inspird by Teresa's "savings" podcast :) best reward credit card?

[miss missy]

Hi all!!

First, We just booked Christmas at Disney!!!! We are going Dec 20-28 Sooooo excited!!! Skipping Christmas madness this year and going to relax at Disney!!!

Listening to Teresa's saving (awesome job Teresa!!) inspired me to look at things closely. Great ideas! So I got my bf logged in to his CC online (he never does these things all line) yikes! So I find his CC rewards and it is basically a 10% discount program. Useless!! He had this card for 35 years!! Changed to this reward card many many years ago without knowing about rewards. And with his usage that is a big waste!! He uses it a lot pays it off each month. If we get a good one, he will start to pay bills with it and get even more rewards

We want something that will allow travel and cash back. I have researched and there are sooo many! I like Capital One's "no hassle cash" so far.

But what do you all use???

 

[rlduvall]

I have the following:

CapitalOne - great card for airline usage, but not as good when airfares are so expensive. You get 2 miles for every $1. spent, but you aren't reimbursed based upon miles traveled, you are reimbursed based upon $$ spent for the airfare, i.e. $220. airfare is 22,000 points [always add 00 to the price to come up with your required points]. No blackout dates, any airlines and if you don't have enough in points for the airfare you purchased, you have up to 90 days to accumulate it before asking to be reimbursed. Yes, you can also get cash back, but it isn't as good as using towards airfare.

Disney Chase - I used to get good quarterly offers where 5% was given in Disney reward dollars, but nothing in a very long time. Standard 1% cash back [Disney reward dollars]. Not so great anymore.

Southwest Chase - SW had such a good offer recently I couldn't pass it up, 50,000 points toward airfare. No blackout dates and if the seat is available, it's available in points. I also love how SW is always giving you opportunities to earn extra points just by viewing videos and answering questions. Basically, only good for SW travel. There are other categories you can use the points, but using it through SW is the best usage.

Chase Freedom - this is my absolute favorite cash back card. You always have quarterly categories you can sign up and earn 5% up to $1,500. [$75. cash back] each quarter, plus the standard 1% cash back with no limits.

These are the cards that I use and pay off every month - which is critical to making them profitable. The yearly "rewards" make it easier to justify my solo vacations.

Edited: I forgot, I also use my Discover card when certain categories give me 5%.

 

[ougrad86]

I have Discover. It is a basic 1% cash back when you get to a certain level, and they have quarterly bonuses of 5% on select purchases. We use it for just about everything and then pay if off monthly. I always like the cash ones, did not need miles that might expire or be hard to use...what we make in a year can pay for our plane tickets. So I just get the cash and use it for whatever. You can also credit it to your account or use their rewards program catalog, but I take the cash to Disney! And then I use it there for even more!

There are others out there that are supposed to be better, but I don't want to be opening and closing credit card accounts. But the offers I get from Disney for Disney rewards are tempting!

 

[Cheshire Figment]

I use the Chase Marriott Rewards Premium card. I tend to stay at Marriott hotels.

The card does cost $65 after the first year.

However I get the following:

Automatic Credit for 15 nights. Since it takes 10 nights for Silver, 50 for gold, and 75 for platinum it gives me a head start. This year I am Platinum, but next year I will drop down to gold but possibly pick up platinum again.

A voucher good for a Category 1 thru 5 hotel for one free night. That covers about 90% of the Marriott hotels.

Five points per dollar spent at any Marriott property, two points per dollar spent at gas station, airlines, or grocery store, and one point on everything else.

Also, when I spend money at a Marriott, I will normally get ten points per dollar spent. As a silver member I get 11 points per dollar spent, as a golf member I get 12½ points per dollar spent, and as platinum I get 15 points per dollar spent.

So as a platinum member I get 20 points per dollar spent at Marriott for amounts charge to this card.

 

[miss missy]

Thanks everyone!!

Is Discover or Amex as good as Visa and Mastercard? I thought not everywhere takes Discover and Amex?

Anyone else??

 

[paulasillars]

If you are planning on travelling overseas - go Visa or Mastercard.

Amex, Diners and Discover aren't used so widely (Discover isn't one I've even heard of).

 

[simonkodousek]

Anyone know anything about the Delta cards? I'm getting my first CC in the next few months as a joint account with my parents, and I'm just wondering how fast the miles add up. They spend a lot of money on CC's and pay them off in full each month, if that makes a difference. As it is a joint account, mine will be paid off in full too.

Any thoughts?

 

[miss missy]

Anyone know anything about the Delta cards? I'm getting my first CC in the next few months as a joint account with my parents, and I'm just wondering how fast the miles add up. They spend a lot of money on CC's and pay them off in full each month, if that makes a difference. As it is a joint account, mine will be paid off in full too.

Any thoughts?

Dont know about Delta points. But a joint card still produces just one bill, so unless they are just "co signers" but the card usage is all yours, then one bill for all cards on that account.

If you don't pay it off monthly, then the points aren't a value, because the interest will wipe out any points value because points only are "extra money" if you have no interst charges.

 

[simonkodousek]

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[Boardwalkin]

Cash is king so I would say the AMEX Blue cash rewards card is the best. You get 3% at grocery stores, 2% at gas stations and 1% everywhere else with no annual fee. I will admit I use a US Airways card for the majority of purchases only because I get free airline tickets. It really comes down to personal choice.

 

[ougrad86]

Thanks everyone!!

Is Discover or Amex as good as Visa and Mastercard? I thought not everywhere takes Discover and Amex?

Anyone else??

There are some places that do not take AMEX. Once in a great while they will not take Discover, but I can't recall the last time that happened. I have a low interest VISA with cash rewards as well. We have it for high-cost emergencies or occasionally in the off chance that Discover is not accepted. I have had Discover since 1992- it is accepted alot more places now than it used to be - AMEX is the most difficult since I think they charge the highest vendor fees.

 

[disneysteve]

I think the "best" rewards program is one that is useful to you personally. We have 4 cards. Our main card is the Marriott Visa with all of the benefits mentioned above. As noted, there is a $65 annual fee but in return, you get one free night each year which is worth more than the fee so that's a wash. We have had the card for years and have redeemed 20 or more free nights during that time. Right now, we've got over 100,000 points on file which can get us up to 14 nights depending on the hotel.

Now if you don't travel much or don't stay at Marriott properties, this card would be worthless to you.

We also have a Chase rewards card (used to be the AOL Visa). That has a program that lets you redeem points for various things. We always choose cash. We also each have a Discover card but usually only use that for the 5% bonus categories.