American Express Cash Rebate Card (up to 5%)

[SuperShaz]

Now, I know this card is a little old but I did a lot of searches and couldn't find much public opinion about it. Does anyone have this card? I'm looking to replace my Amex Blue card because the "points" that I gather don't seem to be worth a lick to me, and they stopped the pricematch program so the card doesn't really help me out at all. I usually use my Discover with 1% cashback but they recently changed that program to where it only gets .5% until you reach a certain threshold ($3000 I think). When I saw the 5% cashback for amex it sounded nice.

It has the following note:

Your annual cash reward for everyday purchases at stand-alone U.S. supermarkets, drugstores, gas stations and home improvement stores is up to 3%. Your annual cash reward for all other purchases is up to 1.5%. You will receive an additional rebate of up to 2% for purchases in months in which your account carries a balance. Your cash rewards are limited to $50,000 of eligible spending.

Even 1.5% sounds good but I worry about the "up to" because my Discovercard says "up to 2%" and it really only gets .5% like I said. So if anyone has any opinions or perhaps a better credit card deal please comment.
- Shaz

p.s. - sorry that this isn't a exactly a hot deal. Feel free to flame me or lock the thread if you feel its necessary.

 

[UF Jspec]

So far (2 months), I am fairly disappointed with the card. I am gettingf about .2% right now. It is not even worth it. The only time I think you get a decent rebate is if you carry a balance, which I don't do.

Plus, you may want to move this to Off Topic

 

[sumrtym]

Should be OT.

HOWEVER, I will provide a better deal....get an REI VISA card. 10% back on regularly priced merchandise at REI when using the card, and 1% on all purchases at other than REI. Pays off I think in April of the following year, and can either be redeemed as store credit or request a check (cash) back instead.

Got a heck of a lot of respect for that company.

 

[BigSmooth]

I have the Costco AmEx cash rebate card, it's an OK deal but really not much better than using your debit card. You only get .25% on the first $2000 charged, .5% on the next $3000, and 1.5% after that. You get a bonus .5% for revolving a balance, which I do by just paying $1 less than the total I owe each month. So the max is 2%.

Even trying to take full advantage of the system (paying online to minimize finance charges, revolving the $1 balance like I said) the cash rebate barely makes up for the interest I've paid this year, and I've spent over $11,000 on the card. You can't completely eliminate the finance charges because they are calculated based on your average daily balance. You'd have to buy everything on the very last day of the billing cycle and then pay it off online as soon as it was posted to pay the very minimum in interest charges.

All in all, not a "great" rewards card. I'll probably look elsewhere after this year is up. 5% would be a better deal, obviously.

 

[wayway8]

After researching, I went with the AMEX Gold Rewards card for the BVG and miles. But I'm pretty sure from my research that practically ALL cash back rebate cards have thresholds you must surprass to reach certain % backs. For example, you need to pass $2000 to get back .25%, or $1000 to get 1% or something like that.

 

[dcb322]

If you are looking for a pure cash rebate card...a few different companies offer them. I've used the Discover card in the past and you don't hit the 1% tier until you spend a few thousand first. So basically its not all that great.

I have an ExxonMobil MC which gets you 3% back at all Exxon and Mobil Gas stations and 1% back on all other purchases. You get the 1% rebate right away so no need to spend X amount of dollars before you reach it. They credit your account with the rebate the following month for all ExxonMobil purchases. So basically you get cash back for gas, which you need to buy anyway (unless you don't drive...hehe.)

I believe Citibank also offers a 1% cash rebate card, but I haven't really looked at it closely. If you stick w/ an amex card, go w/ one that offers points instead as I've calculated that it equates to a 1% rebate.

 

[geldrop]

I strongly recommend the citibank 1% back card. Its great, i just got a check in the mail for 120 dollars. And my friend over at CMU puts his tuition on the card and gets like 300 dollars back just off a years tuition.

 

[spinn]

I heard on the radio that AMEX Gold card is offering to waive the 1st year fee for new applicants.

 

[vegetation]

I like the Discover card rewards. You can buy up borders gc's and ebay 'em if you don't want to use it for 80% of its value easily. The fact I can cash out monthly, rather than annualy, makes it an even better value. BTW, if you don't charge tens of thousands of dollars a year then any reward card is not really going to make anything other than chump change for you. These are geared for people who spend a lot!

 

[dealonfire]

The "Upto 5%" claim is nothing but a marketing gimmick.

First of all, most likely you would not want to carry a balance in order to earn "1 to 2%" extra cash rebate, you are just paying a little less interest.

It says you can earn upto 3% for supermarket, gas station..etc purchase. HOWEVER, what it doesn't tell you up front is the purchases for supermarket gas station..etc are counted SEPARATELY with all your other purchases. So get .25%x2=0.5% on the first $2000 SUPERMARKET, Gas Station..etc purchases, .5%x2=1% on the next $3000, and 1.5%x2=3% after that.

That means, you only start earning 3% supermarket, gas station purchase AFTER you have spent $5000 in that category alone.

Charges that doesn't belong to the supermarket, gas station "everyday" purchases category are counted separately, for that category, you earn 0.25 for first $2000, .5% for next $3000, and 1.5% after that..

If you can't spend more than $5000 on "everyday" purchases in a year, you are mostly likely worse off then using a flat 1% card.

I think the chase stockback cash rebate card is pretty good, it's flat 1% plus "ebates-like" automatic rebate when you shop online, check the list of participating merchants and cash rebate percentages for chase stockback mastercard . I like it because it's more convienient than ebates. And there is no annual fee of course.

 

[bonk102]

Originally posted by: sumrtym
Should be OT.

HOWEVER, I will provide a better deal....get an REI VISA card. 10% back on regularly priced merchandise at REI when using the card, and 1% on all purchases at other than REI. Pays off I think in April of the following year, and can either be redeemed as store credit or request a check (cash) back instead.

Got a heck of a lot of respect for that company.

very good company, i may hve to look into this card now

 

[lundog22]

I am very confused by all the credit card offer...

Just got approved for the AE Blue but now it sux?

Should I use Discover or CitiBank Master?

Or should I get a better AE card??

 

[SuperShaz]

Originally posted by: dealonfire
I think the chase stockback cash rebate card is pretty good, it's flat 1% plus "ebates-like" automatic rebate when you shop online, check the list of participating merchants and cash rebate percentages for chase stockback mastercard . I like it because it's more convienient than ebates. And there is no annual fee of course.

Interesting. How is it more convenient than ebates? You still have to go through a special link in order to get the cashback, right? If not, why can't you combine it with ebates for some real nice deals?

- Shaz

 

[ashartzer]

I think that you can combine Ebates with Stockback, I don't think there are links for Stockback that you have to go through in order to get the additional % off.......
I have the card, but haven't tried, will post if it works...

 

[Squisher]

Well, I'm going to give the cash rebate card a try. I purchase about $4000 of stuff a month on my GM Card and have got the max every year I owned it, but GM is discontinuing my ability to combine the GM Card with my employee discount.

For me the potential to get money back is high with the cash rebate card.


BTW-I charge everything I can and never carry a balance. I took $2800 off the price of my wife's car(Z28) that I got in may and $266 off the car I bought today(TrailBlazer).

 

[Azurik]

AMEX far by has the best customer service of a credit card company I know. Green card is NOT a bad cash rebate.. but it's not really the best either.

 

[SuperShaz]

Just as an FYI, I tried to do some calculations on my current credit cards and here are my findings.

My Discover card has averaged around 0.4% cashback over the last 5 months, in which time I've charged around $3200. My cashback bonus anniversary date is in July. So in theory that percentage should keep rising as I keep buying things until July 2003, but even in the end it's impossible to reach a 1% average.

My Amex Blue seems to give 1 point for every 1 dollar that I spend. I don't think you can turn points into cash, but you can buy things. From the looks of the prices, it appears that 200 points = $1, which means its equivalent to about a 0.5% reward, but since you can't turn it into cash this goes in the suck pile. I'll probably keep buying things with Blue though just because of the extended warranty and return policies.

Since many of you have suggested cards that give a flat 1%, thats probably what is best for me. I'll probably dump my discover card soon in favor of one of those.

Thanks

 

[SuperShaz]

Originally posted by: ashartzer
I think that you can combine Ebates with Stockback, I don't think there are links for Stockback that you have to go through in order to get the additional % off.......
I have the card, but haven't tried, will post if it works...

I just found this information on the stockback.com website

In order to receive Stockback rewards for your online purchases at any of our online retailers, you MUST login to Stockback and go through a retailer's link on the Stockback website to make your purchase. If you go directly to the retailer's website, you will not receive your Stockback rewards. When you click on a retailer's link from the 'Shop Online' page, a new window will open at the retailer's website. Simply make your purchase without leaving the retailer's website and that's it! Rewards will show up in the 'Pending Activity' section of your Stockback account within 30 days of your purchase. If you leave the retailer's site before making your purchase, you will have to start again by clicking the retailer's link on the Stockback website to insure that your rewards are tracked.

For online shopping, you can use any credit card that the retailer accepts to earn the reward advertised on Stockback's website. To earn an additional 1% reward on your purchases, you must use the Stockback MasterCard from Chase.

Theres more on this page. It also says that if you use a coupon or promotional code with your purchase then you probably won't get your stockback reward. That kind of stinks, but it does still give 1% no matter what. Thats nice.

 

[w0lfe]

I recommend the REI Visa Card. 1% cash back on all purchases.

There is a one-time $15.00 fee to become an REI member. But with membership, you get 10% back on all your REI purchases.

 

[ShowdOWN]

i have over 12000 points from amex blue and it doesnt seem like its worth squat either. i just got the cash rebate card in about 2 weeks ago but havent used it yet. from what you guys are telling me, im gona be disappointed with it also since i do not carry a balance.

 

[dethman]

citibank dividends plat is flat 1%. have to accrue $100 for a check though.

 

[DrOrville]

When I looked at the amex points, I saw that for 20,000 points you can get a $200 gift certificate to dell. And since you get double points for some purchases (gas, groceries, wireless phone bill, etc.) you can probably get to that mark at a fair pace. Since I'm sure I'll spend 200 dollars at dell anyway, it kinda works out to be like a little over a 1% return. The annual fee for the card will get reimbursed through BVG over the year anyhow, so I'll work out ahead there. Also, it gives me another excuse to by computer junk for myself! Holla!
-Dr Orville

 

[alluu]

I use 3 Amex cards and love the customer service.

The original Platinum Cash Rebate - .25% on the first $2000 charged, .50% on the next $3000, and 1.5% after that. Bonus .25% for carrying balances which I do not so max is 1.5% for me. Last year I ended up with a rebate of $90 or .80% of my purchases.

Amex Blue - only when I need points turned into Southwest Rapid Reward Credits at the end of a cycle 2500 points = 2 credits. 16 credits or 4 round trip flights = 1 free ticket. If you wanted to put a value on the ticket, they go for about $270 on ebay or craigslist or 1.4% rebate. I'm sure everyone has their own value for the points.

Starwood Preferred Guest Card - has BVG, free the fast year and $39 annual fee after that. The BVG makes up for the cost alone. $1 = 1 point. I combine those points with the ones I get for staying at their hotels when traveling and you get free rooms, upgrades, etc. I just ended up converting converting $5000 points for a $75 GAP gift certificate...perfect for Christmas shopping.

 

[Chang10is]

The best CC for cash back, in my opinion, is the Shell Platinum Visa. You get 1% cash back on all purchases towards Shell gas purchases, and 5% back on Shell gas. I have the AE cash rebate card, and the main draw of this card is the customer service that AE offers. In particular, I like the automatic warranty extension that the card offers on items you purchase (only when purchased on the card, of course). Say you buy a CD burner that has a 1-year warranty. Instead of paying $10-15 to buy an extended protection plan (which you shouldn't really be buying anyway--you almost always lose money with those things), your warranty is automatically extended a year for no extra charge. The cash rebate is minimal unless you're spending a *whole* lot of money. Another card worth looking at the the Exxon/Mobil card, which gives you 3% cash back on gas, and 1% cash back on all other purchases.

 

[Azurik]

Agreed with what you guys are saying. I carry both the American Express Gold Business Card and American Express Blue. I use the Gold for things I will PM later down the road, and you can enroll in the basic membership rewards for free. The Blue is STILL a good card, just not as good as it was when it had BVG. Membership points work about 1% for me, considering I convert it to Staples $25.00 GC or $25 GAP GC. AMEX rules!