New Credit Card Offer

[Gotadimple]

I know we get them all the time. But I saw this when I logged into my Chase account to look at my credit card balance.

Chase Freedom Ultimate $0 annual fee
Earns 1.5% on all purchases - unlimited
$150 bonus after spending $500 in the first 3 months.

So I clicked Apply. Should see a new card in 7-10 days.

- Rita

 

[mn54]

are you planning on spending the required $500 in 3 months and then cutting it up? There are cards giving 2% or more on all purchases.

 

[Dreamer]

I was on the Bogleheads site and read a thread on credit cards. As a result, I applied for the Citi Double Cash, that earns 1% when purchasing and 1% when paying for a total of 2%. Waiting on it to come. We have been using our Discover Card for many years and it pays .25% on the first $3000.00, I believe and 1% over the $3000.00. We use the PenFed for the 5% on gasoline. I should have applied for the Citi Double Cash years ago.

 

[kaneohe]

.........................We have been using our Discover Card for many years and it pays .25% on the first $3000.00, I believe and 1% over the $3000.00. ....................................

Discover Credit Card Promotions - February 2017

Might check out whether you can get the 2x special by converting current Discover card to the Discover IT card. Flat 1% except for the 5% specials. You get double rewards for the first year.........which means if you use their 5% category, you get 10% effectively.
If you buy thru their Discover Deals or whatever they call it these days, you can get an extra reward that will also be doubled. They sometimes had a referral deal where both parties got $50 if you referred someone and they signed up for Discover........that also got doubled.

 

[ABQ2015]

After having a single Credit Union Rewards VISA for many years, I'm in the process of obtaining a few additional credit cards prior to retirement while I have the income. Although I have a credit rating of 810 per Credit Karma, their website showed that I had only a fair chance of being approved for a Citi Double Cash card but a good or very good chance for most other cards. Since I also wanted a Costco VISA, I went ahead and got approved for it and will wait a few months before applying for the Citi Double Cash.

I looked at the Chase Freedom too and would consider it. If my math is correct, you would have to charge $20K on the Double Cash to break even with the $150 Chase sign up bonus and I don't usually charge that much on one card in a year's time.

 

[ownyourfuture]

I know we get them all the time. But I saw this when I logged into my Chase account to look at my credit card balance.

Chase Freedom Ultimate $0 annual fee
Earns 1.5% on all purchases - unlimited
$150 bonus after spending $500 in the first 3 months.

So I clicked Apply. Should see a new card in 7-10 days.

- Rita

My brother in law just signed up for the same thing. I'm also considering it.
As someone else stated, use it for 3 months, earn your $150 bonus, & cut it up.

I have a Fidelity Visa that pays 2.00% on everything. Love it

 

[Travelfreek]

Fidelity Cash Back 2% with no annual fee sounds good

I like the idea of the Fidelity 2% cash back no fee credit card as a long term solution.

This especially works for us since we have the bulk of our deferred comp (retirement) in Fidelity. We also play the game of getting certain travel credit cards to get the big bonuses but then cancel before the 1 year annual fee is due. This is a bit time consuming and results in more time paying several different credit cards each month (the balance in full of course).

 

[exnavynuke]

My Chase Freedom (old school) has rotating 5% cash back categories so I didn't cut it up. It does have a limit of $1,500 cash back per quarter though.

 

[bada bing]

One thing about comparing cash back rewards cards:
The Chase Freedom is actually 1.5 UR points per dollar spent. The cash redemption value of UR points is 1 cent per point, but that is not the best use of UR points. They are worth 2-3 each if redeemed for travel or transferred into an airline frequent flyer program. To transfer the UR points into a mileage program requires also having a Premium Chase card like Sapphire Preferred.

If you are interested in cash back, there are better cards than a Chase Freedom. If you are interested in playing around with the whole UR system, the Chase cards are extremely hard to beat.

 

[nico08]

If you are interested in cash back, there are better cards than a Chase Freedom.

Hi. I have had Chase Freedom for years. What are some better cards with no annual fee? Thanks.

 

[kimcdougc]

I make around $100 to $150 per month using my Fidelity Visa 2% back on everything. I pay it in full every month of course.

 

[calmloki]

The Fidelity 2% no annual fee Visa Ownyourfuture mentioned is about the simplest best card in my wallet. No need to remember if another card is doing a rotating 5% back on restaurants or whatever - just a dead simple 2% getting transfered into your Fidelity account $25 at a time.

Now if you want to play games and spend some time and like free money then there are all sorts of other options. Like the Chase Sapphire Reserve - but that takes a certain amount of creative spending. We have large insurance bills that I pay in full rather than monthly, I prepay utility bills six months ahead, our car insurance gets paid in lump sums - that sort of thing. Still, $500 to $1000/card bonus is fun for me - and it is tax free, which makes it more valuable yet.

 

[harley]

I use my Discover Card to pay for pretty much everything. I've seen that there are some other cards that might beat the percent back on it. However, one thing I like (and use a lot) is that when I order gift cards when redeeming the points I get them for 10% off, ie. $45 for a $50 Carrabba's card, or $90 for a $100 Lowes card. Is that how it works with other cards? Or is it 1 for 1?

 

[Ready]

As others have said, it's easy to find cards with a 2% rebate for the majority of your purchases. I also have the Amazon Visa card, which gives me 5% on Amazon purchases. I only use that card for Amazon though.

I can't see any point signing up for a card that pays less than 2%, unless the sign up bonus was very large. And even then I'd cut it up after receiving the bonus.

 

[sakowitzm]

The Chase Sapphire Reserved *did* have a 100,000 point bonus a while back, when I got it. It's lower now, or at least I'm not seeing such a high amount. But let's say it's only 50,000 points. If you use them for travel on Chase's site, they're worth 75,000 points or $750.

The card itself costs $450/year, but the bonus puts you in the black by $300 by itself. But they also cover your first $300 in travel expenses. So you're now ahead by $600. Of course, that's only for year 1. But it's very nice.

You wonder about using the Chase website for booking travel? I've not noticed any difference, and it's easy to use. Also, they cover your TSA expense once every five years, I think. And a couple of other things.

If you travel even modestly in your first year, this is a very sweet card to have.

 

[kaudrey]

The Chase Sapphire Reserved *did* have a 100,000 point bonus a while back, when I got it. It's lower now, or at least I'm not seeing such a high amount. But let's say it's only 50,000 points. If you use them for travel on Chase's site, they're worth 75,000 points or $750.

The card itself costs $450/year, but the bonus puts you in the black by $300 by itself. But they also cover your first $300 in travel expenses. So you're now ahead by $600. Of course, that's only for year 1. But it's very nice.

You wonder about using the Chase website for booking travel? I've not noticed any difference, and it's easy to use. Also, they cover your TSA expense once every five years, I think. And a couple of other things.

If you travel even modestly in your first year, this is a very sweet card to have.

+1

I got this one in November, got the $300 travel credit for my holiday travels, and have enough points at 1.5x for 3 trips I am taking this year, easily. I don't play the card game, but this one was too good to pass. I'll easily clear $1500 in travel with it in a year, and then close it out. And, when I wanted specific flights for a trip but didn't see it on their website, I called and their customer service was top-notch.

 

[Gotadimple]

are you planning on spending the required $500 in 3 months and then cutting it up? There are cards giving 2% or more on all purchases.

Yes there are other cards that give higher amounts on purchases. My plan was to "upgrade" from the Chase Freedom card which while it has rotating 5% categories also has a limit on the amount of the reward.

I currently use the Chase Freedom as my main card, along with two credit others, and the offer of $150 when you spend $500 along with a no-limit 1.5% of purchases back was kind of a no brainer.

I am most interested in no-fee, cash back.
-Rita

 

[audreyh1]

No annual fee, cash back - Fidelity 2% cash rewards VISA, if you have a Fidelity account.

We also have the BofA Travel Rewards VISA - no annual fee, 1.65% cash back because we have a BofA checking account, and no foreign transaction fee.

 

[Amethyst]

Citi 2X Master Card - 2% back on everything, no annual fee. Also, so far their customer service has been excellent. I've needed to file 2 disputes (both resolved in my favor) and they promptly credited my account for the disputed amount while the dispute was ongoing. They also managed to get in touch with one merchant who was blowing off my phone calls and emails, and apparently convinced her to call me.

Edit: I seem to recall there was a signup incentive, too. But 2% cash back would be worth it, to me, without an incentive.

 

[Amethyst]

Dang! I needed to fly Southwest, and didn't see it on the Chase booking web page. I just figured Southwest had no agreement with them, and didn't even think to call Chase to see if they could fix it so I could use my points. Sad trombone (at least I got the 3% back on the tickets)

+1

I got this one in November, got the $300 travel credit for my holiday travels, and have enough points at 1.5x for 3 trips I am taking this year, easily. I don't play the card game, but this one was too good to pass. I'll easily clear $1500 in travel with it in a year, and then close it out. And, when I wanted specific flights for a trip but didn't see it on their website, I called and their customer service was top-notch.

 

[FUEGO]

+1

I got this one in November, got the $300 travel credit for my holiday travels, and have enough points at 1.5x for 3 trips I am taking this year, easily. I don't play the card game, but this one was too good to pass. I'll easily clear $1500 in travel with it in a year, and then close it out. And, when I wanted specific flights for a trip but didn't see it on their website, I called and their customer service was top-notch.

FYI, you get another $300 travel credit for 2017 if your previous $300 was reimbursed in 2016. It's $300 per CALENDAR year. Their definition of calendar is tricky since the new year starts "first billing cycle that starts in December" or something like that.

I'm working on meeting the $4000 spend requirement (x2 for his and hers cards ) on the Chase Sapphire Reserve right now. I'm booking a ton of inexpensive bus and train tickets in Europe and love seeing the $20, $30, $50, $60 tickets being reimbursed immediately after they post.

 

[GTFan]

Chase URs are awesome for both Southwest and Hyatt travel. And they have decent redemptions at times for car rentals booked through Chase as well, meaning almost free travel to a lot of places.

 

[Chuckanut]

Just got my Costco Visa (formely Amex) cash back check.

I will deposit it in a special account whose funds I use to upgrade some travel experiences. Previously, I deposited cash-back from both Discover card (5% on Amazon for quite a while, now 5% on gasoline) and, of course, my fallback card, the Fidelity Visa 2% cash-back card.



It almost seems like 'free' money, but somehow I think we are paying for it, so we might as well use it.

 

[Sojourner]

JIt almost seems like 'free' money, but somehow I think we are paying for it, so we might as well use it.

I'd say anyone who pays for gas with a non-rewards credit card these days is definitely "paying for it", since more and more gas stations seem to be tacking on an extra 3 - 5 cents per gallon for credit purchases. And yes, generally speaking, everyone does pay for these rewards in the form of very slightly higher prices on goods and services, but I'd guess those of us who strive to maximize CC rewards and signup bonuses are coming out far, far ahead of the typical consumer over the long run.

 

[kaudrey]

FYI, you get another $300 travel credit for 2017 if your previous $300 was reimbursed in 2016. It's $300 per CALENDAR year. Their definition of calendar is tricky since the new year starts "first billing cycle that starts in December" or something like that.

Hi Fuego - yes, I know. It might actually be worth it for that and the Passport Lounge access, plus you still get 3X on dining, which is better than the other cards I have right now. Maybe I'll keep it....

I like that it is so heavy. It's fun to hand it to friends.....