Think before accepting a preapproval......

[etstrong98]

I received a Cap1 Buypower pre-approval in the mail last week. I figured it would be a nice last addition to my 2 month spree i had going on. I applied was approved for the huge limit of 300 ( i figured it would be low since i had a lot of inq in the last few week). I received the card yesterday and realized I will never be able to use the points off the card because I am eligible for both the GM supplier and employee discounts . So to the SD it went with the SCT cards a got to start rebuilding years ago.

Recent Additions

Cap 1 Buypower - 300.00

DIscover IT - 3000.00

AMEX Delta - 1000.00

Citi DC - 1800.00

BofA Cash - 2000.00

BofA Plat - 500.00

USAA Classic - 1000.00

Overstock SCT - 1000.00

Ballard Design SCT - 3000.00

Grandin Road SCT - 2000.00

Chase Marriott - 5000.00

EDIT ( left off)

Nordstorm - SL1000 auto CLI first month 2500

Toy R Us - 300.00

See this is what happens when you are stuck at home recovering from a surgery. I will be planting flowers for the near future.

FICO EX 677, EQ 695, TU 650

[Anonymous]

Sound advice. I wish more people didn't have to find it out the hard way.

[Anonymous]

Good post!

[Imperfectfuture]

Agree. Have several tempting offers mailed each week. Not going for them. Wasn't going for Discover until next summer, but the double promo came up. Wasn't going for Sallie Mae until next fall, but it was going away. Have enough right now.

[Creditdreamer]

I did the same thing with the Buypower card last week. Same limit approval too. $300. Then I realized how long it would take me to actually earn enough points to buy a car. If I only use it for the 5% for the first 5000 in purchases every year, it'll take me 100 years to buy a $25,000 car outright. lol. I'd rather have the 1.5% cash back from my Quicksilver and invest it over the next 100 years. I'm sure I'll have a much higher return on investment than the 5% can give me.

[Anonymous]

Sorry that this happened to you, OP. "Buypower" indeed!

[longtimelurker]

And more generally, think before apping for a card!  Make sure it meets some of your goals and is the "best" (for those goals) that you could reasonably get.    

This generally means you shouldn't need to post "How does the X rewards work" once you have the card.

And, from the dark side:   If an offer seems too good to be true, app for it!   A lot of great cards were only available breifly but existing card holders get grandfathered in, at least for a time.

[etstrong98]

I'm just hoping the next "to good to be true" promo is atleast 6 month from now in need time to let the dust settle 

[Anonymous]

Has anyone here seen a case of someone actually redeeming the Buy Power rewards, let alone using them to get a vehicle at a fair price?

It must be a pretty profitable card for Cap One when so many people get the card, use it for a few months or a year or two, and abandon the rewards program and walk away with nothing.

[Anonymous]

I received same offer for third time yesterday. It's somewhere in my backseat. Once I drop the top it will fly away lol