@Anonymous-own-fico wrote:
Lynette, I agree with you about not seeing any Discover Card credit limit increases in your future. Given how high your credit limits are and how little you use your cards, there's little to justify an increase. I consider it a sound business expectation to have a balanced gap between the monthly balance and the credit limit.
I think cash rewards start at $50, so I trust the minimum on charges is $50 / 5% = $1,000. That doesn't sound unreasonable to me, if that's what it is. Then again, I don't think like saving 15 cents per gallon; to me, it's saving one gallon if your tank holds twenty gallons. Mostly, it's about mileage points picking up the annual fare to Europe.
I certainly agree that the coding is not entirely clear. The statement doesn't list 5% categories such as department stores and clothing stores, I think. All I see is the merchandise category. I'm thinking of soon stopping by a Crate & Barrel store for a Christmas gift, but I'm not sure if it qualifies as a department store.
Of course the store is presently listed with 10% for online shopping. I wonder if that's the route to take. Is online shopping something you have any experience with?
Crate & Barrel won't count as a department store. For it to be a "department store" in Discover's mind, the store has to have cash registers in various "departments." That covers stores in our area like Daytons, Macys, Younkers, and I would think places like Pennys and Sears. You just can't tell, though. And you can't find out before you make the purchase. The stores do the coding....and Discover can't tell you how that will work. No one at the store knows. It is really the luck of the draw as to whether you will get the 5%. I get so frustrated when I get burned by their system.
As to online shopping, that is how I buy whenever possible. I buy clothes from retail stores because I want to try them on, but otherwise I only walk into a retail store if I am under the gun and can't get something shipped on time. This season, by far I have found Amazon to have the best prices in almost everything. This year I have bought books, movies, and video games from Amazon....but also a set of pots and pans, lots of toys, etc. Their price on an iPod beat buying it driectly from Apple. I compare prices online, and Amazon usually wins. And the shipping is normally free and incredibly fast. I just ordered tons of stuff yesterday that was free shipping and promised to show up by Christmas. I've had good luck so far. Plus...no sales tax because they don't have operations in our state. That right there saves me 6% on every purchase before I even start.
