Best Credit Card To Apply For

[maximsilentfoot]

Hi All,

Hope this is the right section. Was just wondering what's the best credit card to apply (i.e. which BANK) for if you're making around 40k. I travel a lot. What i'm looking for is a card with good privileges/perks, such as discounts at restaurants and shopping, so I guess those "platinum" cards would be nice but i'm not sure if i make enough to qualify for one.

any tips are highly appreciated, cheers.

silentfoot

p.s.- i'm a thai national in case that affects ur advice

[anothertorres]

umm... Visa?

i went with Capital One myself, but you might be interested in something closer to home. i'm always tempted to get one of them cards that will add miles to my airline. but, Capital One lets you put your own picture of choice on the card, so i got that going for me...

can you qualify for AmEx? might want to look into that if you can handle what you're charging.

[guava]

As a Thai you should be able to qualify for just about any on that salary - perhaps not a platinum, but a gold at least. I have a Citibank Platinum Visa (ROP) and I'm reasonable happy it and with Citibank generally. I forget the actual benefits this card has over a Gold ROP card apart from higher limit - possibly more generous with miles/rewards and I get a few free ROP lounge visits (Suvanabhumi only) a year, and a few free limo (London cab I think) rides which I've never used. Higher annual fee of course. Other TG affiliated cards probably offer similar.

Citibank has good online facilities, and phone support is pretty good. A lot of irrelevant glossy junk mail though. And they can jack up your credit limit without requesting authority from you - not always a good thing.

Be aware that minimum repayments are 10% of outstanding balance each month. I'm not sure if that is the same across all cards in Thailand, but that is considerably higher than most of the credit cards I've held in other countries.

I've had Citibank cards for well over 5 years now. I've never actually stepped foot into a branch though. At the time I applied Citibank were rumoured to be more farang friendly (application requirements, service etc) than local banks, and better exchange rates when used internationally. I have no idea whether that is true though. I use local banks for my other accounts and banking and have no serious complaints.

I also use Amex but not that often - usually only when I know the shop/restaurant/hospital or whatever offers a 10% or higher discount. If I was only getting one card though, I'd recommend Visa above all others.

Anyway, I suggest you do your own comparisons (Citibank, HSBC, Amex, vs SCB or another local) based on usage pattern, whether you travel frequently, whether you fly TG, stay in hotels, buy stuff on installment plans, etc. Get the card that gives you the best deal at the cheapest cost - anything else is secondary.

[nisha0901]

As a Thai you should be able to qualify for just about any on that salary - perhaps not a platinum, but a gold at least. I have a Citibank Platinum Visa (ROP) and I'm reasonable happy it and with Citibank generally. I forget the actual benefits this card has over a Gold ROP card apart from higher limit - possibly more generous with miles/rewards and I get a few free ROP lounge visits (Suvanabhumi only) a year, and a few free limo (London cab I think) rides which I've never used. Higher annual fee of course. Other TG affiliated cards probably offer similar.

Citibank has good online facilities, and phone support is pretty good. A lot of irrelevant glossy junk mail though. And they can jack up your credit limit without requesting authority from you - not always a good thing.

Be aware that minimum repayments are 10% of outstanding balance each month. I'm not sure if that is the same across all cards in Thailand, but that is considerably higher than most of the credit cards I've held in other countries.

I've had Citibank cards for well over 5 years now. I've never actually stepped foot into a branch though. At the time I applied Citibank were rumoured to be more farang friendly (application requirements, service etc) than local banks, and better exchange rates when used internationally. I have no idea whether that is true though. I use local banks for my other accounts and banking and have no serious complaints.

I think Citibank Visa has the best previlidges and points redemption schemes . Also SCB Master card

I also use Amex but not that often - usually only when I know the shop/restaurant/hospital or whatever offers a 10% or higher discount. If I was only getting one card though, I'd recommend Visa above all others.

Anyway, I suggest you do your own comparisons (Citibank, HSBC, Amex, vs SCB or another local) based on usage pattern, whether you travel frequently, whether you fly TG, stay in hotels, buy stuff on installment plans, etc. Get the card that gives you the best deal at the cheapest cost - anything else is secondary.

[maximsilentfoot]

thanks for the input folks.

i do have to travel often/from time to time with the company so getting one of the ROP cards might be nice.

as for AMEX, i can look into whether or not i qualify for it,but from what i've heard there are a limited number of vendors here that accept AMEX compared to visa, and some ppl have complained about their billing (prob isolated cases).

anyways i've settled to definitely get the visa, the question now is the bank and the type (plat, gold, whatever).

since my salary is paid into kasikorn bank, and they do seem to have a number of good perks, i'll probably aim for that.

on a side note, would any of you happen to know that aside from my salary (evidenced through my salary slips), is it possible to take into account rent i get from property into my income?

thx!

cheers.

[cdnvic]

Never use Amex as your only card, but for booking flights they are great as the insurance you get is quite good.

[Heng]

1 Amex, and any ONE of my Visa debit cards (the rest stay home in my floor safe) with just enough added to it for emergencies and moderate sized purchases. I'd say Amex is my first choice though, haven't had any issues with vendors not accepting it (as it's usually airlines, hotels, and fairly established watch shops).

Sorted.

[samran]

1 Amex, and any ONE of my Visa debit cards (the rest stay home in my floor safe) with just enough added to it for emergencies and moderate sized purchases. I'd say Amex is my first choice though, haven't had any issues with vendors not accepting it (as it's usually airlines, hotels, and fairly established watch shops).

Sorted.

great minds.

Amex platinum is good, and has lots of perks..in terms of bonus Thai points. Never a problem with acceptance in Thailand, but accept that it isn't as widely accepted overseas.

At the moment AMEX platinum has a 5x points bonus if you spend more than 1500 baht at Carefore, Tops, Tesco lotus and a few other places. Will run to Feb next year. They also do 10x bonus points at a bunch of restuarants.

[Heng]

Started with the plain jane Green back in school, moved up to Gold after college, then up to Plat during my wasteful years, now I'm back down to Green.

Great perks indeed though, but they just don't match up well with me anymore. I don't spend enough to try to accrue points (and I have that OCD tic about paying cash for anything not mechanical or electronic). Have lounge access through SQ already as well, nor do I get to travel often and on several different airlines or anywhere that isn't Austin, Houston, HK, Singapore, or BKK anymore, so I can't really enjoy the lounge access thing. Plat is perfect for the business flyer market for anyone whose company will only pay for coach.

Off topic a bit, but I'm not even sure if I want my kids starting out flying biz and first. Heng Jr. remarked the other day at the Pattaya Floating Market that the air conditioner must have been broken. Going to have to toughen him up a bit, even if it's through somewhat simulated hardship.

[kblaze]

Many of the top-tier "Platinum" cards that the thai banks offer require a salary of 100,000 baht + a month. However, I know a guy who applied for the SCB platinum card with a salary of 120,000 and he for whatever reason was rejected. So they may require more from foreigners.

[maximsilentfoot]

Well it seems like the fastest way for me to earn miles is thru the THAI AMEX Platinum, but i need to earn 900k/year to qualify for that card.

I do qualify for the HSBC Platinum card though, and was told they've got good perks too so i mite go for that, in addition to a local card (either scb or kasikorn)

[roamer]

Surprised we have got to this amount of posts already without someone pointing out that the best credit card you can apply for is the one in someone else s name.........as I and many others have found out to our cost

[Tinkelbell]

Never use Amex as your only card, but for booking flights they are great as the insurance you get is quite good.

I can praise Amex for how great they are in term of standing by their pledges.

This is from my first hand experience.

Many years ago, I flew from BKK back to the USA on the Pan Am,

upon arrived in Miami, one of my checked-in luggage missing. Told to go home and wait for the call from PanAm agent. After three days they still couldn't locate my bag, so they sent me the claim form to fill in. The maximum for the airlines to pay out to any claim at that time was $650.

Lucky us, hubby used the Amex to charge for the airfare, after talked with the agent, they sent us the claim form to fill it in.

I just filled all the values of the stuffs in that missing bag. Amex never asked to see the receipts or any proof of those things.

Less than two week I received the check at the full amount that I claimed, $4,000+.

Note: Amex is also providing travel check free of charge too.

[maximsilentfoot]

Never use Amex as your only card, but for booking flights they are great as the insurance you get is quite good.

I can praise Amex for how great they are in term of standing by their pledges.

This is from my first hand experience.

Many years ago, I flew from BKK back to the USA on the Pan Am,

upon arrived in Miami, one of my checked-in luggage missing. Told to go home and wait for the call from PanAm agent. After three days they still couldn't locate my bag, so they sent me the claim form to fill in. The maximum for the airlines to pay out to any claim at that time was $650.

Lucky us, hubby used the Amex to charge for the airfare, after talked with the agent, they sent us the claim form to fill it in.

I just filled all the values of the stuffs in that missing bag. Amex never asked to see the receipts or any proof of those things.

Less than two week I received the check at the full amount that I claimed, $4,000+.

Note: Amex is also providing travel check free of charge too.

Yes i've heard very good things about AMEX and how they take care of you when you travel, be it lost luggage or accidents.

just found on their website that if you apply for the standard amex card (360k/annum salary) you can choose the frequent traveller option (add 800/year) and convert ur reward points into miles. yay!