How does the Sallie Mae cashback work?

[Anonymous]

Is it 5% on gas and groceries combined total of up to $250 ($12.50 total) and 5% on books separately up to $750 ($37.50 total)?

Or is it 5% for up to $250 for each category individually: 5% up to $250 for gas, 5% up to $250 for groceries, 5% up to $750 for books?

And what's the redemption rate for this card? In increments of what?

I've also seen people getting duplicates of this card; how does one go about doing that?

[Anonymous]

Or is it 5% for up to $250 for each category individually: 5% up to $250 for gas, 5% up to $250 for groceries, 5% up to $750 for books? ~ This

And what's the redemption rate for this card? In increments of what? ~ 2500 point minimum = $25 cash back

I've also seen people getting duplicates of this card; how does one go about doing that? ~ Hard to answer bc it varies. I have two. Spaced them out about six months apart with a US Airways card in between. All instant approvals.

[Gunnar419]

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@Anonymous wrote:
Is it 5% on gas and groceries combined total of up to $250 ($12.50 total) and 5% on books separately up to $750 ($37.50 total)?

Or is it 5% for up to $250 for each category individually: 5% up to $250 for gas, 5% up to $250 for groceries, 5% up to $750 for books?

And what's the redemption rate for this card? In increments of what?

I've also seen people getting duplicates of this card; how does one go about doing that?

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What HeavenlyFlower said on the first two items.

On getting duplicate Sallies, if you can get instant online approvals, you have a chance at getting a duplicate, but if your app requires any manual review, you will be denied a duplicate card. However, at that point they may give you a CLI on your first Sallie and if so your app won't be a total loss.

[Anonymous]

Does it matter which app gets the instant approval? First or second one? Is it possible to get more than 2 SM cards?

I've seen people say that the 5% also applies towards Amazon. Is Amazon considered a bookstore? What happens if I purchase a video game console; would that count as a bookstore purchase on amazon?

What are the forms of cashback for this card? I assume statement credit is one form.

[Anonymous]

Every app after the first one has to be an instant approval or else the phone agent you talk to will likely not give you another of the same card.

Yes, it applies to most purchases on Amazon (everything fulfilled by Amazon is considered a bookstore purchase). Ironically, it does not apply to Kindle books purchases and I'm not sure if it applies to the pantry items.

Statement credit is one of the ways you can use your cashback rewards, yes. There's a way to squeeze out a 10% bonus on your cashback as well but it's a little more complicated and time consuming. It basically involves transferring your rewards to upromise and setting up a high yield savings account with SallieMae.

[cjc343]

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@Anonymous wrote:
Is it possible to get more than 2 SM cards?

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From what I've read and from my own experience, one of the Sallie Mae cards will be approved as a Platinum card, the other as a World card.

My applications were slightly more than a year apart, both instant, first Plat, then World, no other Barclays cards.

I have not read about anyone trying for a #3, much less succeeding, though I plan to try at some point when I feel like throwing away a HP.

Based on the experiences I've read about, I've been wondering if a World Elite flavor of the card exists, and if so whether it might be possible to either get instant approval for it, or PC one of the originals and be able to get an instant approval for whichever one got PCed.

[Anonymous]

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@cjc343 wrote:

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@Anonymous wrote:
Is it possible to get more than 2 SM cards?

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From what I've read and from my own experience, one of the Sallie Mae cards will be approved as a Platinum card, the other as a World card.

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Both of mine were approved and issued as WMC.

[Anonymous]

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@Anonymous wrote:
Is it 5% on gas and groceries combined total of up to $250 ($12.50 total) and 5% on books separately up to $750 ($37.50 total)?

Or is it 5% for up to $250 for each category individually: 5% up to $250 for gas, 5% up to $250 for groceries, 5% up to $750 for books?

And what's the redemption rate for this card? In increments of what?

I've also seen people getting duplicates of this card; how does one go about doing that?

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This

[cjc343]

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@Anonymous wrote:

Both of mine were approved and issued as WMC.

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Interesting. Thanks for letting me know. Must not have read everything like I thought I had :P

That definitely changes things so far as what it might take to get #3... If it's possible.

[Anonymous]

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@cjc343 wrote:

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@Anonymous wrote:

Both of mine were approved and issued as WMC.

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Interesting. Thanks for letting me know. Must not have read everything like I thought I had :P

That definitely changes things so far as what it might take to get #3... If it's possible.

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Both of my Sallie Mae's were WMC as well. My feeling is that a 3rd is possible as long as it is an instant approval. I doubt they would have programmed their instant approvals to allow a second but not a third. I might try it next year. I have 3 opened accounts in the past month and 10 in the past year (12 if you count backdated Amexes). I don't want to push my luck too soon and risk having an analyst see that I have 2 of them already.