Best Credit Card for Cash Back/Rewards?

[ciaobella]

Help! I have used the same card for years and they are discontinuing my rewards program so I am shopping for a new, similar one.

I currently have the Chase Borders card, which gives you 3% on purchases at Borders, 2% back on gas and groceries and 1% on everything else. The 2% back makes a big difference over the 1%, given how much we spend on gas and groceries on our cc. Chase plans on converting the card to a Chase Freedom card, which is 1% on everything, no caps.

Which card to you use and love? I typically get $1000+ back a year, so this is important!

Thanks!

[niccig]

Which card to you use and love? I typically get $1000+ back a year, so this is important!

Thanks!


:yeahthat: DH and I were talking about swapping to a card that will give us cashback. We can never ever use miles that we accrue as DH can't be flexible with his work. So we figure any cashback could go into a travel fund

[bigpassport]

I love my Southwest Airlines Visa. It seems like I always have a free ticket to use.

[wencit]

Chase plans on converting the card to a Chase Freedom card, which is 1% on everything, no caps. Hmm, are you sure about this? We have a Chase Freedom card and get 3% cash back on groceries, gas, and fast food, and 1% on everything else. In addition, for every $200 cash back, we get a check for $250.

[ciaobella]

My brouchure for Chase Freedom states:

- Earn 1 point per $1 spent
- Earn triple points in popular categories when you enroll in unique promotions
- Earn up to an additional 10 points per $1 spent through Ultimate Rewards Mall

Any other suggestions?

[Melbel]

We use a MBNA 529 card for most purchases. 2% flat cash back, up to $1,500 per year deposited into one of three Fidelity 529 plans. The cap is relatively new.

http://www.529rewards.com/529-credit-card-mbna.php

[KrisM]

My brouchure for Chase Freedom states:

- Earn 1 point per $1 spent
- Earn triple points in popular categories when you enroll in unique promotions
- Earn up to an additional 10 points per $1 spent through Ultimate Rewards Mall

Any other suggestions?

Looks like that is for the "points" version. For the cash back version (from chase.com):
$50 Cash Back after your first purchase!
Always earn a full 1% Cash Back on Every Purchase. Everywhere. From the First Dollar you Spend. There are no spending tiers or earning caps.
It’s Easy to Earn More Cash Back:

Up to an additional 10% Cash Back and even as much as 20% at select merchants when you shop online through Chase.
Plus 3% cash back in rotating categories like gas, home improvement and department stores.

0% Intro APR*
No annual fee

I have this and I really don't know if I still get 3% on gas and groceries or if it's rotating. I'll have to find out!

Plus, if you get $200 in rewards, you can cash it in for a $250 check.

[spunkybaby]

We have a VISA card from Pentagon Federal Credit Union.
http://tinyurl.com/ytclnb

5% cash back on gas
2% cash back on supermarkets
1.25% cash back on everything else
Cashback is credited on your statement each month, so you don't have to accrue a certain number of points or anything before cashing in on your rewards.

No annual fee but if you do not qualify for the PenFed credit union, you can pay a one-time fee of $20 to join the National Military Family Association (membership is open to anyone). Details are on the PenFed web site under "how to join."

I learned about the card from a New York Times article on the best credit cards. We've been very happy with it!

[wellyes]

We use a MBNA 529 card for most purchases. 2% flat cash back, up to $1,500 per year deposited into one of three Fidelity 529 plans. The cap is relatively new.

http://www.529rewards.com/529-credit-card-mbna.php

We have two Fidelity cards, an MBNA mastercard that puts 2% directly into our brokerage account and an AmEx which puts 2% directly into DD's 529. We use the cards for EVERYTHING, rarely use cash, and pay in full each month. We earn a couple thousand dollars in investment rewards every year. Since there are no fees, it really is free money. We've been very happy with them.

[niccig]

I read in Money Magazine about American Express Blue Cash. Apparently from $0-6.500 it gives 1.0% on supermarket/drug store/gas stations and 0.5% on other purchases. Over $6,500 it gives 5% on supermarket/gas/drugstore and 1.25% on other purchases. The cash back gets credited to your account each month.

http://www201.americanexpress.com/getthecard/learn-about/BlueCash


I'll have to look at this and the PenFed credit union one linked above and see what will work best for us. I can see that if you put everything on the Amex you could hit the 6,500 early on in the year and then get 5% at grocery stores etc for the rest of the year ...I'll have to look into it more and see what will work out best. The PenFed doesn't have a limit you have to reach, so you're getting those % points straight away, so that looks like a better deal....

[kcandz]

The thing with Amex is that smaller businesses are stopping taking it - my dry cleaner just stopped because Amex boosted the merchant percentage to what sounded like a significant amount. I can't remember the exact number. My best rewards are Amex so I use that first, but more and more I can't so I go to my miles Visa. Which I need to change so I will continue to read this thread.

[AnnieW625]

Both DH and I have AMEX cards. Mine is through Costco and last year I got $180 in rebate to use at Costco. I bought a 20 gig Ipod. We also have a Jet Blue Amex Card which we got a year ago during a promo special where you got the first year fee waived ($40), and 50 bonus trip miles so after one round trip DH ended up with a free ticket that we need to use before Oct. 1st. For the Costco card it's 3% back at restaurants, and travel, and 2% back at gas stations, and 1% for every thing else, including Costco. The Jet Blue card is just dollar for dollar for airline points, however you can purchase miles too. DH doesn't use the card much and I am not sure why though; he uses the master card more.

We also have some sort of rewards points through our Citi Master Card but I haven't used them. It's more like a discount to buy certain products.

Wellyes, how much is the Amex fee for 529 card? I would love something like that for my daughter's 529 plan even more so than the little mad money I get to use at Costco. Also what state do you have your plan set through? Mine is through Pacific Life (Montana) and not Fidelity so it might not work.

[nrp]

We also use the Costco Amex, wherever they accept Amex, and the LLBean Visa or Cabelas Visa otherwise. With the Costco Amex, you get a check that you have to redeem at Costco, but you don't have to spend it there. We got around $600 back last year, and you can just take it to the desk and they'll give you cash.

[almostmom]

"Plus, if you get $200 in rewards, you can cash it in for a $250 check."



Can you explain to me what this means?

[gordo]

We have the AmEx blue cash and are very happy with it. We charge everything on it (all our utilities, etc) and quickly get to the part where we earn 5%. Great for us since DH and I both commute 90 miles a day. There are some places that don't take it, but we are able to use it pretty much for everything. We average about $800 cash back/year.

[AnnieW625]

NO WAY! I had no idea that you can get cash for the rebate check. I'll be doing that next year, but honestly I do like using it to buy the food for a month or two but this year I needed a new Ipod (lost my old one at the airport) so I used it for that.

[wellyes]

Wellyes, how much is the Amex fee for 529 card?

No fee :) and no limit to reward. So in theory you could do something like make your monthly mortgage with the AmEx, then pay it off in full each month, getting 529 rewards the whole time.

I love free money!

[wencit]

"Plus, if you get $200 in rewards, you can cash it in for a $250 check."



Can you explain to me what this means?For every $200 in rewards you earn, the company will give you an extra $50 (free) on top of that. For example, we just cashed out $800 in rewards cash, but got a check for $1000, like this:

$200 --> $250
$400 --> $250 + $250 = $500
$600 --> $250 + $250 + $250 = $750
$800 --> $250 + $250 + $250 + $250 = $1000

...and so on.

Does that make sense?

[KrisM]

"Plus, if you get $200 in rewards, you can cash it in for a $250 check."



Can you explain to me what this means?

We are on the "cash" rewards plan, not the "points". We get 1% on most purchases. You can cash out the rewards at different levels. At $50 in rewards, you can get a $50 check, at $100, you get a $100 check. But, at $200 in rewards, you can get a $250 check.

[ciaobella]

Thanks for the great recommendations! I am going to call Chase to ask more questions about the Freedom card and then do a comparison to the other recommended cards. Thanks everyone!

[Globetrotter]

I didn't even realize you could pay the mortgage with a credit card, and we pay utilities by check!!! :duh:

I have AmEx but not sure which plan.

[hellokitty1]

citi cash returns is 1% off everything with no cap and the check is sent automatically once you hit $50. this is a mastercard. sounds a lot like freedom but chase is a visa i think.

i just got the costco amex bc if the high rebate on restaurants (we eat out a lot!). it should be good but i hate not being able to redeem instantaneously. it is only once a year.

[hellokitty1]

No fee :) and no limit to reward. So in theory you could do something like make your monthly mortgage with the AmEx, then pay it off in full each month, getting 529 rewards the whole time.

I love free money!

you are able to pay your mortgage via cc?

[ciaobella]

We are on the "cash" rewards plan, not the "points". We get 1% on most purchases. You can cash out the rewards at different levels. At $50 in rewards, you can get a $50 check, at $100, you get a $100 check. But, at $200 in rewards, you can get a $250 check.

I called Chase and they gave me the above explanation and also told me that me 3 largest transactions each month, would give me 5% back. This is NOT what the brochure says, but it works well for me, so I am happy! Thanks!