Anyone pay a CC annual fee willingly because of a benefit?

[scbelleatheart]

Yes. My Amex gets me a better shot and an upgrade on Delta. It gets me into the their SkyClub and gives me more miles....

I agree with the Amex Plat benefits but it sure isn't budget! Only if you fly/travel a lot.

 

[travelbug]

OP here. Hey, thanks for your replies, everyone! Wow, there's a good variety of incentives that people have mentioned here. Very interesting to see how everyone has crunched the numbers and weighed the factors to make various deals work well for each of you.

I also appreciate reading what a couple of you have experienced with the Marriott card in particular. That one may be a good fit for me.

 

[WheelCEO]

I pay a hefty yearly fee for my black card but with all of the overseas traveling that I do for business it really is a life saver. I've considered given it up because of perks that other cards offer but I'm one of those "dont fix it if it isn't broken" people

 

[swilshire]

None of my current credit cards have an annual fee. I'm curious if anyone willingly pays an annual fee to have a certain credit card, because an incentive outweighs the cost of the fee.

For example, I just saw an offer for a Marriott credit card. Annual fee is $65 (after the first year which is free). One of the benefits offered is one free night each year. If a person were traveling anyway and would use that free night's stay each year for sure, then $65 would seem to be a fair trade. If other incentives or rewards seemed attractive enough, then maybe the annual fee would be tolerable whereas usually I refuse to pay annual fees.

Not saying that I plan to get the Marriott card. Seeing the offer just got me curious. So have any of you tolerated paying an annual fee because the incentives/rewards made it worthwhile?

This is the only one I pay for. No way you can get any Marriott room for $65 total (no tax added).

I had this card and dropped it once, however, because the free night is only good for six months from the anniversary date of getting the card. I had initially signed up at a bad time of year for me to use the free night. I dropped it for a while, then signed up again in the spring when I had all summer to use the free night. Much more convenient.

Sheila

 

[bumbles3248]

We have the Delta Platinum Amex but feel it's worth every penny! We always use the free companion ticket and with my DH being a platinum medallion member, there are a lot of perks. We charge everything we can to it and the miles add up.

 

[Judique]

We pay $25 per year to our credit union to get the rewards on the CC. Since we've recently cashed out for $150 worth of amazon.com giftcards, it's working for us.


We *were* even paying that same amount to Chase to have a Disney Debit Card, because again the rewards worked out for us, but now that's gone and we will not be using Chase in the future (shot themselves in the foot with that one IMO).

Our Navy Federal credit union has a fee free rewards visa and mastercard card and the interest rate is 7.99 I think - I pay balance every month. One point per dollar but I've managed to get many 'Visa' cards to use like cash anywhere.

I also use the AMEX Starwood Card that I've had for almost as long as they've had the program. I've always got free hotel rooms, including Swan and Dolphin at Disney. Any room is usually more than the fee and since I use my card at Costco the points just keep coming.

The program is still better than most I've seen, but has decreased over the years.

Some of the other programs are tempting, but I just can't see carrying all that credit.

 

[beansmom]

we pay a fee (around $60 i think) for our Citicard MC but in the last 3 yrs we've accrued enough FF miles to go to London and Italy and we'll be able to go to Hawaii free next year. A 'free' trip to europe every year is worth $60 imo.

 

[elaine and the boys]

Yes! The $65 fee for my Starwood American Express pays for itself for our free nights at Sheraton and Westin hotels (ie: SWAN and DOLPHIN!)

 

[lurkernj]

We pay $65 for our continental visa. We've paid this for about 18 years, but four of us have flown to Hawaii from NJ for free (next week will be our 2nd time), thats about 7-8k worth of free airfare, plus we've flown to New orleans, and still have over 100k miles left. We also get free baggage on Continental flights (one free bag for each person on the reservation). We use this card for everything (except when Disney is offering bonus points). The important thing is to pay it off each month.

 

[ericf70]

I got in on that deal, too. I think it expires in 2 more days so it's still not too late to sign up. After I make my first purchase (I can buy something for as low as a dollar), the 50,000 points get credited to my card (good for $800 in airfare). Then each year at renewal, 6,000 points gets added to the card which is equal to $100 in airfare so the fee is a wash. The points never expire, either. I'm going to use this card to buy groceries and pay the mortgage and then pay it off each month. Hopefully by our trip next summer, we'll have another free flight earned.

How do you get your mortgage on your CC?

 

[csmommy]

How do you get your mortgage on your CC?

I would live to know how to do that too!

 

[travelbug]

How do you get your mortgage on your CC?

I'd love to know that too. Is that really possible? If so, please fill us in, IDoDis. Thanks!

 

[annsteere]

Does your benefit work out to better than 1%?

We have a no fee card that gives us 1% cash. I figure I can spend that on anything rather than being limited to a Disney trip, hotel room or particular airline.

I'd be open to paying a fee if what you earn is better than 1% cash.

 

[bpesch]

I absolutely hate to pay an annual fee for a credit card, but did it with Delta because of the benefits. The card allows me to get a free bag on each flight for up to 6 people in my party. At $25 a bag, the card paid for itself the first flight I used it on. Since Delta is one of the few airlines that flies out of my little airport, it's a good deal for me.

 

[Julia M]

None of my current credit cards have an annual fee. I'm curious if anyone willingly pays an annual fee to have a certain credit card, because an incentive outweighs the cost of the fee.

For example, I just saw an offer for a Marriott credit card. Annual fee is $65 (after the first year which is free). One of the benefits offered is one free night each year. If a person were traveling anyway and would use that free night's stay each year for sure, then $65 would seem to be a fair trade. If other incentives or rewards seemed attractive enough, then maybe the annual fee would be tolerable whereas usually I refuse to pay annual fees.

Not saying that I plan to get the Marriott card. Seeing the offer just got me curious. So have any of you tolerated paying an annual fee because the incentives/rewards made it worthwhile?

I also have a Marriott card. As others have posted, the $65 fee gets you a free room. In the past two years there has been varied promotions, such as have 2 stays and get a free night. Last year I also received free nights for charging a certain amount on my card. This spring I ended up with 3 free nights. I travel alot with dd for her competitions, so those nights help. We travel with another family and I was able to help them out by sharing a room.

The other perks are nice, as well. I was able to obtain gold status, which gives some perks. Sometimes you can get a cheaper room, because you are an awards member.

I am considering a Southwest VISA, but missed the promotion for 50,000 points. I am hoping something like that comes around again.

Julia

 

[carolsherman]

Curious on how to pay your mortgage with the card to???? Most companies go thru a 3rd party that charges a fee.

 

[mrsklamc]

Technically, yes. We pay an annual fee on our Costco Amex, but then we get our Costco membership free, which would have cost us about the same amount. We get up 3% cash back on our spending depending on the category.

 

[klmall]

Curious on how to pay your mortgage with the card to???? Most companies go thru a 3rd party that charges a fee.

That's what stopped us from charging college tuition!

 

[Judique]

That's what stopped us from charging college tuition!

Yii! That's too bad. So far I've been able to charge tuition on my credit cards without additional fees.

Never have been able to do a mortgage however.

 

[IDoDis]

How do you get your mortgage on your CC?

I would live to know how to do that too!

I'd love to know that too. Is that really possible? If so, please fill us in, IDoDis. Thanks!

Curious on how to pay your mortgage with the card to???? Most companies go thru a 3rd party that charges a fee.

I asked DH and he said we're not able to do this anymore, but used to do it with his Amex card where we got back 2% in rewards. I just assumed we were still paying the mortgage this way and that we could do the same thing with the Southwest RR Visa.

Sorry for the confusion.