topic Re: Reward Card Combinations :) in Credit Cards

Reward Card Combinations :)

Anonymous — Fri, 07 Oct 2011 20:19:58 GMT

I know many of have similar rewards cards with cash back, points, miles etc. I thought it'd be a good idea to see what combination of cards everyone uses to compliment eachother and make the most of all their rewards.

For me:

Blue Cash Everyday - 3% groceries, 2% gas, 1% everything else .. i use it heavily but mostly for gas and groceries.
American Express Zync - Restaurants and Travel packs ... 2x the points

I would actually like a little more rewards in the "everything" else categories! But, I'm curious to see what everyone else uses to maximize their rewards...

Re: Reward Card Combinations :)

Anonymous — Fri, 07 Oct 2011 20:26:10 GMT

Blue Cash Everyday - Department Store 2%, Gas 2%, Groceries 3%

Citi Forward - Restaurants, Fast Food, Bookstores(Amazon) = 5% point back = 3.something% statement credit

Chase Freedom - Rotating Categories(5%) and Everything Else(@ 1.1% + 10 cents per purchase due to Chase Checking Bonus)

Thinking about Fidelity 2% everything, or BofA CashRewards(I was mailed the 1.5% everything offer)

Re: Reward Card Combinations :)

flowfaster — Fri, 07 Oct 2011 20:26:34 GMT

I use: Bofa cash rewards for gas and groceries (3% and 2%) Discover more for the 5% categories(dining right now) And Chase amazon for everything else like the phone bill and stuff.

Re: Reward Card Combinations :)

lithium78 — Fri, 07 Oct 2011 20:50:28 GMT

I use BoA Cash Rewards for gas (3%) and general purchases/bills (1%). I use Discover for their 5% categories (currently dining, department stores, and clothing stores). I use my BBRZMC when I am shopping at Best Buy (4 points per dollar) or when shopping somewhere that doesn't accept Visa (1 point per dollar).

Re: Reward Card Combinations :)

RockinRay — Fri, 07 Oct 2011 20:56:25 GMT

PenFed Visa - gas @ 5%, and general stuff @ 1%. I like the statement credit each month!

Amex BCE - Department Stores @ 2%.

Target Visa - Target @ 5% taken at the register.

USAA MC - Sam's Club

Used to use Discover but no longer. Sits in the sock drawer.

Ray

Re: Reward Card Combinations :)

Anonymous — Fri, 07 Oct 2011 20:56:33 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:
Blue Cash Everyday - Department Store 2%, Gas 2%, Groceries 3%
Citi Forward - Restaurants, Fast Food, Bookstores(Amazon) = 5% point back = 3.something% statement credit
Chase Freedom - Rotating Categories(5%) and Everything Else(@ 1.1% + 10 cents per purchase due to Chase Checking Bonus)

Thinking about Fidelity 2% everything, or BofA CashRewards(I was mailed the 1.5% everything offer)

I am too this is the other card I'm considering. But, I don't want a brokerage account with them. Not sure if theres a work around for that.

Re: Reward Card Combinations :)

Anonymous — Fri, 07 Oct 2011 21:00:07 GMT

I believe you can just use the cash management account, and do general withdrawl from it.

Re: Reward Card Combinations :)

smc733 — Fri, 07 Oct 2011 21:39:04 GMT

Chase Freedom for 5% and everyday 1% purchases

Amex Blue Cash Everyday for 3% Supermarkets, 2% Gas, 1% everyday purchases when I feel like switching it up, or on purchases that benefit from Amex protection (electronics).

Re: Reward Card Combinations :)

Anonymous — Sat, 08 Oct 2011 03:27:33 GMT

I'm thinking about apping for sallie mae visa signature 2% everything. I have fidelity 2% already but visa is everywhere,amex isn't.
I will travel at least 2 times a year so barclay travelocity serve me well. 4% restaurant.
I will try for blue cash preferred next year to get 6% back on groceries.

Re: Reward Card Combinations :)

tsquad131 — Sat, 08 Oct 2011 04:43:51 GMT

Chase Amazon- No AF 2% for dining all year around, gas and drugstores and use amazon a lot 3%

Chase Freedom- No AF for 5% categories and 1% that if you have a chase checking acct you get extra cashback(10 pts automatically for each transaction and 10% bonus on the 1% which isnt much)

Amex BCE- 3% groceries

Re: Reward Card Combinations :)

Anonymous — Sat, 08 Oct 2011 10:55:00 GMT

Lets see... so far my rewards combination consists of:

1) Amex Blue Cash Everyday: 3% groceries, 2% department stores, 1% everything else

2) Citi Foward: 5% on dining, entertainment, & amazon

3) Discover More: 5% rotating categories, amazing online shopping cashback with no caps/limits (15% off Groupon, etc), no foreign transaction fee & 2% cashback on your birthday month! (Love this card, minus the fact that it has the lowest credit limit amongst all my cards)

4) Citi Dividend: 5% rotating categories

5) Chase Freedom: 5% rotating categories

6) Banana Republic Visa: 5% on all purchases from Gap Inc. brands (Gap, Old Navy, Banana Republic, and Piperlime)

7) Target Red Card: 5% off all purchases

The very last card I want to add is the new Capital One Cash Rewards card that is 1.5% back on everything in addition to no foreign transaction fees or annual fees, which would be the most ideal card for me when I go study abroad next year as Discover isn't widely accepted over there as opposed to Visa/Mastercard. Just giving it about 6 more months before I apply since it requires an "Excellent" credit and my credit history is still a bit brief.

Re: Reward Card Combinations :)

Anonymous — Sat, 08 Oct 2011 14:10:45 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:
I'm thinking about apping for sallie mae visa signature 2% everything. I have fidelity 2% already but visa is everywhere,amex isn't.
I will travel at least 2 times a year so barclay travelocity serve me well. 4% restaurant.
I will try for blue cash preferred next year to get 6% back on groceries.

https://www.salliemae.com/credit-cards/cashback/ , I hadn't heard of the a sallie mae credit card! But I went digging and this is all i could find . Could you provide a link? 2% Everything visa would be great!

Also, I might have to PC my barclay card, I didn't know the travelocity gave 4% at restaurants! Thanks

Re: Reward Card Combinations :)

Anonymous — Sat, 08 Oct 2011 14:12:20 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:
Lets see... so far my rewards combination consists of:

1) Amex Blue Cash Everyday: 3% groceries, 2% department stores, 1% everything else
2) Citi Foward: 5% on dining, entertainment, & amazon
3) Discover More: 5% rotating categories, amazing online shopping cashback with no caps/limits (15% off Groupon, etc), no foreign transaction fee & 2% cashback on your birthday month! (Love this card, minus the fact that it has the lowest credit limit amongst all my cards)
4) Citi Dividend: 5% rotating categories
5) Chase Freedom: 5% rotating categories
6) Banana Republic Visa: 5% on all purchases from Gap Inc. brands (Gap, Old Navy, Banana Republic, and Piperlime)
7) Target Red Card: 5% off all purchases

The very last card I want to add is the new Capital One Cash Rewards card that is 1.5% back on everything in addition to no foreign transaction fees or annual fees, which would be the most ideal card for me when I go study abroad next year as Discover isn't widely accepted over there as opposed to Visa/Mastercard. Just giving it about 6 more months before I apply since it requires an "Excellent" credit and my credit history is still a bit brief.

do you find that most of the categories are the same at the same time frame as your other rotating cards? That would annoy me. Insight?

Re: Reward Card Combinations :)

Anonymous — Sat, 08 Oct 2011 15:25:08 GMT

@ aamex

Yep, you guessed it! I'd say that the three (Discover, Chase, Citi) offer almost the same categories for about 3 out of the 4 quarters.

So far, its generally been

1st quarter- a bit different amongst the three

2nd quarter- home improvement & furnishings (all 3)

3rd quarter- gas, airlines & hotels (all 3)

4th quarter - department and clothing stores (all 3)

These companies sure know how to play stingy with these cashbacks by intentionally overlapping these categories

It can be rather annoying but what helps is that each card will often have something additional each quarter. Each tend to offer at least one differing category. For example, for the 4th quarter (in addition to department and clothing stores), Citi includes toy stores and electronic stores, Discover includes restaurants, and Chase includes movies and charities. If you happen to be a big spender, it's also nice to spread your purchase amongst the three to take full advantage of the 5% by avoiding the caps.

Hope this helps!

Re: Reward Card Combinations :)

Anonymous — Sat, 08 Oct 2011 15:49:35 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:
@ aamex
Yep, you guessed it! I'd say that the three (Discover, Chase, Citi) offer almost the same categories for about 3 out of the 4 quarters.

So far, its generally been
1st quarter- a bit different amongst the three
2nd quarter- home improvement & furnishings (all 3)
3rd quarter- gas, airlines & hotels (all 3)
4th quarter - department and clothing stores (all 3)

These companies sure know how to play stingy with these cashbacks by intentionally overlapping these categories
It can be rather annoying but what helps is that each card will often have something additional each quarter. Each tend to offer at least one differing category. For example, for the 4th quarter (in addition to department and clothing stores), Citi includes toy stores and electronic stores, Discover includes restaurants, and Chase includes movies and charities. If you happen to be a big spender, it's also nice to spread your purchase amongst the three to take full advantage of the 5% by avoiding the caps.

Hope this helps!

How annoying! Lol. However, it's could to know that I can get either of the 3 and that will be sufficient. Its good that they're 5%.. its just for me I limit my decretionary spending so that many of the entertainment categories just don't matter much.

But i'm officially a fan of how you use Target and Banana Republic

Re: Reward Card Combinations :)

Anonymous — Sat, 08 Oct 2011 18:24:31 GMT

Link for sallie mae visa signature 2 points/$ which could be 2% cash back at around $12500 usage
https://www.salliemae.com/landing/signaturecreditcard/default.aspx?SRC_CODE=3IM2O8&TAC_CODE=KWC8FMKQ&PIT_CODE=209877702

There is $39 annual fee for barclay travelocity to get 4% back on either restaurant, groceries or gas. I chose AF version because I could get 10% back when purchase on their website compared to non AF giving 6% back. Difference in discount alone worth more than $39 for me so it worths paying AF to get extra discount on special category which I chose restaurant.

Re: Reward Card Combinations :)

boomhower — Sat, 08 Oct 2011 18:56:46 GMT

Yep, you guessed it! I'd say that the three (Discover, Chase, Citi) offer almost the same categories for about 3 out of the 4 quarters.

So far, its generally been

1st quarter- a bit different amongst the three

2nd quarter- home improvement & furnishings (all 3)

3rd quarter- gas, airlines & hotels (all 3)

4th quarter - department and clothing stores (all 3)

These companies sure know how to play stingy with these cashbacks by intentionally overlapping these categories

Hope this helps!

Not really, they are all going after the popular categories for that time of year. Spring is home improvement(deck building, gardening, etc.), summer is vacation time, and fall is Christmas shopping time. Winter is a quiet time in general.

Re: Reward Card Combinations :)

Anonymous — Sat, 08 Oct 2011 19:41:55 GMT

I've wondered about this myself and I'm glad someone posted this question.

If the categories are similar among them, my guess is that they're set up to target the type of spending that's generally done during a particular quarter, i.e. offer the travel type categories (gas, hotels, etc.) during the summer months when the majority of people travel, the home improvement during the spring months, clothes and so forth during back to school time. Otherwise, their incentives wouldn't be as marketable/valuable for the cardholder - imagine if they offered hotel/gas/travel during winter and home improvement during fall. Now THAT would be annoying!

Re: Reward Card Combinations :)

KLGFCG — Sat, 08 Oct 2011 19:46:43 GMT

My rewards cards - I keep a sheet handy reminding me what cards I'm using for which purchases (it's getting more complicated by the minute... I'm a sucker for bonus cashback offers for signing up):

PNC 4, 3, 2, 1 Rewards (no longer an available product - I'm not looking forward to the inevitable PC) 4% on gas, 3% on theaters/movie rentals, 2% on dining, 1% on everything after $10K spent/yr. (no sign-up bonus)

Chase Freedom 5% rotating categories, 1% on everything else with no minimums ($150 bonus)

Citi Dividends MC 5% rotating categories, 2% on everything else until next August (promo at sign-up), then 1% on everything with no minimums ($100 bonus)

Chase Amazon Rewards 3 points for each $1 spent at Amazon and I'm not actually sure what else is in there, I just use the card on Amazon. ($40 Amazon gift card bonus)

It used to be so simple when I just had my regular PNC VISA and PNC rewards card, but I really get to maximize my rewards now by juggling the cards.

Re: Reward Card Combinations :)

Anonymous — Thu, 13 Oct 2011 17:48:52 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:
3) Discover More: 5% rotating categories, amazing online shopping cashback with no caps/limits (15% off Groupon, etc), no foreign transaction fee & 2% cashback on your birthday month! (Love this card, minus the fact that it has the lowest credit limit amongst all my cards)

This is news to me - my birthday is in December, so this would be awesome. I now have an additional reason to consider apping Discover!