@Anonymous wrote:
@Anonymous wrote:
Many folks outside of here haven't grasped the idea of builidng up rewards with credits cards, churning, etc. They see credit cards as a tool that'll help them pay for something they need in an emergency, or for that new XBox One S they don't have the money for right now, but would rather pay that balance over time.
It told my mom to respond to an AMEX PRG offer she recieved in the mail, explained that she'd get $400 in rewards after spending $3,000 or whatever it was on the card in order to have a free Christmas this year, and to pay for her bills and everyday purchases with it to maximize rewards, get vacations, etc. Her response? "I really don't want another credit card right now." Tried telling her it's a charge card and you have to pay the full balance off every month anyways.... Her response again? "I really don't need another credit card right now."
With some people you can't get get great advice through their head no matter how much you try to dumb it down, and credit card companies know that, so they take advantage of those who think credit cards are for the 1st explaination and not for the 2nd explaination.
Wow that is super spooky/coincidental. My uncle got an offer for the 60k Delta gold card and 50k PRG/$1k spend (sounds like your mom got the 40k then 25k 2nd year offer). And he just kept talking on and on about going on a trip paying cash. Yes many times it does make sense to get a great deal combining flight with car, esp if hotel is good quality and on sale....but I said, why would you pay $500+ to take a flight when you could go 3 maybe 4 times by getting these cards? He is already past 5/24 and did not prequalify for the CSR (he claims he sat down at the bank and asked and they checked and there were no offers there, something is telling me he didnt ask). His response to the amex cards "I dont need another credit card right now". (I am thinking, then why did you tell me about them then?????) And is totally fine staying at $50 a night hotels that have 80% bad reviews with burn holes everywhere..
Meanwhile he has a generous sum of money sitting in an antiquated checking account, although its 20 years old, earning a putrid 0.05% (and their credit card is of course managed by ELAN, granted they actually gave him a great CL and crazy low APR that is allegedly variable and not a promo), going to a credit union would get him another 2-3% APY easily, and they would treat him better. Keep in mind this person was also previously paying interest on 5 cards and I had to physically sit down with him and explain how to do a debt shuffle. Refuses to pay off the cards when he can, still using a debit card 78% of the time...but I at least was able to intervene and have some peace of mind by reducing his yearly interest by about 80% (after a bt fee or 2, a little interest incurred on a shuffle, etc). Had some quirky cards, some amex blue that earns 1 MR point but doesnt allow partner transfers only gift cards. I am like, do u see this MR balance here? You could be using these for delta miles after paying a tiny fee. Also has hundres of dollars of rewards sitting on a capital one venture one that used to be some old capital one card. Wont even use those for travel. (I wanted him to use them so we could PC to a Quicksilver and just set the rewards to auto redeem...but no again).
Also has a BoA card with a 50k limit and a fixed APR of 7.49%, I would be using it. Nope. Recurrent BT offers always thrown in the garbage. Only reason he has it is because he signed up for one when he had a mortgage with them ages ago. Also earns some crazy type of rewards that EXPIRE and are only for gift cards. I literally almost cried when I saw how many points over the years had just vanished.........................
Moral of these last two stories (mine and MDV's), you can lead a horse to water but you can't make him drink.
As quirky as Commerce Bank is at least they offer a cool feature called Toggle. You make all the purchases on one card, earn the mediocre points, but you can change each purchase as a debit or credit, or set up specific categories or amounts that get toggled automatically. Kinda neat. No commerce bank checking account required. I wish more things could be simple like this.
I've learned to give up and not do business with certain people.
My dad prefers everything in cash. I give him a check anyways and tell him tough crap. I'm not making a special trip to the ATM just to give him cash. He can deposit a check by smartphone. Heck he can't even do anything correctly with finances. He just opened a share checking account at a credit union and tried blaming them for an overdraft fee he caused on his own. He'd rather make a special trip to the ATM rather than use a debit card, even if the debit card has a rewards offer. Heck he recieved his first real credit card recently and he pays the bill by phone and doesn't even use the card for every day purchases or use online banking, and the card he has is the GM Buy Power 5% and 2% World Elite MasterCard through Capital One. It's really just better to not waste your time with clueless people like my dad. While he certainly has a right to do what he wants, people should listen to other people when the advice will benefit them, especially financially, and it drives mde nuts when people don't listen.
My mom is one of those who carries a balance and doesn't build up rewards or know any of the benefits of a card even though she travels a few times a year.
I've learned to just study and discuss credit cards on here and here only because nobody else seems to care about free money or benefits, but they'd rather just carry a balance month to month and pay high interest rates, so whenI go on my free vacation next year, I'll be sure to mention why it's free.
