# Cash Back Rewards Cards Thread



## DLD PE (Feb 12, 2020)

My wife and I have the Costco Credit Card and their cash back rewards program is pretty good, but wondering if you guys know of any better ones out there since we really don't shop there as much anymore.  We fly Southwest 1-2 times a year but not sure if we should get a Southwest rewards card or just stick to one of the newer cash back cards like Chase Blue Saphire or Capital One Venture.

Thoughts anyone?  @tj_PE, @jean15paul_PE?


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## Edgy Cheesy Graphite PE (Feb 12, 2020)

I've often thought about doing lots of research on nerdwallet.com , but I've never actually done it. I'd like to know how to maximize the value of my cards.


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## User1 (Feb 12, 2020)

sooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo I'm pretty into collecting credit card signup bonuses which can benefit you in many ways besides just flights. 

but, i recently booked a $16000 value business class ticket for $1300 out of pocket (300 of that was surplus for choosing special seats) and my miles that I've saved up...this will be my first ever business class trip and i'm super fucking pumped.


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## DLD PE (Feb 12, 2020)

My wife is the type who would only want to use one card for most of our purchases.  Not one for gas, one for groceries, one for travel.  Is that pretty much the best way to maximize the value?  If it is, maybe I can convince her.

If not, and we only want to use one card, which is the best to use?


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## User1 (Feb 12, 2020)

I don't ever spend more than i can pay off in a month (besides my first month with a mortgage payment on my first house because i didn't understand some key elements and it only cost me like 3 dollars lol) 

and i have some premium cards that offer me protections and fancy benefits I never even considered having.


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## DLD PE (Feb 12, 2020)

tj_PE said:


> sooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo I'm pretty into collecting credit card signup bonuses which can benefit you in many ways besides just flights.
> 
> but, i recently booked a $16000 value business class ticket for $1300 out of pocket (300 of that was surplus for choosing special seats) and my miles that I've saved up...this will be my first ever business class trip and i'm super fucking pumped.


Wow $16000 for a plane ticket?


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## User1 (Feb 12, 2020)

MEtoEE said:


> My wife is the type who would only want to use one card for most of our purchases.  Not one for gas, one for groceries, one for travel.  Is that pretty much the best way to maximize the value?  If it is, maybe I can convince her.
> 
> If not, and we only want to use one card, which is the best to use?


would she be open to using one card until you got to x amount which = sign up bonus miles money points, and then switching to the next? like always only using one card, but it rotates? that's kinda how i operate.


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## User1 (Feb 12, 2020)

MEtoEE said:


> Wow $16000 for a plane ticket?


YES i would never spend that much, that's just the cash value of the ticket i booked.


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## DLD PE (Feb 12, 2020)

I have a 45 minute commute one way, so I thought about getting a good gas card.  I figured with automatic draft, my wife wouldn't mind having multiple cards, but she's the one in charge of finances so....


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## DLD PE (Feb 12, 2020)

tj_PE said:


> would she be open to using one card until you got to x amount which = sign up bonus miles money points, and then switching to the next? like always only using one card, but it rotates? that's kinda how i operate.


That's exactly what I was thinking.  Back in the day, we would rotate with cable/satellite carriers (Time Warner, Dish Network, DirecTV).  We would get the promotion, and a year or two later after the promotion ended, just switch to a different company to take advantage of THEIR promotion lol.  Worked like a charm.  Now we just do live streaming (YouTube TV) through internet.


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## User1 (Feb 12, 2020)

a major wealth of knowledge and where I've learned my preferences and priorities is on 

https://10xtravel.com/

@MEtoEE I would probably recommend the Chase Sapphire Preferred to start. 60,000 points for 4,000 spend in 3 months. it has a 95 dollar? annual fee, but has various travel protections and other things that come with it, that I find valuable.


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## DLD PE (Feb 12, 2020)

I wonder if you can pay your mortgage with it.  That would be a good way to rack up points.


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## User1 (Feb 12, 2020)

MEtoEE said:


> That's exactly what I was thinking.  Back in the day, we would rotate with cable/satellite carriers (Time Warner, Dish Network, DirecTV).  We would get the promotion, and a year or two later after the promotion ended, just switch to a different company to take advantage of THEIR promotion lol.  Worked like a charm.  Now we just do live streaming (YouTube TV) through internet.


yeah so apply that to the travel cards and when you guys decide to do a fun trip somewhere you'll have a multitude of cards to travel with! 

I would probably recommend the Chase Freedom or Unlimited for gas. freedom usually gives you 5x on gas for at least one quarter of the year, and unlimited gives you 1.5 on everything. Sapphire is something like 2x on travel and dining or something and 1x on the rest.


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## User1 (Feb 12, 2020)

MEtoEE said:


> I wonder if you can pay your mortgage with it.  That would be a good way to rack up points.


negative


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## User1 (Feb 12, 2020)

i mean, you can, but you have to use a service that charges crazy fees to do so. so maybe if you need help meeting a signup bonus but not in general practice.


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## DLD PE (Feb 12, 2020)

I guess I have homework to do lol


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## User1 (Feb 12, 2020)

happy to answer questions!


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## ChebyshevII PE PMP (Feb 12, 2020)

MEtoEE said:


> I wonder if you can pay your mortgage with it.  That would be a good way to rack up points.


I don’t use credit cards, but I do know that this would be a big no-no.


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## User1 (Feb 12, 2020)

just saying I booked my night before SE hotel room so i dont have to drive up in traffic, for $2 out of pocket


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## DLD PE (Feb 13, 2020)

tj_PE said:


> happy to answer questions!


I know for a fact all 3 of us are flying to North Carolina via Southwest.  Should we still get the Chase Freedom or Sapphire?


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## User1 (Feb 13, 2020)

MEtoEE said:


> I know for a fact all 3 of us are flying to North Carolina via Southwest.  Should we still get the Chase Freedom or Sapphire?


yes, I would get both eventually. The freedom gets you 5x in certain categories every quarter, and the sapphire lets you apply those points toward travel with a 25% bonus on redemptions (ie, a 400 dollar plane ticket would cost you $320 worth of points) 

then, toward the end of this year, i would recommend getting two different southwest cards (under one person), hitting the minimum spend requirements for both in jan/feb, and gain the SW companion pass for TWO years (if acquired in 2021, it's good til end of 2022)

that's what i'd do! because you'd build a base of chase UR points, get a ton of southwest points, be able to add little one as companion and he flies for free, and use points to book your flights for a while!


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## User1 (Feb 13, 2020)

(you can also transfer chase UR points to southwest to fly)


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## Master slacker (Feb 13, 2020)

Simple guy chiming in!  Mrs. MS and I have one card (well, one for her and one for me - same number) for everything.  We've used a single card for nearly 13 years now.  We use USAA for mortgage, CC, checking, savings, insurance, etc...  Again, simple.  Life's already too hectic, why inject more trouble?


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## DLD PE (Feb 13, 2020)

Master slacker said:


> Simple guy chiming in!  Mrs. MS and I have one card (well, one for her and one for me - same number) for everything.  We've used a single card for nearly 13 years now.  We use USAA for mortgage, CC, checking, savings, insurance, etc...  Again, simple.  Life's already too hectic, why inject more trouble?


Appreciate your input.  You're able to use yours to pay your mortgage?


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## User1 (Feb 13, 2020)

Master slacker said:


> Simple guy chiming in!  Mrs. MS and I have one card (well, one for her and one for me - same number) for everything.  We've used a single card for nearly 13 years now.  We use USAA for mortgage, CC, checking, savings, insurance, etc...  Again, simple.  Life's already too hectic, why inject more trouble?


if you don't want to you don't have to. but if you can get more out of your regular spending by switching which card you pull out of your wallet, why not go for it?


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## User1 (Feb 13, 2020)

MEtoEE said:


> Appreciate your input.  You're able to use yours to pay your mortgage?


i think they have the mortgage thru usaa


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## DLD PE (Feb 13, 2020)

tj_PE said:


> i think they have the mortgage thru usaa


Makes sense.


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## mudpuppy (Feb 13, 2020)

TJ and I have a travel hacking PM that's been going on for two and a half years... So imagine our excitement when someone brings this up in a public thread!

The first thing I'll say is the credit card game can be a slippery slope, you'll be tempted to get more and more cards, and outside of cashback cards each one works with a different currency.  Sometimes you can find extraordinary value with each currency, but keeping track of each and managing them can be complicated and time consuming.  Sometimes there are great deals with points, but finding them isn't always easy and sometimes they vanish in an instant.  However, as engineers we enjoy the analytics of figuring out the best deals with each currency and the payoff in the end can be awesome.  

For some people it's a fun hobby and for others it may just be a PITA to keep track of everything and in that case a good cashback card is a great option.

I managed to get two free first-class tickets to Hawaii for our honeymoon and paid for more than half our hotel nights there (13 nights total) with points.  And this year we're going to Ireland for a week for free (free flights and hotel) with Delta miles.

The down side is I'm sitting on 600,000 Hilton points (worth around $3,000) and I'm not sure yet what I'm going to do with them.  I'd love to use them on a villa in the Maldives, but that's a big commitment for using vacation time.  And TJ finally convinced me to get a Chase Sapphire Reserve that I'll rack up a bunch of Ultimate Rewards points on that I'm also not quite sure what I'll use for yet... but hoping maybe to snag a couple business class tickets to Tahiti.  

As for the Southwest question, if you really want to fly with them I'd second what TJ said about getting the two cards to earn the companion pass.  If I recall correctly, that gets you priority boarding and some other perks too.


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## Master slacker (Feb 13, 2020)

tj_PE said:


> if you don't want to you don't have to. but if you can get more out of your regular spending by switching which card you pull out of your wallet, why not go for it?


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## User1 (Feb 13, 2020)

I don't carry all my cards at once. I carry 1-2 cards, transit pass, my ID, and whatever cash i have on hand. 

and i don't keep receipts


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## JayKay PE (Feb 13, 2020)

tj_PE said:


> I don't carry all my cards at once. I carry 1-2 cards, transit pass, my ID, and whatever cash i have on hand.
> 
> *and i don't keep receipts*


you're a monster.

I keep mine until I can add them to my budget/confirm they cleared the c/c account, and then I toss them.


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## User1 (Feb 13, 2020)

JayKay PE said:


> you're a monster.
> 
> I keep mine until I can add them to my budget/confirm they cleared the c/c account, and then I toss them.


i just review my transactions like once every couple weeks


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## JayKay PE (Feb 13, 2020)

tj_PE said:


> i just review my transactions like once every couple weeks


To reiterate: you're a monster.

...but I do think it's interesting to see everyone's spending methodologies more than their habits.  For some reason that is way more interesting to me/a less discussed item.


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## User1 (Feb 13, 2020)

mudpuppy said:


> TJ and I have a travel hacking PM that's been going on for two and a half years... So imagine our excitement when someone brings this up in a public thread!
> 
> The first thing I'll say is the credit card game can be a slippery slope, you'll be tempted to get more and more cards, and outside of cashback cards each one works with a different currency.  Sometimes you can find extraordinary value with each currency, but keeping track of each and managing them can be complicated and time consuming.  Sometimes there are great deals with points, but finding them isn't always easy and sometimes they vanish in an instant.  However, as engineers we enjoy the analytics of figuring out the best deals with each currency and the payoff in the end can be awesome.
> 
> ...


priority depends which sw card you get, but yeah. 

hyatt has some fantastic properties!! i have like 140k in marriott but i also have the free night certificates from the card so i always end up using those. nice that i can transfer marriott points to some airlines though! that was an option when i was looking at my south africa trip

I was sitting on like 80k united 80k american and like 300+k chase points. used the united and some chasetounited transfers, and my american points for my 3 leg biz class tix and i get to fly in the new united polaris cabin!!!!!!!!!!! eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee im just so excited to be able to lay down on a flight!!!


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## mudpuppy (Feb 13, 2020)

Master slacker said:


>




Yep, that's what my wallet looks like!


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## MA_PE (Feb 13, 2020)

@tj_PE and @mudpuppy you guys must spend a lot of $$$ to get the big credit rewards.  Do you do a lot of work travel?  When you cash in rewards/points you don’t get any additional points so how do you replenish the stash.  Without getting too personal how much are you charging a month?  From my review of the terms from the many offers I receive in the mail, one needs to spend some fatty money to get substantial benefits and most of them have annual fee of ~$100.


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## Orchid PE (Feb 13, 2020)

I need to figure out some way of getting points/cash back for my driving miles lol. I drive a sh!t ton of miles every month, but don't spend a lot on gas.


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## User1 (Feb 13, 2020)

MA_PE said:


> @tj_PE and @mudpuppy you guys must spend a lot of $$$ to get the big credit rewards.  Do you do a lot of work travel?  When you cash in rewards/points you don’t get any additional points so how do you replenish the stash.  Without getting too personal how much are you charging a month?  From my review of the terms from the many offers I receive in the mail, one needs to spend some fatty money to get substantial benefits and most of them have annual fee of ~$100.


I've accumulated them over about a year and a half - two years. @mudpuppy gets to use his personal cards for big business expenses. Mine is mostly from signup bonuses. They're usually $1000-4000 in 3 months. For the higher ones, I time them when I have big purchases coming up like exam / course fees, big travel purchases etc. a couple card signups I was able to charge a trip for 3 people and be reimbursed for their portions which worked out well. 

I spend maybe about 1k a month. plus or minus. on (future) travel, food, and I'm able to pay all of my utilities with my cc. my big trips i go on, require prepaid stuff, so I pay those a few at a time so the trip doesn't cost a bunch in one month.


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## mudpuppy (Feb 13, 2020)

MA_PE said:


> @tj_PE and @mudpuppy you guys must spend a lot of $$$ to get the big credit rewards.  Do you do a lot of work travel?  When you cash in rewards/points you don’t get any additional points so how do you replenish the stash.  Without getting too personal how much are you charging a month?  From my review of the terms from the many offers I receive in the mail, one needs to spend some fatty money to get substantial benefits and most of them have annual fee of ~$100.


All of my work travel has to go on a company card, which sucks!

But yeah, a good portion of my hilton points came from sign up bonuses, which usually require $3-4k in spend in 3 months to get the bonus.  We spend about $40k/year on credit cards personally and as TJ mentioned I've been lucky enough to put about $20k/year in expenses from a nonprofit I work with on my own cards, but that will end next year when I'm no longer treasurer.

I charge everything I possibly can on a credit card without adding a fee.  It adds up pretty quickly when you consider utility bills, insurance, groceries, gas, eating out, etc.  We were able to put the deposit on buying my car on a card too.  About the only things I don't put on a card are the mortgage and property taxes, and a tiny bit of spending cash for random stuff.

I'm jealous of my friend that owns a business and puts $800k/year on credit cards.


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## DLD PE (Feb 13, 2020)

mudpuppy said:


> TJ and I have a travel hacking PM that's been going on for two and a half years... So imagine our excitement when someone brings this up in a public thread!
> 
> The first thing I'll say is the credit card game can be a slippery slope, you'll be tempted to get more and more cards, and outside of cashback cards each one works with a different currency.  Sometimes you can find extraordinary value with each currency, but keeping track of each and managing them can be complicated and time consuming.  Sometimes there are great deals with points, but finding them isn't always easy and sometimes they vanish in an instant.  However, as engineers we enjoy the analytics of figuring out the best deals with each currency and the payoff in the end can be awesome.
> 
> ...


Thanks for the info and congrats on your honeymoon!

We're not really travelers (I don't even travel for work) and any traveling we do is for family lately.  Southwest just has the best prices for direct flights from Nashville to Raleigh.  We've never had a problem flying with them.


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## DLD PE (Feb 13, 2020)

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


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## User1 (Feb 13, 2020)

MEtoEE said:


> 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!


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## Master slacker (Feb 13, 2020)

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.


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## RBHeadge PE (Feb 13, 2020)

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.


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## Road Guy (Feb 13, 2020)

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.

&amp; 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)


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## DLD PE (Feb 13, 2020)

Road Guy said:


> 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.


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## Road Guy (Feb 13, 2020)

Chase Freedom


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## Orchid PE (Feb 17, 2020)

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

It's a really good listen.


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## Road Guy (Feb 21, 2020)

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


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## MA_PE (Feb 21, 2020)

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 &lt;10 mpg maybe it’s worth it.


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## Road Guy (Feb 21, 2020)

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


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## MA_PE (Feb 21, 2020)

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


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## Orchid PE (Feb 21, 2020)

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.


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## MA_PE (Feb 21, 2020)

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


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