Question
I'm still trying to find a good replacement. My main problem is that for me, my Mastercard is my back up card and as such does not get a lot of charges. The NEA-MBNA card was appealing because they had valuable rewards in the 3000 and up range.
Any other cards out there have reward options at lower point levels?
I'm leaning toward the Capitol One card, but they only have one award option, air tickets, and they start at 18,000. That's not bad, but is there anything better??
Answer
Capital One is pretty good, but their customer service is a little below MBNA. Also, they are not as generous with credit lines. The card has a great interest rate (9.9) for a mileage card if you carry a balance. And, the annual fee is only $20 or so.
If anyone has a better or same-level replacement, I would also appreciate it as NextCard Rewards has changed drastically and that was my primary non-AMEX card.
Answer
More things that I like about the capitol one card:
-up to 5,000 miles for balance transfers
-transfers get a fixed rate of 7.9% right now
-cash advance rate is the same as purchase rate, 9.9%
-$ maximums for reward tickets seem above average.
-Annual fee only $19
*On paper, this card appears to be one of the best around, especially if you carry a balance or use advances.
Negatives:
-Air tickets only reward option
-miles expire in 5 years from date earned
-I don't know much about capital one services...? Do they have online account management and bill paying?
Answer
Yes, their online account management and payment is pretty good.
The benchmark (at least for me) for online service and account info is First USA. Cap One isn't as good as FUSA, but they are pretty good. (I don't think their info is updated in real time, there's no link for info about a particular charge, and it takes a little while for online payments to show up.)
All things considered, I carry a Cap One/Miles One card, but I haven't used it much since moving here to Hawaii since their HI awards are on the high side (40k points).
If I had to carry a balance, I would use it. Beware though, they have a very odd way of calculating the balance subject to interest once you begin carrying a balance. I had one or two additional months with interest charges once I paid off my balance and three scripted explanations (none of which I understood) for the charges. One might assume that once you pay a balance you've been carrying off in full that you won't have any further interest charges. This is not true with Cap One. Given the interest rate on the card, it isn't that much of a drawback, however, you should know that there is no grace period once you begin carrying a balance, even if you pay the entire bill off. They still have a portion of the previous months daily balance subject to the interest charges.
-David
Edited for typos and formatting.
[This message has been edited by LIH Prem (edited 09-09-2001).]
Answer
What you are describing sounds like "two cycle billing", something that generally should be avoided, especially if you pay off the balance always or often.
I know that ALL of the first USA cards I've seen, bill with two-cycle billing. But the Capital One card clearly states their card as using the "Average Daily Balance" method which is the more common method. It also states it has a 25 day grace period. Now obviously, it you carry a balance, the grace period is not applicable.
Am I correct in my thinking????????
Answer
ok .. I went back and checked my records. I think you're right pointman, I was confused and it was a First USA account that had that 2-cycle billing and not my Cap One account. I think it may have been the Yahoo Visa card, which had a low interest rate. I no longer carry that card.
Sorry for the confusion and thanks for the correction.
-David