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@zerofire wrote:
So I have the Chase Freedom which has gas at 5% right now in UR points. I also have the Ducks Unlimited which has 5% on gas at all times. Which do you guys consider better for gas?
Well, if those are the only choices, and just considering for gas, unless you have a very high valuation for UR, 4 quarters at 5% is going to be better than 1 or 2 and the rest at 2% (assuming OP has some sort of 2% including gas card)
The value of Freedom comes if the 5UR in other categories is useful, and how much you value URs.
Both cards can be difficult to acquire: Chase has their 5/24 rule and FNBO (which issues the Ducks Unlimited card) is extraordinarily sensitive to inquiries.
That said, if you drive a lot and need 5% off on gas year-round, then the Ducks card probably wins!
I believe Chase Freedom is better. No APR for 15 months, that makes quite difference more than rewards at times (Depends on your expenses). If you spend $1k in a year, you are going to have more than $21.6 minimum profit with Chase in first 15 months. It should be equal to $432 worth gas with Ducks Unlimited. Besides $150 bonus is not bad. When you calculate other rewards and APR. I believe Chase Freedom is going to be winner side. The only downside of Chase Freedom is quarter bonuses though.
Edit: Oops. Somehow I thought you got Chase recently. Sorry!
Edit 2: I Googled this issue. It seems Chase can be good if you have APR lower than 20%. Actually both cards have same stats. Source: https://creditcards.center/ducks-unlimited-vs-chase-freedom-gas-purchase-comparison/
I'd personally use Chase Freedom for the 5% quarter, and the Ducks card for the others to maximize. However, this is because I value UR at more than .01 a point (and combine points with CSR). If you just use Chase for cash back only, then maybe stick to Ducks so you do less card juggling.
I have decided to use the Chase Freedom for gas. My idea is that the Ducks Unlimited will be there when the 5% category expires. Meanwhile at worst case I will be getting the same 0.01 per UR as the 0.01 per point between the cards. Maybe I will eventually figure out how UR's work and end up getting more than 0.01 per UR but for now I use the cash value as the base.
@Anonymous wrote:
Edit 2: I Googled this issue. It seems Chase can be good if you have APR lower than 20%. Actually both cards have same stats. Source: https://creditcards.center/ducks-unlimited-vs-chase-freedom-gas-purchase-comparison/
The analysis in the link is very, um, strange! They start off by saying that the Chase Freedom gives 1.5% on gas outside of the 5% quarters. So on $2400 annual spend, they calculate 2 quarters at 5% (so 5% on 1200= $60) + 2 quarters at 1.5% (so 1.5% on 1200 = $18) for a total of $78.
AFAIK, freedom is only 1%, so this should be $72. Not huge, but makes you wonder about the accuracy!
The whole APR discussion assumes some pattern of paying that isn't explained. And of course neglects that URs can be more valuable than the cashback value if the user has some transfer card.