Not all credit card lenders are going to screw you - look into CCs from your credit union or associated with your retirement plan, ex. Fidelity offers a variety of cards / plans. The CC lender is much less likely to screw you over if you have related financial business with their partner. We have two cards, one from our credit union and the other from Fidelity, and they both tolerate the fact that we pay in time, in full, and have never carried a balance.

The current business of the mainstream credit card industry *is* to engage with customers who carry debt and return a higher rate of return for the lender. They'll do whatever they can to cultivate that kind of customer, and if its not in their financial interest to carry a customer who only returns the transaction percentage (defn: deadbeats), they will do what they can to dis-incentivize your participation.

Years ago I had a card from a major well-known telecommunications company / lender that did pretty much this, including rapidly shifting the due date for payments, such that if I didn't read the bill closely I would be responsible for a late payment (a deceptive practice since outlawed, they must give 30 days notice of changes) and one that was especially fraudulent, declaring my payment as late even when my payment was sent on time (paper mail, but my check would clear at my bank 4 days ahead of their due date, they would simply claim I hadn't paid until it was late). Instead of cancelling the card I held it and just never used it. I would get a notice every 6 months that my card was about to cancel for lack of use, I would make one transaction, and wait 6 more months to make another, I kept that up for several years until I had established history with one of my current cards. Don't rush into cancelling cards if you can help it and you need your credit rating, cancelling can impact your credit rating for a while. Cancelling one card after holding another for at least a few years, not so much.