
Ask HN: What credit card do you use/recommend [USA]? - chirau
I&#x27;ve never really been a credit card user, but I am thinking about getting one. I have great credit so i think I will qualify for most and my income should also be fine. Unfortunately, most of the articles and reviews online are all sponsored and now I can&#x27;t separate the bs. So as fellow engineers, what credit cards have your chosen and what were your reasons for it?
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patio11
Do you travel frequently? If so, Starwood Preferred Amex is the canonical
right answer to this question. Starwood points are among the most valuable
pseudo-currencies available (among frequent flyer miles, hotel points, etc)
and if you redeem them for hotel stays you can easily get 4+ cents of value
per dollar of spend, where the industry standard is 1 cent of value per dollar
of spend.

If you don't travel frequently, then you probably want a cash-back card. Chase
Freedom is a reasonably good option. There are a variety of other options if
you want to get more reimbursement for particular categories.

Also: gainfully employed engineers who spend less than, say, $1k per month on
their credit cards should not give this topic more than 10 minutes of thought.
(This is not the case for e.g. self-employed folks who put substantial
business expenses on cards -- you can justify a couple of hours amortized over
the next few years if your business resembles mine.)

For modestly more detail on why:
[https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=10658150](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=10658150)

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chirau
Thank you for the info, I had not looked into the Starwood Preferred Amex.
Definitely a great card. I fly between SF and NY every two weeks, amongst
other spaced trips, with international flights as well.

