Credit Card Rewards and Recommendations

The Something Awful Forums > Discussion > Ask/Tell > Business, Finance, and Careers > Credit Card Rewards and Recommendations

«‹›5 »

Small White Dragon: Nov 23, 2007; No relation.

ilkhan posted:

CSP Purchases via paypal count as normal purchases, not as cash advances, right?

Correct

# ¿ May 1, 2016 08:50

Adbot: ADBOT LOVES YOU

# ¿ May 13, 2024 22:21

Small White Dragon: Nov 23, 2007; No relation.

FunOne posted:

New 100k platinum offer from Amex. Very tempting to get that plus a card for my wife. Can I use the 200 fee credit to buy stickers on AA?

When I tried this once, it did not work for me.

# ¿ May 11, 2016 05:27

Small White Dragon: Nov 23, 2007; No relation.

Blinkman987 posted:

My new United Mileage Plus Explorer comes in the mail in a week. Is there a gimmick with Mileage Plus X to meet the spending requirement and eek out some extra value?

Edit: Buy Amazon gift cards for +2 mi/$1 in the app and then the +2 mi/$1 from the credit card itself?

I don't think you get 2 mi/$1 for MPX spend on the Mileage Plus card, but you will get a 25% bonus regardless of what card you pay on.

# ¿ May 21, 2016 12:42

Small White Dragon: Nov 23, 2007; No relation.

Amara posted:

If I wanted to get into rewards cards for points to fly with, and typically want to fly Delta due to hub locations, is there a particular card I should get or deal to look for? I'm planning on getting TSA precheck as well, and I remembers something from earlier this thread gave that free as a perk but don't know where to find it anymore.

What do you typically spend on?

For just point accumulation, if you don't need any of the associated benefits (e.g., free bag and the like), consider the Amex Everyday, Amex Everyday Preferred, or Amex Premier Rewards Gold. They are Membership Rewards cards, but transfer 1:1 to Delta.

# ¿ Jun 19, 2016 18:45

Small White Dragon: Nov 23, 2007; No relation.

Shadowhand00 posted:

I'm wondering whether the Sapphire Reserve can do the UnitedX workaround for Amazon GCs like the Amex cards can.

No, this is a quirk of the Amex processing network.

# ¿ Aug 23, 2016 07:05

Small White Dragon: Nov 23, 2007; No relation.

surrender posted:

although I applied for a Freedom Unlimited in the same night Then again, I work/live in sub-Saharan Africa, so I don't have any opportunities to use a credit card besides airfare and vacations.

Be aware that the Freedom Unlimited has foreign transaction fees.

# ¿ Aug 24, 2016 08:29

Small White Dragon: Nov 23, 2007; No relation.

DNK posted:

On that note, what's the best card to handle foreign transactions?

Probably a MasterCard of some sort. Visa's exchange rates are ~1% higher than market, and Amex/Discover are not as universally accepted as Visa/MC.

# ¿ Aug 25, 2016 01:57

Small White Dragon: Nov 23, 2007; No relation.

So apparently the CSR was been far more successful than Chase expected. They ran out of the heavier cards.

# ¿ Sep 3, 2016 20:40

Small White Dragon: Nov 23, 2007; No relation.

monster on a stick posted:

Nobody has commented on my fancy metal card.

I don't recall anyone ever commenting on the Sapphire Preferred even years ago. The Ritz Carlton card, on the other hand...

# ¿ Sep 9, 2016 22:32

Small White Dragon: Nov 23, 2007; No relation.

asur posted:

Why do you want to downgrade? I don't believe Chase prorates the fee so I'm not seeing the advantage in doing so.

I received a prorated AF refund when I downgraded my CSP to the FU. Although I've had the card a few years. Isn't the first year free, anyway?

# ¿ Sep 12, 2016 02:45

Small White Dragon: Nov 23, 2007; No relation.

Leon Trotsky 2012 posted:

Chase Freedom's 5% also includes drug stores, which usually have tons of gift cards and visa debit cards.

I have purchased Amazon gift cards at drug stores, so you can definitely go that route.

# ¿ Sep 19, 2016 00:08

Small White Dragon: Nov 23, 2007; No relation.

EugeneJ posted:

Will we ever see a straight 3% cash back card? Or would that eat into the card company's profit margins too much?

I think the JCB Marukai card is basically a 3% cash back card, although it's limited to certain states.

# ¿ Jan 15, 2017 08:59

Small White Dragon: Nov 23, 2007; No relation.

Waroduce posted:

Also the Amex Plat is a charge card....not a credit card....does that matter?

Charge cards generally require you to pay your bill in full every month, whereas credit cards only require you to pay a small portion of the balance every month (although, barring a serious emergency, you should never do that because you'll pay a crap-ton in interest charges.)

# ¿ Jan 27, 2017 23:36

Small White Dragon: Nov 23, 2007; No relation.

Waroduce posted:

if it is does it then matter that your statement will be effectively I guess $0 every single month.....

Not necessarily. Once the statement cuts, you have X amount of time to pay that statement amount without any interest accruing.

# ¿ Jan 29, 2017 07:02

Small White Dragon: Nov 23, 2007; No relation.

BAE OF PIGS posted:

I think there was some change in the law such that you can't pay student loans with credit cards at all anymore.

Which kind of annoys me because I didn't know that I could even do that before. It was never an option online, but I guess I could have always done it by phone.

You can always use plastiq, if you're willing to swallow the fee.

# ¿ Jan 30, 2017 20:18

Small White Dragon: Nov 23, 2007; No relation.

Anybody here tried the Citi National Bank Infinite Visa?

# ¿ Feb 23, 2017 05:40

Small White Dragon: Nov 23, 2007; No relation.

For all you Amex Plat users, they are apparently upping the annual fee to $550, adding a $15 monthly Uber credit, adding 5x category for FHR and amextravel.com hotel bookings, and making the card metal.

# ¿ Mar 2, 2017 09:34

Small White Dragon: Nov 23, 2007; No relation.

Thufir posted:

edit: I did cancel my Amex Plat yesterday. The retention agent: "Do you have the Chase Reserve? Yeah, we're hearing that a lot".

I don't think I've gotten a retention agent when I cancelled an Amex, at least in a long time. Usually it's handled by automated system. Wonder what I'm doing wrong.

# ¿ Mar 8, 2017 11:51

Small White Dragon: Nov 23, 2007; No relation.

pig slut lisa posted:

I just applied for my second ever Amex BGR Business card with no lifetime limitation language. Reading reports online, it seems pretty certain that my 75,000 MR will post...but will they get clawed back 2 months later? Here's hoping not, I'm rolling the dice!

Where's this offer? Is it targeted?

# ¿ Apr 15, 2017 02:49

Small White Dragon: Nov 23, 2007; No relation.

Amex is refreshing the Hilton card line. Apparently you can get Diamond status for $450 a year now.

# ¿ Nov 1, 2017 07:50

Small White Dragon: Nov 23, 2007; No relation.

astral posted:

These days, Barclay denies people for having 6 new cards from any issuer in the last 24 months. BoA denies based on how many BoA cards you hold/have applied for in various periods of time.

I've seen BoA deny for too many accounts opened independent of issuer.

Fell Fire posted:

I'm looking at going on a trip to France next semester and I'm trying to see if getting a new card for it is a good idea. The CSR seems like it might be a good choice (although I don't know if I'm booking the flight or if it is through the school the trip is with yet) but it also might be useful to get a card with a 0% balance to cushion the expense before any scholarship money comes in. I already have a Barclays Arrival, Discover IT, Chase Freedom, and AmEx BCE, so I've used some of the better cards that have a no interest period. Thoughts?

Just a heads up. Barclay offers Chip+PIN on their cards (when overseas), as far as I know none of the others do. This can really help you if you're at an unattended train station or something.

# ¿ Nov 23, 2017 07:00

Small White Dragon: Nov 23, 2007; No relation.

Are there still any good cards that offer a bonus for purchases at drugstores?

# ¿ Dec 29, 2017 02:30

Small White Dragon: Nov 23, 2007; No relation.

Erdricks posted:

How do people feel about the value of amex mr points? The $550 AF is crazy steep and the value of the other benefits are marginal because the centurion lounge in SFO is in a terminal totally disconnected from the terminal I frequent (meaning I would have to go through security twice).

Despite AA miles being poo poo, I am tempted to sign up for the no spend 60k deal just because the sheer amount may get me one down cent flight.

Fun fact - some of the cobranded Amex Plat (Morgan Stanley, Charles Schwab, .etc) cards can cash out MR for 1-1.25 cents each.

# ¿ Jan 12, 2018 00:31

Small White Dragon: Nov 23, 2007; No relation.

Any opinions on the new Hilton offerings?

# ¿ Jan 18, 2018 20:52

Small White Dragon: Nov 23, 2007; No relation.

Jerk McJerkface posted:

One note about United points, if you don't use them, and don't have an active United CC, the points expire. However you can click through the United milage store and buy something from a store, and you get some points but also it renews the entire bank of points. Since I cancelled my United card, and don't travel too much, I've kept my large bank of points alive for years by that method.

I recommend MileagePlus X. There's a lot of ways to earn points not duplicated elsewhere.

# ¿ Mar 5, 2018 02:59

Small White Dragon: Nov 23, 2007; No relation.

Jerk McJerkface posted:

I believe the Chase warranty only provides 90 days against damage. It doubles the regular-degular warranty, but does not include the extra protection that AppleCare does.

Apparently Chase is getting rid of return protection and price protection on a lot of its cards.

Also, revised/new IHG cards and Barclay's new transferable card sucks. What a week in credit cards.

Small White Dragon fucked around with this message at 04:23 on Apr 11, 2018

# ¿ Apr 11, 2018 01:16

Small White Dragon: Nov 23, 2007; No relation.

Any fans of the Biz Platinum 35% rebate?

# ¿ May 22, 2018 19:36

Small White Dragon: Nov 23, 2007; No relation.

Ur Getting Fatter posted:

Yeah. IIRC there was some card that restricted rewards to US establishments only.

Some American Express cards are this way.

# ¿ Jun 28, 2018 22:01

Small White Dragon: Nov 23, 2007; No relation.

I honestly don't think the CSR changes are that serious. I can understand some people being upset about price protection, but that benefit was ripe for abuse.

Something Offal posted:

This is a great post, thanks. What tips do you follow when it comes to transferring points for maximum value? Do you go to different carriers for hotels / flights and look to see how many points it would cost for their own loyalty program compared to the travel portal, for example? Unfortunately I'm a rare international traveler and I don't use the Priority Pass benefit.

You don't need to travel internationally to get those kinds of valuations. British Airways, for example, can be great for short-haul domestic non-stops on some of their partners. I've booked a few that worked out to about 2.66cpm.

# ¿ Aug 15, 2018 17:47

Small White Dragon: Nov 23, 2007; No relation.

asur posted:

It's for the same card and only applies to the signup bonus. So if you've had the PRG in the past you can't get the bonus for this revamped version, but you could still get the card if you wanted.

The system only seems to check several years back, so if it's been a while...

# ¿ Oct 7, 2018 04:04

Small White Dragon: Nov 23, 2007; No relation.

asur posted:

When they switched to lifetime it only checked back seven years, but I'm not certain if it's a moving window and haven't seen anything to indicate it is. Story I heard was they switched systems at that time point and presumably lost the data if you didn't have the card anymore but who knows.

I was able to get a bonus again after 6 years but YMMV.

# ¿ Oct 8, 2018 03:33

Small White Dragon: Nov 23, 2007; No relation.

hostile apostle posted:

Personally, I am weighing keeping the Amex Gold and dropping the CSR. Restaurant & grocery 4X put it over the CSR for me. I can definitely use the $10 grubhub credit once a month for takeout.

Yes, it makes MR extremely competitive, although I wish it had the 1.5cpp redemption that the CSR offers.

# ¿ Oct 13, 2018 05:33

Small White Dragon: Nov 23, 2007; No relation.

Fhqwhgads posted:

OK that's fine, but when I go to redeem points for travel (which would be the only reason I'd redeem points really), each CSR is worth 1.5x the amount. Wouldn't that effectively make restaurant points worth 4.5x on the CSR if you redeemed for travel?

If you redeem for paid tickets, yes. If you transfer to a airline/hotel program, then the comparison is potentially more 1:1.

(Also, if you have the Amex Business Platinum too, the valuation increases. Not sure if I'm willing to pay extra for that, however.)

# ¿ Oct 13, 2018 19:49

Small White Dragon: Nov 23, 2007; No relation.

You could always get a Gold or Platinum for the bonus and then upgrade/downgrade later. You may have to wait a year, though.

# ¿ Jan 19, 2019 21:31

Small White Dragon: Nov 23, 2007; No relation.

Meant Green or Platinum, sorry

# ¿ Jan 19, 2019 22:09

Small White Dragon: Nov 23, 2007; No relation.

Space Gopher posted:

They give 5 points per dollar, but MR points only redeem for cash at 0.6 cents/point. Total cash back is still just 3%.

Some of the cobranded Amex Plats let you cash out for 1.0 cents/MR (1.25 cents/MR for Schwab).

# ¿ Jan 30, 2019 07:58

Small White Dragon: Nov 23, 2007; No relation.

Apparently the Amex gift card loophole may be dead (or close to it).

gvibes posted:

Airplane internet and the rare checked bag, basically.

Be aware that inflight internet is often charged by a third party, and is thus ineligible!

# ¿ Feb 14, 2019 09:14

Small White Dragon: Nov 23, 2007; No relation.

Chimp_On_Stilts posted:

The $500/yr Delta card and vanilla Platinum card get equivalent Delta club access, while the vanilla also includes other lounges. So, Delta card still strictly worse.

It'd be hard for the fee waivers to amount to much value, but I guess for a limited set of people the MQDs might be valuable.

Or the economy companion pass, potentially.

# ¿ Mar 30, 2019 02:02

Small White Dragon: Nov 23, 2007; No relation.

astral posted:

Jerk McJerkface maintains a referral spreadsheet; I'd recommend opening a amex general referral link in a new incognito window, navigating to the plat card from there, then close it and try again if it doesn't get an elevated offer for 75k. It can be random (determined on opening based on location, existing cookies, and voodoo) whether it gives you the 75k offer or not.

Can/should we add other cards not listed?

# ¿ Apr 25, 2019 10:53

Adbot: ADBOT LOVES YOU

# ¿ May 13, 2024 22:21

Small White Dragon: Nov 23, 2007; No relation.

Xenoborg posted:

What category do amusement parks fall into and is there a better than 2% rewards card for them? Looking to spend 3k at universal studios.

I think some of the Citi ThankYou cards offer 2x points on entertainment.

# ¿ May 12, 2019 05:26

The Something Awful Forums > Discussion > Ask/Tell > Business, Finance, and Careers > Credit Card Rewards and Recommendations

«‹›5 »