Best Credit card for a Student?

[Freesia88]

I would like to get one but I am not sure which. Things I am looking for:

Minimal to no fees
Reasonably good rewards
One that will let me have a $500-$1000 limit

Suggestions appreciated!

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[Renaissance Man]

I would like to get one but I am not sure which. Things I am looking for:

Minimal to no fees
Reasonably good rewards
One that will let me have a $500-$1000 limit

Suggestions appreciated!

I like the Discover Card. You can use your reward points at Amazon at any point (no need to get to a certain point value first). It is helpful for buying books, etc. They also do some good promos, and for half a year you get 3% back on groceries and gas.

 

[penguin24]

Definitely get one w/ no fees, no point in paying those.

 

[The White Coat Investor]

Need more information to give you an answer. What are you planning to use the card for? Will you carry a balance? Will you just use it to buy gas in order to build credit and then pay it off each month? Are you trying to maximize rewards? etc.

 

[ucbsmd]

Do you have any income or credit history? If not your most likely going to be looking at a "student" credit card such as Journey Student Rewards from Capital One(1% cash back with .25% bonus for ontime payments) or DiscoverIt for Students(1% with 5% bonus categories such as restaurants and movies). These are low limit, high APR cards that you don't want to carry a balance on but are good for building your credit.

You could also try applying for a standard credit card if you have some income, although you will have difficulty qualifying for the ones with the best rewards programs since they are almost all visa signature or mastercard world elite cards as they typically have $5k minimum credit limit.

Another thing to consider is the transaction network. Visa/Mastercard are the most widely accepted. Costco is the only place I know of that doesn't accept these two. Discover is almost as widely accepted. Amex can be hit or miss. I've found about maybe 3% of places that accept CC don't accept Amex.

 

[tallash]

Do you have any income or credit history? If not your most likely going to be looking at a "student" credit card such as Journey Student Rewards from Capital One(1% cash back with .25% bonus for ontime payments) or DiscoverIt for Students(1% with 5% bonus categories such as restaurants and movies). These are low limit, high APR cards that you don't want to carry a balance on but are good for building your credit.

You could also try applying for a standard credit card if you have some income, although you will have difficulty qualifying for the ones with the best rewards programs since they are almost all visa signature or mastercard world elite cards as they typically have $5k minimum credit limit.

Another thing to consider is the transaction network. Visa/Mastercard are the most widely accepted. Costco is the only place I know of that doesn't accept these two. Discover is almost as widely accepted. Amex can be hit or miss. I've found about maybe 3% of places that accept CC don't accept Amex.

Agreed that what you're getting the credit card for is important - personally, I think rewards programs are largely rubbish and would rather have a low APR card for those rare instances when I don't pay off my entire monthly bill. I carried a Citi Platinum card for a long time but actually switched over to a credit union and it's single digit APR card recently when I realized I was rarely if ever using the "perks" of the Citi card.

Of the bigger banks I like the DiscoverIt card and Chase Slate cards, good basic cards with few frills.

 

[Neuronix]

I use Capital One Cash card. Three perks:

1) 1.5% cash back
2) No fees or interest if paid on time
3) No fees for international currency transactions since I do travel outside the country

I think 1.5% is the best cash back these days. I don't know of any 2% cash back cards like I used to have. Reward programs are largely useless IMO.

 

[DOctorJay]

My Pentagon Federal card gives 5% cash back on gas purchases and automatically applies the cash back to your balance.

 

[Trastuz]

I use Capital One Cash card. Three perks:

1) 1.5% cash back
2) No fees or interest if paid on time
3) No fees for international currency transactions since I do travel outside the country

I think 1.5% is the best cash back these days. I don't know of any 2% cash back cards like I used to have. Reward programs are largely useless IMO.

Agree with this. I have 5 credit cards (Amex for Costco, discover for 5% rewards categories, a visa for travel, etc.) and I like my capital one card the best. I used to have a Schwab visa that paid 2% cash back but it was bought by Citibank and now pays only 1%. Capital one has the highest % cash back with no limits. It's great for people like me who pay tuition with a credit card and then pay off the balance before the month is over. I made nearly $1000 this academic year on tuition alone.

 

[deleted307836]

Agree with this. I have 5 credit cards (Amex for Costco, discover for 5% rewards categories, a visa for travel, etc.) and I like my capital one card the best. I used to have a Schwab visa that paid 2% cash back but it was bought by Citibank and now pays only 1%. Capital one has the highest % cash back with no limits. It's great for people like me who pay tuition with a credit card and then pay off the balance before the month is over. I made nearly $1000 this academic year on tuition alone.

Does your school charge a surcharge for paying by CC?

Mine does, making it impractical, otherwise that's exactly what I would be doing. I'm surprised that some schools allow that.

 

[Trastuz]

I use Capital One Cash card. Three perks:

1) 1.5% cash back
2) No fees or interest if paid on time
3) No fees for international currency transactions since I do travel outside the country

I think 1.5% is the best cash back these days. I don't know of any 2% cash back cards like I used to have. Reward programs are largely useless IMO.

Does your school charge a surcharge for paying by CC?

Mine does, making it impractical, otherwise that's exactly what I would be doing. I'm surprised that some schools allow that.

Yeah it has always surprised me too but they don't. $1 transaction fee is all. Also doesn't work if you aren't paying tuition out of pocket cause fin aid goes straight to tuition. But I'm lucky to have saved a bunch before school and have a wife with an income who helps me.

 

[Gauss44]

This one: http://www.fatwallet.com/forums/finance/1254892/

Or this one: http://www.fatwallet.com/forums/finance/1129823/

Maybe this one: http://www.fatwallet.com/forums/finance/983301/

Citibank Thank You Card and new checking account promo might get you $800, call them and ask..

Or snoop around on here: http://www.fatwallet.com/forums/finance/

Or here: http://www.bankrate.com/credit-cards.aspx (find credit card box in upper left corner)

 

[Beargryllz]

I love Discover, but sometimes I wonder if I'm actually losing money by being paid to shop

5% cashback is just too good and too tempting I think. Their business model is definitely working.

 

[Freesia88]

Wow... I didn't come back here to check as the thread was mostly dead but thanks for the info! I needed the card as a back up plan. I moved to a new state for school and was pretty sure my savings would run out before I found a new job (they did). I ended up getting a Discover card with 0% interest for six months. I did get a job eventually and as of right now the card is completely paid off and will probably gather dust in my old purses until interview season or something else important comes up. Maybe I'll pull it out once in a while just to create activity.

Thanks again guys!