Best Rewards Credit Cards

[alyssa810]

I LOVE my Chase Freedom card! No Annual fee, $300 sign up bonus for me, and 5% back on lots of categories. I like my Discover card for the 5% bonus cash back, but I tend not to spend as much on it to get a super high "regular" cash back. I also like that they have Landry's gift cards for a reward, and you can get a $50 Landry's card for only $45 cashback.

We also have Delta and SPG AMEX's, and the SW Visa for our "fee" cards but the free flights and hotel rooms we get from that justify the cost.

Of course we also have the Disney Visa, because what good DISer would LOL, but we've stuck with the "regular" card, not the premier card because of the fee, and we're getting free rewards with our other cards that we use on our Disney vacations, so we just try to get the most bang for our reward $$$.
(and we pay our balances off every month, so we charge everything)

 

[ldbillings]

I second the Amex Blue Cash Rewards. We have had it for over a year and have earned over $750 in rewards. We use it for groceries (6% back) and gasoline (3% back).

 

[bjscheel]

We have a Capital One card that gives 2% cash on fuel. I don't know if it's still offered. DH buys a LOT of fuel for the semi- if it all goes on this card we earn $80-$100/month cashback. I have looked into some other card that gives 3% on fuel but it seemed like it had a cap on the amount of fuel that got 3% so it wasn't better for our purposes.

 

[platamama]

Heads up - all you AMEX Blue Cash Preferred cardholders: The 6% groceries category is limited to $6000 per calendar year now. Anything over $6000 spent for groceries now is only getting 1% cashback. It was good while it lasted - I got $1100 last year off that card so I'm bummed about it (I bought a lot of gift cards at the kiosk, it wasn't all food ). It's still a better cashback card than the free AMEX Blue Cash even with the $75 fee if you spent $355+/month on groceries (or gift cards ).

When I'm not rotating cards I use based on which is earning bonus points at that time, my mainstays are SPG AMEX ($65/yr annual fee; most websites analyze it to be 2.3 cents back per $1 spent) and Capital One Cash Rewards MC (no annual fee, 1.5% cashback) - any place that doesn't accept AMEX.

However, before I do any online shopping, I check on Upromise to see if the retailer I'm looking for is on there -- with my Upromise MC (no annual fee) I'm getting 10% back to my linked Upromise account. Nice if you're saving for college, but even if you want the money in your pocketbook you can open a Sallie Mae savings account and have your cash put there and get an extra 10% on your cashback earnings at the end of the year. I'm finding this a painless way to save a little extra for college.

I should probably simplify it, but I really hate leaving free money on the table.

 

[geckodani]

Heads up - all you AMEX Blue Cash Preferred cardholders: The 6% groceries category is limited to $6000 per calendar year now. Anything over $6000 spent for groceries now is only getting 1% cashback. It was good while it lasted - I got $1100 last year off that card so I'm bummed about it (I bought a lot of gift cards at the kiosk, it wasn't all food ). It's still a better cashback card than the free AMEX Blue Cash even with the $75 fee if you spent $355+/month on groceries (or gift cards ).

I was bummed to see this too, but it's still a great deal for the 3% on gas, and I'll enjoy the 6% until it caps all too soon. Sigh.

 

[wallawallakids]

I was bummed to see this too, but it's still a great deal for the 3% on gas, and I'll enjoy the 6% until it caps all too soon. Sigh.

I was so upset when I got this letter!! I will keep it but we spend so much on groceries I loved having that 6% back!! We average about $1200/ mo on groceries. (Yes, I know. But there are 6 of us and we never eat out. Ever. And I insist on organic meat.) Anyway, that 6% back was a dream. Bummed they are getting rid of it but they probably realized they were giving us too much money back. It is still a great card for the 3% back on gas and I think you get 3% at some department stores and 1% on everything else which is still worth the $75/year fee.

I do use a the free Disney visa card as well but only for Disney purchases at the Disney store, Disney trips, and places that won't accept my Amex. I like the little rewards on that card as well.

 

[budafam]

I have a Disney Visa, Chase Freedom Visa and SW Visa. This is our 3rd SW Visa between me and DH and we have earned the bonus 50,000 free points on all 3 cards. We flew our family of 4 to Orlando from Milwaukee roundtrip for free last year. I'll be doing it again in December and then we still have another trip to play with at some point.

I use my Freedom religiously though. I rarely use the Disney Visa but it's nice if I don't have the cash right away to take a trip and I can use the no interest for 6 months (did it once).

Between my Freedom & SW Visa, I have received well over $4000 in free money/tickets. I have never paid a penny of interest either. My dad often makes bigger purchases for his antique car or home and then I have him use my card so I earn the rewards. I just got him to sign up for one (gave me a $50 bonus and him a free $100)... he was using a Citibank and we couldn't figure out the points process with them. Freedom sends you a check whenever you're ready to cash out. Very easy.

 

[tavettava]

I love my Kroger 1-2-3 card

 

[teller80]

Are there two adults in the house? What if each of you got this credit card, then you could spend $12,000 per year on groceries.

I was so upset when I got this letter!! I will keep it but we spend so much on groceries I loved having that 6% back!! We average about $1200/ mo on groceries. (Yes, I know. But there are 6 of us and we never eat out. Ever. And I insist on organic meat.) Anyway, that 6% back was a dream. Bummed they are getting rid of it but they probably realized they were giving us too much money back. It is still a great card for the 3% back on gas and I think you get 3% at some department stores and 1% on everything else which is still worth the $75/year fee.

I do use a the free Disney visa card as well but only for Disney purchases at the Disney store, Disney trips, and places that won't accept my Amex. I like the little rewards on that card as well.

 

[Kathryn Merteuil]

I use Discover for cash back. I pay all the recurring bills and try to pay w/Discover everywhere that takes it (which is most places). Every now and then you will find a place that doesn't accept Discover, but it's pretty rare.

 

[BridgetBordeaux]

2 percent back on everything

No annual fee

We love our Fidelity Investments Rewards AMEX card!

 

[wallawallakids]

Are there two adults in the house? What if each of you got this credit card, then you could spend $12,000 per year on groceries.

Hmm. I didn't think about that! Might be worth the fee twice. Right now we are linked on the same card. Great idea though! Thanks.

 

[kmchisholm]

I vote for the Capital One Venture Card - we charge everything to it and pay it off each month. Most people think its only for travel, but you can also get the same redemption rate on gift cards. The purchase eraser is great as you can use it to wipe off purchase up to 90 days after they occur. I keep a running tally and over the past few years we earn about 2.5% back.

Also a small trick, if you are staying on property you can link the card to your room key, then use that for purchases in the parks. Then when it hits your card it comes through as a travel expense which can be wiped off with the purchase eraser. Note if you swipe the card directly in the park it hits as entertainment. Feel free to PM me if you have any questions about it.

 

[kdkdmac]

We have a Disney Visa and use the rewards at WDW. We have also picked up the occasional hotel card to earn free nights. We got a Hyatt card last year and earned 2 free nights anywhere. We used those nights in a junior suite here:

WELL worth the $50 annual fee .

I was just looking at this card ... I thought it was 2 free nights in a category 1 Hyatt ... I would like to earn a free night at the Hyatt in MCO, which is a category 4.

Is it 2 free nights at any hotel?
TIA

 

[ibob52]

I was just looking at this card ... I thought it was 2 free nights in a category 1 Hyatt ... I would like to earn a free night at the Hyatt in MCO, which is a category 4.

Is it 2 free nights at any hotel?
TIA

I stayed @ Hyatt MCO ... May 2013 ... very convenient.

Using the Chase/Hyatt/Visa Card/Free Nights Promo

 

[ruadisneyfan2]

I have a SW Visa which racks up points quickly. We put everything on it except mortgage & dh's truck payment. I'm careful to pay it off every month. I like that now you can make a payment every day if you want; it used to be once every 3 days.
We earn a one way to MCO probably every 1.5 months. I've had it a while so my annual fee is still $59.
Airfare is our largest expense for traveling so it's nice to get a break on that. I can't remember when we had to buy 4 RT flights.

We also have a Disney Visa but I only use that for the 0% for 6 mos for cruises. I apply the rewards to my onboard spending account.

 

[Angrypenguin]

We use Chase Sapphire Preferred and the Chase Ink Bold cards. I pretty much use Chase Sapphire Preferred for most things, but use the Ink for my cell phone/internet and gas as I get 5x points for those items.

Chase Ultimate Reward points are great because they're really flexible in their use, and can transfer 1:1 to a huge multitude of different airline and hotel companies if you want. Additionally, booking travel through the chase website garners you an extra 20% off the price in terms of rewards.

"Travel programs include British Airways Executive Club, Korean Air SKYPASS, Southwest Airlines Rapid Rewards®, United MileagePlus®, Virgin Atlantic Flying Club, Amtrak Guest Rewards®, Hyatt Gold Passport®, Priority Club® Rewards, Marriott Rewards® and The Ritz-Carlton Rewards®."

Signed up with a 40k reward bonus (chase sapphire preferred) and 50k reward bonus (Chase ink); totaled to around $1100 in travel rewards!

 

[pryncess527]

Nerd Wallet has a nice comparison tool that asks you a bit about your spending habits and approximate credit score and then ranks your options:

http://www.nerdwallet.com/