*06/24/08, Tuesday – There are many times in life when work takes over and I leave my life alone for so long that it gets chaotic and I strive to bring order to it again. Well, I decided to spend some me time being productive with my life and taking on tasks from my ongoing to-do list and crossing some things off. I spent most of the day researching credit cards. I needed one badly because 1) I wanted it to help my credit score, 2) I wanted a backup card other than my current BofA Visa, 3) I wanted a rewards card that I could profit from. I chose to get a Mastercard since it is accepted worldwide and its the second most popular and used card out there. I also decided on getting a cash back card since cash is the one thing I will be needing throughout my entire life. I was doubting how much I would use a miles card. Even if I travel a lot at this point in my life, that may dwindle later on. I knew I wasn’t going to get another credit card anytime soon. I’d stick to two cards if I can, max out at 3 if I must.

I did a ton of research online and I ended up choosing between the Chase Freedom World MasterCard and the Citi CashReturns MasterCard. Chase seemed to have better options and better rewards but I didn’t like how if you couldn’t get approved for that card, you automatically get ‘considered’ for a Platinum card. It looked like the Citi card was more well liked in terms of credit card site ratings, perhaps because of the lower APR rate (although this isn’t really true after APR 3). I saw a lot of complaints about customer service for Citibank but Chase wasn’t completely spared of this either. I was also leaning towards Citibank because I was looking to open a Citibank account and I was hoping that the card would tie in somehow although later I realized this wouldn’t really work considering I wanted to open a Euro account. I talked to a bunch of my friends, two had a Citi card, two had the Chase card. I was still pretty much on the fence but Chase did seem to give back more money.

I decided to punch numbers in using my current accounting on my spending as a guide and Chase came out on top. I crossed my fingers and filled out the application and lo and behold I was instantly approved. The message said that I would be getting my card in two weeks. I was surprised at how easy that process was and I’m pretty psyched to get the card so I can start racking up on my account (only necessary costs of course =P). I’m mostly looking forward to using this card on things that I will get paid back for like my expenses for MYM. =)