@SunriseEarth wrote:Checked email and saw a targeted rewards offer for my Barclay CashForward. If you opt in, they will give an extra 2% rewards on gas, restaurants, and electronic stores for Q3. Since the base rewards are 1.5%, this makes for an effective 3.5% in those categories.
Well, I'll take it if they send me the offer, I'd use for gas as I rarely spend at restaurants & electronic stores. I'm at $35 on reward points and I'd like to get to $50 for redemption before I sock drawer the card.
But the screwy thing with Barclays & these promotions is that you can't see the bonus points until the promo is over. 
They sent me a targeted offer for +.5% for a total of 2% rewards for groceries & a couple other categories for April 1- thru 6/30. I checked the account in mid April and saw I was only getting the standard 1.5% so I called. The rep said the bonus rewards are held in an "escrow account" and awarded at the end of the promo. I complained that doing it that way you won't know if your purchases were categorized correctly and earned the bonus until the prmo is over, and rep said basically "well, that's how we do it". But since I have a Rewards MC with 2% on gas, groceries & utilities I knew Barclays categorizes any purchase at my small town Family Dollar & next town over Walmart as groceries, so that's where I used the Cashforward.
I plan to SD Cashforward because since I got my Penfed Powercash in May 2% is my minimum rewards card. I like my Rewards MC better as I haven't used it for anything other than 2% rewards in years, but with it closed for new apps for some time I expect it to go the way of Sallie Mae.
@longtimelurker wrote:
@SunriseEarth wrote:Checked email and saw a targeted rewards offer for my Barclay CashForward. If you opt in, they will give an extra 2% rewards on gas, restaurants, and electronic stores for Q3. Since the base rewards are 1.5%, this makes for an effective 3.5% in those categories.
Sad to say, but it still doesn't sound like a great deal for my spend. Sam's Club is already giving me 5% gas and Discover is doing 5% restaurants for Q3 (and I planned on using Marvel MC for 3% dining as a backup). I don't do much shopping at electronic stores. Yes, 3.5% is better than 3% if I wanted to use CashForward as a dining backup, but the $50 rewards redemption threshold doesn't seem worth the extra 1/2 of 1%. Oh well.
I got the same just now on my Commence Card. As the base is 1% rather than your 1.5% there is no advantage for me except at electronic stores.
Also $25 cap on the bonus. So they haven't persuaded me to use the card!
Yeah, I got that too and likewise thought it wasn't enough to get me to use the card for other than extra cash back on a tradeline farming purchase... and I'd already made one of those in the last month so it wasn't getting another swipe 
