What's a good rewards credit card?

[keiks]

Well we haven't had this thread on THIS board. and unlike tipping, this answer changes pretty regularly.

I want a good rewards card. I don't want an annual fee, but I don't care what the interest rate is cause I will pay it in full. I'd love to get cash back or gift cards. I see a lot of 1% cash back offers but do any of you guys do better than that? My dad gets one with 5% cash back but then you have to use the money on THEIR site to buy crap that was overpriced to begin with. So it's not really 5%. I don't want something like that.

I like my discover - it's 1% in general with 5% in rotating categories. But I thought I'd see if anyone knows of a card that regularly gets 3%? I plan to use it mainly on retail, groceries, gas, vet bills, and restaurants.

I hear rumors of cards that regularly give 3-5% but I can never find them online. I think people are confused or they lie to me. Do share if you know any secrets. Which cards do you have and like and what is the rewards program like for them?

[chiver78]

the only rewards program I've ever participated in was American Express Membership Rewards. it's 1-point per dollar spent, unless there was some promotion going on for specific items or merchants (they send literature to explain when it's going on, which happens pretty often). You redeem your points through American Express, yes, but there is a very wide variety of things you can get with your points....including AmEx gift cards.

I have a personal AmEx card, as well as a corporate one for business travel. I have been able to furnish my 1st floor from Pottery Barn, paying only shipping charges when things had to be shipped to me, rather than to a local store.

the Blue card has no annual fee, and enrollment in Membership Rewards is free with this card. In order to pool my corporate card's points, I pay $75 annually. (for how much I travel, it's worth it to me)

[8 Bit WWBG]

I just signed up for a Citi visa with 0% until Feb 2012 on purchases, and May 2012 on transfers. You can also earn $10 credits towards gift cards or something, but I don't think I'll be using that feature.

[❤ mollymouser ❤]

We have the State Farm Rewards Card. It usually pays 1% cash back (no limits on amount you can get back), but for the last 5 months this year, it's paid 2% cash back. (The use of the cash back is, technically, restricted to using it to pay for State Farm products ... like insurance ... but you can also use it to pay off/down your credit card ~ which is what we do.)

[whoisjohngalt]

I have Chase. They have started doing this thing where you get 1% on everything and 5% on certain items. Those items change every quarter. This qtr it was movie theaters, grocery stores and restaurants. I don't know what they'll have in Jan-Feb-March.

I am not the biggest fan of it, but too lazy to look for other cards

[joynerk]

The Costco American Express is pretty great. You get 3% back on gas & food and 1% on just about everything else. They send a check that you use in store, but if you don't use it all they give you back cash.

[Havoc]

I have seen some mailings recently about the Chase card WhoIsJohnGalt is referring to, and in the mailings they appear to be offering $100 credit after the first purchase.

We signed up for an AmEx blue cash card a month or so ago - they offered a $100 credit after your first $600 spent as a sweetener. AmEx Blue gives 1% "cash rewards" dollars on "everyday expenses" (grocery stores, gas stations, etc) for annual expenditures of up to $6500 annually, 5% "cash rewards" on everyday expenses over $6500 annually. The two caveats on this that I know of are: (1) shopping clubs like Sam's and CostCo aren't considered "everyday", they are considered "other", so they earn .5% reward cash for the first 6500 annual, 1.25% for over 6500. We get by this by using a 1% cashback MasterCard for our Sam's trips; and (2) the "cash rewards" aren't actually cash back - they either get credited to your account or you can use them for special offers or merchants. This doesn't bother us since we put most of our expenses on credit card, pay it off monthly.

Our trusty standby, and our primary card for years prior to starting the AmEx Blue, is our USAA Mastercard - a straight 1% cash back on all purchases, cash gets sent via check at the end of the year, and the customer service has been fabulous....

[ediva]

I like my Chase BP card. It's 5% back at BP gas stations, and the cheapest gas station near me happens to be a BP. It's 2% on travel and restaurants, and 1% back everywhere else except other gas stations. I use this in conjunction with the Discover to get 5% back in whatever category we happen to be using at the time.

[alsmez]

Dec 22, 2010 21:52:49 GMT -5 @joynerk said:

The Costco American Express is pretty great. You get 3% back on gas & food and 1% on just about everything else. They send a check that you use in store, but if you don't use it all they give you back cash.

Yes, LOVE the Costco Amex. Ever since I got it I almost never use any other card, unless someone doesn't take Amex. I have a Citi Diamond Preferred Blah-Blah-Blah rewards card that has decent rewards but they went to that rotating system of different categories every month recently, and I hate it. I can never remember what's what and they code retailers in a way that makes no sense to me - half the grocery stores where I shop for food aren't coded as such, for instance - so I'd rather just use the Amex and be done with it.

[keiks]

I have found the capital one no hassle rewards card gives you 2% on gas and groceries and 1% on everything else... but i am guessing the $100 bonus and 5% rotating categories on the Chase Freedom card Lena is referring to probably would yield greater rewards. Chase also has the Sapphire card - $150 sign up bonus but only 1% cash back flat rate, so I'm thinking the 5% in rotating categories might give you more cash back... hmmmmm

[Unlimited]

Visa Black, from Barclays Bank, and AMEX Platnium or Black, both if you travel a lot. The rewards are more 1st class flight, Hotel, Car Rental upgrades instead of cashback.

[Cookies Galore]

Dec 22, 2010 17:18:53 GMT -5 8 Bit WWBG said:

I just signed up for a Citi visa with 0% until Feb 2012 on purchases, and May 2012 on transfers. You can also earn $10 credits towards gift cards or something, but I don't think I'll be using that feature.

I just got the Citi Mastercard! That's how we got our new TV! ;D
They have their Extra Cash program, but it's not really cash because whatever you earn has to be used on their site. They do have discounts on gift cards, but I've been checking out their pricing on hotels since we're planning a few over night trips in 2011. They offered a $30 statement credit if you spent $30 in the first month. I spent $30 times a lot.

[Deleted]

My Discover isn't as good as some other people's cards. I was under the impression that it gave 1% on everything and 5% on the rotating categories. It is really 1/4 of 1% until you reach a certain spending level. I use it only for the rotating categories and its "stores" (which are regular stores) that it pays 5% on. You simply have to go to the website through Discover.

The Chase is now my favorite, but sometimes it is tough remembering which card is best to use for which purchase. I need to create a cheat sheet each quarter (New Year's resolution #3).

[vl]

I use FIA and Chase because there are no restrictions on what purchase constitutes a point reward. As an online retailer, all my activity funnels through to accumulate points. The points translate to actual cash which gets yanked every quarter (which does not align with the calendar year on purpose). Since I pay balances monthly, the two cards yield a healthy lump sum regularly.
I buy something at a deep discount and flip it with every pay-out. Over the past two years, the rewards have capitalized more than 40 times original amount. Not a bad windfall return.

[TD2K]

I have a Costco Amex and a Capital One reward card. The Cap One gives me 1 1/4% back on purchases and the Costco gives me 2% and 3% on certain categories (explained previously by others). I have a Chase but don't use it, too much of a pain to keep track of what the 'premium' rebate of the month is.

[The J]

I use a Chase Amazon Visa primarily. It's 3% on amazon purchases, 2% on a couple of categories and 1% on everything else. I'm planning on joining costco in the next month or so -- I'll get the costco amex then.

[chiver78]

Dec 26, 2010 18:19:18 GMT -5 The J said:

I use a Chase Amazon Visa primarily. It's 3% on amazon purchases, 2% on a couple of categories and 1% on everything else. I'm planning on joining costco in the next month or so -- I'll get the costco amex then.

do you get any added benefits at amazon with that? I'm thinking amazon prime, or free shipping always, etc.

[The J]

No -- just the 3% cash back.

[keiks]

just to follow up - i stopped by chase and applied for the freedom card. we'll see if they approve me. if you hold a chase checking account, it's 1.1% cashback on everything with 1 penny cash back everytime you swipe the card. plus an additional 4% in the rotating categories for 5.1% total cash back on those categories. if you don't hold a chase account, it's 1%/5% with no penny bonus.

[oreo]

I have the FIA card that gives me 2% back. The money gets deposited in my Schwab account every month.

I also use my Chase Freedom and Discover cards because they have the rotating categories that give you 5% back. Last month (and this quarter) Chase has 5% back at grocery stores. Most grocery stores sell gift cards so if you know what you need to buy somewhere else, you can buy the gift cards at the grocery store and get 5% off. The nice thing about the Chase card is that unlike Discover which usually has a pretty low max discount (like for Restraunts it was $300 for 3 months I think) Chase has a fairly high max (it was $1500 for the last quarter of 2010). For both you can either get cash back ($1 for $1) or I usually get a Lowes giftcard which you can get at a slight discount ($45 worth of rewards for a $50 card)

The other nice thing about my Chase card is they offered me a deal where for 6 months (starting in Dec) for each month I spend more than $100, I get $10 extra rewards back. A very good deal!

[kinetickid]

Dec 22, 2010 16:57:39 GMT -5 @keiks said:

Well we haven't had this thread on THIS board. and unlike tipping, this answer changes pretty regularly.

I want a good rewards card. I don't want an annual fee, but I don't care what the interest rate is cause I will pay it in full.

American Express Blue Card. Cash-back rewards (like, $800 for us last year!). No annual fee.

And, like you, we pay off the balance in full each and every month so interest rate is moot.

[Deleted]

I have amex that offers 2% into my fidelity account. It really motivated us to start shoveling money into that account so we have saved over 6k in that account in the last 5 or 6 months. I then keep a marriott visa for the places that don't take amex.

[mithrin]

It's getting harder to find high % cash back cards. Our Citi Diamond Preferred just ran out of it's initial 12 months of 5% back on gas and groceries, and I haven't found anything equivalent to replace it (and the Citi one doesn't seem to exist anymore).

We have an old Chase Freedom that now has the rotating categories, so we can get 5% on groceries this quarter, but I don't know where we'll go after that (probably stock up on gift cards to the grocery store in March to use up the $1500 limit and be able to get another month or two of spending out of it).

We have the Costco Amex, but the 3% is only on gas and restaurants, not groceries. Already have the Citi Forward card that gets 5% back on restaurants, bookstores, and movie theaters.

[2kids10horses]

We use the CostCo AMEX, Discover, and a Shell VISA card that's 5% off gas. We try to use the rotating offers on the Discover.

That combo does pretty well.

[NastyWoman]

Not a good reward card perse, but I have a Capital One visa card, because it is the best when traveling abroad - it has the least foreign transaction fees. I don't use it much at home since my MC has better rewards.

[mrsgords]

We use a Bank of America MC and get one point for every dollar spent. We can convert points into cash or use them to "buy" gift cards, airline miles, or merchandise. We've used them to buy several gift cards at Christmas. We've also converted them to cash many times. We generally earn about 3,000 points a month, so they add up fast.