

Posted: 3/10/2015 8:15:36 AM EDT
I don't fly so airline miles are pretty worthless to me, but are there any cards with reward points that are actually useful?
I charged and paid off nearly 50k last year on my work card, it is through my credit union because it's tied to my business checking. Handy, and a good APR, but I keep it paid off most of the time. When I first started I had a Lowes card that gave me points to use for gift cards, and it bought me my gun safe and some other cool stuff, but it was AMEX and not all the suppliers would accept it. I closed it because I stopped using it completely. |
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USAA has a decent one, and I think Chase does as well (I have an Amazon Rewards card through Chase that gives me 3% on Amazon purchases, 1% if I were to use it anywhere else.)
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Capital One gets you 1.5%.....Fidelity AMEX gets you 2.0%.
I got $57 back last month. Free money. |
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USAA if you qualify. I use it to purchase everything and it kicks back enough to nearly cover 6 months of my auto insurance with them.
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I have Cabelas and BP Visa cards. Don't know the APR. Don't care. They have good rewards.
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The two I like most are DiscoverIT and Costco Amex. I've earned ~$800 with the Discover card, and ~$400 with the Costco card. Additionally, you can link Amazon to the Discover card, so whenever I check out on Amazon, it shows my cash back balance and asks if I want to apply it to my order. It's nice to get the occasional freebie order.
Only downside is I still have to pull out the Visa card once in a rare while, as some places take neither of those. I put all my expenditures on the cards - utilities, tax bills, cell phone bill, etc. The power company is one of the few that only takes Visa/MC. Both accounts are set to Auto Pay the full balance every month. I spend ~$40k on Discover, and ~$10K on the Costco card. That's just about our entire budget, except for the mortgage. |
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Discover offers 1% on everything and 5% for special promotions that include categories like travel, home repair, etc. They also just had a deal that if you spend 3500 per month for a 4-6 months straight, they give you 500 reward but the signup for that one has ended already, I think.
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I have the
amazon chase which i use for amazon purchases (3%) and restaurants (2%) Discover IT (5%) on different catagories every quarter.. I mainly use it when the gas rewards hit 5% and online Christmas shopping hits 5% Amex Blue Cash Preferred.. I use this for pretty much everything else but it does get me 6% on groceries... |
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Capital one 1.5 percent on everything cash back.
Barclays 2 percent back on gas,groceries and utilities. I average 30-50 bucks a month in rewards. It pays for a large chunk of our Christmas shopping come that time of year. |
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Amazon Chase.
3% if you buy stuff on amazon, 2% on gas,food and Rx and 1% on everything else Easy to rack up points |
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I have a Delta Skymiles AMEX and a Flexperks VISA. Haven't paid for any of my 3 trips back to Australia in the last 10 years as I just used points to fly.
Also have a Discover Card which has given me tons of cashback which I have used a lot of at Amazon. I use my CC 99% of the time and rarely carry cash. NEVER used a debit card other than to withdraw cash from my banks ATM. CC's are the only way to go, so long as you can control yourself and buy what you can pay for. Only fools who spend beyond their means and carry a balance are the ones who decry CC's. PS - also have the Costco AMEX and switch between that and the Skylimes AMEX for Costco purchases...I get checks back from both companies every year that I can spend at Costco. |
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Quoted: I don't fly so airline miles are pretty worthless to me, but are there any cards with reward points that are actually useful? I charged and paid off nearly 50k last year on my work card, it is through my credit union because it's tied to my business checking. Handy, and a good APR, but I keep it paid off most of the time. When I first started I had a Lowes card that gave me points to use for gift cards, and it bought me my gun safe and some other cool stuff, but it was AMEX and not all the suppliers would accept it. I closed it because I stopped using it completely. View Quote I use my chase business card for about everything and pay it off every month. Leaves me a simple audit trail. Also allows me the ability to contest a charge if the need should ever arise. The card has reward points which can be used several places including Amazon. I usually have between $30.00 to $65.00 a month I can use to buy stuff. Works for me. ![]() |
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Chase Freedom! Over the course of 3 years I have accrued 144,000 which turns out to be $1,440.00. So roughly $500 of free money/year!
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I'm doing the Costco AMEX. Similar rewards as listed above but in a Costco dividend.
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Chase UR points are generally considered the most valuable.
Here's how I roll. Chase Freedom for 5% on rotating categories. Chase Sapphire Preferred for dining, travel and everyday spend. AMEX Blue Cash Preferred for groceries and gas. I have other cards that I don't often use. USAA cash rewards World MasterCard. (Cards above are better) AMEX Gold charge card (good card but MR points aren't great) AMEX Everyday (same as above) Things will vary according to your needs. I like to earn a combo of cash back and travel points that I use for hotels. I don't fly. If you do AMEX MR points would be valuable. |
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Quoted:
Discover offers 1% on everything and 5% for special promotions that include categories like travel, home repair, etc. They also just had a deal that if you spend 3500 per month for a 4-6 months straight, they give you 500 reward but the signup for that one has ended already, I think. View Quote Interesting, I just finished a deal with them except it was spend $1500 a month for 4 months and get $200 cash back. They must have different levels. That one actually ended up costing me because I let the balance get out of hand instead of paying it off each month. Which is what they are really hoping people will do. |
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Quoted: Interesting, I just finished a deal with them except it was spend $1500 a month for 4 months and get $200 cash back. They must have different levels. That one actually ended up costing me because I let the balance get out of hand instead of paying it off each month. Which is what they are really hoping people will do. View Quote View All Quotes View All Quotes Quoted: Quoted: Discover offers 1% on everything and 5% for special promotions that include categories like travel, home repair, etc. They also just had a deal that if you spend 3500 per month for a 4-6 months straight, they give you 500 reward but the signup for that one has ended already, I think. Interesting, I just finished a deal with them except it was spend $1500 a month for 4 months and get $200 cash back. They must have different levels. That one actually ended up costing me because I let the balance get out of hand instead of paying it off each month. Which is what they are really hoping people will do. Gotta be careful to sign up for rewards and perks that match your existing spending habits, and don't buy anything you wouldn't otherwise buy just because of rewards points. Just let the rewards be a passive perk. |
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