PenFed Snail Mail Offer

[Anonymous]

I joined in August.  My scores have increased, but I'm still below the "eh, we'll give you credit" range of 680.

Here's the deets:

PenFed Platinum Rewards Visa

$100 bonus when you spend $1500 in 90 days

Unlimited points

No revolving categories

5x Gas

3x Groceries

1x everything else

No FTF

No AF

9.99-17.99 % APR

BT 3%

Good thru December 31, 2015

I sit, type, and realize this is targeted because I'm a member, not as a "Hey, we see you're working on your scores and need a travel and gas card"  Sadness. At least this post can help some other PenFed members over 680 Fico.

PenFed dot org backslash BestHolidayITA

[Ron1]

It is a good card to have. I didn't get $100 bonus. I got approved for $5K last year. They pulled EQ. You can apply anything with same pull within a month.

Ron.

[gibeon]

At least you got the mailer!

I joined in March, and I haven't heard a word from them about anything, just keep throwing money into my savings every few weeks...

[Anonymous]

Really?!?   They are trying to seduce me into another HP failure.

I am a SP Redlight district member.  I do prequal sites weekly.  Maybe that's it.  My UTI is ALWAYS 5-6%.  I know PenFed likes that. But how do they know? I haven't checked for AR's on my reports since September. 

Hey, if your scores are rocking, there's the bonus sign up at least for ya.  I'm still waiting to romance Citibank next year and make sweet love to the AAvantage.

[longtimelurker]

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@Ron1 wrote:
It is a good card to have. I didn't get $100 bonus. I got approved for $5K last year. They pulled EQ. You can apply anything with same pull within a month.

Ron.

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The thing to be aware of is that the points are worth less than 1cent.   So if you want 5% off gas, better to go for the Penfed Cash Rewards which, with a qualifying product (very easy) gives you a real 5%.  The 3 points off supermarkets is about 2.54% which is OK as it also works abroad and is uncapped, but there are better options for many.  And never use for general spend as you get  less than 1%

[Anonymous]

Thanks for sharing the information!

[takeshi74]

Don't just respond to offer and don't just rely on prequals.  Carefully consider products that specifically suit you.  As longtime says, look beyond the earn rates on programs like this and consider redemptions.  PenFed nerfed this one a while back, IIRC.

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@Anonymous wrote:

At least this post can help some other PenFed members over 680 Fico.

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Keep in mind that PenFed uses EQ FICO NextGen.  Always consdier the specific scoring model and CRA as well as the relevance of the model/CRA to a given creditor.  As always, it's never just about score.  PenFed seems to like to cite pyramiding for certain profiles that have recently added a number of new accounts above their threshold for such profiles.

[mitchblue]

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@takeshi74 wrote:

Don't just respond to offer and don't just rely on prequals.  Carefully consider products that specifically suit you.  As longtime says, look beyond the earn rates on programs like this and consider redemptions.  PenFed nerfed this one a while back, IIRC.

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@Anonymous wrote:

At least this post can help some other PenFed members over 680 Fico.

---

Keep in mind that PenFed uses EQ FICO NextGen.  Always consdier the specific scoring model and CRA as well as the relevance of the model/CRA to a given creditor.  As always, it's never just about score.  PenFed seems to like to cite pyramiding for certain profiles that have recently added a number of new accounts above their threshold for such profiles.

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The acore that you get from Penfed itself.. what are those?

[longtimelurker]

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@mitchblue wrote:

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@takeshi74 wrote:

Don't just respond to offer and don't just rely on prequals.  Carefully consider products that specifically suit you.  As longtime says, look beyond the earn rates on programs like this and consider redemptions.  PenFed nerfed this one a while back, IIRC.

---

@Anonymous wrote:

At least this post can help some other PenFed members over 680 Fico.

---

Keep in mind that PenFed uses EQ FICO NextGen.  Always consdier the specific scoring model and CRA as well as the relevance of the model/CRA to a given creditor.  As always, it's never just about score.  PenFed seems to like to cite pyramiding for certain profiles that have recently added a number of new accounts above their threshold for such profiles.

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The acore that you get from Penfed itself.. what are those?

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Those scores ARE the FICO NextGen  so Penfed does show the score they use in decision making.

[hot4u]

Agree Cash Reward is better