American Express Blue Cash CC - up to 5% cash back

[ww4397]

Originally posted by: bspahn

Originally posted by: dealonfire
MAKE SURE you understand how the cash rebate rule.. it may not be as good as you may think it is.

NOTE, the annual spending for "EVERYDAY purchases" and for "All Other Purchases" are counted SEPARATELY..

I just spoke to them on the phone and it appears that the "EVERYDAY purchases" and the "All Other Purchases" are NOT counted separately. So if your total purchases for a year are $6000 then you'll get back 1.5% for all your "other purchases" and 3.0% back on the "everyday purchases".

Bill

I'm glad you agree with me. See post above yours.

I've read *all* the terms and conditions for this card. It is a very good cash back card! For example, Return Protection is very nice...

 

[RossMAN]

Originally posted by: AMDSoldier

Originally posted by: Fant
That chase card looks like a better deal. I spend over $6k a year on my credit card but thats on my mastercard...not amex...not everyplace accepts amex. So a mastercard/visa is more useful. And I would get 3% cashback on gasoline purchases and 1% on all other purchases made anywhere. The annual fee is waived as long as you make 9 purchases a year. What do you guys think?

I think I'm gonna try that card.

I deliver pizzas for a living, so having that gas bonus, could help me out.

I recently applied and was approved for the Chase Perfect Card with a $2,500 limit ... my balance transfer limit was $5,000 with 0% for 9 months.

6% on all gas purchases within the first 90 days
3% on all gas purchases after that
1% rebate on all other purchases
Annual fee is WAIVED the first year and every year after as long as you make 9 purchases per year.

Their online banking is nice, setup payments on chasecreditcard.com to debit my local credit union checking account, everything is working out nicely.

 

[dealonfire]

Originally posted by: bspahn

Originally posted by: dealonfire
MAKE SURE you understand how the cash rebate rule.. it may not be as good as you may think it is.

NOTE, the annual spending for "EVERYDAY purchases" and for "All Other Purchases" are counted SEPARATELY..

I just spoke to them on the phone and it appears that the "EVERYDAY purchases" and the "All Other Purchases" are NOT counted separately. So if your total purchases for a year are $6000 then you'll get back 1.5% for all your "other purchases" and 3.0% back on the "everyday purchases".

Bill

I called them like 6month ago, they told me it's counted SEPARATELY. I just called them again, and they explained to me clearly "everyday purchases" and "all other purchases" ARE COUNTED SEPARATELY.

He gave me an example:
I spend $2000 in groceries, but $10000 for all other purchases.
For the $2000 in groceries, I am getting 0.5% cash back, even though my total spending is more than $12000.. but that doesn't matter. The two categories are counted separately.

It is VERY confusing, some of the representative may not even know what you are talking about. I am just amazed by American Express ability to engineering something this complex to basically fool consumers with this marketing gimmick.

There are many things I like about American Express, good customer service, good benefits..etc. But, trying this kind of marketing gimmick on your loyal customers could backfire. After a year, customers will start wondering hey! why am I not getting my 3% rebates! They can expect some calls from angry customers.

 

[conbon]

whoa, i just got this card a couple months ago b/c i thought it was a great deal...sounds like i might have been cheated too (?)

have any of ya'll had this card for a yr+ yet? is it 0.5% back or 1.5% back on other purchases?

considering what dealonfire and bspahn posted, which is it anyway? separate or not? sigh.

 

[ww4397]

Originally posted by: conbon
...which is it anyway? separate or not? sigh.

Not.

 

[dantzhelp]

Anyone have the amazon.com card? I just got it and it seems pretty cool, except that I can't track how many Amazon points I'm earning except by calculating from the dollars spent.

Anyone else have this card and enjoy it?

Dantz

 

[fishlet]

Originally posted by: dealonfire
MAKE SURE you understand how the cash rebate rule.. it may not be as good as you may think it is.


You can do the math. In my opinion, unless you spend $1000 PER MONTH on groceries + gas + home improv. goods, otherwise, do not get this card. IF YOU DO SPEND THAT MUCH, you should get the DELTA SKYMILES CARD instead. You ALWAYS earn DOUBLE miles on these "EVERYDAY purchases". $1000 per month = 2000 Delta Miles. Each miles is worth 1.5cents(this is from polls). So, that's 3% rebate on every dollar.

I agree. Amex Delta Skymiles Card is the best choice. You earn one mile/one dollar purchase. If you spend $20000/year, you will receive ???? bonus miles(forgot the exact number). The first year's annual fee is waved. Upon you renew the card and pay $135.00 annual fee, Delta will mail you a free companion certificate, which can be sold at eBay for $200. I remember this was pointed out by GetReal long time ago.

 

[Tifababy]

I've had this card for one year now, and received an average of 0.62% cash back.
(it's worth noting, that I don't use this card for groceries very often, because sam's club only accepts discover)

Year-to-Date Qual. Spend thru JUL-2003 statement 4,757.11
Cash Reward thru JUL-2003 statement 29.58

 

[conbon]

...and here's the reason why:

(stolen off a post on ben's bargains)

it is 3% for everyday purchases, 1.5% for other purchases for annual spending $6k - $50k.

For the first $2k, the cashback are 0.5% and 0.25%.
For the next $4k, the cash back are 1% and 0.5%

Assuming no everyday purchases, the breakeven point of annual spending is 13,000 vs a straight 1% CC.

---

just talked to the amex ppl - the tiers are counted SEPARATELY. time to dump this card.

 

[Fant]

Get the Chase Perfect Card instead. Flat 6% off all gasoline purchase first 6 months, 3% off all gasoline purchases thereafter, 1% off other purchases forever...all credited right to your account so no checks to cash or points to redeem.

 

[torkd]

i wanted to get the chase perfect card... but they rejected me.
i am a college student with several credit cards and no late payments... AND i spend several thousand dollars a year with a credit card... but i dont have that 20k/yr income.
do you think it would be bad to just make up some income >20k in order to get the card?

 

[jimmyhaha]

so Is the chase perfect the best choice for an average person ?

its 1% cash back regardless of any amount seems good compared to discover. i.e. tier cashback

 

[ww4397]

Originally posted by: jimmyhaha
so Is the chase perfect the best choice for an average person ?

Unfortunately, you need to define what you mean by "average person." Knowing how you spend your money, and how you use your credit card, is critical when making a decision on which of these CC's to get. I could create a factitious spending pattern to make any one of these cards beat all the others. You really need to determine how you would use the card and then pick the card that provides the most benefit (and knowing the benefit is sometimes more diffcult than it seems. Just look at the posts in this thread -- most people have the wrong understanding of the AMEX Blue Cash card). For me, Amex Blue Cash is the way. YMMV.

 

[erub]

To chime in, I have the Chase PerfectCard and am happy customer..I basically dont use my other credit cards anymore (although according to this board - very bad idea to close them). I try to put one or two transactions on them each month to keep a record of payment..anyway so far I've earned about $15 worth of rebates over two months, not too bad..

Oh yeah, I've heard that its legal to put down your college tuition as "income" - in essence your parents are giving it to you, and then you are paying the university..they dont' ask about expenditures

 

[ericlp]

For a card that earns you airline miles, THE BEST ONE is the American Express Starwood Card. You earn 1 starpoint per dollar spend, but one Starpoint => 1.25 miles!! That's 1.85 cents back per dollar spend. That's like 1.85% rebate on every dollar! Also, NO annual fee first year, only $30 after the first year! The annual fee is lower than all of the other mileage cards, AND you earn MORE miles per dollar spend.


Special Offer: 4000 Points after first purchase (exp: 10/31/03)

No Annual Fee first year
($30 annual fee after first year)
Earn 1 Starpoint for every dollar charged
Convert Points to Miles!
(20,000 Starpoints => 25,000 Miles!)
Best Value Guarantee, Return Protection benefits

Better then the Delta Card imo.... Since it's great if your airline is DELTA... I mean.... If if I wanted to go to hawaii for example here in oregon I'd have to fly all around just to get there... But with this card... you can redeem your Starpoints for miles of over 25 major mileage programs(AA, UA, USAir, Delta, Northwest, Alaska.. you name it). I could just take Hawaiian Air.

Plus I think the card looks better but that is MO too.

 

[linuxthinker]

Originally posted by: salsal

Originally posted by: AnimEva
so if i have a balance of just $1, i can get 5% for the everyday purchases i made that month?

And the interest you charged to it everyday. If you carry a balance the new charges do not have a grace period. With 0% intro interest it may work but after that ... Well you get the picture.

So if I don't carry a balance, I get 0% total?

 

[Zugzwang152]

Originally posted by: RossMAN

Originally posted by: AMDSoldier

Originally posted by: Fant
That chase card looks like a better deal. I spend over $6k a year on my credit card but thats on my mastercard...not amex...not everyplace accepts amex. So a mastercard/visa is more useful. And I would get 3% cashback on gasoline purchases and 1% on all other purchases made anywhere. The annual fee is waived as long as you make 9 purchases a year. What do you guys think?

I think I'm gonna try that card.

I deliver pizzas for a living, so having that gas bonus, could help me out.

I recently applied and was approved for the Chase Perfect Card with a $2,500 limit ... my balance transfer limit was $5,000 with 0% for 9 months.

6% on all gas purchases within the first 90 days
3% on all gas purchases after that
1% rebate on all other purchases
Annual fee is WAIVED the first year and every year after as long as you make 9 purchases per year.

Their online banking is nice, setup payments on chasecreditcard.com to debit my local credit union checking account, everything is working out nicely.

can't believe those fsckers declined me! >.<

 

[Kuhlman]

Want a hot deal if you have cash you want to invest?

Buy 30K worth of Ibonds with this card. (Yes, you can do it with no cash advance fee). You can buy Ibonds with a CC until the end of the year. The current Ibond return is 4.66%. But with this card you will get 1.5% more. Makes your return 6.16%. And if you carry a balance during the first 6 months with 0% APR that's another .5% you'll get back on the ibonds. Over 6% return with no risk is pretty good. Not only that, but you will get the full 3% back on your everyday purchases since you are charging over 6K on the card. And if you carry a balance during the 0% apr period you'll get 2% more back on the everyday purchases too for a 5% refund on everyday purchases. Of course you can do this with less than 30K. I say 30K because that's the max any one person can buy in Ibonds per year. If you don't have that much cash, do it with 6K and reap the benefits. You need to hold the bonds for a year. Enjoy!

 

[gordita]

do u earn 4.66% return on a 1-yr investment in i-bonds? ( assuming I buy $6k worth of i-bonds and cash them out after 1 year) ??

 

[Insomniac]

You are penalized 3 months interest if you cash out before 5 years.

http://www.publicdebt.treas.gov/sav/sbiinvst.htm

 

[wjones]

Originally posted by: brokejumper
I am currently shopping for a new credit card and I want a Visa/Mastercard. What do you all think of the Perfectcard from Chase?

Chase PerfectCard MasterCard
* 6% rebate on all gasoline purchases (90 days)
* 3% rebate on gas purchases thereafter
* 1% rebate on all other purchases
* Purchase Protection



Link

The trick between this one and the Stockback card would seem to be how much you shop at the particular stores that have a deal with them. Otherwise, the gas rebate makes it a bit better no?

I think this is better than the Stockback card (BTW, the stockback card link above is a referral link), why use stockback while you can use ebates and with PerfectCard, you can get 3% rebate on gas.

 

[spikemike]

Originally posted by: pinoy


If i may add, you get additional 1 yr warranty on electronics you buy using Amex Blue, w/c i think is worth having it.

actually it doubles all warranties up to a year, so 90 day warranties only give you extra 90 days. 5 year warranties only give you an extra year