Cash Back Rewards Cards Thread

[DLD PE]

My wife went to high school in Hawaii (military dad) and I've never been.  She said she always wanted to take me there.

 

[User1]

My wife went to high school in Hawaii (military dad) and I've never been.  She said she always wanted to take me there.

sw flies there!

 

[Master slacker]

BTW, my USAA CC has a cash back program that I cash out every month and apply to my CC bill.  I care not for material perks.  Gimme money.

 

[RBHeadge PE]

I used to travel 50% for work. I was racking up the hotel points and miles at a breakneck pace. I used to have two cc's, one for miles and one for hotels, and I'd split most of my purchases to further increase the accumulation of miles and points. The hotel affiliated card was really nice because it had all these extra benefits for international travel. I use my cc like a debit card, in that I only use it when I have funds to cover it in the bank and I am continuously paying things off. I've never carried a balance that accumulated interest.

I use points/miles for personal vacations. In the last eight years I haven't paid for an international flight or hotel. I'll only pay out-of-pocket for reasonable price domestic stuff. My wife and I do a LOT of exotic travel.

I eventually dropped the airline affiliated card. The benefits didn't add to my status, I was disgusted with the airline, wasn't worth the cost. The hotel affiliated card was outright superior and I used it for almost all expenses - save the ones other listed above.

I'm not sure it's worth it for a travel card unless you do a lot of travel for work, charge a lot of purchases, or otherwise have a base means of accumulating points via traditional sources. In a neutral environment, the cash back card is probably the best. But travel is hobby of ours, so I get a lot of non-monetary benfits from those types of cards. OTOH, I just got lifetime platinum at a hotel chain, so maybe I don't need those card related benefits anymore? In which case the cash back is better.

BTW, airlines have changed the way that miles are redeemed and that system is barely worth it anymore. I drained most of my airline accounts last year for a big trip to South America.

 

[Road Guy]

We pretty much just have the Chase visa card and put 90% of our purchases on it and take the cash back. I dont recall the % back but its usually a sizable amount.  For us we just prefer to put everything in one basket to maximize the return on that and not have 5 different card to keep up with.

Some months you get 2% back for gas purchases so we maximize that since we have a fleet of vehicles.

We haven't had the ability to travel as much because we have 3 dependa's.  We did get the southwest card for a year we had some flights coming to take advantage of the 75K points but we cancelled it after that because were not big on annual fees -  There wasn't much benefit of keeping the card since the yearly fee was close to paying for one flight.  We may re-evaluate if the travel picks up when dependent #3 graduates HS.

& we do have the costco card, but dont really use it unless we make a large purchase like tires, because the chase gives us a better reward than the costco card does even using it at costco (which is weird)

 

[DLD PE]

We pretty much just have the Chase visa card and put 90% of our purchases on it and take the cash back. I dont recall the % back but its usually a sizable amount.  For us we just prefer to put everything in one basket to maximize the return on that and not have 5 different card to keep up with.

We haven't had the ability to travel as much because we have 3 dependa's.  We did get the southwest card for a year we had some flights coming to take advantage of the 75K points but we cancelled it after that because were not big on annual fees -  There wasn't much benefit of keeping the card since the yearly fee was close to paying for one flight.  We may re-evaluate if the travel picks up when dependent #3 graduates HS.

Thanks.  If you don't mind me asking, which Chase card do you use?  Those seem to work best for those who just want 1-2 cards and don't want to keep up with 5 different ones.

 

[Road Guy]

Chase Freedom

 

[Orchid PE]

Am I allowed to post this here? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jZPpudUMGUU 

It's a really good listen.

 

[Road Guy]

One example, Chase Freedom has 5% back on fuel purchases January - March - 

 

[MA_PE]

I get that every little bit helps,  you need to spend $100 to $5 back.  I’m lucky? If I spend $20 a week so that’s hardly an incentive to me.  If your gassing up the fleet or getting <10 mpg maybe it’s worth it.

 

[Road Guy]

We drive a **** ton... But its a no annual fee card is why we like it. But the every little bit does add up..

 

[MA_PE]

FWIW I’ve had a Sears Citi MasterCard for a while.  I got it years ago when I was buying something at sears and got an automatic 20% off or something.  I hardly ever used it for a few years, some concerts have Citi pre-sales so I’d use.  Recently I’ve been getting emails of deals on the card.  10% back on travel expenses, restaurants, gas, etc. to a maximum of $60/month.  I’ve started using the card more (we eat out a lot).  I think they’re desperate because sears is essentially gone so they’re trying to build the reputation back.

and its a no annual fee

 

[Orchid PE]

I like how my BoA checking account gives me different cash back deals. So I get to use a debit card and still get some cash back. It's not always great deals, but sometimes I get like 5% back at places like Lowe's, which works out if I time it out when I need to make a big purchase.

 

[MA_PE]

My Bof A MasterCard hasn’t offered me sh$t for deals.   I’ve had it for years with 12% rate (that I never use) and no annual fee which is why I’m using the Sears card more recently