Judique
Dis Veteran, Beach Lover at BWV, BCV, HHI, VB
- Joined
- Aug 1, 2003
Sort of. I think many of us sign up initially for the sign up bonuses. Usually I'll carry that card until I've met the terms of the sign up bonus. Then it's up to the card whether it gets carried. Chase tries hard with quarterly offers in addition to offers described below. Right now I have a Disney card with 10X at gas stations. It's definitely worth it to carry that card for the next 3 months. Disney Dollars can be used to pay my DVC dues as well as Disney gift cards.I feel like such an amateur! So you are mostly using a couple cards at a time with a lot set aside?
But, many of us keep a lot of our cards for offers, especially the Chase and Amex cards that have no annual fee.
Just recently Chase gave 'Flash deals' and some of us got 20% off at Best Buy, Home Depot, CVS, Shell and several other spots. I got this on two cards and was able to pick up $325 in Disney Gift cards for $260, saving $65. I also filled up the gas guzzling van that I rarely drive using several cards, one after the other as it will take about 30 gallons when empty.
Also very recently there were ShopDisney 10% offers. It was 10% off $50, which is a savings of $5 on each card that had the offer. I had 3 offers, saving me a total of $15.
The two cards that had the Best Buy, Home Depot offers stay in my sock drawer and only get used when something worth it comes along.
In some situations such as American Express there is a limit on the number of cards you can hold. Supposedly it's 5 cards. Some of their offers can be very good and can help pay for the fee cards. In addition many of the hotel cards offer a free night certificate each year. I keep 2 cards for this reason only as the FNC is almost always worth more than the annual fee.
There are other cards that are gone once we've had them a year. They don't pay their way.
After doing this for years, I've learned to keep a small notebook in my bag. If I see a good offer, I'll make sure I'm carrying the card, write down the offer and date and make sure I use the offer. I also got 20% off at Jimmy John's, and McDonalds. Not pressured to use those unless the Happy Meal people are around. Probably should pick up a small gift card.