Well, it’s never too early to start building a good credit record (assuming of course you are responsible). Here’s a quick survey of the cards and what is recommended by Nerdwallet, The Simple Dollar and Get.com. Nerdwallet even has a cool calculator to estimate what you save with one of the cards. As a final aside, creditkarma.com is a great way to see your credit rating. If you are a student then you can someone co-sign with you to get a card.
- Discover It Chrome for Students. This is a 1% for most and then 2% cashback card for restaurants and then there is the ordinary Discover It for Students which has 5x rotating category bonuses. While Discover isn’t taken in too many places, this card has no fees, no foreign transaction fees at all. Although it is changing, they are accepted by fewer retailers and is at about 90% of Visa or MasterCard.
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Citi Thank You Preferred for Students. This gets you 2 points per dollar (worth probably 1.5%) but more complex to redeem than a cutback. They do have a 2500 bonus in the first year which is nice (worth $125 or so). This is a MasterCard, so widely accepted.
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Journey Student Rewards. By Capital One, this gives you 1% rebate but 0.25% if you pay on time. It’s a Visa card as well.
Given all this, it does seem as if getting a Discover It Chrome and a Journey Student Rewards is the best choice. Use the Discover It Chrome for overseas and at restaurants if you can and the Journey Student Rewards for everything else.
