Credit Cards with high point rewards

[ElFenix]

olds is breaking the forums formatting

 

[olds]

olds is breaking the forums formatting

Who coded this crap?

 

[boomhower]

I use a three card combo. Primary card is Amex Blue Cash Preferred, 6% on groceries, 3% of gas and department stores, and 1% on everything else. Next two are Chase Freedom and Discover More. I use those two for the 5% rotating categories.

Citi Forward is better for Amazon than Amazon's own card. The Forward gives 5% back on books, Amazon is a book store, so 5% off at Amazon. It doesn't matter if you buy a chainsaw, it's 5% off.

You have to be careful with points. You often get screwed and end up with much less than the % back you would have gotten if you used a cash back card.

 

[kranky]

Points can be devalued before you redeem them. Not cashback.

 

[Svnla]

Cold hard cash > all (points, miles, etc.).

I used to have FIA 2% cashback on everything but it is gone. Now I am using Chase Freedom and BoA Cash Reward. Not bad but not as great as it used to be. And no annual fee for both of them too.

 

[alkemyst]

Cold hard cash > all (points, miles, etc.).

I used to have FIA 2% cashback on everything but it is gone. Now I am using Chase Freedom and BoA Cash Reward. Not bad but not as great as it used to be. And no annual fee for both of them too.

Yeah it was awesome when gas was a dollar and you could buy a trunk full of groceries for $40.

 

[Triumph]

Points can be devalued before you redeem them. Not cashback.

Cold hard cash > all (points, miles, etc.).

I used to have FIA 2% cashback on everything but it is gone. Now I am using Chase Freedom and BoA Cash Reward. Not bad but not as great as it used to be. And no annual fee for both of them too.

Those aren't reasons not to use points. I'm not going to settle for less money now because they might devalue points in the future. Cash back is better but I don't see anyone giving 5% cash back on fuel or restaurants anymore.

 

[sjwaste]

I use the Fidelity (FIA) 2% CB AMEX.

 

[Train]

Those aren't reasons not to use points. I'm not going to settle for less money now because they might devalue points in the future. Cash back is better but I don't see anyone giving 5% cash back on fuel or restaurants anymore.

I get 3% cashback for Gas on the Amex blue, year round no limit. 5% from either the Chase or Discover during certain quarters, last year it came up twice, for an avg of 4% back on gas for the year. Hoping gas comes up for a 2nd quarter again in 2012 (it was already up Jan-Mar)

 

[Fingolfin269]

I got in on the Capital One Venture mileage match promo last year (I got 100k miles to sign up) and have been using the card ever since. It's actually a pretty good card if you travel a lot plus it's a Visa Signature card which comes in handy from time to time. B1G1 Fandango movie ticket promo for example.

 

[InverseOfNeo]

I use two cards...

Chase Sapphire Preferred card... 50k signup bonus with minimum spend, 2x points on dining and travel, no foreign transaction fees, 7% annual dividend on all points earned, points can be used as 1.25 cents per point or transferred to hotels and airlines which is the best value as you can easily get free flights and/or super nice hotel rooms.

Chase Freedom... 20k points with minimum spend, rolling 5x point categories each quarter, can combine with points from Sapphire Preferred card. Also, with Chase checking account I get what they call the "10 and 10": 10% more points plus 10 points per transaction. So basically something that costs me $10 earns me 21 points, assuming it's not in a 5x category.

 

[Triumph]

i abhorr rolling categories. with citi, i would get solicitations for rolling categories after i already enrolled in a rolling category (yeah, you had to ENROLL every 3 months to get the extra benefit). too much effort for little reward. instead, i pull up to gas station, i know i use penfed card. any time any where. etc.

 

[InverseOfNeo]

Triumph, I understand your reluctance about rolling categories. Though here's what I think... I'm going to use the card anyway, it takes two seconds to register so why not?

 

[Train]

Triumph, I understand your reluctance about rolling categories. Though here's what I think... I'm going to use the card anyway, it takes two seconds to register so why not?

Ya I agree, and honestly, I only keep track when it's something I know I'll use, Gas, Restaurants , Home Improvement stores.

I'm always logging into my account on the CC site anyways to check my statements, takes likes 2 extra clicks whenever the "sign up now" shows up on the main page.

 

[RockinZ28]

Chase Freedom is my most used card as well.

Another bonus to this card, look for a $100+ offer for opening up a Chase checking acct. With the checking, when you use your Freedom cc you'll get a 10% point bonus on every purchase, plus 10 points per transaction.

 

[cKGunslinger]

• PenFed Visa - 5% on Gas (1% else)
• Amex BlueCash - 3% on groceries (2% on gas & department stores / 1% else)
• Chase Freedom has rolling categories, as mentioned
• NASA CU seems to have a 2% on everything card, but there's debate on whether they require tiers or minimum spending to achieve that rate.

Almost every other card is 1% in some form.

Continuous-use Points/CashBack isn't very lucrative today (unless you're a BIG spender/churner.) Bonus Points seems to be where it's at. Signup, spend your minimum (ex: $2000 in first 3 months,) collect your 25,000 bonus points, redeem for cash, gift cards, or miles, then close the account in a year's time (before any annual fees.) Cycle as many cards as you can simultaneously to meet the minimum purchases.

Rinse, repeat as allowed.

 

[RossMAN]

Did a Google search and vast majority of sites is for you to apply. Looking for a consumer reports type site that is unbiased. Thoughts?

I'm afraid you won't find any unbiased reviews because 99.99% of them are affiliate/referral sites. For every new approved application, the web sites receive a financial incentive which can be very lucrative. I fully endorse kranky, one of the most helpful and financial savvy forum members AT is fortunate to have.

nerdwallet.com is a nicely designed web site which allows you to search and compare credit cards with rewards.

Full disclosure: I own a credit card affiliate site (not nerdwallet.com - I wish), prefer to sleep in only my boxers and hate yellow gummy bears.

 

[InverseOfNeo]

Full disclosure: I own a credit card affiliate site (not nerdwallet.com - I wish), prefer to sleep in only my boxers and hate yellow gummy bears.

I hate the clear gummy bears. Red FTW.

 

[RossMAN]

I hate the clear gummy bears. Red FTW.

Red, green & orange FTW

 

[olds]

I sleep nekid...

 

[Svnla]

...Cash back is better but I don't see anyone giving 5% cash back on fuel or restaurants anymore.

Chase has rolling categories in which they would pay 5% cash back on gasoline and restaurants in certain quarterly (3 months period). I think BoA is doing the same too.

 

[cKGunslinger]

I'm afraid you won't find any unbiased reviews because 99.99% of them are affiliate/referral sites. For every new approved application, the web sites receive a financial incentive which can be very lucrative. I fully endorse kranky, one of the most helpful and financial savvy forum members AT is fortunate to have.

nerdwallet.com is a nicely designed web site which allows you to search and compare credit cards with rewards.

Full disclosure: I own a credit card affiliate site (not nerdwallet.com - I wish), prefer to sleep in only my boxers and hate yellow gummy bears.

That's a pretty nifty website. I've just been using FatWallet Finance forums and CreditBoards for info for signup bonuses and rewards, but this is nice.

 

[RossMAN]

That's a pretty nifty website. I've just been using FatWallet Finance forums and CreditBoards for info for signup bonuses and rewards, but this is nice.

Yep it's one of several nifty credit card comparison web sites but I found one even better.

Sign up for a free CreditKarma.com account, yes it will ask for your personal details including your social security number but it's legit. Once you're logged in, click the credit cards tab, some pretty awesome tools at your disposal if you're willing to trust giving your personal details to CreditKarma.com

You can search by several criteria including your approval odds which is just awesome.

 

[cKGunslinger]

Yep it's one of several nifty credit card comparison web sites but I found one even better.

Sign up for a free CreditKarma.com account, yes it will ask for your personal details including your social security number but it's legit. Once you're logged in, click the credit cards tab, some pretty awesome tools at your disposal if you're willing to trust giving your personal details to CreditKarma.com

You can search by several criteria including your approval odds which is just awesome.

Yeah - I use CK for daily credit pulls, but have never really bothered to look at any of their other offerings or analysis tools. Only problem is that the CK site has my score 60 points below my actual FICO.. lol.

 

[Brainonska511]

Yup. Plus that value changes depending on what you buy. With my CitiBank card, 3600 gets me a $25 gift card but 6000 gets me $50. So it's very hard to reach a comparison with these point systems.

You might want to check again. I converted 5000 points to a $50 Amazon gift card the other day.