Cash Back Credit Cards?

[RunningBum]

PenFed has a no fee card with 1.5% back, 2% if you have a checking account with them (might be a certain type of checking). I bank with PenFed anyway so the credit card is convenient, one less account to log into. Only thing is, I couldn't get my credit limit raised because I apparently have too many cards. My credit score is 815. I have another card with them I no longer use, so they are going to let me move the credit limit from that over, once I get the ownership fully matching. I had one other authorized user on the old that's not on the new. I do have other cards, mostly from other promotions. One with better notifications that I use if there's anything questionable, such as losing sight of the card in a restaurant, or a new web store, or shady looking gas station. Another that I tuck in my phone case just in case I'm without my wallet--skiing, running, etc. Another with better payback on revolving categories like gas or groceries.

I've also noticed from my last credit report that a couple cards I asked to have closed are still showing active. Is there a trick to getting them closed, or will it happen over time, or do I need to be persistent?

 

[pb4uski]

...I might research the cards with monster sign-up bonuses if you spend big bucks in the first 3 months... I have some trips on the calendar I haven't paid for yet.

If you buy gift cards for yourself or others and charge them on the card do those charges qualify for the monster sign-up bonuses? If so, I may have a new hobby to consider.

 

[sengsational]

If you buy gift cards for yourself or others and charge them on the card do those charges qualify for the monster sign-up bonuses? If so, I may have a new hobby to consider.

Interesting idea. The only experience I have is buying a $100 Amazon gift card that included a $5 credit. Bought it after I already had a $100 item in my shopping cart, so free five bucks...why not? But I'm glad you mentioned this idea. When I go searching, I'll check the fine print for that.

 

[misty57]

We use (3) credit cards.
Citi Double Cash 2% on everything
Bank of the West 3% on groceries
Citi Costco 4% on gas, 3% on dining
I used to love the Chase card, but stopped using it once they went to quarterly categories. I cannot train my DH to switch from one card to another 4 times a year.

 

[pb4uski]

Interesting idea. The only experience I have is buying a $100 Amazon gift card that included a $5 credit. Bought it after I already had a $100 item in my shopping cart, so free five bucks...why not? But I'm glad you mentioned this idea. When I go searching, I'll check the fine print for that.

Let us know what you find out.

 

[audreyh1]

If you buy gift cards for yourself or others and charge them on the card do those charges qualify for the monster sign-up bonuses? If so, I may have a new hobby to consider.

I think it’s very likely that they do. All the credit card company knows is what retailer you bought from, not what you bought. Even Costco gives you the executive rebate for buying gift cards they sell.

 

[Sunset]

If you buy gift cards for yourself or others and charge them on the card do those charges qualify for the monster sign-up bonuses? If so, I may have a new hobby to consider.

It worked for me.
However, not being a manufactured spending person, I ended up with a bunch of gift cards, which later I used.

Note: you can get gift cards on a discount so it's really a way to save, however if you get too many, and they are retailer specific, you could end up with worthless cards

 

[audreyh1]

I buy iTunes gift cards when Costco or Amazon or someone else has them on sale for a 15+% discount. These give me store credit that pays for my streaming connections like Netflix, music and books. I use a card that has cash rewards - usually 2% but 5% at Amazon. Costco also gives a 2% executive rebate. The discounts add up!

 

[Dtail]

I get the Shell gas card at a 20% discount at Publix using a CC with a 3.5% discount.

 

[scrabbler1]

I think it’s very likely that they do. All the credit card company knows is what retailer you bought from, not what you bought. Even Costco gives you the executive rebate for buying gift cards they sell.

This is useful because when I get my annual car maintenance work done (or for any in-between work), I use my CC and it qualifies for the 3% cash-back found in the Gas category. All I see on the bill is the name of the gas company, no different had I bought gas using the card (which I don't do because the cash discount is 10%).

 

[Sojourner]

I think it’s very likely that they do. All the credit card company knows is what retailer you bought from, not what you bought. Even Costco gives you the executive rebate for buying gift cards they sell.

Yes, my thoughts exactly. When I buy Amazon gift cards at Kroger, all that shows up on my credit card statement is the total amount of the Kroger purchase, so the gift cards do seem to count towards the "total spend" amount required to earn CC sign up bonuses. Technically, this is not allowed if you read the fine print of the CC agreement when you sign up, but I don't see how they would know that, say, $100 of a $150 Kroger purchase was for an Amazon gift card. If anyone has evidence to the contrary, though, please share with us!

 

[Drake3287]

Don't most stores charge an additional fee when buying a gift card? If I remember right if I buy a $100. Best Buy Gift card at Safeway they in turn charge me a small service fee so that $100. purchase is actually something like $104. or what ever. Kill's what ever credit card rebate you might be getting.

 

[audreyh1]

Don't most stores charge an additional fee when buying a gift card? If I remember right if I buy a $100. Best Buy Gift card at Safeway they in turn charge me a small service fee so that $100. purchase is actually something like $104. or what ever. Kill's what ever credit card rebate you might be getting.

Not necessarily. I only buy from stores that don’t tack on any fees and many don’t. And none of the gift cards I’ve bought have ever been subject to sales tax either, as they shouldn’t be.

 

[audreyh1]

Yes, my thoughts exactly. When I buy Amazon gift cards at Kroger, all that shows up on my credit card statement is the total amount of the Kroger purchase, so the gift cards do seem to count towards the "total spend" amount required to earn CC sign up bonuses. Technically, this is not allowed if you read the fine print of the CC agreement when you sign up, but I don't see how they would know that, say, $100 of a $150 Kroger purchase was for an Amazon gift card. If anyone has evidence to the contrary, though, please share with us!

I agree, it’s not enforceable by the CC company.

 

[cathy63]

Don't most stores charge an additional fee when buying a gift card? If I remember right if I buy a $100. Best Buy Gift card at Safeway they in turn charge me a small service fee so that $100. purchase is actually something like $104. or what ever. Kill's what ever credit card rebate you might be getting.

There's an activation fee when you buy a prepaid Visa or AmEx card at Safeway, but I've also bought Amazon and Best Buy cards there and there's no surcharge for those.

Those prepaid Visa/AmEx cards also have monthly fees if you don't use them, so now whenever I get one, I just immediately login to Amazon and use it to reload my Amazon gift card account. That way I get to spend the full amount whenever I'm ready to do so without having to keep track of the balance.

 

[35nothing]

We have a simple Visa credit card through our local US Bank. No bonuses, no cash back, but we've had it for most of our adult life. We always pay our balance off every month (usually every week or two).

I recently started looking at cash back credit cards. They sound like free money, earning some cash back for things we're buying anyway. But when things sound too good to be true I start to get nervous.

Most of the cards I've seen sound too complicated, with annual fees, or having to pick categories (or have them chosen automatically), or caps on earnings. That sounds like too much work for my liking.

I'm currently looking at the Citi Double Cash credit card. Supposedly 2% on all purchases (1% when buying, 1% when paying off), no caps, no annual fees. Sounds good, but again, that makes me nervous.

One of the things that concerns me is the logistics of managing the card. My current Visa card is at the same bank I have my checking account, so it's easy to log on and transfer money to pay off the card. I'm not sure how I would handle this with a credit card at a different bank than I use for my checking account (I want to keep my current checking account so we have access to the safe deposit box at my local branch).

My local US Bank does offer a cash back card, but it has all of those categories and caps and stuff that I would rather avoid.

Anyway, I'm curious who uses these cash back credit cards and how they work for you. Any down sides the reviews and promotional information fail to mention?

I used Chase freedom unlimited, amex blue, citi double and one from my credit union. I would have got upto 500$ in cash back from all of them combied. ( All were great untill I couldnt pay in full).

 

[rodi]

We get the most off our Costco VISA with 3% travel hotels and dining with no foreign transaction fee, and our Amazon Store Card with 5% back. After that our 2% Fidelity. It really adds up. This year I expect our Costco VISA Cash Rewards check to exceed $700.

This except we have a CapOne Venture instead of fidelity. It's easy to keep track of on daily purchases - Costco card for gas, dining, costco groceries. Amazon for amazon. And Cap one for everything else. DH only has the costco card - which is ok. So the rewards are only 1% on his non dining/travel/gas purchases - he's still getting money back

 

[sheehs1]

Charging a vehicle. Not sure if this is true or not but once when I tried to put the vehicle down payment on a credit card the finance guy told me I couldn't use a loan (credit card) as the means of a cash down payment.

I think in reality paying for a new car with a credit card is up to the dealer and how much they'll willing to payout for credit card charges. With most new car's having a slim margin these day's that credit card fee takes a big bite out of a sale. In most of my recent purchases they've only allowed a few thousand on the card because of "dealer" limits.

Not sure if you are questioning what I wrote about my recent car purchase experience or just relaying your own experiences with the dealerships you have used. Charging half of the negotiated price of the vehicle on my Cash Rewards card is true.
I wrote a personal check for the other half.

I am sure not all dealerships will do this but this one did. They already had my financial income info and credit score from a loan application (when I wasn't sure how I wanted to pay), knew I was inclined to pay "cash". They wanted the sale and I wanted the vehicle. It actually was not even a topic of conversation with the finance director. He simply said, "Yes, you can do that. We have people do it all the time. Some put their entire purchase price on their card".

 

[Drake3287]

Just saying my experience. You obviously have better luck then me!

 

[Sconie]

The Citi Double Cash card @ 2% is good to go.

Another----if you qualify-----is PenFed CU's Power Cash Rewards Card which pays 1.5% with an additional .5% for members of PenFed's honors advantage program.

 

[a60dan]

I don't redeem the rewards often, but we booked round trip air for our Alaska cruise from Toronto using AARP Visa (you don't have to be a member, 3% on gas & restaurants) and Capital One Quicksilver 1.5% on everything). No annual fees.

The high stake cards (Chase Sapphire Reserve, AmEx Propel, AAdvantage) have yielded us over $1500). As long as they waive the 1st year annual fee:

- put reminder to cancel in calendar
- immediately set up auto-pay to avoid forgotten bills & resulting interest

You have to use the right card for the right purchase, and stay on top of those cards with fees.

I marvel at how they make money, because it sure isn't from me

 

[sheehs1]

Just saying my experience. You obviously have better luck then me!

Perhaps with the dealership. Honestly, I had no clue they would let me put half of the purchase price on my card. That, with other purchases basically maxed out my card since i had not requested a limit increase.

I was prepared to do whatever they would allow. It wasn't until I was sitting in the finance directors office that I found out they basically allow the entire purchase price.

Wishing you better luck or terms in the future!

 

[Oakster]

Too much work and effort for little to no benefit. Studies show that spending money on plastic entices people to buy something like 15% - 20% more than they normally would spend, which outweighs all the benefits of cash back. Credit Card companies are an awesome machine at understanding spending habits and knowing how to make money. If you were getting ahead with the cash back, they wouldn't offer it. I would be willing to bet that the person who spent mostly with cash would come ahead in the end.

I have to use a credit card for work expenses, so I have one with points back on stuff I like to buy for myself... but I would not chase those points if I didn't need to have the card.

 

[ychuck46]

Crazy Not To

I average between $1-2000 per year in cash back on my credit cards, and never purchase more than I normally would have without them. The only long-term card I pay an annual fee for is the AmEx Blue for the 6% back on groceries. I will occasionally add a card for a sign up bonus which will goose any year over my $1-2K back and then cancel it before the annual fee kicks in, but that is not all the time. Paying the bills from my bank (also US Bank like you) is extremely easy. You are definitely leaving money on the table and subsidizing those who are not.

 

[sengsational]

Our credit score took a hit to the point of our home owners insurance not giving us the best rate, but we opened two cards and flew to Alaska for free. 25 years ago, but some things are too good to pass up