Reward Credit Cards

**MonkeyMama** · 10-31-2013, 07:17 AM

I think you kind of missed the boat on this. The hay day of these rewards has defnitely passed - I mean regularly getting $500 for one credit card reward - which means $1,000 if you are married and double up on the same rewards). This did make for an excellent tax-free second income for us the past 2 or 3 years.

There are some links and blogs that keep up-to-date on good rewards, so maybe someone can share. (I got most my tips through MyMoneyBlog but he doesn't update as much amy more. CreditCardFree had a link?).

I think both Chase Sapphire and American Express Gold had $500-ish rewards this year (I missed them because was in the middle of tax season) so I am holding out for those to re-appear. Admittedly, I am extra picky because I opened and closed like 10 credit cards recently. Doing several more $100 rewards is a bit more problematic from a credit score perspective (I need a good credit score for my profession). So I do try to do less of them, but more bigger rewards. If you have less reasons to care about credit score, there is still the catch-22 that you need an excellent score to be eligible for these rewards. So it definitley matters.

I was excited to see a $500 Citi offer yesterday actually. (MyMoneyBlog posted it). When I had time later to look at the details, I thought, "Well Played, Citi!" They give you a $200 reward up front. & then if you also spend $3,000 NEXT YEAR they will give you the other $300. Plus, they will charge you a $125 annual fee. Which makes it a net $375 reward that takes over a year to accomplish. My thoughts on this are: "meh". It might be easier to just do one $250 reward every year (I just got $250 cash from Citi last week). No doubt Citi changed it up due to people like me.

{I did the $250 Citi because it was the best thing I had seen in a LONG time, and we hadn't opened one credit card this calendar year}.

**MonkeyMama** · 10-31-2013, 07:22 AM

P.S. You may also want to consider earning travel rewards instead? I don't know if free airfare and those kind of rewards might be more useful for yoru situation.

**disneysteve** · 10-31-2013, 08:01 AM

This isn't a game I play but there are still plenty of offers out there. I get them all the time but they aren't necessarily for cash. It is usually for some bonus related to the issuer. For example, if you sign up for a Marriott Visa, you get one free night as soon as you are approved and after 3 months, get 50,000 reward points which gets you up to a 7-night stay depending on the hotel (or a couple of nights at a nice luxury property). So that's probably worth $500 or so (minus the annual fee). There are a lot of those types of offers out there. Free flights. Free merchandise. That sort of thing.

**hamchan** · 10-31-2013, 08:43 AM

Last time I looked Alaska Air was offering enough free miles for a round trip ticket upon qualifying for their Visa card.

**creditcardfree** · 10-31-2013, 09:51 AM

I think it is best to do one card at a time, unless you can meet the spending requirements rather quickly with one transaction. The biggest thing is to keep track of what you are doing, so you don't miss a payment due date.

There are still good reward offers. I think you saw the NCFU for 60,000 reward points, which can be redeemed for airfare or $450. Chase Sapphire still has an offer for 40,000 reward points, earning $400.

**ProjectDebtRelief** · 10-31-2013, 11:25 AM

I have Chase Freedom and the rewards are OK, but take too long to accumulate imho. I don't use the card for the rewards only, so this isn't much of an issue to me. Family members who put everythingo n cards and pay it off every month have an AmEx and have had it for decades and love it for the rewards. That's $100 a year and not what I want to do, but if you are solely interested in a card that lets you take advantage of rewards, AmEx is likely your best bet.

**Wino** · 10-31-2013, 09:27 PM

I thank everyone for their input. I was speaking to DW this morning, and she's adamant, "I don't want any more credit cards." She has over 100,000 reasons for that sentiment, and even though I told her, "we're spending the money anyway, and you can close them as soon as you get the reward," she answered with a flat, "No." So much for earning $100 per month just for a bit of paperwork. Well, at least she gets to maintain her "deity level" credit rating.

With my travel now, it's all overseas, and I don't pick the airline. This month, I'm flying Emirates Airlines. Last week, I was on Gulf Air. The trip about three weeks ago was "Fly Dubai." I had like a million Continental miles (no exaggeration), but had to "use them up" when they merged with United (the worst airline in the world, ever) and the program added expiration dates to the miles unless you get their credit card. Anyway, air miles don't mean as much to me as they do to others. I get four round trips a year from the UAE to the US, and even though I've done two trips to Richmond in the last few months, I rarely fly when I'm not working. I fly more than enough when I am working, so flying while not working doesn't appeal to me.

That Amex platinum offer is tempting for the lounge access, but $450 per year is a bit steep. There's a local card here that gives me access, too, but they want... get this... $800 just to apply for it. OK, I'm "guaranteed" acceptance, but imagine how upset you'd be if you spent $800 to apply and then were turned down. Theoretically possible, however unlikely. This doesn't even mention the fact that I'm way too cheap to spend $800 for a piece of plastic that I don't really need. Besides, how many times would I have to use it to get $800 in perks out of it?

So much for this great idea. Thanks again for everyone's input.

**Financeman** · 11-01-2013, 04:16 PM

Capital One

The Capital One Quicksilver Cash Rewards Credit Card seems good not used it myself: no foreign transaction fee and no annual fee, and some good cashback. Good luck

**Wino** · 11-01-2013, 05:12 PM

Originally posted by Financeman View Post

The Capital One Quicksilver Cash Rewards Credit Card seems good not used it myself: no foreign transaction fee and no annual fee, and some good cashback. Good luck

Yeah. I was looking at that one. I'll have to clear it with DW. Since we're married, every card we get now is listed on both of our credit reports. There's no way I'd get a card "just for me" without telling her first. And, as I said, she's adamant about not getting any additional cards. If you know a stronger term for "adamant," substitute it above. "Violently opposed" might go slightly too far to describe her feelings on the subject.

**creditcardfree** · 11-01-2013, 05:48 PM

I think for the time being it is a good idea to respect your wife's wishes and not open any cards. My husband has been very reluctant, but I did eventually turn him around. It does help that I'm the one tracking everything.

**amarowsky** · 11-04-2013, 05:48 AM

I love the AMEX fidelity investment rewards card. 2% back on everything has been great! I'm glad this post came up though, it's probably been over a year since I thought about redoing my creditcard situation. I'm totally happy with the amex I got, but because so many places don't take it I keep the back up visa. My visa card is held together with tape, and the rewards are not great at all, so I think ill give one of those chase sapphire or different rewards cards a look. Planning on gettin lasik surgery done and buying a new fridge, so that could be two decent purchases right off the bat (as long as there is no fee) to cash in on some decent quick high purchase volume rewards.

Reward Credit Cards