Capital One Venture or Delta Sky Miles American Express?

[Bjazzman]

so my credit card expires at the end of this next month and i'd like to get a new card while paying down my existing card. right now i have a citibank card. it's come in handy for emergencies and such

i do like to travel and since i don't make a ton of money i need to get one that caters toward miles. with the venture card you get double miles. with the american express you get almost a free flight for just opening the card but it's an american express and im not sure that most places take that versus the capital one visa

your thoughts?

i know credit cards are not good to have in general and i really just need it for emergency situations, but it's kind of a necessary evil in my case

[Pilgrim]

There's nothing wrong with credit cards - they're necessary, especially if you travel. But you're paying through the nose for those miles with higher interest rates. You're better off monetarily to shop the Internet for the cards with the lowest rates and skip all the "affinity"cards, because they all have much higher interest rates....that's how they buy the perks. My VISA card rate is about 8% through Simmons Bank.

OTOH, if your business reimburses you for the travel, then by all means get a miles card and use it ONLY for reimbursed travel - you aren't paying interest on it anyway. VISA is the way to go - it's the most universal card around. If you travel 80% of the time on one air carrier, get a card that caters to their mileage program.

[Komakino]

I had a Capital One card at 16% for several years. Always paid the balance in full at the end of every month. Then out of the blue they upped my rate to 24%! I phoned and cancelled and went elsewhere. I wouldn't consider them again simply because of that unannounced rate increase.

[MJ5150]

Originally Posted by Komakino

I had a Capital One card at 16% for several years. Always paid the balance in full at the end of every month. Then out of the blue they upped my rate to 24%! I phoned and cancelled and went elsewhere. I wouldn't consider them again simply because of that unannounced rate increase.

You're lucky they didn't send those Vikings over to whip your a$$.

-Mike