Best cash back or airline credit cards

[Disneyfn420]

I recently bought a Co-Op and am planning to do quite a few renovations to it. I want to find a really good credit card where I will get the most back. I have a Disney Visa which I use, but I'd also like one that gives either airlines miles or cash back. I've been googling to find out some good ones but would like people's opinions as well.

 

[ellone]

I have multiple cash back cards and personally like the Chase Freedom card. The option to 'pay yourself back' with a statement credit is great. I don't have to wait for a gift card or check in the mail, the rewards are applied to my account within a few days.

 

[akcire]

My husband has the Southwest Chase card. It has an annual fee $59, but he got two roundtrip airline tickets when he signed up.

He has really been happy with the way, and amount of tickets he has earned. He actually sold a couple of airline tickets to a couple of guys in his office, since he as earned way more than we will use---so in a way it has generated a good amount of cash back.

 

[C-CMom]

I also like the Chase Freedom. Even better for maximizing rewards is the option to use your credits to order a gift card at a reduced price. Sometimes they have certain cards that are offered for a certain amount of time at 10-20% off. So, for example, during our own renovation project, rather than getting say $80 in cash back or applied to the balance, we applied those same "points" or "credits" to a Lowes or Home Depot $100 gift card on a 20% bonus deal. The current deal for select cards through 12/31/10 is 10%, but if you are sure you are going to use the card anyway, that's an extra "free" %.

This card does rotating bonus categories, too. For January-March, at least for our card, we will earn 5% on purchases at grocery stores and drugstores (up to $1500 spent). Those rotating bonuses allow for faster accumulation. For some months, we don't really use the bonus categories much (like bonus from airlines when we aren't going anywhere). Other purchases earn 1% - again at least for our card. Not sure if there are different deals.

Good luck.

 

[Disneyfn420]

Thanks. I was leaning toward the Chase Freedom card. I saw they have deals on home improvements for some months. How do they determine that? Is it if you purchase goods at a Home Depot or Lowes? Like if I bought my kitchen cabinets from a cabinet place would I have to show proof that it's a home improvement? Also do they have a place to see which stores qualify for the groceries deal? I'll probably call and talk to someone and see if they have more info. I think a cash back would be better than an airline one as flying to Disney is usually not that pricey from NY so better off getting cash back. Thanks for the info!

 

[C-CMom]

You can either earn or redeem for home improvement and the special deals change. For earning - Chase states somewhere in the fine print that they or the merchant picks what category into which they fit, and that Chase is not responsible for whether it's correct or not - or something to that effect. That said, it seems to work out OK. For redeeming - you just pick which store card you want (or do the cash back or statement credit, or a variety of other options). Their website gives all of the details and is fairly easy to use to figure out what works best for redemption.

 

[JDUCKY]

Citi Forward and Discover More are two other good rewards cards.

 

[bridget]

We travel lots and I love the Southwest Visa!!

 

[Plumeria9]

I found a thread on slickdeals.com that mentioned this website -

http://www.nerdwallet.com/blog/

It rates the various credit cards. Plus it has a cashback/rebate dealfinder, which is pretty good.

Personally I like the Costco American Express, as I am a big AmEx fan and Costco fan. The first year I had this CC I got a check for about $740, and that's in addition to my 2% Costco membership rebate which is always over $100 (pays for my executive membership). No annual fee, but all of the amenities that AmEx offers including double the warranty on anything you've purchased w/ it. I just got a refund for an all-in-one machine that decided to stop working, right before it's 2 year anniversary and I got a refund for the entire amount.

Another CC I like, but just got is the Southwest Air one. I kept hearing about how many free flights friends had earned so I checked it out. I signed up when I found a deal (yes, slickdeals) where I could earn $500 in SWA GCs, get a free flight upon signup, and no annual fee for the 1st year. Annual fee is usually $59. Too bad I decided to sign up right after I bought my SWA tix to Orlando! Anyway, I earned 2% w/ the AmEx. Oh well.

I already have the Disney Visa, but I really decided to get that one when I could use the Disneyland benefit of the free stroller. It wasn't rated very highly on the nerdwallet.com site. I don't get a whole lot of benefit from it, but I'll keep it because I love Disney.

In closing of course I know all of the dangers of credit cards, but if you play the game right, it can reward you also. I always pay off the balance in full every month, and haven't had any problems w/ either of these credit cards, nor any other. Happy hunting!

 

[RyJMom]

Southwest Visa had a special sign up promotion going where you got a round trip ticket (2 one ways) and $500 southwest gift cards if you spent $5000 in the 1st 3 months. It is also no annual fee the 1st year. I found the link on Slickdeals several months ago but I noticed the other day it is still active. If you do a search under hot deals on Slickdeals for Southwest Visa it should pop right up. I got everything they promised no problem at all.

 

[Schachteles]

I don't know if you have USBanks in your area, but we have their travel rewards card, we get one mile for every dollar we spend and then you get to buy your plane tickets through Travelocity and for 20,000 miles you get up to a $400 plane ticket. It worked out awesome for us. We earned four tickets this year alone.

 

[Disneyfn420]

Cool. I will have to look into these others now. I saw a good Discover card but wasn't sure if all places accepted Discover. I know many merchants also don't like Amex because the fees they have to pay are so high. Southwest won't work for me because they don't fly out of my nearby airports.
Thanks again for the info!

 

[theparsons]

Southwest Visa had a special sign up promotion going where you got a round trip ticket (2 one ways) and $500 southwest gift cards if you spent $5000 in the 1st 3 months. It is also no annual fee the 1st year. I found the link on Slickdeals several months ago but I noticed the other day it is still active. If you do a search under hot deals on Slickdeals for Southwest Visa it should pop right up. I got everything they promised no problem at all.

Do you happen to know if there is an expiration on the round trip ticket or the gift cards? We're looking to go to WDW but not until 2012, so I'm not sure if this would work for that trip or not. I know when you cancel/change a SW ticket or you get a reward for their reward program that it expires in a year.

Thanks.