good credit card company?

[nguyen]

I've been with TD with about 6 years now and the interest on the card is a little high, about 19.9% annually. I always pay my credit card on time and pay it off completely as a matter of fact. I just called in and asked if they could lower the interest rate on my card since i've heard that this was possible and fairly easy; i experienced otherwise. Although i pay off my c/c completely i wouldn't need a lower interest rate but it's just nice to have incase something does happen and i need to rack up the bills.

I'm sure there's better c/c companies out there that have more to offer. I'm currently with TD rebate rewards visa.


Any opinions would be greatly appreciated, thanks guys.

[supe]

I think your logic is flawed. If you do pay off your c/c then you shouldnt be thinking about interest rate as a key benefit, you should be thinking more along the lines of rewards.

If you have good credit, get a line of credit and use that as a backup instead of a crappy CC with a higher interest rate.

[RiceMonkey]

Why dont you switch to different card? From TD Too

[Mitsu3000gt]

Get an unsecured line of credit if you want lower interest or something in case of emergency. Then, if you can't pay your CC bill, you simply borrow from the LoC at around 5.5% and you don't pay the 19.9% CC interest.

They hand out unsecured LoC's like candy, it shouldn't be hard to get one .

[nguyen]

i was thinking of getting the travel rewards, but i don't use my credit card enough to reap the benefits. i do use it, but i don't swipe it on every transaction. also, the annual fees as well don't appeal to me. i think for the travel rewards it was $110 annual fee.



supe - what do you mean a line of credit. isn't that basically the same as a credit card? you're charged interest on the money you take out?

[Mitsu3000gt]

Originally posted by nguyen
supe - what do you mean a line of credit. isn't that basically the same as a credit card? you're charged interest on the money you take out?

Yes but it's more like 5% and not 19.9%, so if you need to borrow to pay off your CC, you pay 5% and not 19.9%.

[nguyen]

that makes sense. i'd probably go that route actually. saves me money in the long run. should i still consider getting another type of visa or just keep the rebate rewards?

[supe]

Yeah the rates of a LOC will beat out any CC. LOC's are given out by the banks which usually use the banks prime rate + a small margin where CC are issued through major CC companies which generally rob you when it comes to interest.

LOC's dont give you any benefits like CC's do so if you dont carry any charges on your CC then use the CC to the max for the rewards.

I'll assume you're a bit younger but as you get older and start to spend more the annual fees become meaningless when taking into account the rewards.

[Mitsu3000gt]

Originally posted by nguyen
that makes sense. i'd probably go that route actually. saves me money in the long run. should i still consider getting another type of visa or just keep the rebate rewards?

IMO it's silly not to have a CC with rewards of some kind, because you might as well be getting at least something for your money.

If you go the fully loaded air miles card (or similar) route that has lots of other perks, there is usually a $70/year fee or so. There are also cards that have no fee that give you 1% cash back (President's Choice is one of them). So, you should decide if you want airmiles or cash back (different for everyone) and go that route.

[nguyen]

ya still young, no mortgage or anything yet. only thing really spending right now is insurance, car, gas and other disposible items.

which leads me to my next question: aeroplan or airmiles? lol i had a few friends that swear by airmiles, but a few others that get more for their buck with aeroplan. any ideas?

[Skyline_Addict]

honestly, I would go for a cashback card. a few of the institutions offer 2-3% cashback on purchases.

[Mitsu3000gt]

Originally posted by nguyen
ya still young, no mortgage or anything yet. only thing really spending right now is insurance, car, gas and other disposible items.

which leads me to my next question: aeroplan or airmiles? lol i had a few friends that swear by airmiles, but a few others that get more for their buck with aeroplan. any ideas?

Read this thread then decide:

http://forums.beyond.ca/st/337298/bm...es-mastercard/

The cashback cards only give you 1% on all purchases, but 2-3% on groceries or similar. I don't know of any card that gives 3% on all purchases.

[supe]

Thats opening a big can of worms. There is another thread already that discusses this. Basically Airmiles was once the king when it came to travel rewards but over time points are worth less and less.

Every financial institution wants to get into the CC game and are coming up with their own rewards program. As said Air miles was once the king and maybe still is, you have to do a lot math to figure it out. In general my homework on CC have came up with travel rewards are still the best type of rewards you can get IF YOU TRAVEL, but who doesnt these days. Next you have to weigh out the other benefits like travel insurance, cancellation insurance...

[supe]

For me I dont like the idea of cash back because it doesnt feel like much of a reward. They just credit your account with the cash back and all is forgotten.

I like amassing a significant amount of points/rewards and actually treating myself to whatever. But everyone is different...

[nadroj23]

21 day grace period? If you pay your card off on within this time you shouldnt be paying any interest anyway.....

[nguyen]

Originally posted by supe
For me I dont like the idea of cash back because it doesnt feel like much of a reward. They just credit your account with the cash back and all is forgotten.

I like amassing a significant amount of points/rewards and actually treating myself to whatever. But everyone is different...

i feel the same way, i like to get stuff for free after a period of time instead of just lump sum returns, there's no novelty in just getting cash back, but like you said, everyone's different.

[403Gemini]

Originally posted by supe
I think your logic is flawed. If you do pay off your c/c then you shouldnt be thinking about interest rate as a key benefit, you should be thinking more along the lines of rewards.

If you have good credit, get a line of credit and use that as a backup instead of a crappy CC with a higher interest rate.

One problem is with cards that have incentives/bonuses you have to wait for a full billing period and leave that balance on the card until then (you getting charged the interest) before paying it off to receive those benefits.

EDIT:

Also OP, what type of card do you have with TD? If you're on their "Green" card, I believe that's their intro one that they generally give out first... I got that when I was 18 and I remember their interest rating being absurdly high as well.

[nadroj23]

Originally posted by 403Gemini


One problem is with cards that have incentives/bonuses you have to wait for a full billing period and leave that balance on the card until then (you getting charged the interest) before paying it off to receive those benefits.

EDIT:

Also OP, what type of card do you have with TD? If you're on their "Green" card, I believe that's their intro one that they generally give out first... I got that when I was 18 and I remember their interest rating being absurdly high as well.

All CC's at TD are 19.99% the only one that offers a lower interest rate is the Emerald Visa which has an annual fee.

[Mitsu3000gt]

Originally posted by 403Gemini


One problem is with cards that have incentives/bonuses you have to wait for a full billing period and leave that balance on the card until then (you getting charged the interest) before paying it off to receive those benefits.

EDIT:

Also OP, what type of card do you have with TD? If you're on their "Green" card, I believe that's their intro one that they generally give out first... I got that when I was 18 and I remember their interest rating being absurdly high as well.

The BMO Mosiac MC definitely does not make you wait until you get charged interest before you get the perks. I don't know of any other card that does either, but maybe some do.

[nguyen]

Originally posted by 403Gemini


One problem is with cards that have incentives/bonuses you have to wait for a full billing period and leave that balance on the card until then (you getting charged the interest) before paying it off to receive those benefits.

EDIT:

Also OP, what type of card do you have with TD? If you're on their "Green" card, I believe that's their intro one that they generally give out first... I got that when I was 18 and I remember their interest rating being absurdly high as well.

I have the TD Rebate Rewards visa