How do you spend your CC Reward Points?

[isabella]

I have a Chase Freedom Credit Card that pays 1% to 5% rewards on certain qualified purchases quarterly.

So I had enough to cash in for $200.00 check and will be sent. I then turn around and use this bonus cash back for principal reduction on my home mortgage.
I plugged in the $200.00 to the amortization calculator and this extra will save me $308.07 in interest on the remaining balance.

What do you do to take advantage of your CC Reward Credits?

[Deleted]

I use my fidelity rewards card to put money in my fiance's 529 because he is a grad student, we get about $50-$100/year and we pay $1610/year in school expenses. We also get a $50 cvs gift card from discover every year that I use for the grocery game. Oh, and we opened hilton honor cc to get the points for free rooms for our wedding.

[frep]

I always cash in my CC rewards in November and use it for Christmas shopping.

[alabamagal]

As soon as I earn enough for a $25 reward "check" I cash it in. It is usually every 2-3 months. Just takes about 3 mouse clicks to claim the reward and have it credited to my credit card account. No need to get a check in the mail, deposit it, etc, just a few clicks and $25 comes off my bill.

[patchwork150]

I double milk my rewards lol

So, purchases on the bank of america CC= 1 point per $1 (rounded up!)
I get cash for those rewards at 1% (25,000 points = $250 check). I just redeemed $250, and I have 1800+ points right now (get to 2,500 = $25 check).

I also use bank of america Add it Up cash back system using my credit card. You buy stuff online through their site, and you get 1-20% cash back on your purchase. So far, I've averaged 5% cash back.

Take that, BOA. : ) Of course, doesn't come CLOSE to the interest I paid them in 2008 when I was in debt...

[Gardening Grandma]

What do you do to take advantage of your CC Reward Credits?

Goes into my Christmas fund. Usually it's $500 or $750/year. (We still get the $250 check for $200 deal)

[patchwork150]

forgot to say what I DO with my rewards. They go automatically into savings.

'Savings' can be for Christmas gifts, Vacation, or the house fund (we plan to buy a house one day)

[Timberwolf]

Ditto with some of the other posters, I put it into my Christmas fund

[texaspn]

We get "points" that can be redeemed for gift cards, which I use for gifts or to buy gifts at Christmas.

[Deleted]

Charge everything to Marriott Visa and earn around 80,000 points a year. That is usually good enough for 5 free hotel nights in Vegas.

[stressed29]

2004 was a FANTASTIC year for us with cc points. Our real estate development business was booming and we had a few high profile projects. For the first 2 years after we had our daughter, we never paid for formula, baby food, diapers, etc (basically anything Babies r us sells). We just kept redeeming for babies r us cards. We also bought a new carseat and double stroller when my son was born and then AMEX cancelled their reward program with babies r us. Of course, that was before things crashed, but I am glad that I used those points so wisely. Now we never put anything on credit, since clients aren't able to pay as quickly as they used to, I'm not willing to risk paying interest.

[rubyslippers]

My Discover rewards go right into savings.

[donnafreedman]

Mileage I use to fly to Alaska.
The other card's points I cash in for Visa debit cards to give as holiday gifts to relatives on tight budgets.
If I start using my Discover card again and get cash rewards, I'll deposit that in my "home" fund, a dedicated account (started with a $100 bonus for opening the account) that I will one day use toward house expenses.

[dragonfly7]

The little we earn in points is usually redeemed for a gift card. DH got $50 for Dave and Buster's for his birthday.

[Artemis Windsong]

My reward dollars are accumulating. I used to get a check, cash it and use it for donations. DH asked why HE didn't get the rewards check so I let him have one. That is why they are accumulating.

One cc is for Cabela's. Since it's points to use for merchandise I try to steer DH to the cash rewards BUT I love to get a free something with those points. Then we discuss.

[kadee]

The ones with points only, we get HD cards.
The others all send us CASH! I like CASH! It goes to various places....fun stuff, vacation, major purchases, etc....whatever needs it the most at that moment!

[dcmetrocrab]

I'm pretty bad with CC rewards. I cash them, deposit the amount into my fun money account, and then it disappears. I want to use it to save towards something instead of going into the unknown. I prob would get a better deal if I saved the points towards free hotel stays, but I'm quite lazy with that concept too.

[Peace77]

As soon as I earn enough for a $25 reward "check" I cash it in. It is usually every 2-3 months. Just takes about 3 mouse clicks to claim the reward and have it credited to my credit card account. No need to get a check in the mail, deposit it, etc, just a few clicks and $25 comes off my bill.

This is exactly what I do.

[ambellamy]

I normally use them to buy things I dislike spending money on but need... like household supplies... or I use them towards shopping for new clothes. Since its just me, I maybe get about $100 per year

[ohmomto2boys]

We get Points & Cash back. Cash back goes into savings. The Points we use for Panera, Subway or any other place we can get lunch. Me and DH pack our lunch every day so the gift card can give us lunch out periodically with no cost to us! We have also used points for gift cards to Home Depot or Lowes as well.

[oreo]

I have a few rewards cards. One gives me 2% cash back which gets paid out every month, that just gets added to savings. My Chase Freedom card and my Discover card I use the rewards to get a gift card. Recently I got a Red Robin gift card (you can use $45 worth of points to get a $50 gift card) but I usually use it for a Lowes or Home Depot gift card (same deal $50 gift card for $45 worth of points). I don't bother with gift card where you just get back the same as you'd get if you took cash--what would be the point in that???

[keepinthefaith]

I have the same Chase card. I used to let it build up to $200 to get the check for $250 when they had that deal, and I was upset when they did away with it several months ago. Now we request a check for $50 as soon as it gets to that point because I can make better use of it than letting it sit there building higher. I always check to see if they have any gift card deals first, though. Right before Christmas I was able to get Itunes gift cards at 10% off, so I got a $25 card for my nieces and nephew for Christmas. I look for deals for cards I could use or give away as gifts, but if I don't see anything worthwhile I'll request the check. Previously we would put it towards debt, but now we apply it to our ING savings account for our next house downpayment.

[isabella]

I never had the $200/250 deal on my Chase card .... they need to bring that back!

[museumgal]

I use them on fun things; it keeps me from dipping into my regular budget for the occasional splurge. We get the gift cards instead of cash back, and get ones for dinners out or the movies or books and DVDS. We alternate the cards, I get one $50 one and then DH gets a $50.

[chiver78]

I just cashed in $50 for Discover that went straight to my account. what's this about $25 increments? $50 was the smallest option I was given.

for my AmEx points, I went Christmas shopping with them the year I bought my townhouse (read: house-poor). every other time I've cashed in points, I've gotten Pottery Barn gift cards that I have used to furnish my first floor's wood furniture.