H and I are looking into opening a joint credit card to better capitalize on rewards. What is the best rewards card out there? Either cashback or travel related. I currently have the Delta Platinum American express card - it's $150 annual fee with one free companion ticket (domestic) and 1mile per $1 spent except on Delta purchases it's 2 miles per $1 spent.
It really limits us to only flying Delta (which I was doing heavily for work but recently moved into a position with no travel) and American Express isn't widely accepted, so we'd like to stick with a Visa/MC.
we'd prefer something with no annual fee, but are open to an annual fee depending on the perks. We charge pretty much every single purchase on our credit cards and pay them off in full every month, so annual APR is certainly something we would look at it, but not a huge consideration (though obviously the lower the better)
Post by 1confused1 on Sept 1, 2014 21:29:01 GMT -5
I opened a Chase Freedom card when my ex and I split. It has cash back, but is limited to certain categories. there's no annual fee and they give you a $100 credit when you spend a certain amount of money in a certain amount of time.
We have a chase freedom card too, it's 1% cash back on everything and quarterly it's 5% back on certain things that change, like right now it's gas and kohls. We both really like chase and have never had any issues
- 2% cash back on all purchases (if redeemed for travel) - $400 worth of rewards points if you spend $3000 in the first 90 days - 10% of your rewards points back, if redeemed on travel (making cash back more like 2.2%, I believe) - Travel reimbursement is just a straight statement credit - you don't have to book through an external website - $89 annual fee after the first year (boo)
I got this card almost 4 months ago, and have redeemed over $500 in travel reimbursement so far. We still use our Costco Amex for Costco, gas, and big purchases, but the Barclay card seems to be working out really well so far for everything else.
What card is best for you is going to depend on spending habits, but for everyday purchases, as far as I can tell the winners are:
- Barclay Arrival Plus (described by jewel above) -- if you travel internationally, it has the additional advantages of having a chip + PIN (PIN cards are basically impossible to find in America) and no foreign transaction fee
- Fidelity Amex -- 2% back, deposited into a Fidelity brokerage account (which you can then transfer into your bank account if you don't want to invest it)
- Citi Double Cash -- 2% cash back (1% when the statement closes; 1% when you pay)
- 2% cash back on all purchases (if redeemed for travel) - $400 worth of rewards points if you spend $3000 in the first 90 days - 10% of your rewards points back, if redeemed on travel (making cash back more like 2.2%, I believe) - Travel reimbursement is just a straight statement credit - you don't have to book through an external website - $89 annual fee after the first year (boo)
I got this card almost 4 months ago, and have redeemed over $500 in travel reimbursement so far. We still use our Costco Amex for Costco, gas, and big purchases, but the Barclay card seems to be working out really well so far for everything else.
I haven't had my coffee yet, but when it says when redeemed for travel does that mean you don't get cash back for anything other then that?
- 2% cash back on all purchases (if redeemed for travel) - $400 worth of rewards points if you spend $3000 in the first 90 days - 10% of your rewards points back, if redeemed on travel (making cash back more like 2.2%, I believe) - Travel reimbursement is just a straight statement credit - you don't have to book through an external website - $89 annual fee after the first year (boo)
I got this card almost 4 months ago, and have redeemed over $500 in travel reimbursement so far. We still use our Costco Amex for Costco, gas, and big purchases, but the Barclay card seems to be working out really well so far for everything else.
I haven't had my coffee yet, but when it says when redeemed for travel does that mean you don't get cash back for anything other then that?
Sent from my SCH-I535 using proboards
You CAN get cash back or gift cards or what have you, but the redemption rate is much lower on those rewards.
For example, say I have 5000 miles... That would get me:
- $50 statement credit towards a travel redemption (plus I'd get 500 miles back immediately, so really I only used 4500 miles to get the $50); or - $25 in cash back; or - a $25 gift card to a store
So if you redeem for travel, you get 2.2% back in rewards, but if you redeem for other things you only get 1% back.
(Note: the travel options are quite broad -- my purchases that I can currently redeem against are transit passes in Montreal, a NY taxi, admission to Westminster Abbey, a car service in London, the deposit for our trip to the Galapagos (made to a travel agency), and a hotel booked through Cheaptickets)
H and I are looking into opening a joint credit card to better capitalize on rewards. What is the best rewards card out there? Either cashback or travel related. I currently have the Delta Platinum American express card - it's $150 annual fee with one free companion ticket (domestic) and 1mile per $1 spent except on Delta purchases it's 2 miles per $1 spent.
It really limits us to only flying Delta (which I was doing heavily for work but recently moved into a position with no travel) and American Express isn't widely accepted, so we'd like to stick with a Visa/MC.
we'd prefer something with no annual fee, but are open to an annual fee depending on the perks. We charge pretty much every single purchase on our credit cards and pay them off in full every month, so annual APR is certainly something we would look at it, but not a huge consideration (though obviously the lower the better)
Thoughts?
The Alaska Airlines Visa Signature card has a pretty high fee, but it's worth the perks with even a moderate amount of travel.
Thanks all. H and I need to figure out what to do.. the chip + pin option is enticing as that totally bit us in the ass in Italy last month (I have a chip but no pin).
I haven't had my coffee yet, but when it says when redeemed for travel does that mean you don't get cash back for anything other then that?
Like V said, you do have other options, but the redemption value is half that of travel. The travel options seem to be very generous though, and we usually have a few options posted that are just local purchases (right now we have my husband's Amtrak ticket that he uses for his commute, zoo tickets, and a ferry ticket - none of which were "travel" in my mind). We don't travel a ton, usually one big trip and a couple of localish trips/year, but I'm OK with holding on to our credit for long enough to have travel to redeem.
I forgot about the chip and pin aspect. The no foreign transaction fee is great too, and would have been nice for us last year when we were paying fees in Mexico.
v - have you had the card long enough to try to negotiate the annual fee? I've read that Barclay does not seem to be as willing to waive or reduce their fee, but I'm wondering if anyone has had any luck.
I haven't had my coffee yet, but when it says when redeemed for travel does that mean you don't get cash back for anything other then that?
v - have you had the card long enough to try to negotiate the annual fee? I've read that Barclay does not seem to be as willing to waive or reduce their fee, but I'm wondering if anyone has had any luck.
Not yet, but this thread on Flyertalk suggests that people do not have luck when they talk to whoever the automated system sends them to, but have luck if they ask to talk to a supervisor: