2% credit card?

[rh71]

Do you currently have any other BOFA or Citi credit cards?

Happy to help.

No BoA but Citi double cash. Why do you mention Citi here?

 

[RossMAN]

No BoA but Citi double cash. Why do you mention Citi here?

Both credit card issuers offer a controlled payment number, basically a virtual one time use credit card number.

It's great for magazine subscriptions or shady vendors such as Rakuten.com (formerly Buy.com)

https://www.bankofamerica.com/privacy/accounts-cards/shopsafe.go
https://www.cardbenefits.citi.com/products/virtual-account-numbers.aspx

 

[JEDI]

the only 5% rotating category I almost max out in a quarter is restaurants.
unfortunately this year both Chase and Discover had their 5% restaurant in the same quarter.

and since you can redeem rewards at Discover for giftcards at a slightly higher value (ie: $40 rewards gets you a $45 starbucks giftcard), chase freedom hasn't been used at all this year.

 

[RossMAN]

the only 5% rotating category I almost max out in a quarter is restaurants.
unfortunately this year both Chase and Discover had their 5% restaurant in the same quarter.

and since you can redeem rewards at Discover for giftcards at a slightly higher value (ie: $40 rewards gets you a $45 starbucks giftcard), chase freedom hasn't been used at all this year.

My favorite 5% quarters listed in order:

1) Restaurants.
2) Amazon.com or any online.
3) Supermarkets.

 

[duragezic]

Please link that, I've never seen that before.
https://www.discover.com/credit-cards/credit-card-rewards.html
looks like the double cashback for the first year promo is still going too.

Yah it took me a bit to find again. I remember reading it a couple years ago too.

It seems it may require you to login to your account to view it:

https://www.discovercard.com/cardmembersvcs/rewards/app/programTerms

If that doesn't work, login to your account -> top of page -> Rewards -> 5% Cashback Bonus -> Cashback Bonus Program Terms and Conditions -> All Other Purchases

 

[uhohs]

Yah it took me a bit to find again. I remember reading it a couple years ago too.

It seems it may require you to login to your account to view it:

https://www.discovercard.com/cardmembersvcs/rewards/app/programTerms

If that doesn't work, login to your account -> top of page -> Rewards -> 5% Cashback Bonus -> Cashback Bonus Program Terms and Conditions -> All Other Purchases

hm, weird that we're getting/seeing different things.

All Other Purchases
Earn 1% Cashback Bonus on all purchases other than Program Purchases. At the end of each billing period, we calculate your Cashback Bonus by multiplying the total amount you spent on all other purchases by 1% (.01).

 

[Muse]

And I always muck up the rotating categories. Like I'll get 5% on Amazon on the Discover, think "okay time to order Amazon stuff I've been meaning to for months", and then use the Chase. I've put through multiple $250+ orders on the wrong card over the years, LOL.

Right now, until the end of September it's 5% rebate on Amazon purchases with my Discover card. I've done several. Amazon charges always default to my Amazon 3% cash back CC, but when there's an Amazon 5% cash back bonus on one of my other cards (i.e. Chase Freedom or Discover), I switch to that. I think that once October rolls around there will be a 5% rebate using the Chase Freedom cards, coinciding with the expiration of the one with Discover. Or maybe Discover will have a blanket 5% cash back on "holiday" online purchases for the 4th quarter like they did last year.

 

[uhohs]

The Discover 5% categories for Oct-Dec are:
Amazon.com, Department Stores, and Clothing Stores

It was better last year with "Online Purchases"
:~

 

[AznAnarchy99]

The Discover 5% categories for Oct-Dec are:
Amazon.com, Department Stores, and Clothing Stores

It was better last year with "Online Purchases"
:~

Does Louis Vuitton count as a clothing store? I want to buy a wallet lol.

 

[vshah]

why pay $95fee for a 2% card on travel when the fidelity amex card gives you 2% for everything?

good point - forgot to mention I use it for the various shopping bonus offers as well. plus I kinda like the metal card, which is dumb.

my Coin is supposed to arrive in a couple weeks, so hopefully I can stop carrying all of these around all the time.

 

[AznAnarchy99]

why pay $95fee for a 2% card on travel when the fidelity amex card gives you 2% for everything?

Because it's not a pure CB card. Points are worth 1.25 cents in the UR portal for travel or if you transfer to travel partners you could get a ton more.

For example, I just booked a room at the Hyatt in Boston that cost $1800 for 60,000 points, essentially netting me 3 cents per point.

The only other card that has access to the portal/transfers is the Chase Ink Plus

 

[uhohs]

Yeah, UR points are pretty good, been stockpiling them for a while. I'll eventually get a Ink plus card when I need to transfer them.

 

[duragezic]

hm, weird that we're getting/seeing different things.

Oh yah yours is different for sure. Under my "All other purchases" is a table describing the 0.25% until you spend $3000 thing. I'm getting hosed.

 

[uhohs]

Oh yah yours is different for sure. Under my "All other purchases" is a table describing the 0.25% until you spend $3000 thing. I'm getting hosed.

Ah! Looks like you have the old Discover More card and not the Discover it.
You should probably get it product changed over unless there's some benefit to the More I'm not seeing.
https://www.nerdwallet.com/blog/credit-cards/discover-more-review/

 

[Deeko]

Personally, I use a trio of cards:

1) American Express Blue Cash Preferred - 6% groceries, 3% gas, 1% everything else (default)
2) Chase Sapphire - 2% travel, 1.25x bonus when redeeming for travel
3) Amazon Visa - 3% on Amazon

I realize this means I'm paying fees on two cards, but I've done the math on both, and it works - I was just doing Amex for a long time, but now that I pay for an expensive Amtrak pass every month, the Chase card's double points there become worth it's annual fee. Technically the 1% default on Amex isn't "good enough", but very few of my purchases end up in that category.

I also have a Citi card that has rotating 5% categories - I'll use that where necessary. It tends to be 5% on retail and electronics for the Christmas quarter which is pretty awesome.

 

[duragezic]

Ah! Looks like you have the old Discover More card and not the Discover it.
You should probably get it product changed over unless there's some benefit to the More I'm not seeing.
https://www.nerdwallet.com/blog/credit-cards/discover-more-review/

I didn't know it was named "More" but that sounds like it. I had it since 2007. Yes it seems like the other one is superior. I should see if I can have it changed to that.

 

[Muse]

Sallie Mae card has my attention but drilling down I see a potential problem. From this thread:

5% on gas purchases for the first $250 in purchases each month.
5% on grocery store purchases for the first $250 in purchases each month.
5% on bookstore purchases for the first $750 in purchases each month. Amazon codes as a bookstore and as such you can get 5x points on Amazon purchases (as long as the item is sold by Amazon)
1% on everything else (including when you pass the $250/$750 thresholds in the various categories)

At this site it says:

Sallie Mae may distinguish between groceries purchased at supermarkets versus grocers. From what we've seen, the 5% rewards typically gets applied on groceries purchased from smaller grocery stores.

This has me wondering if I'll get 5% or 1% credit for purchases at my favorite market, a sort of supermarket (the Berkeley Bowl East sits in a former Safeway). I also wonder about Safeway, Trader Joe's. Costco I figure no way, I have to use my Costco card. All those make up most all of my groceries purchases.

What do they call "groceries?"

 

[Muse]

Have you ever filed a claim with one of the other companies? In my experience you fill out the form online at Amex and have your money back the next day. I don't want to deal with the other BS I have heard the competitors put you through.

Talk about some BS, today I applied online for the BankAmericard Better Balance Rewards card that pays out $25/quarter as long as you make the minimum payment monthly (extra $5 if you bank with BofA). I was instantly approved, it said my card would arrive in 7-10 business days. I wander off and do some other computing and later notice that the screen says Timeout (for the tab title) and on the page:

Your credit card application session has timed out due to inactivity
For your safety, your session was timed out and your application information was not saved. If you'd like to re-apply for a credit card, please start your application again.

I'm WTF, I guess I didn't click through to completion, I have to apply again. So, I apply again and at the end of the process (after inputting the identical same info), it says my application is pending... WTH! There's a link on the page to find out the status of your application, I hit that and I see two separate applications each with a unique application ID. One says:

Decision:
Congratulations, your credit card application has been approved! You will receive your credit card within 7 to 10 days and the Welcome Package within 10 to 14 days at the address you provided.

The other says:

Your application is in review. Thanks for choosing Bank of America. We're carefully reviewing your application and need to check a few more things. We appreciate your patience.

We'll also send you a letter in the mail after we've completed processing your application. If we have any questions, we'll call you.

I'm thinking this is fucked up and I figure I should contact them. I have another BofA card, so I call their CS number and get a live person and explain. He says I'll get the approved card with the welcome package and I'll get a letter telling me I've been denied for the other. I'm thinking this stinks, couldn't that impact my credit rating? I ask to talk to someone there, so I can complain that their site is fucked up. He says he can only transfer me to CS. He initiates that, I get dropped from the line (dial tone). I call back, the CSR transfers me to some department and that fails too and I give up!

 

[uhohs]

Sallie Mae card has my attention but drilling down I see a potential problem. From this thread:



At this site it says:



This has me wondering if I'll get 5% or 1% credit for purchases at my favorite market, a sort of supermarket (the Berkeley Bowl East sits in a former Safeway). I also wonder about Safeway, Trader Joe's. Costco I figure no way, I have to use my Costco card. All those make up most all of my groceries purchases.

What do they call "groceries?"

With the Sallie Mae card I've gotten 5% at Trader Joes, Ralphs, Albertsons, 99cents store, Smart n Final, Chinese markets(99 Ranch, 168, HK, Hawaii), Mexican markets(Valumart, Super A), some Walmarts (the two closest Walmarts to me code as different types of stores.)

 

[Muse]

With the Sallie Mae card I've gotten 5% at Trader Joes, Ralphs, Albertsons, 99cents store, Smart n Final, Chinese markets(99 Ranch, 168, HK, Hawaii), Mexican markets(Valumart, Super A), some Walmarts (the two closest Walmarts to me code as different types of stores.)

How do you figure out what stores get the 5% credit? Trial and error? How does Sallie Mae make their determination?

I look at my CC statements and generally can't figure out whether a particular purchase is associated with a credit. Seems strange.

 

[kranky]

Yeah, UR points are pretty good, been stockpiling them for a while. I'll eventually get a Ink plus card when I need to transfer them.

I recommend against "stockpiling" any type of points reward, because inevitably they will be devalued at some point.

 

[RossMAN]

This has me wondering if I'll get 5% or 1% credit for purchases at my favorite market, a sort of supermarket (the Berkeley Bowl East sits in a former Safeway). I also wonder about Safeway, Trader Joe's. Costco I figure no way, I have to use my Costco card. All those make up most all of my groceries purchases.

What do they call "groceries?"

I would highly recommend reading this entire thread and copy/pasting into a Notepad document portions you'd like to save for future reference.

Here are some other useful links especially the first one (hint: try a variety of Google searches for MasterCard merchant category codes):

http://thepointsguy.com/2014/09/using-merchant-category-codes-to-maximize-bonuses/

http://creditcardforum.com/blog/sallie-mae-credit-card-review/

http://ficoforums.myfico.com/t5/Cre...C-Possibly-one-of-the-best-cards/td-p/1958049

I'm thinking this is fucked up and I figure I should contact them. I have another BofA card, so I call their CS number and get a live person and explain. He says I'll get the approved card with the welcome package and I'll get a letter telling me I've been denied for the other. I'm thinking this stinks, couldn't that impact my credit rating? I ask to talk to someone there, so I can complain that their site is fucked up. He says he can only transfer me to CS. He initiates that, I get dropped from the line (dial tone). I call back, the CSR transfers me to some department and that fails too and I give up!

I would not apply again or call BOFA's regular customer service phone number, yes I know you have an existing credit card with them. Refer to the SD thread which should have a BOFA phone # to their credit decision department - that's who you want to speak with. If you're not satisfied with the answers or knowledge they provide, politely request they transfer you to a supervisor.

 

[Xonim]

This has me wondering if I'll get 5% or 1% credit for purchases at my favorite market, a sort of supermarket (the Berkeley Bowl East sits in a former Safeway). I also wonder about Safeway, Trader Joe's. Costco I figure no way, I have to use my Costco card. All those make up most all of my groceries purchases.

What do they call "groceries?"

Safeway & TJ's will count as groceries for 5%. Costco counts as a wholesaler, which means just the 1%.

Some SuperTarget and SuperWalmart locations code as groceries, but I'd say 90%+ code as some variety of wholesaler or retailer meaning you're more likely to be stuck with the 1% from there.

 

[JEDI]

How do you figure out what stores get the 5% credit? Trial and error?

yes

 

[Muse]

How do you figure out what stores get the 5% credit? Trial and error?

yes

Can you elaborate? I have inspected the statements I get in the mail and not seen anything one way or the other. Not with the Sallie Mae, I don't have it yet, but with my other rebate cards (e.g. BofA 2% VISA groceries card).