Worst rewards program ever? US Bank Ace Hardware Rewards

[DaveInAZ]

I'm Mr. Home Improvement. Lowes is my usual candy store, but I also like Ace Hardware - closer, price competitive, and I like supporting a locally owned business. So I was looking over a recent mail flier from Ace and noticed a small promo for the Ace Rewards Visa card. Hmmmm. So I checkout the website at .acerewardsvisa.com. Hmmm, it's a Signature Visa issued by US Bank, and the rewards sound promising:

• 3% in Ace Rewards points at participating Ace Stores
• 2% in Ace Rewards points at gas stations and grocery stores
• 1% in Ace Rewards points everywhere else Visa is accepted

Wow, 3% rewards for my favorite hobby! I get 2% on gas & groceries on a couple cards, but still not bad. Then I notice this:

You'll receive a $25 Ace Reward for every 12,500 points you earn. Shop, travel and even pay bills with your card. You'd be surprised at how quickly your Rewards can add up!

Wait, what???? Math has never been my strong suit, but something is wrong with this picture - on all my other rewards cards 1 pt. = $.01 cent, 10,000 pts = $100.  So, I start up Windoze Calculator and yep, those rewards points are worth 2/10ths of 1%, $.002. Um, no thanks, I'll stick with my Lowe's card and get 5% discount on small purchases and 6, 12, or 18 month 0% deferred interest on large purchases, and keep using my Quicksilver Visa w/1.5 pts rewards on those local trips to Ace.

Well, back to trimming those rose bushes ......

[Berk]

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@DaveInAZ wrote:

I'm Mr. Home Improvement. Lowes is my usual candy store, but I also like Ace Hardware - closer, price competitive, and I like supporting a locally owned business. So I was looking over a recent mail flier from Ace and noticed a small promo for the Ace Rewards Visa card. Hmmmm. So I checkout the website at .acerewardsvisa.com. Hmmm, it's a Signature Visa issued by US Bank, and the rewards sound promising:

• 3% in Ace Rewards points at participating Ace Stores
• 2% in Ace Rewards points at gas stations and grocery stores
• 1% in Ace Rewards points everywhere else Visa is accepted

Wow, 3% rewards for my favorite hobby! I get 2% on gas & groceries on a couple cards, but still not bad. Then I notice this:

You'll receive a $25 Ace Reward for every 12,500 points you earn. Shop, travel and even pay bills with your card. You'd be surprised at how quickly your Rewards can add up!

Wait, what???? Math has never been my strong suit, but something is wrong with this picture - on all my other rewards cards 1 pt. = $.01 cent, 10,000 pts = $100.  So, I start up Windoze Calculator and yep, those rewards points are worth 2/10ths of 1%, .002%. Um, no thanks, I'll stick with my Lowe's card and get 5% discount on small purchases and 6, 12, or 18 month 0% deferred interest on large purchases, and keep using my Quicksilver Visa w/1.5 pts rewards on those local trips to Ace.

Well, back to trimming those rose bushes ......

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I've had the card 4 years now and I average about $100.00 a year in $25.00 gift cards from Ace. I only use the card at Ace. Works nicely for me as I get all my pool chemicals and home improvement stuff there. Free money is free money no matter how you look at it.

[kdm31091]

Free money is free money yes, but no reason to choose a rewards program that offers less than OPs Quicksilver.

[Ghoshida]

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@kdm31091 wrote:
Free money is free money yes, but no reason to choose a rewards program that offers less than OPs Quicksilver.

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Agreed.

$100 in gift cards means ($100/$25)*12,500=50,000 points. If all of that was earned at Ace, you spent 50,000/3=$16,667. If you spent that on QuickSilver, you get $16,667*1.5%=$250. So you left $250-$100=$150 free money at the table.

You could earn a bit more with DoubleCash as well.

[DaveInAZ]

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@kdm31091 wrote:
Free money is free money yes, but no reason to choose a rewards program that offers less than OPs Quicksilver.

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Yep, free $$$ is free $$$, but my weapons of choice are Quicksilver 1.5% rewards for anything, Barclays Rewards MC 2% on gas & utilities, and Best Buy MC 2% on groceries & 5% on BB merchandise (home theater is my otther hobby), and Lowes 5% discount on home improvement.

[kdm31091]

I find that outside of large spend, the "less is more" approach like yours works well. I rack up rewards more quickly it seems with spending on less cards, instead of having 5 bucks in rewards on many cards.

[Ghoshida]

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@kdm31091 wrote:
I find that outside of large spend, the "less is more" approach like yours works well. I rack up rewards more quickly it seems with spending on less cards, instead of having 5 bucks in rewards on many cards.

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I'd agree if more of my cards were like Citi Dividend (or AMEX BCE with that delayed posting).

But with cards that don't have a redemption threshold, like QuickSilver or Discover It, or Freedom with the CSP combo, or cards where you reach the threshold pretty quick, like Sallie Mae MC, how is having $5 on each account over 10 accounts better than having $20 on one account? 

Ease of monitoring? Sure. But if you want some meaningful cashback, then not really, no?

[Anonymous]

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@Berk wrote:

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@DaveInAZ wrote:

I'm Mr. Home Improvement. Lowes is my usual candy store, but I also like Ace Hardware - closer, price competitive, and I like supporting a locally owned business. So I was looking over a recent mail flier from Ace and noticed a small promo for the Ace Rewards Visa card. Hmmmm. So I checkout the website at .acerewardsvisa.com. Hmmm, it's a Signature Visa issued by US Bank, and the rewards sound promising:

• 3% in Ace Rewards points at participating Ace Stores
• 2% in Ace Rewards points at gas stations and grocery stores
• 1% in Ace Rewards points everywhere else Visa is accepted

Wow, 3% rewards for my favorite hobby! I get 2% on gas & groceries on a couple cards, but still not bad. Then I notice this:

You'll receive a $25 Ace Reward for every 12,500 points you earn. Shop, travel and even pay bills with your card. You'd be surprised at how quickly your Rewards can add up!

Wait, what???? Math has never been my strong suit, but something is wrong with this picture - on all my other rewards cards 1 pt. = $.01 cent, 10,000 pts = $100.  So, I start up Windoze Calculator and yep, those rewards points are worth 2/10ths of 1%, .002%. Um, no thanks, I'll stick with my Lowe's card and get 5% discount on small purchases and 6, 12, or 18 month 0% deferred interest on large purchases, and keep using my Quicksilver Visa w/1.5 pts rewards on those local trips to Ace.

Well, back to trimming those rose bushes ......

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I've had the card 4 years now and I average about $100.00 a year in $25.00 gift cards from Ace. I only use the card at Ace. Works nicely for me as I get all my pool chemicals and home improvement stuff there. Free money is free money no matter how you look at it.

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This is the poster child for "Don't just look at the rewards you get, consider what rewards you could get with a different card"!

[kdm31091]

It's just my opinion. But then I prefer simplicity and less cards. Most of my rewards are racked up on QS, discover and bce. Even BJ'S lol. And I like it that way. But everyone's different.