Best rewards for a CC?

[James Bond]

I know there are some good threads on this elsewhere, so I was hoping someone could point me in the right direction.

I'm looking for a card with decent rewards that would suit me well. I have a few "larger" expenses that I use my CC on every month in addition to daily purchases.

 

[FelixDeCat]

I had the Citibank AA card. I earned 25,000 miles after just $750 in spending.

 

[mikelish]

I love my Chase Freedom. It's a Visa card that gives me 3% back on the top 3 things I spend the most on (up to $12/mo) and 1% on everything else. You also start off with $50 free and if you save up to $200 they mail you a check for $250. I got my first check for $250 a couple months ago.

No annual fee.

 

[FDF12389]

I use penfed or navy federal.

 

[Suspicious-Teach8788]

can we not have like 10 of these threads a month?

The BEST rewards by far is cashback.

Your best cashback cards are:

- Chase Freedom
- Discover More
- AMEX TrueEarnings (if you don't have Costco membership, settle for Blue Cash card instead)

BTW Blue Cash is not that great unless you spend a BUTTLOAD of money on that card.

 

[James Bond]

Originally posted by: DLeRium
can we not have like 10 of these threads a month?

The BEST rewards by far is cashback.

Your best cashback cards are:

- Chase Freedom
- Discover More
- AMEX TrueEarnings (if you don't have Costco membership, settle for Blue Cash card instead)

BTW Blue Cash is not that great unless you spend a BUTTLOAD of money on that card.

I do have a Costco membership - would you recommend the AMEX or Chase card? I'll look up details on both of them right now, but any opinions are welcome 🙂

 

[marketsons1985]

Originally posted by: James Bond

Originally posted by: DLeRium
can we not have like 10 of these threads a month?

The BEST rewards by far is cashback.

Your best cashback cards are:

- Chase Freedom
- Discover More
- AMEX TrueEarnings (if you don't have Costco membership, settle for Blue Cash card instead)

BTW Blue Cash is not that great unless you spend a BUTTLOAD of money on that card.

I do have a Costco membership - would you recommend the AMEX or Chase card? I'll look up details on both of them right now, but any opinions are welcome 🙂

I have both. Since costco only accepts AMEX and not the chase card, I get my 1% back (2% if you're a premium member) there. You also get 3% back on gas, restaurants, and 2% on travel.

I like the chase more now because it's 3% on your top purchases, so I use it for groceries and restaurants that don't accept AMEX.

Then I've got my chase rewards card...I get 5% back on gas / drug stores 🙂 but they don't offer that to new customers anymore 🙁

 

[darkxshade]

Anyone look at their Chase freedom rewards regularly? It seems like I only get 1% even though my top purchases has been listed in several categories. I racked up about $1150 in purchases for the month of April and only got a cashback of 11.xx even though it listed my top purchases(gym membership, telecom, others). In fact the category I spent the most on didn't even make the list ($5xx on swimming lessons). Not quite sure how it works.

 

[James Bond]

Originally posted by: darkxshade
Anyone look at their Chase freedom rewards regularly? It seems like I only get 1% even though my top purchases has been listed in several categories. I racked up about $1150 in purchases for the month of April and only got a cashback of 11.xx even though it listed my top purchases(gym membership, telecom, others). In fact the category I spent the most on didn't even make the list ($5xx on swimming lessons). Not quite sure how it works.

That's what I'm a little confused about. Do I have to pre-classify what my top purchases will be? Or will it look through my statement and figure out what cost the most, then give me 3% back of each one of those?

 

[marketsons1985]

Check on your statement, it lists "rewards earned on purchases" as 1% cash back, then above that should be "Bonus earners in top categories"

 

[Suspicious-Teach8788]

Originally posted by: marketsons1985

Originally posted by: James Bond

Originally posted by: DLeRium
can we not have like 10 of these threads a month?

The BEST rewards by far is cashback.

Your best cashback cards are:

- Chase Freedom
- Discover More
- AMEX TrueEarnings (if you don't have Costco membership, settle for Blue Cash card instead)

BTW Blue Cash is not that great unless you spend a BUTTLOAD of money on that card.

I do have a Costco membership - would you recommend the AMEX or Chase card? I'll look up details on both of them right now, but any opinions are welcome 🙂

I have both. Since costco only accepts AMEX and not the chase card, I get my 1% back (2% if you're a premium member) there. You also get 3% back on gas, restaurants, and 2% on travel.

I like the chase more now because it's 3% on your top purchases, so I use it for groceries and restaurants that don't accept AMEX.

Then I've got my chase rewards card...I get 5% back on gas / drug stores 🙂 but they don't offer that to new customers anymore 🙁

Both cards are awesome as said. Choose wisely where you spend your 3% though (with the Chase card). I also have the Citi Dividend card that everyone and their mom had but since they cut their 5% to 2% it's practically worthless. However, if your 3% on your Chase card happen to go into other categories, I still use the Citi card for some other stuff.

Mint.com is awesome though. They will recommend you some cards based on your spending and what not, but usually AMEX TrueEarnings and Chase Freedom show up as the top recommended picks for cashback.

 

[James Bond]

Originally posted by: marketsons1985
Check on your statement, it lists "rewards earned on purchases" as 1% cash back, then above that should be "Bonus earners in top categories"

So it automatically takes the three largest purchases and gives you 3% back, in addition to the 1% back on ALL purchases?

 

[marketsons1985]

Originally posted by: James Bond

Originally posted by: darkxshade
Anyone look at their Chase freedom rewards regularly? It seems like I only get 1% even though my top purchases has been listed in several categories. I racked up about $1150 in purchases for the month of April and only got a cashback of 11.xx even though it listed my top purchases(gym membership, telecom, others). In fact the category I spent the most on didn't even make the list ($5xx on swimming lessons). Not quite sure how it works.

That's what I'm a little confused about. Do I have to pre-classify what my top purchases will be? Or will it look through my statement and figure out what cost the most, then give me 3% back of each one of those?

You spend, it figures out what you spent the most on. It's a little finicky sometimes (i.e. it differentiates between quick-service restaurants and full-service).

Here's the portion of the statement you'll look at. Notice it's got the top 5 categories I spent money on (I'm a recent college grad, so not too much spending yet, hence the low rewards).
Text

 

[marketsons1985]

Originally posted by: James Bond

Originally posted by: marketsons1985
Check on your statement, it lists "rewards earned on purchases" as 1% cash back, then above that should be "Bonus earners in top categories"

So it automatically takes the three largest purchases and gives you 3% back, in addition to the 1% back on ALL purchases?

Yes. It'l work out on the statement at 1% on all purchases, and then 2% additional on top 5 categories, for a total of 3% on top categories.

 

[ivan2]

Chase now have 2 cards that are quiet good:

Chase Freedom - 1% off on everything and if you earn up $200 they give you $250 cash. I think all of freedoms are now Visa Signatures, comparable to AMEX Gold cards that you can buy cheaper broadway tickets, but i don't know if it is as good.

Chase Perfect Card - It is a Mastercard with 1% on everything and 3% on gas. I use it just for gas. If you have a card with chase already that has a low rate you can change that to one of these cards. Or you can try to get them to give you a low rate (for example, 7.99% fixed).

Regarding Blue Cash, I thought it only gives good cash back if you carry over a huge of balance (like 10k balance to get that 5% return, but less than 1% if you don't have balance)? It wasn't for me because of that.

 

[Suspicious-Teach8788]

Originally posted by: marketsons1985

Originally posted by: James Bond

Originally posted by: marketsons1985
Check on your statement, it lists "rewards earned on purchases" as 1% cash back, then above that should be "Bonus earners in top categories"

So it automatically takes the three largest purchases and gives you 3% back, in addition to the 1% back on ALL purchases?

Yes. It'l work out on the statement at 1% on all purchases, and then 2% additional on top 5 categories, for a total of 3% on top categories.

Interesting. I never really calculated my rewards ever. I just asked my mom who used to do a quick check on her AMEX TrueEarnings and she said it was accurate. Since then I've never bothered to check my rewards and I just assume it goes through. Of course my rebate checks each year tell me SOMETHING's going through....

Originally posted by: ivan2
Chase now have 2 cards that are quiet good:

Chase Freedom - 1% off on everything and if you earn up $200 they give you $250 cash. I think all of freedoms are now Visa Signatures, comparable to AMEX Gold cards that you can buy cheaper broadway tickets, but i don't know if it is as good.

Chase Perfect Card - It is a Mastercard with 1% on everything and 3% on gas. I use it just for gas. If you have a card with chase already that has a low rate you can change that to one of these cards. Or you can try to get them to give you a low rate (for example, 7.99% fixed).

Regarding Blue Cash, I thought it only gives good cash back if you carry over a huge of balance (like 10k balance to get that 5% return, but less than 1% if you don't have balance)? It wasn't for me because of that.

Very true about Blue Cash, however I see people recommending it time and time again. The first 5k or so only gets like 0.5% for everything else and 1% for those 3 big categories. Only then do you get 5%/1% afterward. It's not that great.

I think it's like $11k or $13k (I calculated in some other thread) just to get a total 3% cashback to even match Chase Freedom. We all know that not everyone takes AMEX so good luck racking up $11k in charges on that card for Gas, Restaurants, and Drugstores or whatever those categories you get 5% cashback in is...

 

[Brainonska511]

I remember the days of the 5% gas/groceries/drugstores, 1% everything else Citi Dividend Card (plus, there was a way to get extra cash back from certain online merchants). Then they decided to make the program "better," by reducing the 5% to 2% and adding on utilities and cable to the higher cashback category. At that point, I called up Citibank, since my card was expiring soon, and had them give me a Premier Pass card instead (1 thankyou point per dollar spent, 1 thankyou point for every 3 miles flown with a ticket purchased on the card).

 

[CRXican]

I use the old school Citi Dividend card exclusivley. Might be time to check out the Chase Freedom.

 

[mchammer187]

Originally posted by: mikelish
I love my Chase Freedom. It's a Visa card that gives me 3% back on the top 3 things I spend the most on (up to $12/mo) and 1% on everything else. You also start off with $50 free and if you save up to $200 they mail you a check for $250. I got my first check for $250 a couple months ago.

No annual fee.

They cancelled that benefit at least to new cardholders

http://www.chasefreedomnow.com/offer_details/

I see the old 3% on top 3 categories on their other site http://chasefreedomrewards.com/

however you cannot apply for that card anymore

my vote goes for Pentagon Federal Visa

5% cash on gas (works at sams club - which is cool because the Amex 5% gas card doesn't rebate from places like Sam's /Costco/ BJ's if you buy gas their)

2% groceries

1.25% on everything else

that amount is automatically deducted from your balance every month

 

[James Bond]

Originally posted by: mchammer187

Originally posted by: mikelish
I love my Chase Freedom. It's a Visa card that gives me 3% back on the top 3 things I spend the most on (up to $12/mo) and 1% on everything else. You also start off with $50 free and if you save up to $200 they mail you a check for $250. I got my first check for $250 a couple months ago.

No annual fee.

They cancelled that benefit at least to new cardholders

http://www.chasefreedomnow.com/offer_details/

I see the old 3% on top 3 categories on their other site http://chasefreedomrewards.com/

however you cannot apply for that card anymore

my vote goes for Pentagon Federal Visa

5% cash on gas (works at sams club - which is cool because the Amex 5% gas card doesn't rebate from places like Sam's /Costco/ BJ's if you buy gas their)

2% groceries

1.25% on everything else

that amount is automatically deducted from your balance every month

Wait - they cancelled the 3% thing? Ugh... I literally just finished applying.

Edit: I don't see anything enticing about the Chase card anymore... But I already applied - Am I stuck with it now 🙁

 

[mchammer187]

Originally posted by: James Bond

Originally posted by: mchammer187

Originally posted by: mikelish
I love my Chase Freedom. It's a Visa card that gives me 3% back on the top 3 things I spend the most on (up to $12/mo) and 1% on everything else. You also start off with $50 free and if you save up to $200 they mail you a check for $250. I got my first check for $250 a couple months ago.

No annual fee.

They cancelled that benefit at least to new cardholders

http://www.chasefreedomnow.com/offer_details/

I see the old 3% on top 3 categories on their other site http://chasefreedomrewards.com/

however you cannot apply for that card anymore

my vote goes for Pentagon Federal Visa

5% cash on gas (works at sams club - which is cool because the Amex 5% gas card doesn't rebate from places like Sam's /Costco/ BJ's if you buy gas their)

2% groceries

1.25% on everything else

that amount is automatically deducted from your balance every month

Wait - they cancelled the 3% thing? Ugh... I literally just finished applying.

What link did you use to apply

because the first link has 3% on stuff that changes every quarter not 3% on your top 3 categories

like first quarter you will get 3% gas, groceries, hotel for 3 months

next 3 month its utilities, clothing, restaurants etc.

the 2nd link i posted you can't apply to anymore

or did you apply for a different card than either of those 2

 

[James Bond]

Originally posted by: mchammer187

Originally posted by: James Bond

Originally posted by: mchammer187

Originally posted by: mikelish
I love my Chase Freedom. It's a Visa card that gives me 3% back on the top 3 things I spend the most on (up to $12/mo) and 1% on everything else. You also start off with $50 free and if you save up to $200 they mail you a check for $250. I got my first check for $250 a couple months ago.

No annual fee.

They cancelled that benefit at least to new cardholders

http://www.chasefreedomnow.com/offer_details/

I see the old 3% on top 3 categories on their other site http://chasefreedomrewards.com/

however you cannot apply for that card anymore

my vote goes for Pentagon Federal Visa

5% cash on gas (works at sams club - which is cool because the Amex 5% gas card doesn't rebate from places like Sam's /Costco/ BJ's if you buy gas their)

2% groceries

1.25% on everything else

that amount is automatically deducted from your balance every month

Wait - they cancelled the 3% thing? Ugh... I literally just finished applying.

What link did you use to apply

because the first link has 3% on stuff that changes every quarter not 3% on your top 3 categories

the 2nd link i posted you can't apply to anymore

I applied on http://www.chasefreedomnow.com/

Edit: Where do you see the quarterly 3% thing? That would be good enough...

 

[mchammer187]

Originally posted by: James Bond

Originally posted by: mchammer187

Originally posted by: James Bond

Originally posted by: mchammer187

Originally posted by: mikelish
I love my Chase Freedom. It's a Visa card that gives me 3% back on the top 3 things I spend the most on (up to $12/mo) and 1% on everything else. You also start off with $50 free and if you save up to $200 they mail you a check for $250. I got my first check for $250 a couple months ago.

No annual fee.

They cancelled that benefit at least to new cardholders

http://www.chasefreedomnow.com/offer_details/

I see the old 3% on top 3 categories on their other site http://chasefreedomrewards.com/

however you cannot apply for that card anymore

my vote goes for Pentagon Federal Visa

5% cash on gas (works at sams club - which is cool because the Amex 5% gas card doesn't rebate from places like Sam's /Costco/ BJ's if you buy gas their)

2% groceries

1.25% on everything else

that amount is automatically deducted from your balance every month

Wait - they cancelled the 3% thing? Ugh... I literally just finished applying.

What link did you use to apply

because the first link has 3% on stuff that changes every quarter not 3% on your top 3 categories

the 2nd link i posted you can't apply to anymore

I applied on http://www.chasefreedomnow.com/

yeah that is 3% on different categories that change quarterly

1% on everything else

 

[mchammer187]

Originally posted by: James Bond

Originally posted by: mchammer187

Originally posted by: James Bond

Originally posted by: mchammer187

Originally posted by: mikelish
I love my Chase Freedom. It's a Visa card that gives me 3% back on the top 3 things I spend the most on (up to $12/mo) and 1% on everything else. You also start off with $50 free and if you save up to $200 they mail you a check for $250. I got my first check for $250 a couple months ago.

No annual fee.

They cancelled that benefit at least to new cardholders

http://www.chasefreedomnow.com/offer_details/

I see the old 3% on top 3 categories on their other site http://chasefreedomrewards.com/

however you cannot apply for that card anymore

my vote goes for Pentagon Federal Visa

5% cash on gas (works at sams club - which is cool because the Amex 5% gas card doesn't rebate from places like Sam's /Costco/ BJ's if you buy gas their)

2% groceries

1.25% on everything else

that amount is automatically deducted from your balance every month

Wait - they cancelled the 3% thing? Ugh... I literally just finished applying.

What link did you use to apply

because the first link has 3% on stuff that changes every quarter not 3% on your top 3 categories

the 2nd link i posted you can't apply to anymore

I applied on http://www.chasefreedomnow.com/

Edit: Where do you see the quarterly 3% thing? That would be good enough...

Earn 3x Points with New Bonus Offers Throughout the Year.
You will be eligible for quarterly bonus rewards offers as long as (i) your account is not in default under, and/or you have not violated, the terms of your Cardmember Agreement and Rewards Program Rules and Regulations, and (ii) your statements are sent to a U.S. address

 

[kranky]

Originally posted by: DLeRium
[snip]
Very true about Blue Cash, however I see people recommending it time and time again. The first 5k or so only gets like 0.5% for everything else and 1% for those 3 big categories. Only then do you get 5%/1% afterward. It's not that great.

I think it's like $11k or $13k (I calculated in some other thread) just to get a total 3% cashback to even match Chase Freedom. We all know that not everyone takes AMEX so good luck racking up $11k in charges on that card for Gas, Restaurants, and Drugstores or whatever those categories you get 5% cashback in is...

The Blue Cash is the right choice for people who can charge a lot. Remember, once you get past the $13K threshold, you get 5% on gas, groceries and drugstores (which you were already earning once you got to $6500), PLUS you get 1.5% on everything else. People who can use it for business expenses can really make out, since airlines, restaurants, hotels and rental cars will all accept AmEx.