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I might be being too cynical, but I wouldn't put a lot of effort in planning for Cash + 5% categories for second quarter 2013. I would expect things to change by then!
@flowfaster wrote:OK but someone needs to come up with a plan on what we should switch the Cash+ to. Besides the Bill Pay and with the Discover restaurant quarter(I have Forward too) I am stumped. I heard Lowes sells all types of gift cards. I could switch it to home improvement but meh.
Edit: You could also switch it to electronics and buy Amazon Kindle gift cards from Best Buy. That would earn the 5%(actually 6.25%).
Double edit: Just remembered I have the Forward for Amazon lol.
Why meh regarding Lowes? That's my plan...
@bs6054 wrote:I might be being too cynical, but I wouldn't put a lot of effort in planning for Cash + 5% categories for second quarter 2013. I would expect things to change by then!
Damn.............You had to go there? I really hope not. Take away the $25 bonus and this card will still be on top. Now just don't cap the quarterly rewards and I will be good.
@flowfaster wrote:
@bs6054 wrote:I might be being too cynical, but I wouldn't put a lot of effort in planning for Cash + 5% categories for second quarter 2013. I would expect things to change by then!
Damn.............You had to go there? I really hope not. Take away the $25 bonus and this card will still be on top. Now just don't cap the quarterly rewards and I will be good.
That will be a fun (and disappointing!) game: predict how the Cash Plus will get nerfed:
a) Remove $25 bonus
b) Remove bill pay
c) Cap 5% categories
d) Rotate categories
e) Other
I would predict c) as that is in line with other issuers and if they still keep the $25 bonus, they can claim to be a 6.25% card (on up to $1500 spend say).
While a) is part of the problem with big spends, it's not really the root of the problem, whereas c) is, so I can imagine keeping the bonus as the impact with a cap is much reduced.
Hopefully, none of these will happen, but my feeling (based of course on total access to all US Bank financial models!) is that it doesn't appear sustainable, unless a lot of people use the card for all the purchases (including the 1.25 base stuff).
US Bank already made Cash+ available to branch only, in an attempt to sell you additional products (deposit account, line of credit, etc) while you apply the card. Given how AMEX caps the Blue Cash series, likely US Bank will do the same.
@ztnjpv wrote:BS,
Yeah, I have seen quibbling over the true redemption rate of thank you points. I have read that it depends on the card you have if you get a true 1:1 or something less. I'll see. There's has to be something worthwhile I would need at 1:1 even if gift cards are not it. Maybe hotels or an occasional flight.
You can still get 1 cpp on many $100 gift cards, even with the nerfed Forward card redemption values. I'll probably use mine for $100 Macy's gift cards at 10k points each.
I've thought about getting the Forward card for some time because of the 5% on restaurants, but with 2.14x on CSP and being able to convert to United miles or Hyatt points, it really comes out to 6.5% or more in value, so I'll probably just continue what I'm doing.
I got a secret app for the Forward card for 30,000 points and 5 points on bonus categories if anybody wants. That should make up for the nerfed Thank You points hahaha.
If you have the standard Citi Thank You card (NO AF) you get 1:1 redemption on the FWD for gift cards regardless of the GC amount, i.e. 2500 pts = $25 GC, 5,000 pts + $50 GC, etc.