Need Help with Credit Card Info

[Sheryl]

I'm very happy with Citicard 5% cashback card.  We get close to $1000 cashback/yr with it (we have a few different cards with the same cashback offer).  You can get online access, and just click "request check" when you get $50 accumulated.  They mail it to you, and it's money in the bank.  Then go buy your airline tickets wherever you want. 

This sounds like a better plan for me. At least if they charge 3% for foreign transactions, I'll get a net 2% back on those charges.

 

[justin]

Sheryl,

sorry to burst your bubble but the 5% cashback card at citi gives 5% back at gas stations, grocery stores (including super walmart) and drug stores. Foreign hotels, restaurants, plane tickets, etc. only get 1% cashback. But a net of 2% fees for foreign transactions isn't too bad, since you'll probably end up paying +2% if you change USD to local currency at the airport or in a bank (in my limited experience, at least).

 

[Sheryl]

Sheryl,

sorry to burst your bubble but the 5% cashback card at citi gives 5% back at gas stations, grocery stores (including super walmart) and drug stores. 

Dang. Should have known that sounded too good.

 

[MJ]

This sounds like a better plan for me. At least if they charge 3% for foreign transactions, I'll get a net 2% back on those charges.

Not necessarily. It depends on the merchant code. I use citi CC and went to a Gulf gas station once that only sold gas and filled up. When I got the monthly statement, I only got a 1% cashback because their merchant code didn't reflect a gas station merchant. Same thing happened with 2 different fruit and veg merchants that I use weekly. Using citi CC, I get 5% from 1 and only 1% from the other.

Who knows how oversea merchant codes are identified.

MJ

 

[yelnad]

I didn't know my Citi 5% back included SuperWalmart. This changes everything!

 

[justin]

I didn't know my Citi 5% back included SuperWalmart. This changes everything!

Yep. Spend $100 on your weekly grocery run, there's $5 cash back. Almost pays for sales tax here!

 

[LOL!]

Don't forget that the cash-back limit on Citi Platinum Dividend is $300 per year. So if you use it only for groceries/gas etc that's $6000 max charges per year.

That's why folks have several of these or use the Chase 5% cash-back card.

 

[justin]

Citi also has a 5%/1% rewards card (with the 5% on gas, groceries and drug stores). You can get up to $750/yr in gift cards to many different places - nice chain restaurants, home depot, target, kmart, etc. Almost as good as cash if you shop there... We just use the $300 limit cash back card and switch a couple times a year. Keeps the wife on her toes...

 

[cute fuzzy bunny]

Good news on the superwalmart...the old walmart only paid 1% on my citi card. I thought since their 'primary' wasnt groceries but general merchandise and groceries, that it wouldnt count.

 

[justin]

My personal experience and a bunch of the deal message boards says super walmart - 5%. One of our local walmarts got supersized into a Super Walmart in the last year or so - it took a while after they converted before they switched to 5% cash back from 1% cashback.

 

[yelnad]

I have two of the Citi cards. I'll have to monitor them.

 

[Gone4Good]

I am not very happy with Capital One Mileage card. You cannot redeem mileage or cash until you have at least 20,000 points. I was 1,200 short from the 20,000 mark a couple of months ago. When I finally reached it, they had reduced the reward by 50%. In the past, you would get $200 (1% of $20,000), but now you only get $100.  I am considering the Citibank cash back card.

I got stung with this one too. I got the card because it seemed to offer >1% on EVERYTHING you purchased as long as you used the points for airfare, and AT LEAST 1% on EVERYTHING if you converted your points into cash (which is better than many of the other cards I saw). Low and behold they changed the formula and now it seems more like 0.5% for cash back, although you accrue points more quickly, and I have no idea what my conversion rate is for plane tickets. Not surprisingly, I recently ordered a Citi Dividend Rewards Card (or whatever they call it).

 

[WanderALot]

Don't forget that the cash-back limit on Citi Platinum Dividend is $300 per year. So if you use it only for groceries/gas etc that's $6000 max charges per year.

That's why folks have several of these or use the Chase 5% cash-back card.

So why not just use the Chase 5% card only? I'm getting ready to get one of these 5% cards and can't decide which one. Both the Chase and the Citi cards seem to be about the same. I didn't know that the Chase card doesn't have the $300 limit. It's just so hard to compare these things on the website!

WRT foreign exchange fees, my credit union doesn't charge me any extra fees, so this is the card that I use for all foreign travel. The only charge is the 1% fee that Visa charges. Some credit cards include this fee as part of their charge (ie, "we charge 3% which includes the 1%") and others actually tack on their fee on top of the Mastercard/Visa fee!

The most disturbing trend I came across happened to be me last year. I visited a gift shop in Ireland and the checker lady asked me where I was from. I then noticed that she charged me in US dollars for the transaction (with, you guessed it, a crappy exchange rate). This happened to me again in Canada and to add insult to injury, I was charged the foreign transaction fee for this!

 

[Gone4Good]

Has anyone signed up for the "Citi Dividend Merchant Network" with the Citi Dividend Rewards card? It looks like they give you extra cash back (up to an additional 5%) that is not subject to the $300 per year cap when using the card at "in-network" retailers.

It sounds too good to be true, so I figure I must be missing something.

 

[cute fuzzy bunny]

It works, but the number of vendors who give you the higher percentages is small.

 

[Dogcliff]

I've carried BOA Alaska Airlines Gold/Platnimum cards now for almost two decades. $45/75 /yr gets you one. The Platinum comes with a $50 companion fare cert, miles never expire, great partner network. Quick and fair resolutions for chargebacks. Don't know about currency conversion. EVERY purchase I make (with the exception of Costco purchases, which go on Costco's Executive membership/AMEX card combination), as well as all of my utilities, go on this card. Check it out...

dc

 

[getoutearly]

Professor, if you have accounts at Chase other than the credit card, you might just ask them to waive the fees. I got dinged the other day with the $65 fee. I called my "personal banker" at Chase and she reversed them. Of course, I did this now, while I am still using their FA. I'm planning to change that arrangement soon, so I won't have that "leverage". Will probably use the miles and ditch the card at that time.

 

[education]

Thanks GOE---

I dumped one card and got another ski miles card w/o having to pay a fee. I pay my card (I'm down to one) off each month. Today I asked for an increase on my limit for those occasional times when I might have some serious spending--they jumped me from $6,000 to $11,000. I also moved my payment due date to give me some breathing room to avoid those damned late fees they love to impose.

I must say the last time or two I spoke to Chase, I received impeccable service. But I'll drop 'em in a heartbeat if they ever try to screw me again.

Professor

 

[Gone4Good]

It works, but the number of vendors who give you the higher percentages is small.

Is there any reason not to sign up for it? It seems like the number of online merchants is reasonably large and even includes some magazines and newspapers. The "fine print" says that some merchants may charge fees . . . don't know if that ruins the program. I also wonder if the online merchants charge higher prices through the "network" versus what they charge elsewhere.

 

[cute fuzzy bunny]

I'm not sure. I wonder why you have to sign up for it separately? If its all good and there are no downsides, why do they need your permission to give you good deals? That just makes a few hairs on the back of my neck go up and smack right into the back of the tin foil hat...

 

[ESRBob]

Just back from a week overseas using the Pentagon Federal Credit Union visa card (Plantinum rewards, no fee, 1.25% back) They don't add anything to Visa's 1% fee for foreign transactions, but can't do anything about the 1%. Better than 2 or 3% charged by other banks who tack their own insults onto the Visa-mandated injury.

One thing that I did want to alert people to though: they cut off my card midweek for suspected fraudulent use. I called them, assured them it was me, and they sorted it out right away but suggested I call PFCU every time I was going overseas and let them know so it wouldn't happen again. Amex never did that - could be the next frontier in fraud free credit card use, but it is always a bit of a pain to have your card refused someplace then find they don't take Amex (backup). Back to paying with good old US $100 bills (buried in the recesses of the wallet as the final backup)

 

[cute fuzzy bunny]

I got in the habit years ago of calling the credit card companies and the bank a week before I went on a trip somewhere far away that I'd never been. If you tend to travel mostly locally and then all of a sudden go somewhere a good distance away, or travel just a bit inside the US and then suddenly go to europe, a lot of the card companies will shut you off. If you call, they'll not do that to you.

The first time I drove across the US, on a relatively spontaneous basis, I got as far as a gas station in either wyoming or utah. I handed the woman behind the counter for my gas, and she cut it in half and then stepped back and said the credit card company had advised her to do it. I called them and they gave me the line about possible fraudulent use.

Gee, thats nice to watch out for me, but how about waiting to cut the card in half? Fortunately I had another...

 

[ESRBob]

;I guess in my old days I was a 'big spender' and the cc companies knew... looks like this is one of those unknown potholes awaiting early retiree LBYMers who no longer charge company expenses to their personal cards and live the high burn lifestyle. Hey, if calling the credit union before I leave the country is all it takes, its a tradeoff i'll make

 

[cute fuzzy bunny]

Crap...I bought a $250 cell phone a couple of weeks ago and citibank called me to see if it was actually me...

Guess my big spender days are over...

 

[ESRBob]

Next thing you know we'll be trying to sneak into dinner at 5:00 at Smorgybob's and qualify for our senior citizen discounts. 8)