Journey Student Credit Card is Best for Students. Here are the Reasons
– Journey Student Credit Card –
Journey Student Credit Card: They are designed to help students who are new credit users establish good habits. You also earn extra credit for being smart swipers. You don’t even have to be a student to qualify. If you have a limited credit history and want a simple, no annual fee entry into the world of credit. Having all of this with flat-rate rewards could be a good option for you.
The Capital One Journey Student credit card offers a reasonable choice for students and others who are looking to build credit.
The card allows you to earn modest rewards while incentive on-time payments and making it easy to track improvements to your credit score.
Below is some vital information that you need to know about the journey of student credit cards from capital one, their benefit, their few disadvantages, and why it is best for students.
Capital One Journey Benefits
The biggest benefits of the Capital One Journey Student card come as credit-building tools and travel perks. Just 1% cash back on all purchases — which goes up to 1.25% each month you make an on-time payment — may not be very generous, but it’s better than many competitor cards that offer no rewards for students at all.
– Cash Back Rewards
Capital One Journey’s 1% cash back on all purchases is at the lower end of most cash back credit cards offer, but you can boost the cashback rate to 1.25% in any month you make an on-time payment.
The Discover it® Chrome, another student credit card, provides 2% cash back at gas stations and restaurants on up to $1,000 in combined purchases each quarter. It also matches all the cash back you’ve earned at the end of your first year.
– Grow Your Credit Over Time
The Capital One Journey Student card is a good card for helping students establish a good credit history. Although you may not start with a high credit limit, you can qualify for an increase by making five on-time monthly payments.
Having access to more credit can help you boost your credit score, which is affected by the amount of available credit you have versus the amount of available credit you use.
Capital One’s CreditWise tool also helps you track your credit profile by providing insight into the factors that make your score go up and down. This allows you to make smarter financial decisions that will benefit your credit report in the long run.
Travel Perks
The Capital One Journey Student card also shines when it comes to travel rewards by offering many of the same perks as some of the higher-end Capital One cards, including:
- No foreign transaction fees: Use your card for free when traveling abroad.
- 24-hour travel assistance services: If you lose your card, Capital One can provide you with a cash advance and an emergency replacement card.
- Rental car insurance: You’re covered for damage due to theft or accident if you pay for a car rental with your Capital One card. This can save you as much as $9 per day if you decline the car rental company’s coverage.
- Travel accident insurance: Use your credit card to pay for your airfare and enjoy automatic insurance for covered losses, to get protection or covered losses at no extra charge.
- Roadside assistance: Get help in an auto-related emergency (i.e. tire changing and towing).
Shopping Perks
Capital One also provides Journey Student cardholders with some shopping perks. These include:
- Extended warranty: Eligible items purchased with your card receive additional warranty protection at no charge, provided the original manufacturer’s warranty lasts three years or less.
- Virtual card numbers from Eno: You can use the virtual card number when shopping online to keep your real card number private. This helps protect you from identity theft or data breaches.
Why it is Best for Student
If you’re a student with a limited credit history, the Journey Student Credit Card from Capital One is like taking an introductory course in the credit world.
The simple, straightforward flat-rate rewards program gives you the chance to earn some cash back for everyday spending. Even better, you’ll get extra rewards to boost for making on-time payments every month.
Your credit line will likely start off low, but the good news is you can graduate to a higher credit limit fairly quickly if you play your cards right.
While some other student cards in this category offer reward programs with higher cash-back rates or other perks like introductory APR periods or sign-up bonuses, those programs may feel a bit advanced for “credit freshmen” to manage. Capital One’s card keeps it simple for those beginning their educational credit journey.
Advantages
- A pathway for building credit: The Journey Student Credit Card from Capital One offers a minimum credit line of $300, which just barely pays for a college textbook. However, after making the first five monthly payments on time, you’ll activate Capital One’s Credit Steps (a program to help you upgrade to an unsecured card over time), which may increase your credit limit.
- Rewards for good credit habits: The 1% cash back on all purchases isn’t earth-shattering, but it also doesn’t require a night of cramming to figure out how to maximize points value. What’s more, you can boost those earnings to 1.25% just by making on-time payments—a nice motivator for promoting healthy credit habits.
- No pesky fees: Some cards geared toward new credit card users such as secured cards typically have an annual fee, but student cards (including this one) do not. You can also use the Journey Student Credit Card from Capital One without incurring a foreign transaction fee, which is important if you plan to study abroad or travel outside the U.S.
Disadvantages
- High APR: Although this is listed as a con, a high APR is a moot point if you can manage to pay your balance in full each month. If you think you’ll carry a balance, however, consider a different student card with a lower APR instead.
- No new cardholder incentives: While some student cards offer a learning curve in the form of a 0% introductory APR on purchases for a few months, you won’t get that here. Nor will you earn a sign-up bonus, as some other cards offer.
Earning Points & Rewards
The appeal of the Journey Student Credit Card from Capital One is its flat-rate cash-back structure. It’s designed to be a no-brainer way to earn a few bucks for your spending, plus a little extra for responsible payments.
You can find student cards with higher rewards rates, but those involve rotating categories and somewhat complicated redemption options.
Here, your earnings are more predictable—for instance, if you spend $500 per month and pay your bill on time, that’ll net you $75 for the year ($5 per month = $60, and the 25% bonus make it $75).
Redeeming Rewards
Redemption is simple with the Journey Student Credit Card. You can get your cash back in any amount at any time as a statement credit, or in check form.
If you do plan to close your account, though, redeem what you’ve earned or you’ll lose it. You could also set up automatic redemption when you reach a certain date or a specific earnings amount.
If you’d rather redeem for something other than cash, you do can get gift cards or credits for previous purchases, but the redemption value with those options may vary.
In conclusion, if your primary goal is building credit and you don’t mind a less generous rewards program, the Capital One Journey Student card is a decent option.
The increased credit limit and bonus cash back provide a good incentive to help you make all payments by their due date, while CreditWise gives you additional tools for improving your credit score.
However, there are more generous options out there for cash back rewards on everyday spending, so evaluate your options before deciding which student credit card is best for you.
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