topic Re: Magazine and blog misinformation in Credit Cards

Magazine and blog misinformation

kdm31091 — Tue, 14 Jun 2016 00:39:42 GMT

Just a little random musing. I get Money magazine sometimes, and was reading it today. There was a small article about dining out and how expensive it is, etc. Then there was a blurb about "best cash back cards for dining". The 3 mentioned were the Wells Fargo with the AF, The Thank You Preferred, and the Chase Sapphire Preferred.

To me, none of those are best if you want just cash back for dining, as there's no reason to be paying an annual fee for that. In the case of the Thank You card, it's not really "cash back", as thank you points don't convert well to cash most of the time.

It just surprises me that so called "expert" publications like this, similar to some blogs, give such misinformation to people. Why not recommend a generic 2% card? Or at least a card with actual 2% (or more!) in cash on dining that has no annual fee? No wonder consumers find rewards so hard to navigate. I realize that most people don't know the difference or care between points/cash/etc, but magazines and blogs that are meant to educate should be doing a better job.

Re: Magazine and blog misinformation

Anonymous — Tue, 14 Jun 2016 00:43:02 GMT

Probably paid advertisers.

Re: Magazine and blog misinformation

grillandwinemaster — Tue, 14 Jun 2016 00:55:31 GMT

Ignoramus, foolish people getting paid to fill copy. There not subject matter experts. They should probably be covering sports, but sports illustrated wouldn't hire them.

Re: Magazine and blog misinformation

redpat — Tue, 14 Jun 2016 01:29:32 GMT

OP, they are correct about CSP for value, CB isn't always the best value when it comes to redemption you may not agree with how they determine the best cards for dining value it doesn't mean they are incorrect.

Too bad you don't travel because you could get better "value" for dollars spent than strictly CB.

Re: Magazine and blog misinformation

kdm31091 — Tue, 14 Jun 2016 01:32:34 GMT

@redpat wrote:
OP, they are correct about CSP for value, CB isn't always the best value when it comes to redemption you may not agree with how they determine the best cards for dining value it doesn't mean they are incorrect.

Too bad you don't travel because you could get better "value" for dollars spent than strictly CB.

If you're writing an article about plain cash back, though, you shouldn't tell people they need to pay $95 for a CSP to get 2% back on dining. Of course, the value is much higher for travel, but that wasn't the point of the article.

Re: Magazine and blog misinformation

AverageJoesCredit — Tue, 14 Jun 2016 01:40:22 GMT

To me, an " average joe" , cash back should mean cash back no overthinking or complicated values etc. But alas thats just me i like it simple

Re: Magazine and blog misinformation

redpat — Tue, 14 Jun 2016 01:49:19 GMT

@kdm31091 wrote:
@redpat wrote:
OP, they are correct about CSP for value, CB isn't always the best value when it comes to redemption you may not agree with how they determine the best cards for dining value it doesn't mean they are incorrect.

Too bad you don't travel because you could get better "value" for dollars spent than strictly CB.
If you're writing an article about plain cash back, though, you shouldn't tell people they need to pay $95 for a CSP to get 2% back on dining. Of course, the value is much higher for travel, but that wasn't the point of the article.

Are you sure the article was just about plain cash back cards for dining or best dining card in general?

i think you're making assumptions, but I have not read the article.

Re: Magazine and blog misinformation

kdm31091 — Tue, 14 Jun 2016 01:52:22 GMT

It clearly says "best cash back cards for dining". Like I said, CSP is a great dining card if you're redeeming for travel, because it will give more than 2 percent. But at face cash value, no reason to pay 95 bucks for that.

Re: Magazine and blog misinformation

redpat — Tue, 14 Jun 2016 01:56:42 GMT

@kdm31091 wrote:
It clearly says "best cash back cards for dining". Like I said, CSP is a great dining card if you're redeeming for travel, because it will give more than 2 percent. But at face cash value, no reason to pay 95 bucks for that.

You could if you want to because 50k sign-up bonus is pretty good, then PC after the first year, lol!

Re: Magazine and blog misinformation

RonM21 — Tue, 14 Jun 2016 09:36:37 GMT

I agree, the face value of it may not be worth that.