About to make a $4,400 purchase, should I open a rewards card acct?

[moopdog]

Full disclosure: It's to pay off the balance of my upcoming trip. Our plan is to put it on a card and payoff with part of our tax return. Don't judge - it's what works for us I have a Citi card but it is only 1% cash back. Are there better cards out there? I see commercials for 5% CB Discover cards.

TIA

 

[disneedee]

i would. but maybe wait a month to make sure you will have the tax refund in hand to pay off the card. don't want to end up paying any interest.

 

[mom2rose&john]

I would lean to a 0% for 12-15 months card with rewards. Maybe look into Chase Freedom. Bankrate dot com has great info on credit cards and what is right for you.

 

[Jaime4004]

Assuming the upcoming trip is Disney? There's not a lot of love for the Disney VISA, but i'd open a Disney premier card to get the 2% back and take the $88 in Disney rewards with me. It does have a $49 annual fee but the $200 statement credit you get when opening it (you'd hit whatever you're supposed to spend to get the credit) will more than cover that.

 

[MimiOfTwo]

Depending on where you are and if you fly, Southwest might be worth a look. I just signed up and the 50,000 points I received will just about cover round trip flights for our November Disney trip. There is a $69 fee.

 

[Marionnette]

Full disclosure: It's to pay off the balance of my upcoming trip. Our plan is to put it on a card and payoff with part of our tax return. Don't judge - it's what works for us I have a Citi card but it is only 1% cash back. Are there better cards out there? I see commercials for 5% CB Discover cards.

TIA

Since you're going to put the purchase on a credit card anyway, I suggest looking for one with a huge sign-on bonus and apply for that one, as long as they were points that I could use (for cash back, statement credits or gift cards). Look for one that waives the annual fee for the first year. If it's a card that you intend to keep open, then look for one with either a low annual fee or none at all.

The Discover IT Card pays 1% back on most purchases and 5% back on select purchases that change. The 5% categories for Jan. 1 - Mar. 31 is gas stations, ground transportation and wholesale clubs.

Keep in mind that rewards credit cards tend to have higher APRs than their non-rewarding counterparts. So, if you're going to carry a balance for a lengthy period of time, you will likely spend more on interest than you will gain in rewards.

 

[Shelly F - Ohio]

If you have a CHase bank near you I would apply for the CHase Reserve card, sorry you just missed the online sign up offer for the 100 points but you can still sign up in a branch till March 11. If you spend $4k you get 100,000 rewards points you can use for airline tickets, hotels and rental cars. There is a fee of $450 BUT if you spend $300 on travel expenses you get $300 back. So you will actually pay $150 for the fee and get all those miles to travel free with. By using it to pay off you Disney trip you will get $300 credited back to you. I paid our DVC dues and got the $300 credit right away. You and your family can take advantage of the airport lounges that offer free soda and alcoholic drinks, and appetizers while you wait for your flight.

*** also wanted to mention you don't have to use the 100,000 rewards point for travel only. You can use it for gift cards too.

*** and you get 3x the Rewards points for travel and for dinning purchases so the $4,400 you plan to spend X 3 =13,200 points you will earn for paying for the vacation. Which is enough for a r/t ticket on SWA which is a cash equivalent of a $225 ticket. So in reality you would not be paying any annual fee for the first year.

** another perk is that if you purchase and item using this CC and the item goes on sale within 90 days of purchase they will refund the difference to you. An item we bought 5 weeks later was on sale for $100 cheaper. I contacted them and the gave me the $100 credit.
** If you decided to cash in the 100K for gift cards it is equivalent to $1000. Or you can have the point deposited as cash to a Chase bank acct and it would be $1000 for the 100K reward points. Plus the 13,200 points that you earn from charging the Disney vacation you could end up depositing $870.00 after you pay the $450 fee. That is like get almost 25% off of you Disney vacation.

* you also get a $100 credit if you apply for a TSA precheck account. It would be nice to speed through those long security lines at the airport for free.

 

[Lvsdisney]

Assuming the upcoming trip is Disney? There's not a lot of love for the Disney VISA, but i'd open a Disney premier card to get the 2% back and take the $88 in Disney rewards with me. It does have a $49 annual fee but the $200 statement credit you get when opening it (you'd hit whatever you're supposed to spend to get the credit) will more than cover that.

To add to this, IF it's a Disney trip AND package (room & tix, etc) I think you'd get the 6 mos interest free as well (still have to make monthly payments).

 

[starry_solo]

There are plenty of Disney Visa offers for $200 gift cards for the no annual fee offer.

But I agree, find the best deal with cash back

 

[disneedee]

all i can find is the $200 with annual fee. can you direct me?

 

[DisneyHardin]

We just got a US Bank Amex with a $150 sign bonus and 1.5% cash back.

 

[gottalovepluto]

Do remember tax refunds are coming late this year for many people ( http://www.ktbs.com/story/34305013/tax-refunds-delayed-for-millions-of-americans ). If you're just looking for quick cash back I recommend the no-fee Disney Visa that gets you $200 back as a sign up offer after spending $500. And if you have a spouse/significant other have them apply separately for their own card. Charge half the trip on one card, half the trip on the other card, get a total of $400 back (or $400 in Disney gift cards, not sure what the current offer is) + $22 in Disney Rewards + $22 in Disney Rewards for a total savings of $444 on your trip! ...I'm assuming you're headed to Disney

 

[willmccready]

Depending on where you are and if you fly, Southwest might be worth a look. I just signed up and the 50,000 points I received will just about cover round trip flights for our November Disney trip. There is a $69 fee.

The 50,000 points you get for the initial sign up can go a long way. I booked round trip for 5 people between Baltimore and Orlando and still had 5,000 to spare.

 

[pate59]

We usually go with an airline card for the miles. Needed a card anyway to use with our next trip to Alaska in May. Went with Citi card with American Airlines - 50,000 miles after 3,000 dollars within 3 months and $95.00 yearly fee waived for first year. We will be paying off the cruise anyway & it works for us.

 

[PatMcDuck]

I would get a SW card, one that gives you 50,000 points. If i had a spouse, I would get 2--each get a card, each get 50,000 points, and split the purchase. (I think they require a $2000 purchase in the first 3 months to get the points.

 

[hsmamato2]

wow. Lots of advice here that is probably not pertinent to OP. Sounds to me (I may be wrong) that OP is looking for a one time bonus to maximize their large vacation purchase. A alot of the cc's mentioned here are inappropriate for that scenario why? OP wants to get the bonus to help on a vacay that will be paid with a tax refund, it sounds like an ongoing use of whatever cc they pick isn't going to be important.
Cards with annual fees, (and high rewards) are fairly serious business,and take a lot of self control to handle well.And don't work well unless you are in a position to know that paying in full each month without going broke is worth the bonuses. If OP is in a position to do that, well then maybe- but only they really know. (A CSR Is a really bad choice for a one and done kind of deal)
A no fee disney card (or two), yes. a no fee chase freedom? sounds good. A SWA card, if you plane to do the above, plus have travel plans for the near future you could that on? maybe.....(see above note) and OP the 5% back is usually rotating categories, which can be great!

 

[Jen and Ashwin]

wow. Lots of advice here that is probably not pertinent to OP. Sounds to me (I may be wrong) that OP is looking for a one time bonus to maximize their large vacation purchase. A alot of the cc's mentioned here are inappropriate for that scenario why? OP wants to get the bonus to help on a vacay that will be paid with a tax refund, it sounds like an ongoing use of whatever cc they pick isn't going to be important.
Cards with annual fees, (and high rewards) are fairly serious business,and take a lot of self control to handle well.And don't work well unless you are in a position to know that paying in full each month without going broke is worth the bonuses. If OP is in a position to do that, well then maybe- but only they really know. (A CSR Is a really bad choice for a one and done kind of deal)
A no fee disney card (or two), yes. a no fee chase freedom? sounds good. A SWA card, if you plane to do the above, plus have travel plans for the near future you could that on? maybe.....(see above note) and OP the 5% back is usually rotating categories, which can be great!

Actually, the CSR could be used as a one and done deal. You get 100,000 points if you open it in branch and they will meet their spend for the card just by paying off the vacation. That would get them around a total of 113,200 points. If they don't have other travel plans before the first year is done, then they could redeem those points for gift cards totaling $1132. Or they could transfer them to an airline miles program, like SW. This is around the same if not more points than they would get if they got 2 SW cards, but with the benefit of just a single credit hit.

Also, they will get the $300 travel credit now and they could get another $300 travel credit in December before cancelling or downgrading their card. A good way to get this, if they don't have any other plans, would be to put $300 into a Disney Vacation Account and then request a gift card or use it to pay for a future trip. That makes the total value of this deal around $1282+, depending on how they choose to redeem the points.

 

[marthachick]

Get 2 50,000 reward points Southwest cards in your name. A Premier and a Plus. If you hit 110,000 points in one year, you can get a Companion Pass. You could then use the card for monthly purchases and pay off at the end of each month. I made the mistake of getting a card in my name and 1 in DHs name and we missed out in the Companion Pass.

 

[cariann77]

We got a Capital One Venture Card to pay for our cruise. They give you 40,000 bonus points when you spend $3000, which turned into an instant $400 that we were able to apply right to the cruise purchase.

 

[hsmamato2]

Full disclosure: It's to pay off the balance of my upcoming trip. Our plan is to put it on a card and payoff with part of our tax return. Don't judge - it's what works for us I have a Citi card but it is only 1% cash back. Are there better cards out there? I see commercials for 5% CB Discover cards.

TIA

above quoted. This is the budget board folks...and I'm sticking with my 'old school budget board' answer. OP has stated they are going to pay for the trip(and the cc) using a tax return. As asked,I'm not 'judging'- I don't care how people spend/save/use their money. I'm just giving asked for advice- the best advice I have is 'don't get into unnecessary debt or payments to fund a vacation. A high end cc (as some advised on this thread) is just that- usually fees associated with them, and high incentive to utilize to gain even higher 'rewards'- this is only done *well* by understanding that yes, you can 'earn' money (or travel points or whatever) with the 'right' cc- but make no mistake, 'earning' that money takes money! So..... my 2 cents is that if you're advising folks on a board to jump in with both feet on a card that costs them to keep and use,(even tho you get a big old bonus up front) without the proper cautions against opening cc's without 'counting the actual costs' of such a cc- that can get folks in deeper than they needed to be. So yes, a tax return is a way to pay off a cc /vacay debt,but it is also contingent on factors like the amount,etc,the timing...and so on and so on. Getting a cc bonus isn't too hard for many people, but for others, it's not so simple. Timing,for one, is everything,as is full payment before that due date.
So my advice remains the same to OP- they have stated they'd like to get some rewards for paying off the balance of their trip. The simplest way for that is the disney card (or two) using the bonus gc's for that on their trip, or a card like Freedom unlimited,which is free and good for everyday use and points accruing for gift cards on future purchases.