Please tell me you didn't pick a card with an annual fee.

10/16/2011 9:37:06 PM

Quote :

"well, I went for the Blue Cash Preferred. I figure I'll always put 7500 on it each year, so that should take care of the annual fee..."

Quote :

" It's actually like $48.08 a week on just groceries before it becomes worthwhile to have the Blue Cash Preferred over Blue Cash Everyday. 0.06x = 75 + 0.03x"

10/16/2011 11:33:02 PM

Yeah cash rewards cards aren't always the best option unless you spend $$$ on them.

Hotel or airline cards are much better. My Marriott Chase card has a $75 annual fee I think (waived first year) but I get 2 free nights a year. Those 2 free nights could be worth $200-400 by themselves. More than pays for the fee. Plus with the card you get 17 points per dollar spent with the rewards program.

Plus hotel and airline cards have mad deals that pop up that you register for and get more points. I just clicked "register" on the Marriott website and got another 10k points just for staying 2 times between July and October.

Cash rewards suck unless you don't stay in hotels or fly anywhere.

10/16/2011 11:40:47 PM

cash is a lot more flexible than trying to buy a soda at 7-11 by bartering hotel or airline points.

10/16/2011 11:47:23 PM

That statement makes no sense whatsoever. Why would someone convert hotel or airline points to cash??

I'm saying airline and hotel points are worth more per point and it's much easier to get them. If I'm spending $300/month at a Marriott that's 5,100 points/month (17 points/dollar).

My AA card has similar deals. I fly and stay at hotels yearly and so it makes more sense than cash points. ESPECIALLY if you fly in the off season because international flights are like 40k-60k points with most airlines but still cost $800-1200 if you buy them cash.

10/16/2011 11:55:00 PM

Well, if you're saving more money penny for penny, then you're doing the right thing. I don't travel, I'm stuck in place for right now. If I do travel, I have coupons and AAA discount plus the cashback rewards and I come out even with you with my cashback rewards... I just have more freedom than you to pick which hotel I want to stay at.

10/17/2011 12:10:41 AM

Quote :

"If I do travel, I have coupons and AAA discount plus the cashback rewards and I come out even with you with my cashback rewards."

I highly doubt your coupons and cash back rewards come even close to the discounts you get with a hotel or frequent flyer card.

10/17/2011 9:14:58 AM

Genius: aren't you the guy that's always ranting about how credit cards are destroying America?

What happened?

10/17/2011 2:02:17 PM

Please, let's not start that. This is a useful thread, and I dont want to see it converted to a bitch fest.

[Edited on October 17, 2011 at 3:16 PM. Reason : .]

10/17/2011 3:13:02 PM

http://online.wsj.com/article_email/SB10001424052970204618704576640931800937612-lMyQjAxMTAxMDIwMDEyNDAyWj.html?mod=wsj_share_email

Quote :

"Rick Draper, who does website work for a bank in Detroit, was offered 75,000 American Airlines miles for signing up for a Visa or American Express card through Citibank. With two browsers open on his computer, he put through applications for each at the same instant and got approved for both. Then his wife, a preschool and piano teacher, did the same. After meeting minimum spending requirements, the couple had 300,000 miles—more than enough for two first-class tickets to Buenos Aires next month."

That's the card I got. 75k points. I only did the one though. My friend did 4, 2 for his wife and 2 for him and banked the 300k. Sweet deal.

10/20/2011 4:44:52 PM

Damn, guess I know what I'm trying after I'm done with the amex.

10/20/2011 5:04:25 PM

Trust me, they have or will be closing that loophole really soon.

10/20/2011 8:16:15 PM

Quote :

"Genius: aren't you the guy that's always ranting about how credit cards are destroying America? What happened? "

Credit cards --pay attention-- WHEN USED EXCESSIVELY --stop paying attention-- destroy small business.

Financial privacy is obsolete when all your sales are tracked by excessive credit card transactions.

Also, large corporations are destroying small business. I don't feel bad about using a credit card at walmart type places because they are at the top and are still making boku bucks regardless of credit card transactions. Large corporations get huge rate discounts due to volume of sales, too.

Also, credit cards do have their place in society.
For example: When you pay over the phone.
For example: When someone orders $100 of pizzas for delivery, I can feel safe when the customer prepays using a credit card and I don't have to worry about being scammed.
For example: When you pay over the internet.

All those examples AND MORE are why they trump cash in those "security" situations worth paying a charge for.

10/20/2011 10:43:53 PM

I wish my card would hurry up and come in the mail. I got shit to buy and a hotel to book.

10/21/2011 8:30:49 AM

Applied for the following cards yesterday:

Citi Premier 50k ThankYou points after $2500 spend w/in 1st 3 months:
https://creditcards.citi.com/credit-cards/citi-thankyou-premier-card/

Note the $125 annual fee on that one (waived for first year). Definitely a cash-in and bail card.


and the Capital One Cash rewards that gives 1.5% CB. They have a $100 bonus for spending $500 in the first 3 months, also. Never thought I'd own a Cap One card, but with the demise of my Schwab card they now have the best Cash Back card (and one of the only ones with no foreign trans fee).

[Edited on October 21, 2011 at 10:27 AM. Reason : d]

10/21/2011 10:27:24 AM

haha, got a danged pre-approved mailer for the Chase Freedom yesterday w/ 300 cash back after I had applied for the Amex Blue whatever. Looks like I'm gettin a free 300 bux from Chase and then never using that card again

10/22/2011 8:25:27 PM

Looking for a credit card for my wife. She has NEVER owned a credit card so has zero credit....

Looking for an airlines card. Anyone have a good one? What are yearly fees? Waived for first year?

10/26/2011 4:16:23 PM

Please note that cashback is only worth it if you were pre-planning to spend the money anyway before the incentive existed.

If you go out of your way to spend money to meet their goals, you lose the game.

Stay out of debt folks.

10/26/2011 4:23:57 PM

Stupid businesses. Getting to $1,000 via American Express is going to be harder than originally anticipated.

10/26/2011 4:24:46 PM

American Express charges business the most for their service
American Express gives you a 100 page book to read for their services (visa and master do not)
I told AmEx to eff off.


Hardly anyone uses their card: the kicker is this "Anyone who possesses an American Express card will also own either a Visa or Mastercard. The amount of people that own an American Express card but no other card is so small, it's negligible"

10/26/2011 4:30:00 PM

I only signed up for AMEX to further continue my rewards whoring. I'll cancel it once I clear my bonus and xfer the pts to miles.

10/26/2011 4:45:37 PM

Zero debt, just did a credit check and it was 805

10/26/2011 4:46:29 PM

i feel like such a baller with this Chase Sapphire. it's made out of a carbon fiber type material and looks slick.

too bad i'm not much of a baller.

10/26/2011 5:05:04 PM

Heh, same with AMEX gold.

10/26/2011 5:14:40 PM

Quote :

"Before the Wall Street reform law of 2010, it was illegal for businesses to the have credit card minimums. But stores frequently required customers to spend at least $5 or $10 when using a card. http://jobs.aol.com/articles/2011/11/03/cashiers-refuse-to-let-broke-woman-buy-groceries-with-loose-chan/?icid=maing-grid10%7Chtmlws-main-bb%7Cdl19%7Csec1_lnk2%7C109813 "

Apparently, nobody likes to inform businesses or the public about laws that are passed. It seems to say businesses are allowed to charge a minimum now legally.



copy of Wall Street reform law of 2010 can be found here.

http://banking.senate.gov/public/_files/070110_Dodd_Frank_Wall_Street_Reform_comprehensive_summary_Final.pdf

11/3/2011 8:36:27 PM

Quote :

"A Portland woman recently scraped together $32 in quarters to buy groceries at the local Save-a-Lot. "We had nothing to feed out children with," she told KATU News. "So we broke out change." She waited for the check-out to clear, and apologized to the cashier for the 124 coins she had in her hands. "Sorry, it's hard times right now," she told him. Save-a-Lot can only accept $5 of change, the clerk informed her."

Damn, she did what she could to minimize any disturbance by paying in change and the dude still gave her a hard time. I'd be upset too if I was her.

11/3/2011 9:07:17 PM

I'm pretty sure the change policy was instated so that people couldn't "back up" checkout lines.
It takes forever to count all that change.

Unfortunately, the dude was enforcing the rules for all the wrong reasons.

Categorized under that brainless zombie workers we've created.

11/3/2011 9:12:19 PM

When I worked in a children's store we used to have parents alllllllllllllllllllllllllll the time have their kids pay for their toy in change so they could learn counting. Only time I would politely tell the parents to fuck off is when they decided to do it at times like Black Friday.

11/3/2011 9:14:02 PM

^while not illegal, I'd be pissed too.

11/3/2011 9:16:40 PM

FWIW, you can sell these airline miles to brokers for big cash. Like those 2 75k AA mile citi cards could get you $2300 cash (1.5cpm).

11/4/2011 10:19:37 AM

Link?

11/4/2011 10:24:46 AM

Quote :

"Hardly anyone uses their card:"

Huh? 95% of my charges are on AMEX. Only 5% go to mastercard. When a place doesnt take AMEX, they are usually small mom and pop business.

For anyone else that needs an AMEX referral for 25k signup points, my offer is expiring on Nov 15. Send me a PM if you want it. More than likely, they will have more. those that get targeted offers will get more points, but 25k without targeted offers is about as good as it gets.



[Edited on November 4, 2011 at 11:30 AM. Reason : .]

11/4/2011 11:28:48 AM

^^^Can you show me where you're getting that kind of cash for your miles? I've got tons I'm not using.

11/4/2011 12:20:09 PM

No offense but the last four comments are fail.

11/4/2011 3:27:38 PM

I mean, if you life consists of Bojangles and the farmers market or a shitty pizza place in Virginia, then the AMEX card is definitely not the best choice.

11/4/2011 3:29:33 PM

Don't be butthurt. I just made a legitimate comment.

11/4/2011 3:40:23 PM

I don't care if no one uses the card. If AMEX wants to give me free stuff then I won't argue.

11/4/2011 3:51:16 PM

No such thing as a free lunch.

11/4/2011 3:52:09 PM

Quote :

"I just made a legitimate comment."

Not sure what was legitimate about it. Nothing from what I could tell.

11/4/2011 3:55:58 PM

Do you get angry when your teacher marks one of your answers wrong on a test without giving you the right answer, too?

11/4/2011 4:02:50 PM

I get free lunches all the time.

11/4/2011 4:04:05 PM

Give me $5 and I'll give you a free lunch, too.

11/4/2011 4:05:43 PM

Quote :

"Do you get angry when your teacher marks one of your answers wrong on a test without giving you the right answer, too?"

I guess if my teacher rejected reality, as you apparently do, I miss out on the opportunity to understand their disfunction.

[Edited on November 4, 2011 at 4:08 PM. Reason : .]

11/4/2011 4:08:27 PM

You don't get any more correct by arguing with me.

11/4/2011 4:09:47 PM

Nor do you. move on

11/4/2011 4:10:47 PM

Hardly anyone uses their card: the kicker is this "Anyone who possesses an American Express card will also own either a Visa or Mastercard. The amount of people that own an American Express card but no other card is so small, it's negligible"

11/4/2011 4:13:38 PM

Selling miles? Try these:

http://www.awardtraveler.com/
http://www.flyer-miles.com

11/4/2011 4:16:21 PM

I just hit 101,000 Marriott points. WOOHOO!

11/4/2011 4:20:29 PM

Quote :

"Give me $5 and I'll give you a free lunch, too."

I pay my amex off each money. I don't give them any of my money, but feel free to keep using cash while I reap the rewards of my credit cards.

11/4/2011 4:41:04 PM

You do realize every time you use your card you're giving them money right?

11/4/2011 4:42:57 PM