Using cash rewards.

[Anonymous]

So here's our senerio whe have. We just are getting into cash rewards.
We went to art van ( furniture store ) we are going to purchase a new couch. We have a QS no apr on purchases until February of next year. 1.5 cash back. Plus 100 dollar statement credit after 500 spent. And the DC 2% no interest for 18mo.
So we're talking to the sales guy. He gave us 2 options. 20% off or 48mo interest financing ( we have an artvan signature card already)
So my thought would be to take the 20% off the sale price of 2799.99 and use one of the cards for the purchase that way I'm getting the 20% off and a no interest financing purchase. I'm guessing in this case the QS would be the better or the two because of the 100$ statement credit?
We still plan on paying it in full. We're just trying to maximize how much we can actually save.

[Anonymous]

I'd use the Double Cash with it's 2% cash back and 18 month 0% period, unless you calculate that the QS statement credit would net you a higher yield once you crunch the numbers.  

Also, you may decide that the flexibility of having the 18 month window is more valuable to you than having only 9 months to pay it off, even with the $100 statement credit. Sometimes having the flexibility can inherently be more valuable. Good luck

[Samac]

I'm a little confused... The 20% off would require you to use the store card, no?

[Anonymous]

No. The 20% off is if I use other means to purchase. The 48mo is if I use the store card.

[Anonymous]

So I would have to pay 2799.99 if I used the store card. 0% interest.

[Samac]

Ah, sorry I misread it!
I agree with my friend, the QS would give you more return but with less time.
I would use QS for regular spend, $500 in 3 months is t a hard threshold to reach.
I value the longer 0% APR period for the big furniture purchase. Just my 2 cents.

[NRB525]

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@Anonymous wrote:
No. The 20% off is if I use other means to purchase. The 48mo is if I use the store card.

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$560 reduction on the sale price for using your own card is a lot of clams.

Since you have 0% terms on both cards, either works, even if you overrun the 0% APR period and end up paying some interest on the card.

The delta on the rewards is not huge:

1.5% = $33 immediately, no games with "you have to pay it off".

2.0% = $45 (after you've paid it, which might be a while?)

I would use the QS for the intial purchase. Get your $100 bonus out of the way, get the $33 in rewards listed on the account, take advantage of the 0% APR for whatever, 9 months, and save the $560 right off the bat.

Then, if you are stretching the payment out, after the QS 0% expires, you will likely have a 0% APR offer from Double Cash for a 3% fee, you could BT the remainder over to DC for an additional 12 months low APR.

[UncleB]

This is completely subjective, but if it were me I would do just as the others have suggested and use the Citi DC for your purchase. 

I'm thinking the $500 spend requirement to get the bonus on the QS Visa is "low hanging fruit" that will be easy to pick up somewhere else (since you have three months). 

If my assumption is incorrect and there's a chance you'll not spend $500 on your QS Visa, then in that case I would use it for this purchase, since $100 is more than you'll earn using the DC.

Having the extra time to pay off the purchase is secondary in this case, but could be useful nonetheless. 

Just my 2¢. 

[Septrosh]

I'd say take the 20% off option. 

Spending $500 on that card shouldn't be much of an issue in 3mo - grocieries, gas, life expenses, etc. 

[Anonymous]

How is CITI with bring that card to around 40-45%. It's only a 5500$ card. The financing it's a big deal. I had planned on paying it off next month anyways.
The 500$ on the QS is easy to make. We planned on paying our premiums in full. We do it every year to save 10% on insurance if paid in full then we just turn around and send in the payment once it posts to the card. Our insurance on our cars is about 2600 yr. so 10% is a decent savings lol.