Have reward cards changed your behavior?

[Like2Plan]

I was reflecting on how my behavior has changed when it comes to CC use. 10 years ago, I would have never thought of using a CC to make a grocery purchase. Now, I would charge a pack a gum (to get the reward points), if I could. What caused the change? My local grocery store offered a 5% cash back rebate. The 5% rebate is long gone, but there are still plenty of reward cards available.
I have become addicted to the convenience of using a CC. As a result, I don't ever routinely carry my checkbook with me and I carry very little cash--even when traveling.
Anyone else?

[MonkeyMama]

Indeed. I pay all the utilities I can - & the littlest purchases with credit card. With most of the fast food now taking credit cards I find little need to carry cash. I only use cash if I am spending like $2 or less.

We also have put some car purchases on credit cards - anything for the rewards. For joint gifts or joint things we always volunteer to pay and get reimbursed - more rewards - yay!

If not for the rewards I can't say I would put much on the card but every day purchases for convenience. Instead we try to cram everything conceivably possible onto our cards.

[Joan.of.the.Arch]

Yes, I now put everything possible on one of two reward cards. Pay off at end of month, of course!

[MonkeyMama]

OF course! Rewards are useless if you are paying those insane interest rates.

[disneysteve]

Absolutely. We use a Marriott Premier Visa card. We charge everything we possibly can to the card to maximize rewards. We also try to remain loyal to Marriott hotels when we travel since we earn points from staying at Marriotts also. Before, we would stay wherever we got the best deal. Now, I always check Marriott first. Even if the Marriott is a couple of dollars more, I'll usually stay there because the reward points partly make up for the higher price. If it is a big difference, we'll stay at the cheaper place, but if it's close, we'll pick the Marriott.

On the other end, it has changed behavior when traveling certain times because we get to use those points that we've accumulated. For example, this summer, we are going to New Hampshire for 2 weeks. I was able to arrange it so that 10 of those nights will be free using Marriott points. The only reason the other 4 aren't free is because we are visiting an area that has no Marriotts. So on trips when we want to use points, we need to keep that in mind when picking our hotel to get the best value for our points.

Just yesterday, DW and I spent the night at the Renaissance Hotel in Rutherford, NJ, just outside of NYC. We went up for our anniversary. Why did we pick that hotel? We had a free night certificate that we got from the credit card. That was the nicest hotel close enough to the city for which the certificate was valid. Had we not had that certificate, we never would have stayed there. So it definitely changed our behavior.

[disneysteve]

We also use our Discover cards to take advantage of their 5% cashback bonus deals, like gasoline currently. Normally, we don't use our Discover cards, but for the next 3 months we will use them for all our gas purchases.

[safari]

My behavior hasn't changed. I always charge all purchases to credit cards, and the rewards are just an added bonus.

[jmjj215]

I misunderstood the question I think. My behavior has changed regarding rewards in that I charge much more on a CC than I used to. But overall spending because of the rewards has remained flat.

[mwgr5]

My spending levels have not changed, but I will use the reward cards to make purchases that I would have previously done with cash, check, or debit card.

[disneysteve]

My spending levels have not changed, but I will use the reward cards to make purchases that I would have previously done with cash, check, or debit card.

Same here. How much I spend has nothing to do with how I pay. I just charge everything to maximize rewards earned.