This was my very first card and closing it would really hurt my AAoA. I wouldn't mind paying the $25 if I kept getting 5% back on gas but now that's changed too.
I'm not sure what I should do and was wondering if you guys could offer some advice. I understand that you could continue to get 5% on gas if you sign up for one of the following:
-active checking account with direct deposit ($250 min.)
-money market cerrtificate or IRA certificate
-mortgage
-installment loan
-equity loan or equity line of credit with a balance
I already have direct deposit and a good checking account system set up with Chase and really don't want to change that. I also do not need a mortgage at this time.
However, I'm not too familiar with the rest of the options (only knowledgeable about credit cards at the moment haha). Would I be able to obtain one of the other options without really losing any money? I wouldn't mind setting aside some money for an option as long as I wouldn't lose money/have to pay interest in the long run.
Received a letter in the mail today explaining that there will be an annual fee of $25 starting October 26 and that gas will be 3%. On the back side of the letter it says "How you can continue to earn 5% on gas purchases" and states exactly what I posted before.
The idea behind 5%/.25% card was dumb as others pointed out. Pretty much guarantees it is a money losing card for them. Their best bet would have been to convert all the cards to VISA Sig to get higher swipe fees (I bet most/all existing cards meet 5k minimum) and then change card to 5%/1.25% or 5%/1.5% card. I bet they would have made more money. Probably get swipe fees to 3% or so and then get a bunch more non gas swipes.
LIMITS IN CARD DESCRIPTIONS
Even has a table at the bottom saying in one column "without qualifying products" and that you would be getting 3% for gas, 0% for all other purchases, $25 annual fee and no foreign fee. Then another column for "with qualifying product" containing 5% for gas, 0% for everything else, no annual fee and foreign fee.
I asked for clarification on the options not on whether the options would work. I'm young and have only dealt/learnt about credit cards. I understand one user spoke of opening a 7-year savings certificate but I wasn't sure if that would work or if that was one of the options they had listed.
Basically I want to know if there is any way of being able to gain the 5% back without losing any money, that's all!? 
(I wouldn't mind putting aside some money for a period of time to gain the rewards)
@drew11 wrote:I asked for clarification on the options not on whether the options would work. I'm young and have only dealt/learnt about credit cards. I understand one user spoke of opening a 7-year savings certificate but I wasn't sure if that would work or if that was one of the options they had listed.
Basically I want to know if there is any way of being able to gain the 5% back without losing any money, that's all!?
Their rates aren't high enough to justify (IMO) locking up cash in perpetuity just to get a reward on a credit card. You could earn pretty close to their certificate rate at an online FSB like Amex (currently 0.85% and you aren't locking up the cash beyond access).
If you honestly are determined to keep the additional 2%, I'd look into direct depositing the absolute minimum ($250) into a Penfed deposit product. Some employers will allow you to split DD to multiple institutions. I'm just not sure that the additional 2% you gain by jumping through these hoops will outweigh the gains that could be earned elsewhere with the capital.
They are trying to motivate you to move your banking relationship to Penfed, IMO.
@drew11 wrote:I asked for clarification on the options not on whether the options would work. I'm young and have only dealt/learnt about credit cards. I understand one user spoke of opening a 7-year savings certificate but I wasn't sure if that would work or if that was one of the options they had listed.
Basically I want to know if there is any way of being able to gain the 5% back without losing any money, that's all!?
It depends what you mean by losing money. You can open a 6 month or longer CD with them, and the rates are OK. (You can get higher elsewhere but if you weren't planning on getting a CD before, maybe that doesn't matter). The longer the period of the CD, the higher the rate, and you will get 5% only if the CD is still "active" (so a 6-month CD would give you the 5% for 6 months, for example).
But since they kept changing the conditions on the Plat Signature, I wouldn't be sure that this policy will hold either.