@digitek wrote:Cash+ utility category is just stuff like gas/electric/water/sanitation. They also have an internet/streaming category that is both your internet bill and all streaming services. They also have a cellphone category which works for your bill or anything bought at a cellphone store like a new one.
You get to pick two Cash+ categories.
You might be better with a card that offers cellphone insurance instead of using the cellphone category on a card that doesn't offer the insurance. You'll have to do that math for your personal situation.
VantageWest Connect Rewards offers a capped $1500 per quarter utility category that covers all normal utilities, internet, cellphone, and streaming. It is geofenced to Arizona unfortunately, though.
If your utility makes you pay a fee to use CC, check and see whether it is percentage based or a flat fee. If it is percentage based it might not he worth it to use a CC to pay it depending on the % charged. If it is a flat fee you can usually overpay for something like a whole year all at once to minimize the effect of the fee.
As an honorable mention, Amex BCP gives 6% back on streaming.
Thanks for that breakdown! So it sounds like you only get the 5% on two out of three categories ...
... either ((gas/electric/water/sanitation)) or
((internet/streaming)) or
((cellphone))
But not all three?
I would focus on the gas-electric myself.
That's a big area for me and few cards cover that, especially at 5%.
Water is a wash for me ... lmao 
... (pun intended.)
I pay fees to pay water bill with credit so it is EFT from checking.
@Aim_High wrote:
@digitek wrote:Cash+ utility category is just stuff like gas/electric/water/sanitation. They also have an internet/streaming category that is both your internet bill and all streaming services. They also have a cellphone category which works for your bill or anything bought at a cellphone store like a new one.
You get to pick two Cash+ categories.
You might be better with a card that offers cellphone insurance instead of using the cellphone category on a card that doesn't offer the insurance. You'll have to do that math for your personal situation.
VantageWest Connect Rewards offers a capped $1500 per quarter utility category that covers all normal utilities, internet, cellphone, and streaming. It is geofenced to Arizona unfortunately, though.
If your utility makes you pay a fee to use CC, check and see whether it is percentage based or a flat fee. If it is percentage based it might not he worth it to use a CC to pay it depending on the % charged. If it is a flat fee you can usually overpay for something like a whole year all at once to minimize the effect of the fee.
As an honorable mention, Amex BCP gives 6% back on streaming.
Thanks for that breakdown! So it sounds like you only get the 5% on two out of three categories ...
... either ((gas/electric/water/sanitation)) or
((internet/streaming)) or
((cellphone))
But not all three?
I would focus on the gas-electric myself.
That's a big area for me and few cards cover that, especially at 5%.
Water is a wash for me ... lmao
I pay fees to pay water bill with credit so it is EFT from checking.
Yes, with Cash+ you choose 2 5% categories out of a largish set, and those 3 are separate ones (so pick 2 or have 2 cash+ cards!)
Re:You might be better with a card that offers cellphone insurance instead of using the cellphone category on a card that doesn't offer the insurance. You'll have to do that math for your personal situation
Doing the math can be a little complex IMO. For example, carriers are happy to offer very expensive insurance, but unlike most credit card insurance this also covers lost phones, so if you frequently lose phones, it MIGHT be worth it. If you are very careful with your phones, you may not want to consider insurance and just take the higher cashback. Also, you probably don't need to worry too much about insurance (either cc or other) later on in the phones life, you may just want to buy a newer one. I wish the Cash+ covered it, but as it doesn't, my current plan is to use my Citizen's Bank card (which pays 1.8%) for now, and later on switch back to Cash+. (And things are made more complex because I am on device plan, which I wish I could pay off using Cash+, but the credit from my trade it, given montly, makes it cheaper to keep paying at 1.8%)