topic Chase Freedom, BofA Cash Rewards or Citi Forward? in Credit Cards

Chase Freedom, BofA Cash Rewards or Citi Forward?

Cory — Tue, 18 Oct 2011 21:48:16 GMT

Hello,

When it comes to redeeming your rewards, and getting a variety of choices like, airline tickets, hotels, cash back, gift cards and etc., which card tops the list. Is it Chase Freedom, Bank of America Cash Rewards Visa Signature or Citi-Forward?

My spending habits aren't that big. I only charge gym, groceries, cable, gas and cell phone bills on the cards. I am trying to decide on which card I should utilize more for dinning, groceries, occasional movie, buying DVD's and maybe some electronics. Out of the three cards as it pertains to the rewards structure, what would be the best card where your 1 point per $1 dollar is has equal value? If you can explain why, that would be great as I am not a smarty with numbers.

Thanks,

Cory

Re: Chase Freedom, BofA Cash Rewards or Citi Forward?

tsquad131 — Tue, 18 Oct 2011 23:02:02 GMT

they are all good cards, if you eat out a lot this quarter from oct-dec has 5% cashback for chase freedom and you get more cashback if you have a chase checking acct too also movies and department stores are part of the 5% too. citi has a lot of perks to the forward card for small things they give you points for such as paying your bill on time every month you get an extra 100 points which is equiv to 1 dollar. I think all the banks have the same redemption values nowadays but boa also gives you 10% more cashback when you redeem for cash into a boa account.

Re: Chase Freedom, BofA Cash Rewards or Citi Forward?

LTomBerry — Tue, 18 Oct 2011 23:07:02 GMT

The B of A Visa is your best bet out of those 3 because it'll get you 3% cash back on fuel and 2% on groceries, plus 1% everywhere else. The Freedom will get you 5% on various rotating categories and 1% everywhere else but if you don't spend a great deal on those categories it won't help you. The Forward gives you 5 points per dollar on restaurants and entertainment but 5 points doesn't necessarily equal 5% when it comes time to redeem them.

Edit: I saw you were asking about flexibility on redemption. The first 2 cards are straight cashback, the Citi uses points which, when redeemed, may or may not be worth more than cash unless you redeem a bunch at once.

Re: Chase Freedom, BofA Cash Rewards or Citi Forward?

Anonymous — Tue, 18 Oct 2011 23:15:32 GMT

I can't speak about BOA because I don't have the card.

Citi Forward is a great card for entertainment. 5x movie theaters, dining, entertainment, Amazon.com. I have the card, but I find I am not using much right now because the Freedom has 5% in dining this quarter. I personally don't care too much for the Citi redemption site. It pales in comparison to Discover, Chase Ultimate Rewards and Amex.

Freedom card I have and love. My Freedom card just got better though because I just got approved for the Sapphire Preferred. Sapphire has great redemption for rewards for travel, airline and hotels. The points can transfer to airlines and hotels at 1:1 ratio. You use 20% less points when you book through Ultimate Rewards. You are able to transfer points earned in Freedom in the 5% catagories over to Sapphire (so you can earn a lot in the Freedom quarterly bonuses and then transfer the points to Sapphire). Freedom also has a rewards mall where you can earn bonus points per dollar shopping through their site. The points can rack up pretty fast.

Have you considered AMEX Blue cash preferred? $75 Annual Fee, BUT you get 6% back groceries, 3% gas and department stores, 1% everything else. If you do more spend in thesee catagories, it may be the best option. You may want to couple it with a Forward card, or if you want to keep things simple, pick one and stay with it. AMex also has a rewards mall where you can earn bonus points per dollar for shopping through their site online.

If you are looking for straight 2% back on TRAVEL rewards, the Discover Escape is sweet. If you redeem for giftcards though the points are only worth 1%. Has a $60 annual fee, but if you use the rewards for travel credit, you will get straight 2% back. Most reward cards give you a nice bonus in certain catagories, this is one of the few that have 2% on every spend. AND you get primary auto insurance on rental cars. No other card I am aware of has this. If you shop through Discover's mall, you will get double rewards on each purchase (4x). NICE!

Gift card redemption usually is not the best way to spend points IMO. I don't do the gift card thing, so someone will chime in on the redemption value there. I think some redeem 1:1 and other redeem for less value (half-----10,000 points for $50 gift card....yuk!)

Re: Chase Freedom, BofA Cash Rewards or Citi Forward?

Cory — Wed, 19 Oct 2011 14:34:24 GMT

Okay, great stuff guys!

The points system is not equivalent or equal to cash back right?

Thanks,

Cory

Re: Chase Freedom, BofA Cash Rewards or Citi Forward?

Anonymous — Wed, 19 Oct 2011 15:39:56 GMT

@Cory wrote:
Okay, great stuff guys!
The points system is not equivalent or equal to cash back right?
Thanks,
Cory

On Chase Freedom 1 pt = 1 cent for cash back ($10 min) or you can use points in the catalog

Re: Chase Freedom, BofA Cash Rewards or Citi Forward?

tsquad131 — Wed, 19 Oct 2011 16:36:26 GMT

for chase the minimum cashback redemption is now $20 which is 2,000 points

Re: Chase Freedom, BofA Cash Rewards or Citi Forward?

Cory — Wed, 19 Oct 2011 17:37:25 GMT

So if Chase Freedom 5% cash back was to spar with Citi's 5 thankyou points system, Chase Freedom comes out the winner? Assuming for both cards, the categories were the same. Chase F. would be out Citi, because of the value of redeemption?

Thanks for answering my annoying questions, lol.

Re: Chase Freedom, BofA Cash Rewards or Citi Forward?

tsquad131 — Wed, 19 Oct 2011 18:06:52 GMT

im pretty sure that the thank you rewards programs has the same redemptions as other banks doesnt it? like 1,000 points for $10 check or 2,500 points for $25 check

Re: Chase Freedom, BofA Cash Rewards or Citi Forward?

Anonymous — Wed, 19 Oct 2011 18:09:23 GMT

check out plasticiq.com

It gives a breakdown on the reward systems on each card. It does a much better job that I can ever explain. Very detailed.

Just type in the name of the card in the search bar.

Re: Chase Freedom, BofA Cash Rewards or Citi Forward?

Anonymous — Wed, 19 Oct 2011 18:19:41 GMT

@tsquad131 wrote:
for chase the minimum cashback redemption is now $20 which is 2,000 points

Oh ok my bad