topic Re: closed chase amazon :( in Credit Cards

closed chase amazon :(

bigblue7722 — Thu, 04 Sep 2014 01:12:05 GMT

I always liked the chase amazon card but the rewards are very lackluster compared to all my other cards. Only place i am losing anything is at office supply stores at 2% back. I dont know why chase does not make the card more appealing? maybe 5% back on amazon all the time 3% back on restaurants?

Re: closed chase amazon :(

CreditMagic7 — Thu, 04 Sep 2014 01:16:33 GMT

@bigblue7722 wrote:
I always liked the chase amazon card but the rewards are very lackluster compared to all my other cards. Only place i am losing anything is at office supply stores at 2% back. I dont know why chase does not make the card more appealing? maybe 5% back on amazon all the time 3% back on restaurants?

Chase DOES offer 3X cash back on Restaurants/fast foods with their AARP card. I checked it out but not a member and don't know exactly the criteria needed aside from AARP membership?

Re: closed chase amazon :(

barbaralee — Thu, 04 Sep 2014 01:30:08 GMT

I thought for sure we would continue using the Chase Amazon card, but then my husband was approved for Sallie Mae, and I switched all my spending to Discover, so poor Chase is in the drawer... Or in our case, the unused credit card tin.

Re: closed chase amazon :(

bigblue7722 — Thu, 04 Sep 2014 01:31:12 GMT

@CreditMagic7 wrote:
@bigblue7722 wrote:
I always liked the chase amazon card but the rewards are very lackluster compared to all my other cards. Only place i am losing anything is at office supply stores at 2% back. I dont know why chase does not make the card more appealing? maybe 5% back on amazon all the time 3% back on restaurants?

Chase DOES offer 3X cash back on Restaurants/fast foods with their AARP card. I checked it out but not a member and don't know exactly the criteria needed aside from AARP membership?

Someone the other day was saying you dont need to be a member to apply lol. I dont think an extra 1% back is worth it to have an aarp card anyways haha.

Re: closed chase amazon :(

Anonymous — Thu, 04 Sep 2014 01:35:06 GMT

Yes, the card really only makes sense for really heavy users of Amazon, where the lack of a cap outpaces the greater return on the 5% cards,

0.03*X > 0.05*9000 + .0.01*X, so if you spend over $22,500 a year on Amazon, the Chase card is better than the Sallie Mae (but anyway use Sallie Mae for the first $9,000!)

And if you have the uncapped 5x Citi Forward, the Amazon card is never better on Amazon purchases.

As for the 2% categories, with the 2% everywhere cards available, that isn't particularly useful either.

Re: closed chase amazon :(

B335is — Thu, 04 Sep 2014 01:39:43 GMT

@bigblue7722 wrote:
I always liked the chase amazon card but the rewards are very lackluster compared to all my other cards. Only place i am losing anything is at office supply stores at 2% back. I dont know why chase does not make the card more appealing? maybe 5% back on amazon all the time 3% back on restaurants?

I agree. It remains one of my lower limit cards and I would use it more if there was more appealing rewards as you said.

Re: closed chase amazon :(

bigblue7722 — Thu, 04 Sep 2014 01:48:12 GMT

@B335is wrote:
@bigblue7722 wrote:
I always liked the chase amazon card but the rewards are very lackluster compared to all my other cards. Only place i am losing anything is at office supply stores at 2% back. I dont know why chase does not make the card more appealing? maybe 5% back on amazon all the time 3% back on restaurants?
I agree. It remains one of my lower limit cards and I would use it more if there was more appealing rewards as you said.

Im just kinda suprised with how popular amazon is that card is not better? Maybe offer a free prime membership now that would be a great deal. Lucky for me chase is great and I was able to move my 1k limit over to the freedom making it one step closer to a visa sig card i dont think it will ever happen unless i close another one of my chase cards.

Re: closed chase amazon :(

Anonymous — Thu, 04 Sep 2014 01:59:58 GMT

I got it in 2004, and I don't think there was much competition, if any, for rewards on Amazon purchases. Now others have come (Sallie Mae, Cash +, and the 5x Forward has come and gone), and maybe Chase just hopes that existing customers remain loyal. And, since most of us wouldn't know about Sallie Mae without this forum, it might be a valid hope!

Re: closed chase amazon :(

slickshoes182 — Thu, 04 Sep 2014 03:49:22 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:
Yes, the card really only makes sense for really heavy users of Amazon, where the lack of a cap outpaces the greater return on the 5% cards,

0.03*X > 0.05*9000 + .0.01*X, so if you spend over $22,500 a year on Amazon, the Chase card is better than the Sallie Mae (but anyway use Sallie Mae for the first $9,000!)

And if you have the uncapped 5x Citi Forward, the Amazon card is never better on Amazon purchases.

As for the 2% categories, with the 2% everywhere cards available, that isn't particularly useful either.

Eh, I don't understand your math. My understanding is the Sallie Mae card gives 5% on Amazon shopping, up to $750 spent. After that, it gives 1%. The Amazon card gives 3% at Amazon with no cap.

I intepret this as: $750 * 0.05 + 0.01*(x-$750) = 0.03x => x = $1500 in spending at Amazon for the intersection.

So if I spend $1500 on Sallie Mae, I will earn $750 * 0.05 + ($1500-$750) * 0.01 = $45 in rewards.

If I spend $1500 on the Amazon Visa, I will earn $1500 *0.03 = $45 in rewards.

Am I missing something? Where did your 9,000 come from?

I would also note, some people on these boards have reported that not all purchases at Amazon.com are coded as "book store." I think digital purchases are coded as something else (Computer Store Merchant code?) while their grocery service (Amazon Fresh I think it is called?) is coded as supermarket. However, 5% is still pretty awesome on the first $750 spent on the other categories there.

Re: closed chase amazon :(

Anonymous — Thu, 04 Sep 2014 03:47:58 GMT

@slickshoes182 wrote:
@Anonymous wrote:
Yes, the card really only makes sense for really heavy users of Amazon, where the lack of a cap outpaces the greater return on the 5% cards,

0.03*X > 0.05*9000 + .0.01*X, so if you spend over $22,500 a year on Amazon, the Chase card is better than the Sallie Mae (but anyway use Sallie Mae for the first $9,000!)

And if you have the uncapped 5x Citi Forward, the Amazon card is never better on Amazon purchases.

As for the 2% categories, with the 2% everywhere cards available, that isn't particularly useful either.
Eh, I don't understand your math. My understanding is the Sallie Mae card gives 5% on Amazon shopping, up to $750 spent. After that, it gives 1%. The Amazon card gives 3% at Amazon with no cap.

In intepret this as: $750 * 0.05 + 0.01*(x-$750) = 0.03x => x = $1500 in spending at Amazon for the intersection.

So if I spend $1875 on Sallie Mae, I will earn $750 * 0.05 + ($1500-$750) * 0.01 = $45 in rewards.
If I spend $1875 on the Amazon Visa, I will earn $1500 *0.03 = $45 in rewards.

Am I missing something?

I would also note, some people on these boards have reported that not all purchases at Amazon.com are coded as "book store." I think digital purchases are coded as something else (Computer Store Merchant code?) while their grocery service (Amazon Fresh I think it is called?) is coded as supermarket. However, 5% is still pretty awesome on the first $750 spent on the other categories there.

Well, a clue is $1,875 *12 = $22,500. Yours is per month, mine is, as stated, per year.

Re: closed chase amazon :(

slickshoes182 — Thu, 04 Sep 2014 03:52:06 GMT

Ah ok, got it. Sorry, I missed the yearly part. I noticed after I orignally posted it that I used $1875 in some places, but $1500 per month in others.. the $1500 value is correct because I initially forgot to include the -0.01*$750. But still, I see your point about $18000 per year.

Re: closed chase amazon :(

Anonymous — Thu, 04 Sep 2014 03:56:23 GMT

@slickshoes182 wrote:
Ah ok, got it. Sorry, I missed the yearly part. I noticed after I orignally posted it that I used $1875 in some places, but $1500 per month in others.. the $1500 value is correct because I initially forgot to include the -0.01*$750. But still, I see your point about $18000 per year.

Yes, mine should have been 0.03*X > 0.05*9000 + .0.01*(X-9000) => 0.02X > $360, i.e. X = $18,000. So not quite as bad as my original $22K, but I would guess more than many here spend on Amazon.