Pay Attention to Cashback/Points Bonuses

[hutchj]

Hey Guys,

This is just a heads up that everyone should pay attention to their cashback/points rewards because I've noticed Discover shorted me $2.70 in cashback. I kept looking at my balance and it didn't feel right, but I kept pushing it off thinking I was crazy or miscalculated. But when I finally sat down tonight and did the math, I knew I was missing something. It turns out they didn't give me credit for a flight I purchased.

So I called Discover, and we went back from Oct. 2012-June 2013, and he agreed that I was missing some of my bonus and he credited my account. Everything still isn't correct since June 2013 was a 2% cashback month, but the CSR said that it can take 2 billing cycles to get the credit for 2% cashback months.

I also received an email from my Chase Freedom card saying I received X amount of extra points, but it didn't add up either. I called Chase, and the CSR saw what I was seeing, but he couldn't do anything about it because the points haven't posted to my account. Hopefully, the Chase computer will right everything with that and I won't have to call back.

So I guess, I will periodically, go through everything to make sure all of the numbers add up.

Both CSRs were nice, but the Discover CSR was just super pleasant to deal with. I would love to deal with him as my own personal CSR, lol.

[370Z]

Bonus category points for purchases near the end of the month on the Freedom show up on the following statement. It surprised me at first too. You'll get them eventually.

[hutchj]

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@370Z wrote:

Bonus category points for purchases near the end of the month on the Freedom show up on the following statement. It surprised me at first too. You'll get them eventually.

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I understand that everything is a statement cycle late. I wasn't worried about that.

I got an email from Chase saying I earned 1875 in bonus points for using a rewards merchant, but the bonus points are short by about 141 points. I should receive 2016 bonus points in addition to the flat 1008 points for the standard 1% cashback/points. And I can't figure out how in the world they got the number 1875. No matter what type of math I do, I never get that figure. So idk. I'll wait for everything to post before I call again.

[scenery_guy]

I hear you but I have so many rewards cards there is no way I could justify my time tracking it all to make sure the points/miles were correct. I have to value my time at something per hour. Even if I found 1,800 UR points missing and then took the time to call and try to correct it I might as well have just paid $18 for the points.

[370Z]

To clarify, I meant that bonus points for purchases near the end of the statement cycle will be received 2 statements later. That's why if you use the bonus categories at the end of every statement cycle, the points will never add up to what you calculate.

[Iorek]

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@hutchj wrote:

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@370Z wrote:

Bonus category points for purchases near the end of the month on the Freedom show up on the following statement. It surprised me at first too. You'll get them eventually.

---

I understand that everything is a statement cycle late. I wasn't worried about that.

I got an email from Chase saying I earned 1875 in bonus points for using a rewards merchant, but the bonus points are short by about 141 points. I should receive 2016 bonus points in addition to the flat 1008 points for the standard 1% cashback/points. And I can't figure out how in the world they got the number 1875. No matter what type of math I do, I never get that figure. So idk. I'll wait for everything to post before I call again.

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Did you calculate using tax as part of your total? In some bonus situations, taxes/fees are not included in bonus rewards amounts. 

[navigatethis12]

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@370Z wrote:

To clarify, I meant that bonus points for purchases near the end of the statement cycle will be received 2 statements later. That's why if you use the bonus categories at the end of every statement cycle, the points will never add up to what you calculate.

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A Chase representative informed me that this happens because they post all of the bonus points manually and that there is a lag from when they post it manually to when it shows up for us. So anything that is done in the last seven days won't show up on that statement.

[ryanbush]

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@hutchj wrote:

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@370Z wrote:

Bonus category points for purchases near the end of the month on the Freedom show up on the following statement. It surprised me at first too. You'll get them eventually.

---

I understand that everything is a statement cycle late. I wasn't worried about that.

I got an email from Chase saying I earned 1875 in bonus points for using a rewards merchant, but the bonus points are short by about 141 points. I should receive 2016 bonus points in addition to the flat 1008 points for the standard 1% cashback/points. And I can't figure out how in the world they got the number 1875. No matter what type of math I do, I never get that figure. So idk. I'll wait for everything to post before I call again.

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If you buy throught the UR portal they don't pay points on Taxes or Shipping...

[ryanbush]

This is the main reason why I app'd for a freedom card and quit using my Discover IT card.  Now if the bonuses overlap I use my Freedom card for everything until I hit the 1500$ cap.

Discover messed up my cash back every month for 6 months in a row...

[hutchj]

I did not calculate the taxes when determining how many points I should be receiving. I know that you did not get points for taxes paid.