topic Re: SallieMae rewards MC no longer offered?? NOOOOO in Credit Cards

SallieMae rewards MC no longer offered?? NOOOOO

Anonymous — Mon, 22 Aug 2016 13:45:27 GMT

I was telling my friend about this card and how I have done so well on it but I can't seem to find
the app online anymore.

They all port you over to the Upromise card which really looks terrible IMO?

Anyone know about this?? Sorry if it was posted before. I could not find it.

PS I sure hope they dont DC this product for current users.

Re: SallieMae rewards MC no longer offered?? NOOOOO

Anonymous — Mon, 22 Aug 2016 13:46:14 GMT

It's been almost a year now that this card has been unavailable for new applicants, so that is nothing new.

Re: SallieMae rewards MC no longer offered?? NOOOOO

kdm31091 — Mon, 22 Aug 2016 13:46:21 GMT

You're a bit late to the party The Sallie Mae has been gone for about a year now.

No word on what will happen to current users...as of now, nothing.

Re: SallieMae rewards MC no longer offered?? NOOOOO

Anonymous — Mon, 22 Aug 2016 13:48:41 GMT

I guess I'm late however.. for a single guy... with student loans, but some gas and beer and food
what is the next best card for them?

I saw lots of postings about it no longer being offered for new apps but what about the NEXT
best cards.. especially for amazon., gas, groceries..(cig..lotto...beer..)

Re: SallieMae rewards MC no longer offered?? NOOOOO

Mattopotamus — Mon, 22 Aug 2016 13:54:19 GMT

It really is a great card for those three categories. I hit the $250 each month, so make out nicely. Like others said, it came and was gone pretty quickly.

Re: SallieMae rewards MC no longer offered?? NOOOOO

Anonymous — Mon, 22 Aug 2016 13:58:33 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:
I guess I'm late however.. for a single guy... with student loans, but some gas and beer and food
what is the next best card for them?

I saw lots of postings about it no longer being offered for new apps but what about the NEXT
best cards.. especially for amazon., gas, groceries..(cig..lotto...beer..)

There are some options, but it's going to be difficult to match those 3 categories at 5% on a single card.

Amazon Prime store card is 5% on Amazon, I think Amex BCP is 6% on groceries (supposedly worth the AF if you spend more than X per year), and there are quite a few 5% gas cards. PenFed Cash Rewards, for example.

Re: SallieMae rewards MC no longer offered?? NOOOOO

kdm31091 — Mon, 22 Aug 2016 14:02:53 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:
I guess I'm late however.. for a single guy... with student loans, but some gas and beer and food
what is the next best card for them?

I saw lots of postings about it no longer being offered for new apps but what about the NEXT
best cards.. especially for amazon., gas, groceries..(cig..lotto...beer..)

Amazon is easy, there are many cards for it. Store card gives 5%, Chase Amazon 3%, Discover and or Freedom give 5% at various times during the year (historically - there's no guarantee it will continue year over year), US Bank Cash+ can select bookstores for 5% (works same way Sallie did).

There are several 5% gas cards, they are mostly CU cards and as such I don't know too much about them.

For groceries it depends where you get your groceries. If you chiefly use Target/Walmart, Amex's BCE/BCP won't be of much help since they do not consider those grocery stores. If you use "regular" grocery stores, BCP gives you 6%, with a $95 annual fee. If you spend enough on groceries, it can be worth it, but as a single guy that may not be the case. You're probably better off with a no annual fee card. Most of the others just give 2% on groceries, so may as well do a 2% on everything card. Keep it simple.

Re: SallieMae rewards MC no longer offered?? NOOOOO

Anonymous — Mon, 22 Aug 2016 14:21:05 GMT

I will shed a tear when the SallieMae card program gets nerfed for existing cardholders. Sallie's been good to me (almost $1,000 in rewards in the four years I've had it).

IMO, there isn't a good single "next best" card to replace the SallieMae. Some people swear by the AmEx Blue Cash, but I haven't found that one lucrative enough to spend an inquiry on, and probably won't even when the SM goes away. YMMV. Another option might be the BofA Cash Rewards card, but 3% gas and 2% grocery seems hardly worth it when there are 2% on everything cards available. Even 3% on everything for the first year (Discover it Miles).

For gas, I see my next best as the Citi Costco Anywhere card, with 4% on gas (also gives 3% on dining and travel and 2% at Costco).
For grocery, it'll be the USBank FlexPerks Travel Visa card with 2%-4% (depending on how you redeem it) on grocery (3%-6% on Charitable giving, 2%-4% on gas, grocery or airfare, 2%-4% on cellphone charges and 1%-2% on everything else)

For Target specifically, the Target Redcard debit card, 5% discount.
For Amazon, the Chase Amazon Visa @ 3%.
For bookstores in general, the USBank Cash+ Visa, choose bookstores as a 5% category (you'll also get a second 5% category and a 2% category).
My "everything else" card is the Fidelity Visa.

Of course, gas, grocery and Amazon are favorite categories for the 5% quarterly category cards (Chase Freedom, Discover, Citi Dividend), so I'd use those first when applicable.

Chris.

Re: SallieMae rewards MC no longer offered?? NOOOOO

barthooper — Mon, 22 Aug 2016 14:42:29 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:
I will shed a tear when the SallieMae card program gets nerfed for existing cardholders. Sallie's been good to me (almost $1,000 in rewards in the four years I've had it).

IMO, there isn't a good single "next best" card to replace the SallieMae. Some people swear by the AmEx Blue Cash, but I haven't found that one lucrative enough to spend an inquiry on, and probably won't even when the SM goes away. YMMV. Another option might be the BofA Cash Rewards card, but 3% gas and 2% grocery seems hardly worth it when there are 2% on everything cards available. Even 3% on everything for the first year (Discover it Miles).

For gas, I see my next best as the Citi Costco Anywhere card, with 4% on gas (also gives 3% on dining and travel and 2% at Costco).
For grocery, it'll be the USBank FlexPerks Travel Visa card with 2%-4% (depending on how you redeem it) on grocery (3%-6% on Charitable giving, 2%-4% on gas, grocery or airfare, 2%-4% on cellphone charges and 1%-2% on everything else)
For Target specifically, the Target Redcard debit card, 5% discount.
@For Amazon, the Chase Amazon Visa @ 3%.
For bookstores in general, the USBank Cash+ Visa, choose bookstores as a 5% category (you'll also get a second 5% category and a 2% category).
My "everything else" card is the Fidelity Visa.

Of course, gas, grocery and Amazon are favorite categories for the 5% quarterly category cards (Chase Freedom, Discover, Citi Dividend), so I'd use those first when applicable.

Chris.

I'll be right there with you. I've only had Sallie for about two and a half years but it has been very rewarding. Not too soon after having my own I got my SO to sign up and ever since we've been cleaning up on gas and grocery rewards primarily, but also Amazon. I also got a couple of friends to sign up and it's also their main cards, and even their SOs signed up as well, with a couple of those just barely getting in before it was axed for new applicants last fall.

Hopefully the year anniversary of it being closed to new applicants comes and goes without changes for existing cardholders.

Re: SallieMae rewards MC no longer offered?? NOOOOO

Anonymous — Mon, 22 Aug 2016 14:47:08 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:
I will shed a tear when the SallieMae card program gets nerfed for existing cardholders. Sallie's been good to me (almost $1,000 in rewards in the four years I've had it).

IMO, there isn't a good single "next best" card to replace the SallieMae. Some people swear by the AmEx Blue Cash, but I haven't found that one lucrative enough to spend an inquiry on, and probably won't even when the SM goes away. YMMV. Another option might be the BofA Cash Rewards card, but 3% gas and 2% grocery seems hardly worth it when there are 2% on everything cards available. Even 3% on everything for the first year (Discover it Miles).

For gas, I see my next best as the Citi Costco Anywhere card, with 4% on gas (also gives 3% on dining and travel and 2% at Costco).
For grocery, it'll be the USBank FlexPerks Travel Visa card with 2%-4% (depending on how you redeem it) on grocery (3%-6% on Charitable giving, 2%-4% on gas, grocery or airfare, 2%-4% on cellphone charges and 1%-2% on everything else)
For Target specifically, the Target Redcard debit card, 5% discount.
@For Amazon, the Chase Amazon Visa @ 3%.
For bookstores in general, the USBank Cash+ Visa, choose bookstores as a 5% category (you'll also get a second 5% category and a 2% category).
My "everything else" card is the Fidelity Visa.

Of course, gas, grocery and Amazon are favorite categories for the 5% quarterly category cards (Chase Freedom, Discover, Citi Dividend), so I'd use those first when applicable.

Chris.

If gas is a heavy spend, get a 5% card, such as Penfed Cash Rewards. For Amazon, don't get Chase, get the 5% store card. For Target, buy discounted target gift cards and get 8-10% (For expensive items, probably should use a credit card though)

Re: SallieMae rewards MC no longer offered?? NOOOOO

joltdude — Mon, 22 Aug 2016 16:41:47 GMT

I wanted a Sallie but wasn't in a position to app for it at the time... sigh.. by the time I was, it was gone..

It really sounds like a single persons best friend..

Re: SallieMae rewards MC no longer offered?? NOOOOO

Anonymous — Mon, 22 Aug 2016 16:53:20 GMT

@joltdude wrote:
I wanted a Sallie but wasn't in a position to app for it at the time... sigh.. by the time I was, it was gone..
It really sounds like a single persons best friend..

It was the 2nd card I ever applied for on purpose, glad they auto-approved me even though I had baddies and only mid-600 scores back then.

It's grown about 800% in a year though since my reports got all cleaned up and I have perfect history now.

Re: SallieMae rewards MC no longer offered?? NOOOOO

galahad15 — Mon, 22 Aug 2016 19:34:08 GMT

Having missed out on the time window for new apps for Sallie, my own personal next-best card is my US Bank Cash+. Granted, with Cash+ you can't get the full 5% on groceries or *all* restaurants, but at least you can get the full 5% cashback on fast food restaurant outlets and other categories that Sallie does not offer the 5% cashback rate on, such as electronics store outlets. I currently have Fast Food and Cell Phones as my two 5% Cash+ categories, and restaurants as my one 2% Cash+ category, has been working out nicely so far Have only had the card for 2 months and have already gotten ~$19 in total cashback rewards already...

Re: SallieMae rewards MC no longer offered?? NOOOOO

SunriseEarth — Mon, 22 Aug 2016 20:45:27 GMT

SallieMae is a great card, and it's a shame you missed if. If it goes away, I'd have to split my cards across a few cards. Gas would go to Sam's Club MC (5%). Groceries would probably go to BCE (3%) and Target redCard (5%). Amazon would very likely return to my store card, but I might consider using Cash+ and choosing Bookstores as my 5%.

Re: SallieMae rewards MC no longer offered?? NOOOOO

wasCB14 — Mon, 22 Aug 2016 20:49:44 GMT

@Mattopotamus wrote:
It really is a great card for those three categories. I hit the $250 each month, so make out nicely. Like others said, it came and was gone pretty quickly.

When did it launch?

I got mine two years ago, and assumed it had already been around for ages.

Re: SallieMae rewards MC no longer offered?? NOOOOO

Anonymous — Mon, 22 Aug 2016 21:34:17 GMT

@wasCB14 wrote:
@Mattopotamus wrote:
It really is a great card for those three categories. I hit the $250 each month, so make out nicely. Like others said, it came and was gone pretty quickly.
When did it launch?

I got mine two years ago, and assumed it had already been around for ages.

There's a post from 2011, when the terms changed https://www.fatwallet.com/forums/finance/1129823/

It used to be $500 combined gas and groceries, before spltting into $250 + $250 (so for those that didn't use gas, in the old system you had a card with the same $6K limit as BCP with no AF for just 1% less earn) and $1000 on books.

Re: SallieMae rewards MC no longer offered?? NOOOOO

Callandra — Mon, 22 Aug 2016 23:06:37 GMT

@SunriseEarth wrote:
SallieMae is a great card, and it's a shame you missed if. If it goes away, I'd have to split my cards across a few cards. Gas would go to Sam's Club MC (5%). Groceries would probably go to BCE (3%) and Target redCard (5%). Amazon would very likely return to my store card, but I might consider using Cash+ and choosing Bookstores as my 5%.

I too was thinking about this...if Sallie Mae gets discontinued for current cardholders, I might get a Cash+ (2% groceries/Target/Walmart and 5% bookstores; might use the other 5% for clothing stores since I shop at Express and American Eagle all the time).

Re: SallieMae rewards MC no longer offered?? NOOOOO

Anonymous — Tue, 23 Aug 2016 02:30:06 GMT

In other words.. there really isn't a replacement. Dangit.. that's kinda what I thought. Glad I jumped in when the water was good.

Re: SallieMae rewards MC no longer offered?? NOOOOO

Anonymous — Tue, 23 Aug 2016 05:23:52 GMT

It'll get nerfed eventually. Served its purpose when I got it but it's just collecting dust now. Don't even use it for groceries or gas or Amazon

Re: SallieMae rewards MC no longer offered?? NOOOOO

Anonymous — Tue, 23 Aug 2016 05:24:15 GMT

Cashback cap sucks