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Hi Over a year ago, I got an MBNA Worldpoints card because at the time it only charged 1% currency conversion fee as well as gave points for travel and other rewards. Well they now charge 3% for currency conversion but I just cashedin 50,000 points for $500. Nice !
Is there a better no-fee card that gives a higher percentage cashback? I already have a HHonors AMEX for hotel points, a United CC, a Chase WORLD for points toward airline tickets. I wind up using the AMEX abroad due to 2% currency conversion charge.
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Fidelity as a Visa credit card that pays 1.5% back cash (in increments of $25 or $30 or something, I forget). However, you have to have a Fidelity account, and it will pay into that money market/money fund account. I have my retirement 401K @ Fidelity, so it works fine for me.
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EmigrantDirect gives a 1.25% cash back on their new CC (so not as good as Fidelity), but the trick is that you have to have 10k on balance with them. though since the 10k earns 4.25%, that's not necessarily a bad thing!
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Already covered here:http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/showthread.php?t=454057
Search and you'll find other threads that might interest you.
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Best Cashback Cards:
Personal:
Costco Amex Cashback (3% Dining, 2% Travel, 1% Etc) No Annual Cap
These pay 5% Cashback at Grocery Stores, Gas Stations, and Drugstores and everything else is 1%:
Chase Cashback 5% (Great if you can get the $50 signup) $300 Annual Cap
Citibank Dividend Platinum MC 5% Cashback $300 Annual Cap
Small Business (Don't report debt on your personal credit report!):
Advanta Platinum MC 5% Cashback $300 Annual Cap, Primary Rental Ins
Costco Amex Business Cashback (3% Dining, 2% Travel, 1% Etc) No Annual Cap.
Because of tiered cashback rates, only high card spenders (over $6500 annually) should consider Amex Blue Cashback.
All have no annual fees. Advanta has a fixed rate 7.99% Purchases with 0% for 1 yr on Balance Transfers. Advanta is my favorite.
Watch out for cards that say "Up to" a certain percentage as these are usually tiered cashback rates like Discover or many others. Must spend a very large amount yearly (perhaps a business) to make it worth anything.
ILUVCITIBANK wrote in another thread about cashback that I find to be very true and worth repeating:
"Comments ? My sense is as traditional affinity programs get diluted (capital One's), devalued (AA and milesaver) and neutered (AMEX Centurion and Membership Rewards in general), its time to abandon ship on pure point and mile collecting and seriously consider CASH BACK strategies. Then take the cash and using priceline.com, kayak.com, and orbitze.com- style site maximize your leverage on the SPEND side. These affinity programs are really in "take back" mode as their respective economies (hotels, airlines) strengthen, so the value proposition or points and miles is diminishing."
It appears cashback may be a better way to go. Checkout cashback strategies at http://www.fatwallet.com/t/52/564358
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http://personal.fidelity.com/products/checking/content/mcplatplus.shtml.cvsr
The Worldpoints version of the Fidelity VISA from MBNA does not require that the points be redeemed into a Fidelity deposit, but that is the only way to earn "cashback" of 1.5%
Unless you can redeem 5000 Worldpoints for a $75 VISA GC ?
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FatWallet.com is probably the best place to find credit card and finance information of this sort.
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If I understand the Costco AMEX cards correctly, the cashback is issued in the form of a discount / coupon for Costco purchases. Good if you have a Costsco close by and shop a lot there, but not so useful for the rest of us.
The AMEX Blue Cashback card is appealing. If you spend $50K per year on the card, I calculate the effective cashback rate is just over 1.4%. I would put that right up there with miles since I value miles at about 1.35 cents each.
Have already switched my grocery, gas, and drugstore purchases to Citi Dividend Platinum select card for the 5% cashback.
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<< cashback is issued in the form of a discount / coupon for Costco purchases.>>
"Rebates are awarded every February in the form of an in-store coupon redeemable for cash or merchandise at any U.S. Costco Warehouse." I read this to mean that the arrangement is exactly the same as Sam's. They make you come to the store, but you can receive money rather than goods.
dennis
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<< cashback is issued in the form of a discount / coupon for Costco purchases.>>
"Rebates are awarded every February in the form of an in-store coupon redeemable for cash or merchandise at any U.S. Costco Warehouse." I read this to mean that the arrangement is exactly the same as Sam's. They make you come to the store, but you can receive money rather than goods.
Yes, that is true. But you have to be a Costco member ($45/yr minimum) to get the Costco AMEX. My husband & I always go and get cash for the check at Costco --- why use it to buy goods there when you can charge it and get more cashback ;)
Oh, and there's no 5% back for gas stations, drugstores, etc for the Costco True Earnings AMEX. It's a flat 3% travel, 2% eating, 1% elsewhere. Costco has another Plat AMEX that pays tiered, but it pays 2% for over 6K or 10K or something --- so good for high spenders. I forgot if there is a cap, but I earned effectively close to 1.5% once.
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HSBC supposedly has a 2% cash back visa but it by invitation.
Apparently the way you get invited is to go to Best Buy and open and account since HSBC also runs Best Buy's CC program.
I don't know if its the real deal but what the heck--I'll open an account at BBY and see what happens.
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Anyone has details on Discover giving $5 rebate on each of the next 6 purchases?
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Amex's no-fee Platinum Rebate card is now offering $250 for the first purchase, according to another thread. The rebate is only 0.5% for the first $20,000, but then 2.5% for the next $120,000, on all purchases. You get more back on some purchases, like FedEx and Staples. Honestly, does anyone else offer 2.5% on all purchases?
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One has to read these carefully because they have many exceptions, etc.
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I just got that Amex, signed up for the $250 of course.
I run about $80K/year through credit cards so it would come out to:
(0.005*20000+0.025*60000)/80000 = 2%
A wash for me: I already get 2% effective cash back on Citi Premier Pass (as gift cards, as long as you buy a few long-haul plane tickets).
The Amex does makes sense if you spend more than $80K/year (or never buy plane tickets).
Added: you could also get into some IRS problem since that Amex is a business card and you should probably declare that cash back (and the $250 bonus) as income. I would tread lightly there...
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Fidelity as a Visa credit card that pays 1.5% back cash (in increments of $25 or $30 or something, I forget). However, you have to have a Fidelity account, and it will pay into that money market/money fund account. I have my retirement 401K @ Fidelity, so it works fine for me.
Your post prompted me to look at their site. They also have a Mastercard that pays 2% into a 529 plan. This is a great deal if you have kids and were planning to contribute to a 529 anyway. Just go to www.fidelity.com and click on the 'College Planning" link.
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... I already have a HHonors AMEX for hotel points, a United CC, a Chase WORLD for points toward airline tickets. I wind up using the AMEX abroad due to 2% currency conversion charge.
Watch out for AMEX currency exchange rate.
I don't use Amex aborad personally. However, people are reporting Amex is the worst among all. Even their comparatively low 2% add-on can't justify the bad rate. You might want to re-consider your strategy for international travel expenses.
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Chase Cashback 5% (Great if you can get the $50 signup) $300 Annual Cap
chase offers $100 signup bonus till end of april in addition to 5% on gas, supermarkets and drug stores. The ad in the los angeles times. There is a phone number and promo code. i don't have on me, but will try to post later if can find it.
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I know Chase has a Chase rewards plus cards with no annual membership fee and you can earn 5 points for every dollar you spend at gas/grocery/drug and 1 point else where. Points exp after 60 months you can use points from travel/merchandise/cash checks/ gift cards
I usually get my cash back on this card
with what it takes to fill up my vehicle these days
50.00 x 5 points = u do the math
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here is the info on the offer untill april for the chase 5% cash back
phone: 888 - 787 -0329
ofer code: 94Q
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another offer code is 94K, expires April 20, 2006
same phone number
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I know Chase has a Chase rewards plus cards with no annual membership fee and you can earn 5 points for every dollar you spend at gas/grocery/drug and 1 point else where. Points exp after 60 months you can use points from travel/merchandise/cash checks/ gift cards
I usually get my cash back on this card
with what it takes to fill up my vehicle these days
50.00 x 5 points = u do the math
These look like they are expired now. The Citibank Dividend card also gives you 5% on gas, groceries and some other stuff, 1% on everything else.