@bichonmom wrote:
@improvingmycredit wrote:
Hey Bich! I use the connect pack. Pay all my cell- directv- Internet for dbl MR points. Plus it's now just one payment to Amex every month instead of 4. Sweet deal.
Yeah, I figured I'll save about $15 a year with it, with cell phone and internet. You also pay your satellite TV with it? I have Dish, so I wonder if that would apply, too?
Hey- You will have no problems getting the 2X points for the DISH account. 
Will be coded as "cable".
Starting Score: 642
@improvingmycredit wrote:
@bichonmom wrote:
@improvingmycredit wrote:
Hey Bich! I use the connect pack. Pay all my cell- directv- Internet for dbl MR points. Plus it's now just one payment to Amex every month instead of 4. Sweet deal.
Yeah, I figured I'll save about $15 a year with it, with cell phone and internet. You also pay your satellite TV with it? I have Dish, so I wonder if that would apply, too?
Hey- You will have no problems getting the 2X points for the DISH account.
Great! Thanks. I didn't even realize I could use it for that. I thought only internet and cell. This will definitely make it worth the price of the pack! 
@pizzadude wrote:
@bichonmom wrote:Great! Thanks for letting me know, Pizzadude.
Hey thanks !! And you are making me hungry now too !!! How are your puppies doing ??
( not a dog but as close as we can get I guess...)
They're fine. Cute and sleeping. 
Thanks!
@Anonymous wrote:RE: The connect pack, I'm not sure how good it really is? I could be wrong, but my math is as follows:
For actual cash back gift cards, you redeem points at a value of 0.5 cents per point. Meaning each $1 you spend gives you 100 points, which is worth one half of a cent. So you're really getting 0.5% cash back. (Yeah I know you get higher rates if you redeem something like VS gift cards, but.. I'm not.)
The pack costs $15 per year, which is basically the equivalent of 3000 points. Since you get double points for cell/cable bills with that pack, that means that $1500 spent on your cell phone and cable bills per year would cover the $15 fee.
However, you would have received 1500 points ($7.5) from that $1500 in expenses even if you didn't have the pack - which means you're still 1500 points in the negative. The 1500 points translates to another $750 worth of purchases with double points.
So unless you spend $2250 per year on your cell phone and cable bills, you're not even breaking even.
Is my math completely off? I don't know what kind of bills you guys have, but my cell phone + internet bill comes to about $160 a month. That means I wouldn't even be able to recover the annual cost of the pack, since I pay less than $187.50 per month ($2250 / 12 months).
Oh, gosh, Andy. I think I completely misunderstood the point thing. I *thought* we got 1 point for every $ we spend, and double points would be 2 pts for every $1, etc. But also, I didn't take into acct that I was getting 1% cash back now from Navy. Ugh! 
I think I may have messed up.
My cell, internet and Dish come to about $260 a month. So, I thought that meant that I'd get approx 520 points a month w/the connect pack. And I thought that the points converted straight across 1 point = 1%. So, my 520 points would translate to $5.20 a month, which means that I'd break even in 3 mos. (Pack costs $15.) But I didn't take into account that I was getting 1% cash back anyway w/Navy. So, I would get $2.60 a month w/Navy, which means I'm getting an additonal $2.60 a month w/Amex double pts. $15/2.60 = 6 mos to break even.
But, if the value is really only 1/2 cent per point, then my math is completely off and I'll basically break even this year. I'd swear, but I'm a good girl. 
@bichonmom wrote:
@Anonymous wrote:RE: The connect pack, I'm not sure how good it really is? I could be wrong, but my math is as follows:
For actual cash back gift cards, you redeem points at a value of 0.5 cents per point. Meaning each $1 you spend gives you 100 points, which is worth one half of a cent. So you're really getting 0.5% cash back. (Yeah I know you get higher rates if you redeem something like VS gift cards, but.. I'm not.)
The pack costs $15 per year, which is basically the equivalent of 3000 points. Since you get double points for cell/cable bills with that pack, that means that $1500 spent on your cell phone and cable bills per year would cover the $15 fee.
However, you would have received 1500 points ($7.5) from that $1500 in expenses even if you didn't have the pack - which means you're still 1500 points in the negative. The 1500 points translates to another $750 worth of purchases with double points.
So unless you spend $2250 per year on your cell phone and cable bills, you're not even breaking even.
Is my math completely off? I don't know what kind of bills you guys have, but my cell phone + internet bill comes to about $160 a month. That means I wouldn't even be able to recover the annual cost of the pack, since I pay less than $187.50 per month ($2250 / 12 months).Oh, gosh, Andy. I think I completely misunderstood the point thing. I *thought* we got 1 point for every $ we spend, and double points would be 2 pts for every $1, etc. But also, I didn't take into acct that I was getting 1% cash back now from Navy. Ugh!
My cell, internet and Dish come to about $260 a month. So, I thought that meant that I'd get approx 520 points a month w/the connect pack. And I thought that the points converted straight across 1 point = 1%. So, my 520 points would translate to $5.20 a month, which means that I'd break even in 3 mos. (Pack costs $15.) But I didn't take into account that I was getting 1% cash back anyway w/Navy. So, I would get $2.60 a month w/Navy, which means I'm getting an additonal $2.60 a month w/Amex double pts. $15/2.60 = 6 mos to break even.
But, if the value is really only 1/2 cent per point, then my math is completely off and I'll basically break even this year. I'd swear, but I'm a good girl.
Well, it's not necessarily 1/2 cent per point, some gift cards will give you better rates - but the best I've seen is 1 cent per point. If you get the double points from the right packs, then you'd be, at best, getting 2 points per dollar spent, so 2 cent per $1 - i.e. a 2% cash back equivalency (except in the form of gift cards to select stores).
That's not awful, but it's not great, considering the fee. It just seems like for most purposes, there's a better card out there - Discover and Freedom rotate the categories, and that's 5% cash back for those. The Forward gives you 5% back from restaurants and Amazon. I could have sworn some card gave you some rewards for setting up automatic billing to it (maybe Discover), but I could be wrong.
In any case, I'm just sold on the rewards. It's nice to have an Amex card, but I'd much rather be earning 1.5-5% cash back on purchases.
Okay, I just checked the Amex website, and Zync does give 1 point for every dollar. Still, since I get 1% back w/Navy, it's going to take me longer to break even than I thought. Oh, well. It's a pretty card and I really just got it for the backdating.
@Anonymous wrote:RE: The connect pack, I'm not sure how good it really is? I could be wrong, but my math is as follows:
For actual cash back gift cards, you redeem points at a value of 0.5 cents per point. Meaning each $1 you spend gives you 1 point, which is worth one half of a cent. So you're really getting 0.5% cash back. (Yeah I know you get higher rates if you redeem something like VS gift cards, but.. I'm not.)
The pack costs $15 per year, which is basically the equivalent of 3000 points. Since you get double points for cell/cable bills with that pack, that means that $1500 spent on your cell phone and cable bills per year would cover the $15 fee.
However, you would have received 1500 points ($7.5) from that $1500 in expenses even if you didn't have the pack - which means you're still 1500 points in the negative. The 1500 points translates to another $750 worth of purchases with double points.
So unless you spend $2250 per year on your cell phone and cable bills, you're not even breaking even.
Is my math completely off? I don't know what kind of bills you guys have, but my cell phone + internet bill comes to about $160 a month. That means I wouldn't even be able to recover the annual cost of the pack, since I pay less than $187.50 per month ($2250 / 12 months).
+1
With regards to the points conversion- you do get 1 pt for every $1 spent. With different packs, you get 2X to 5X your points for every $1 spent. It is true that if you redeem the points for Amex gift cards, then you will get .05 for every $1. However, if you use the points to redeem for gift cards at various vendors, it's 1 pt for $1 conversion. For example- $50 Amex card or cash back = 10000 pts. $50 Barnes and Noble gift card = 5000 pts. You really can maximize the different Zync packs to suit your particular needs. Like everything else, it's what you make of it. If you perfer to redeem for cash back, then the rewards are sub par. However, if you like maximizing point awards for using your cards, then you def can get back more then what you put into it.