The Best Airline Miles Credit Card for People With No Credit.

I know, credit card debt is bad. Very bad. Many people shun credit cards and celebrate closing their accounts. These people are missing out on free stuff. If you are one of those people, don't think you are out of options. I swear, credit cards are not evil and if you give yourself a monthly budget and try your absolute hardest to stick to it, you will be greatly rewarded. If you pay off your card each  month (or heck, pay it off as you use it. Daily, even.) then you aren't indebted to anyone. You are paying as you go and you are NOT paying interest. 

The tricky part is how to get a credit card when you have little, no or bad credit. There are starter cards for pretty much everyone out there. The trick is, which one is the best for the travelers?

I did a lot of research on this before my credit score was decent enough for the Sapphire. I had a pretty rough credit score when I was saving up points for my trip to Hawaii last year. It took me three years to earn enough for a free round trip. I used the Bank of America travel rewards card. It's pretty good, but it isn't the best one out there. Bank of America now has the 3,2,1 card which is better. It gives you 1% cashback on everything, %2 on groceries and 3% on gas. If you buy a lot of gas then this is probably your best cashback deal. It also has a $100 signup bonus. 

My Next fave is the Citi DoubleCash. It is the best cashback deal for people who don't spend he majority of their budget on gas. You earn 1% when you purchase and 1% when you pay, so basically 2% on everything. That is the best cashback deal around and it has no annual fee plus the first 12 months are interest-free if you think you need a test run on the whole credit card responsibility thing. It also has trip protection, so use it to book your vacays. There are only 2 catches with this one, it has no sign-on bonus (booo) and you need at least okay credit to get it. If you don't have much credit you may still qualify but if you have terrible credit you probably won't.

So you have terrible credit, you say? Try the DiscoverIT Secured. You have to give a deposit of at least $200 which is your limit to start. BUT you get 2% cashback on restaurants and gas, and 1% on everything else. Not a bad place to start. 

If you are a student you can get the DiscoverIT student card for people with no credit. It has rotating 5% cashback categories. You need to pay attention to what the category is for the quarter and sign up for it to get the rewards. It takes a bit of work to get the most out of this card, but 5% cashback on things like restaurants, groceries, amazon, or gas is pretty awesome.

Why am i focusing on cashback instead of travel points?

Most starter cards focus on the cashback reward system as oppose to points. You also get the flexibility of choosing where to spend your cash instead of being tied to an airline or hotel chain. For people just starting off in the 'free stuff from credit cards' games, cashback is the way to go. 

If you have no idea where to start in the world of credit and credit cards... get a free Credit Karma account. Seriously. Free, and they don't pay me to say that. I really just love their service.