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Rewards Credit Cards

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TBone14's avatar

TBone14

Senior Member

6,383 posts
Jun 15, 2011 8:59 PM
I have a friend who got a NFL credit card and earned points with every purchase. He used it like he would a debit card and just paid off the balance every month.

Has anyone ever done this? What are the best cards for it? How much do you have to spend to make it worth your while?
Jun 15, 2011 8:59pm
M

Manhattan Buckeye

Senior Member

7,566 posts
Jun 15, 2011 9:27 PM
discover has a 1% cashback always, a 5% cashback on certain purchases quarterly (i.e. for 3 months it might be gas stations, the next 3 months restaurants, etc.) and you can increase the amount if you take shopping discounts instead of cash. On a yearly basis we'd easily clear over $500 in cash rewards, so yes it is worth it.

We have a Krisflyer AMEX that we use now - it does have a yearly fee but with the amount of miles we get and have to fly it is worth it.
Jun 15, 2011 9:27pm
TBone14's avatar

TBone14

Senior Member

6,383 posts
Jun 15, 2011 9:45 PM
Manhattan Buckeye;804041 wrote:discover has a 1% cashback always, a 5% cashback on certain purchases quarterly (i.e. for 3 months it might be gas stations, the next 3 months restaurants, etc.) and you can increase the amount if you take shopping discounts instead of cash. On a yearly basis we'd easily clear over $500 in cash rewards, so yes it is worth it.

We have a Krisflyer AMEX that we use now - it does have a yearly fee but with the amount of miles we get and have to fly it is worth it.

I was thinking Amex, but I didn't know if it would still be worth it after paying the $125 yearly fee. They did say they would waive the first years fee. Do you pay off the balance every month?
Jun 15, 2011 9:45pm
Pick6's avatar

Pick6

A USA American

14,946 posts
Jun 15, 2011 9:46 PM
heard of a guy having a credit card once that for every dollar he got a free airline mile. He bought $2000 worth of treasury bills (i believe) and just deposited it in his bank account. so 2000 air miles for free.
Jun 15, 2011 9:46pm
sleeper's avatar

sleeper

Legend

27,879 posts
Jun 15, 2011 9:47 PM
TBone14;804014 wrote:I have a friend who got a NFL credit card and earned points with every purchase. He used it like he would a debit card and just paid off the balance every month.


This is the only way you should use credit cards. I don't understand why people think its an outrageous concept. I've never paid a dime in interest from credit cards, and I never will.
Jun 15, 2011 9:47pm
iclfan2's avatar

iclfan2

Reppin' the 330/216/843

6,360 posts
Jun 15, 2011 9:50 PM
sleeper;804068 wrote:This is the only way you should use credit cards. I don't understand why people think its an outrageous concept. I've never paid a dime in interest from credit cards, and I never will.

Duh. Paying interest when you don't have to (unless it is a mortgage) is retarded. But I also am looking for a new card with better points.
Jun 15, 2011 9:50pm
sleeper's avatar

sleeper

Legend

27,879 posts
Jun 15, 2011 10:00 PM
iclfan2;804073 wrote:Duh. Paying interest when you don't have to (unless it is a mortgage) is retarded. But I also am looking for a new card with better points.

Discover is the best card. That's what I use. No annual fee, 1% cash back, and 5% special categories that rotate. There is a downside, and that's some places won't accept it. But that's when you just carry a back up card, use cash, or do what I do; avoid the place all together.
Jun 15, 2011 10:00pm
F

fan_from_texas

Senior Member

2,693 posts
Jun 15, 2011 10:02 PM
We use a Chase Visa, which gives us 1% cash back on everything and 5% in rotating categories. Between that and floating the payments for a month, we make a few hundred bucks a year off it. Not a bad deal.
Jun 15, 2011 10:02pm
TBone14's avatar

TBone14

Senior Member

6,383 posts
Jun 15, 2011 10:02 PM
iclfan2;804073 wrote:Duh. Paying interest when you don't have to (unless it is a mortgage) is retarded. But I also am looking for a new card with better points.

I have credit cards..don't use em and don't have balances on them. They are for emergencies. I use my debit card for everything. The only things I have financed are my home, a vehicle and my wife's wedding/engagement rings. But I opened an account for the rings and got interest free for 2 years and will have them paid off before I get hit with any interest.

I'm just trying to figure out which card has the best rewards. Discover seems solid. I've heard commercials for Capital One rewards, but haven't looked into them. The Amex card has good rewards, but are they good enough to justify the $125 yearly fee?
Jun 15, 2011 10:02pm
SportsAndLady's avatar

SportsAndLady

Senior Member

35,632 posts
Jun 15, 2011 10:11 PM
I am about to order my first credit card...any advice on where I should go? Discover seems interesting, might have to look into that.
Jun 15, 2011 10:11pm
M

Manhattan Buckeye

Senior Member

7,566 posts
Jun 15, 2011 10:31 PM
TBone14;804065 wrote:I was thinking Amex, but I didn't know if it would still be worth it after paying the $125 yearly fee. They did say they would waive the first years fee. Do you pay off the balance every month?

Amex only makes sense if you can get the fee waived, and the rewards are something you'll use (typically air miles). It works for us since (i) they waived the first year's fee and we continue the waiver as long as we spend "X" amount, (ii) my wife uses it for her business travel so we easily spend "X", (iii) the rewards are ok, the miles limitations are annoying but we do get something out of it, and (iv) Amex is great for overseas charging - and they handle currency exchanges well.

If I was starting out I'd do Discover, there are a couple of issues. As mentioned not every place takes it - all gas stations and major hotels/restaurants will, but some mom and pop stores don't since they have higher transaction fees. Also they are stingy on the credit limit, so it isn't great for business expenses.
Jun 15, 2011 10:31pm
Cat Food Flambe''s avatar

Cat Food Flambe'

Senior Member

1,230 posts
Jun 15, 2011 10:47 PM
We put our kid's college on the plastic just to get airline miles (we use a card from Lady D'Friskies' employee credit union in CT). Not many schools let you do do this now - or if they do, you pay a surcharge that more or less covers the "merchant fee" - it's usually not worth the points. With that and the normal stuff we charge, we have had enough miles over the years to allow my wife to fly with me for free on five or six business trips a year.

Bear in mind we pay the stuff off immediately - I sit down every Monday night and pay up the balance from the week previous. Look at the terms VERY closely - our card doesn't give you the most miles/points for the buck, but once you have them they're flexible, long-lived and pretty much bullet-proof. In the other direction, Delta Air Lines' Amex card, at one point in the recent past, contained a clause that voided your accumulated airline miles if you were late on a payment even once. If you EVER carry a balance, forget points, and concentrate on getting the best possible interest rate.
Jun 15, 2011 10:47pm
TBone14's avatar

TBone14

Senior Member

6,383 posts
Jun 15, 2011 10:59 PM
This card is intriguing. Hilton HHonors Card by American Express.



No annual fee and 6x points on gas and groceries...the things I use my debit card on the most.

6x points for hotels- Hilton only.
6x points for groceries
6x points for drugstores
6x points for gas
3x points for all other purchases
Jun 15, 2011 10:59pm
sleeper's avatar

sleeper

Legend

27,879 posts
Jun 15, 2011 11:01 PM
Cat Food Flambe';804167 wrote:Bear in mind we pay the stuff off immediately - I sit down every Monday night and pay up the balance from the week previous.

Curious why you do it weekly and not monthly?
Jun 15, 2011 11:01pm
McFly1955's avatar

McFly1955

Senior Member

1,441 posts
Jun 15, 2011 11:02 PM
I've had a credit card since age 16, never kept a balance.....

1% on everything, then 5% on different things quarterly like mentioned above, but mine is with Chase.

I get about $30 free every other billing period, why not....I put everything on it and pay it off each month...When we made our basement theater room, we got like $100+ in rewards because we spent a few grand and it happened to be the quarter where it was 5% at home improvement stores...
Jun 15, 2011 11:02pm
McFly1955's avatar

McFly1955

Senior Member

1,441 posts
Jun 15, 2011 11:03 PM
sleeper;804196 wrote:Curious why you do it weekly and not monthly?

I'm guessing it's just to stay on top of it and not be overwhelmed with one $1,000 payment, he would rather just make four $250 payments.

I make random payments throughout the month just because I don't like to see it climb too high, even though it makes no difference....
Jun 15, 2011 11:03pm
M

Manhattan Buckeye

Senior Member

7,566 posts
Jun 15, 2011 11:13 PM
"we got like $100+ in rewards because we spent a few grand and it happened to be the quarter where it was 5% at home improvement stores... "

If you can pull in a big purchase or two a year the benefits really add up. I've probably mentioned this before, but my father was one of the original Sears card holders that became Discover when the concept of rewards was being pioneered. He's easily received $10,000+ in rewards over the years, he somehow managed to swing a contractor accepting it for a major home improvement.
Jun 15, 2011 11:13pm
Cat Food Flambe''s avatar

Cat Food Flambe'

Senior Member

1,230 posts
Jun 16, 2011 12:00 AM
McFly1955;804199 wrote:I'm guessing it's just to stay on top of it and not be overwhelmed with one $1,000 payment, he would rather just make four $250 payments.

I make random payments throughout the month just because I don't like to see it climb too high, even though it makes no difference....
More so to keep in touch with what we're actually spending, check for improper charges, and to cut down on the risk of something going wrong. An "oops" can get expensive in a hurry - at least this way we have a second chance to catch one before it costs us.

We sit down and pay bills every Monday night, and it only take a couple of extra minutes to take care of the company and personal credit cards each week. It's a habit we developed years ago when we were young and financially struggling - we learned a lot of this stuff the hard way.
Jun 16, 2011 12:00am
G

gut

Senior Member

15,058 posts
Jun 16, 2011 12:15 AM
Points are overrated. Don't go as far as they used to. Some airlines visa/mastercards are decent if you fly enough, getting double points for buying tickets on that airline. But keep in mind it takes like 40k pts to get a decent round-trip ticket. But you can get a free ticket about once a year, and that's worth like $300-$400. If you're really aggressive, a lot waive fees the first year, or give you a bunch of pts to start off. Use the pts or free flight and then cancel after a year.

That Discover card sounds pretty good, though, with the 5% special deals (has to be a cross-promotion with the category participants because the banks only get like 2-4% transaction fees, so they'd be losing money, maybe).

Hotel points are even worse than airline points. I guess the one thing to look out for is when points expire as in many cases points start rolling off after a year and unless you charge a bunch of stuff it can be hard to accumulate much benefit in only a year. But, yeah, I carry very little cash and pay my card off every month - even if you don't get a whole lot a free plane ticket or free night in a hotel is just money down the drain otherwise.
Jun 16, 2011 12:15am
Glory Days's avatar

Glory Days

Senior Member

7,809 posts
Jun 16, 2011 12:30 AM
i've got a bunch of cards and each one is for a specific use such as gas, dining, shopping etc. AMEX, couple Mastercards, and a Visa. All earn cash back and none have fees. I have two that are for Marathons and Shells which I fill up my car the most and get 5% back at both of those places.
sleeper;804068 wrote:This is the only way you should use credit cards. I don't understand why people think its an outrageous concept. I've never paid a dime in interest from credit cards, and I never will.

for once, i agree with you!
Jun 16, 2011 12:30am
M

Manhattan Buckeye

Senior Member

7,566 posts
Jun 16, 2011 12:31 AM
"That Discover card sounds pretty good, though, with the 5% special deals (has to be a cross-promotion with the category participants because the banks only get like 2-4% transaction fees, so they'd be losing money, maybe)."

To some degree it is....Discover is definitely not shy about partnering up with retailers/restaurants, but they'll honor any charge in their category. For example if they partner up with Red Lobster for the 5% quarter and offer another 5% on a gift card, they'll still refund the original 5% on a charge at a mom and pop restaurant.

I presume it is a loss leader, Discover despite being branded as the red-headed stepchild of the CC industry has a good business plan. They tend to stay in the middle in interest rates - that is they rarely offer 0% for balance transfers but will offer some discount for new holders, and by keeping credit limits low they mitigate against defaults unlike, say a Capital One which will give credit to everyone, milk the people carrying balances and have major problems with defaults.
Jun 16, 2011 12:31am
dwccrew's avatar

dwccrew

Not Banned

7,817 posts
Jun 16, 2011 1:17 AM
Just opened a Bank of America rewards card account. 1% cashback and 5% rotating (as others on here have). I have always had a Capital One card, but they did away with my rewards and points. Don't know why, maybe because I never carry a balance and always pay it in full?
Jun 16, 2011 1:17am
S

Sonofanump

Jun 16, 2011 8:34 AM
Hoping to have a big dent for our trip to Disney in two years with our Chase card .
Jun 16, 2011 8:34am
M

Mark Twain

Junior Member

16 posts
Jun 16, 2011 9:05 AM
Anyone use the Kroger Mastercard?
Jun 16, 2011 9:05am