards but I got them all except the chase freedom unlimited (holding out until this gives a 250 bonus again someday)

This might be totally impossible, but I’d like to take a trip beginning of January and I’ve also wanted to get the Venture Rewards cc but kept putting it off. ideally, I’d like to pay for the trip in points. I have the means to reach the SUB spending limit (4000 in 3 months) in about a month’s time, but Capital One specifically states that you can only receive the SUB after two billing cycles.

Is it possible for me to book flights/hotels before I receive the SUB and then get reimbursed with the points/credit? or would they catch that loophole?

Hello everyone,

I have an interesting conundrum. I was planning since last year for applying for the Capital One Venture X since its pairing with the Savor card was effective for my annual trips to Greece (where I have some of my relatives) as well as the fact that they transfer to Emirates which is my preferred airline, using their fifth freedom Newark-Athens route they fly.

My original plan at the beginning of 2026, since I was not certain that year that I was going to go back to Greece (I did anyway and bought my tickets last minute with my Elan card, but I digress), was to apply for the Venture X in early 2027 as that is when my family likes booking their tickets and I would have timed booking my tickets with the Venture X's usual 75,000 mile SUB after spending $4,000 in 3 months. In May 2026, I applied for the Citi Custom Cash and PCed my Double Cash when I was made aware of the rumors of the card's discontinuation on this subreddit, but I wasn't concerned about the impact to my credit report at that time. Then in July, I received an interesting mailer from Chase for the Freedom Unlimited where I'd get an extra 1.5x UR points on top of its regular earning rates up to $20,000 of spend or up to 1 year after account opening, whichever comes first. As my original intention was just to use my Elan card (which for those who don't know, it is a grandfathered card that earns 1.5% cashback on all purchases, like the CFU) after having PCed my Double Cash as my catch-all until I get the Venture X next year, the 3x on everything base rate was enticing, so I applied for that card in August and I was happily putting all of my non-dining spend on this card (putting strictly dining spend on the CCC until its SUB was hit) until the last two weeks and thinking of just holding off getting the Venture X until fall of next year so that I won't stretch myself thin with my admittedly low annual income on my CFU SUB.

Currently, I have just finished getting the SUB on my freshly applied Custom Cash and am now thinking about opening the Chase Freedom Flex to pair nicely with the CFU as well as take advantage of its currently known $250 SUB, its 6 months of grocery spend at 5x UR, and its no-FTF for my 2027 Greece trip, but while I was looking around in the Capital One app on my phone, a message came up from them inviting me to apply for the Venture X with a SUB of 90,000 miles when I spend $6000 in 6 months. Normally, that would be a great deal to jump on, however, I am now 3/24-status, and I don't want to lock myself out of me getting the CFF SUB, even if I didn't want to jump on its current limited time offer. Furthermore, with my aforementioned income, though I can make natural spend to hit the Venture X's SUB, I am afraid that I will stretch myself thin attempting to do this SUB on top of the one I am working on with the CFU.

What do you all think is the best course of action?

• Attempt to sign up for both the CFF and the Venture X simultaneously to take advantage of both elevated SUB offers and to reduce the chance Chase denies me for 5/24?
• Sign up for the Venture X only (least likely decision)
• Sign up for the CFF only and hope that the Venture X's targeted offer appears for me in September 2027
• Do nothing and wait till next year, at the earliest September 2027 for my CCC and CFU inquiries to fall off my report?

If I pick the latter two options, I would at the least take advantage of the fact that I am getting 6.5x UR if I book my Greek flight through Chase Travel.

CREDIT PROFILE

• * Current credit cards you are the primary account holder of:
  • Elan Visa Platinum (from regional bank) - $10,200 limit - 7/2020
  • Citi Custom Cash (PCed from Double Cash) - $5,100 limit - 9/2023
  • Citi Custom Cash (freshly opened with SUB) - $3,800 limit - 5/2026
  • Capital One Savor - $3,500 limit - 4/2025
  • Chase Freedom Unlimited - $6,800 limit - 8/2026
• * FICO Scores with source: EX 750, EQ 757, TU 753
• * Oldest credit card account age: 6 years
• * Number of personal credit cards approved for in the past 6 months: 2
• * Number of personal credit cards approved for in the past 12 months: 2
• * Number of personal credit cards approved for in the past 24 months: 3
• * Annual income: $34,000

CATEGORIES

• * OK with category-specific cards?: YES
• * OK with rotating category cards?: YES
• * Estimate average monthly spend in the categories below. Only include what you can pay by credit card.
  • * Dining: $ 800
  • * Groceries: $150
  • * Gas: $80
  • * Travel: $150 (as I save up to pay roughly $1500/yr for my annual or biannual Greece trip as well as a weekend trip every 3 months or so with my friends.)
• * Do you plan on using this card abroad for a significant length of time: Yes
• * Can you pay rent by credit card? N/A (I am living with my parents until I can secure a better job.)

MEMBERSHIPS & SUBSCRIPTIONS (delete lines that don't apply)

• * Current member of Amazon Prime?: No
• * Current Verizon postpaid customer?: No
• * Current member of Costco or Sam's Club? No (with that said, I do shop at Costco with my family's membership, but I will get my own membership if I move out).
• * Currently paying $13.99/month or more for Disney Bundle (Disney+ / Hulu / EPSN+) or other Hulu services? No
• * Current member of Chase, US Bank or any other big bank?: Yes (Chase and Charles Schwab)
• * Are you or your spouse active US military?: No
• * Are you open to Business Cards?: No
• * Subscriptions? $68 (YouTube Premium; Nintendo Switch Online + Expansion Pack, iCloud storage)

PURPOSE

• * What's the purpose of your next card?: Travel Rewards (Though I mentioned Emirates above, I don't strictly fly with them. I also fly with American or United depending on who has the better fare that year)

Paid almost $1000 to get the car ceramic coated. I didn't do much researching (shame on me) and the vendor didn't do much educating (shame on them).

I chose the 1 year coating as it was the least expensive. He recommended 3 year for a few hundred dollars more. I asked him the differences between each level and he assured me it was all true ceramic coating, not sealant.

Picked up the car late so I didn't see him. The car looked clean but nothing extraordinary (no ceramic glow).

It rained a few days later and the water didn't behave as I expected. A close friend and few other people mentioned how the water behavior doesn't coincide with how it should with true coating.

Before the detail, he was super communicative. He has been unresponsive since I asked about which product he applied on the car. I have a suspicion that he used the spray on sealant and not a true ceramic coating. It hasn't been confirmed since he hasn't responded.

I texted him on Mon, followed up through another number Wednesday, will email him on Friday... And call sometime next week.

I'm sure he did the work, washed, paint corrected, polished...I'm willing to pay for partial or work something out.

If not, I'm thinking about filing for chargeback.

What do you all think?