Credit Card with rewards?

[thomsbrain]

I've earned $100 or so on my Costco AMEX since I got it in April. I drive a lot, so the 3% on gas really adds up. I'll use the rewards Costco Cash card to help buy a new TV in February.

 

[Elganja]

Originally posted by: Maverick2002

Originally posted by: Elganja

are you kidding me? how old are you?

you get statements every month with a balance due and an optional minimum payment. When people say you pay it off right away you pay the balance due.

Old enough. And I don't get paper statements. Balance due /= balance, which was my original question regarding what people meant by "paying it off".

even electronically you still get statements of what is owed for that billing period and have a certain balance due with the optional minimum payment.

that is what people are referring to by "paying it off".

 

[thomsbrain]

Originally posted by: dullard

NOTE: Just like virtually all other reward cards, Chase has a special deal with the biggest retailers (places like SAM's Walmart and Costco). Chase (and Discover and others) charge these superstores less fees. But, you get less rewards. All credit card applications that I've seen say that purchases at these locations receive less than the full reward. With Chase, you only get 1.25% at Walmart.

Costco only excepts American Express and ATM/debit cards. No Visa, Mastercard, or Discover.

 

[Trey22]

Originally posted by: Maverick2002

Originally posted by: Trey22
While not for everyone, if you spend quite a bit, put everything on the card and pay it off at the end of every month, the American Express Blue card rocks. No annual fee. After $6500 you get:

- 5% cash back at gas stations, supermarkets and pharmacy stores. 1.5% cash back on all other purchases.

So far I have $558 in cash back earned this year.

By paying it off at the end of every month, do you mean down to $0 or just close to it? For instance it's almost impossible for me to get to $0 on my current card because I make purchases daily and by the time I pay off what's showing up on my bank's website, I have a few new charges already racked up. Can you elaborate on this?

Every statement received gets paid in full. So you start over w/ a zero balance for the next 30-day billing cycle.

I remember there being a 5% back on everything card? Wasn't it a Chase card? I think it was discontinued.

Here's a fairly good site to compare card benefits:

http://www.bettercreditcard.com

 

[PepePeru]

if you pay it off every month, no problem.

 

[Maverick2002]

So the general consensus is to go with Chase Freedom?

EDIT: also, what if there's a small balance left over. Say you racked up $1000 in a month, paid off $800, starting next month with a $200 balance. At the end of next month you have $1000 total, paid of say $900, have $100 left over ... kind of keep going this way (where your balance is low, but never completely paid off to exact 0). How will this affect a card like the Chase Freedom?

I'm asking because on my current card I have with my bank, it doesn't really matter. As long as my total debt is relatively low (below $2k) and I pay off most of it on a regular basis, I don't get any purchase finance charges and my credit line keeps going up. Will it be this same way with a new card?

 

[Trey22]

Originally posted by: Maverick2002
So the general consensus is to go with Chase Freedom?

EDIT: also, what if there's a small balance left over. Say you racked up $1000 in a month, paid off $800, starting next month with a $200 balance. At the end of next month you have $1000 total, paid of say $900, have $100 left over ... kind of keep going this way (where your balance is low, but never completely paid off to exact 0). How will this affect a card like the Chase Freedom?

I'm asking because on my current card I have with my bank, it doesn't really matter. As long as my total debt is relatively low (below $2k) and I pay off most of it on a regular basis, I don't get any purchase finance charges and my credit line keeps going up. Will it be this same way with a new card?

If you have a remaining balance, some (most?, all?) credit card companies will nail you with a finance charge for the entire amount in that billing cycle.

So if you rack up $1000 in charges, and pay $800, you'll pay interest on the whole $1000, not just the remaining $200 balance.

 

[kranky]

Originally posted by: Maverick2002
So the general consensus is to go with Chase Freedom?

EDIT: also, what if there's a small balance left over. Say you racked up $1000 in a month, paid off $800, starting next month with a $200 balance. At the end of next month you have $1000 total, paid of say $900, have $100 left over ... kind of keep going this way (where your balance is low, but never completely paid off to exact 0). How will this affect a card like the Chase Freedom?

I'm asking because on my current card I have with my bank, it doesn't really matter. As long as my total debt is relatively low (below $2k) and I pay off most of it on a regular basis, I don't get any purchase finance charges and my credit line keeps going up. Will it be this same way with a new card?

Better look again, that makes no sense. Unless your APR is 0%, you're going to get a finance charge if you don't pay in full. There's no such thing as "Oh, your balance is kind of low this month so we won't assess a finance charge." Maybe what you have is a intro offer that gives you 0% APR on purchases for a limited time.

 

[Maverick2002]

maybe .. I'm not sure what's going on. I don't know if it has anything to do with the fact that it's a credit card I got through my bank, but I've had it for years, and in the past 5-6 months or so that I've checked my online billing cycles and there haven't been any purchase finance charges. I've kept my amount very low, sometimes paying it off almost entirely.

It seems like I don't get purchase finance charges as long as the balance is below a certain amount ... does this make sense at all?

 

[Capt Caveman]

Originally posted by: Maverick2002
maybe .. I'm not sure what's going on. I don't know if it has anything to do with the fact that it's a credit card I got through my bank, but I've had it for years, and in the past 5-6 months or so that I've checked my online billing cycles and there haven't been any purchase finance charges. I've kept my amount very low, sometimes paying it off almost entirely.

It seems like I don't get purchase finance charges as long as the balance is below a certain amount ... does this make sense at all?

No, you don't make any sense. No bank or credit card company would allow you to carry a balance for free unless you got a special promotion which would only be for a short-time after receiving your card.

 

[HardcoreRobot]

you cant afford to NOT HAVE a card with rewards
unless of course, you carry a balance on your card... then you cant afford to have a credit card!

 

[A5]

Originally posted by: Maverick2002
So the general consensus is to go with Chase Freedom?

EDIT: also, what if there's a small balance left over. Say you racked up $1000 in a month, paid off $800, starting next month with a $200 balance. At the end of next month you have $1000 total, paid of say $900, have $100 left over ... kind of keep going this way (where your balance is low, but never completely paid off to exact 0). How will this affect a card like the Chase Freedom?

I'm asking because on my current card I have with my bank, it doesn't really matter. As long as my total debt is relatively low (below $2k) and I pay off most of it on a regular basis, I don't get any purchase finance charges and my credit line keeps going up. Will it be this same way with a new card?

The Chase Freedom card has like a 24.99% APR (for me anyway), so you would pretty much get destroyed by finance charges...if you go with Freedom, pay it in full every month.

 

[Suspicious-Teach8788]

Originally posted by: Elganja

Originally posted by: DLeRium
Blue is not that good. You only get like what 1% on the first 1500? 20k a year isnt enough to really make a killer from that card. I'd rather get a card like Citi Dividend and/or AMEX TrueEarnings from Costco.

Plus even with Blue (wait isnt it Blue Cash where you get the cashback?), you only get the 5% on the amount over 1500 or something right? I remember digging through the terms and conditions and its tiered. 0.5% then 1% then 5%? All I remember was arguing with a friend who claimed to spend a lot (come on we were college students, how much can you freaking put on a card each month?) and he kept running around yelling 5% but I KNEW that I was beating his cashback by combining my Citi card with my AMEX TrueEarnings... although he wouldnt admit it.

Originally posted by: Elganja
The Blue Cash card has no cap on the cash back limits (got 610 back last year) and the rules are:
$0.00 - $6,500.00----1.0% (Bonus Cash Back Purchases)----0.5% (General Purchases)
$6,500.01 - or more----5.0% (Bonus Cash Back Purchases)----1.5% (General Purchases)

where bonus is grocery, drugstore and gas

the only downside of amex is that it isn't accepted everywhere... I wish there was an equivlent VISA/MC (I know chase freedom comes close).

The problem with that is if you want that to even equate up to 3% cashback to match Freedom, you need to spend $13000 per year on only grocery, drugstore, and gas. I don't know how much people need on those items, but if you do spend that much on those items, then only use it on your AMEX Blue Cash card.

You really have to spend A LOT on that card to make it worthwhile, at which point you should be wondering if you should even spend that much to begin with. Furthermore, I bet a lot of general expenses get lumped into the Blue Cash card, which brings your overall cashback % down even more.

That's why everyone needs to calculate % and work out what is best. To me, Costco TrueEarnings gives me 3% eating out, 3% gas, 2% travel, 1% everything, and combine that with Freedom's 3% on other things (I use it for other categories), and Citi's 2% on gas, drugs, groceries, I think it's a better option for me.

That's why Blue Cash is extremely deceptive. People look at that 5% and go oh yeah that's nice, but still feel ok when they have to spend a lot, but when you do some math and realize that unless you're spending a raw 13k on groceries, gas, drugs ALONE, then it might not be the most worthwhile option.

 

[Leros]

I get 2% back with my CitiCard, but as a college student I don't spend much. I wish I could pay my rent and tuition with a credit card, then I could get some decent points.

 

[Eeezee]

Why wouldn't you pay off your card in full? If you're maintaining a non-zero balance every month, that's indicative that you're spending too much and need to set a budget for yourself. If you don't, then you're going to be paying finance charges that will destroy any benefits that you were getting with cash back or rewards in the first place.

If you don't have the self-control to pay off your card in full every month, then don't get a credit card.

Leros, you really can't pay tuition with your card? WTF school do you go to? Every university/college/professional school I know of has an electronic payment system that accepts all of the major credit cards. Do they force you to write a check?

 

[ManBearPig]

Originally posted by: A5

Originally posted by: Maverick2002
So the general consensus is to go with Chase Freedom?

EDIT: also, what if there's a small balance left over. Say you racked up $1000 in a month, paid off $800, starting next month with a $200 balance. At the end of next month you have $1000 total, paid of say $900, have $100 left over ... kind of keep going this way (where your balance is low, but never completely paid off to exact 0). How will this affect a card like the Chase Freedom?

I'm asking because on my current card I have with my bank, it doesn't really matter. As long as my total debt is relatively low (below $2k) and I pay off most of it on a regular basis, I don't get any purchase finance charges and my credit line keeps going up. Will it be this same way with a new card?

The Chase Freedom card has like a 24.99% APR (for me anyway), so you would pretty much get destroyed by finance charges...if you go with Freedom, pay it in full every month.

yeah, keeping a balance on that card is retarded. the personal banker told me it's dumb to use that card if im not paying it off every month. luckily, i do

 

[Aimster]

I have american express 5% cash back on food, gas, and drug stores

yet when I get the bill they do not credit me 5% for 95% of the places I ate at or put gas at.
WTF

New credit card

 

[IEC]

Totally worth it, got like $400 free money from credit cards last year. Just pay in full every month (don't keep a balance)

 

[Elganja]

Originally posted by: DLeRium

Originally posted by: Elganja

Originally posted by: DLeRium
Blue is not that good. You only get like what 1% on the first 1500? 20k a year isnt enough to really make a killer from that card. I'd rather get a card like Citi Dividend and/or AMEX TrueEarnings from Costco.

Plus even with Blue (wait isnt it Blue Cash where you get the cashback?), you only get the 5% on the amount over 1500 or something right? I remember digging through the terms and conditions and its tiered. 0.5% then 1% then 5%? All I remember was arguing with a friend who claimed to spend a lot (come on we were college students, how much can you freaking put on a card each month?) and he kept running around yelling 5% but I KNEW that I was beating his cashback by combining my Citi card with my AMEX TrueEarnings... although he wouldnt admit it.

Originally posted by: Elganja
The Blue Cash card has no cap on the cash back limits (got 610 back last year) and the rules are:
$0.00 - $6,500.00----1.0% (Bonus Cash Back Purchases)----0.5% (General Purchases)
$6,500.01 - or more----5.0% (Bonus Cash Back Purchases)----1.5% (General Purchases)

where bonus is grocery, drugstore and gas

the only downside of amex is that it isn't accepted everywhere... I wish there was an equivlent VISA/MC (I know chase freedom comes close).

The problem with that is if you want that to even equate up to 3% cashback to match Freedom, you need to spend $13000 per year on only grocery, drugstore, and gas. I don't know how much people need on those items, but if you do spend that much on those items, then only use it on your AMEX Blue Cash card.

You really have to spend A LOT on that card to make it worthwhile, at which point you should be wondering if you should even spend that much to begin with. Furthermore, I bet a lot of general expenses get lumped into the Blue Cash card, which brings your overall cashback % down even more.

That's why everyone needs to calculate % and work out what is best. To me, Costco TrueEarnings gives me 3% eating out, 3% gas, 2% travel, 1% everything, and combine that with Freedom's 3% on other things (I use it for other categories), and Citi's 2% on gas, drugs, groceries, I think it's a better option for me.

That's why Blue Cash is extremely deceptive. People look at that 5% and go oh yeah that's nice, but still feel ok when they have to spend a lot, but when you do some math and realize that unless you're spending a raw 13k on groceries, gas, drugs ALONE, then it might not be the most worthwhile option.

Well yes if you want to use 100 different cash back cards then more power to you...

as for bonuses, your chase is the same way... it's 3% on certain categories. So you can't compare amex bonus % to 3% of chase. and i don't understand your math on having to spend 13k on bonus items to match 3%... makes no sense

edit:

it appears you are trying to compare the blue cash to 3 other cash back cards... well no shit the other 3 will do better if they have different bonus categories.

 

[Elganja]

Originally posted by: Aimster
I have american express 5% cash back on food, gas, and drug stores

yet when I get the bill they do not credit me 5% for 95% of the places I ate at or put gas at.
WTF

New credit card

if that is true (assuming you are over 6.5k) then you should call them. It happened to me a couple times and they fixed it.

 

[Maverick2002]

Ok, regarding paying it off in full, once again, how do I get around this situation:

I see a balance on my bank's website.
I pay it in full.
It's not really paid in full because by the time the transaction goes through entirely (1-2 days, more if the weekend), I have a new charge or two on the card, which once again puts me above 0. Or does it not matter as long as I pay off the full amount that's listed?

 

[kranky]

"Pay in full" means that when you receive your bill, you pay the full amount by the due date. It's OK that other charges are accumulating during that time, because you aren't paying any interest on them. Let's say you get your bill on the 5th showing a balance of $800, a minimum payment of $25 and a due date of the 25th. As long as you pay the entire $800 by the 25th, that's paying in full even if you have new charges.

 

[Maverick2002]

Ok, that must be it then. Since I don't get paper statements with a bill amount on them (I just have online bill cycles), I've gotten into the habit of just paying off large sums every couple weeks or so. I guess this is the same as paying off that charged amount, whatever it is.

So in general, I should go for Chase Freedom?

 

[GeneValgene]

Originally posted by: Capt Caveman
1. Yes
2. Hell yeah

QFT

i got $738 in cash from my AmEx Costco card last year

 

[Maverick2002]

So can anyone give me somewhat of a definitive answer? AmEx or Chase Freedom?