If not the Disney VISA, then which rewards credit card?

[mad4themouse]

There seems to be a big reaction to the most recent news regarding the long-awaited Disney VISA and the merits/drawbacks of the card membership. For those of you already using rewards-type credit cards, I have a few questions:

• 
  [*]Which card do you use?
  [*]What bank offers it?
  [*]Does it have an annual fee?
  [*]What rewards do you get?
  [*]How are those rewards distributed (monthly, quarterly, yearly, as a credit on your statement)?
  [*]Are the rewards easy to redeem?
  [*]Are you happy with this card and its rewards?
  [*]What restrictions does the card have?

Here's mine:

• 
  [*]Which card do you use? Chase-i MasterCard
• What bank offers it? Chase Manhatten
• Does it have an annual fee?No
• What rewards do you get?Webcertificates
• What is the exchange/reward/rebate rate?1%
• How are those rewards distributed (monthly, quarterly, yearly, as a credit on your statement)?monthly
• Are the rewards easy to redeem? Automatically sent to your email address every month that you exceed $1000 in total charges. Charges totaling under $1000 rollover to the next month.
• Are you happy with this card and its rewards?Yes
• What restrictions does the card have?Account cannot be in arrears. No rewards are sent to past due accounts. No rewards on cash advances or balance transfers.

If you can think of any other advantages to your rewards credit card, please post those as well. It would help many of us to make a more informed decision. Thanks!

 

[bcorso]

I personally want the card for the Day 1 Member and pin. I don't think I'll get the card but I guess in the end, I really don't need another card. My DisneyStore card was canceled for non-use. I pay cash for most everything and when I do go to WDW, we don't stay onsite. Hopefully my mum will get it and put me on as another card holder, but we'll see.

 

[FoodLover]

Which card do you use? Gold Delta Skymiles American Express

What bank offers it? American Express

Does it have an annual fee? Yes - $85. Was waived the first year, but it looks like that offer might have ended.

What rewards do you get? Delta Skymiles (frequent flyer miles) - 1 mile per dollar for all purchases; double miles (2 miles per dollar) for Delta purchases, charges made at supermarkets, drugstores, home improvement stores, post office, cell phone bills. There are often promotions for double miles on all purchases. 10,000 mile bonus with first purchase on card.

How are those rewards distributed (monthly, quarterly, yearly, as a credit on your statement)? Monthly - directly deposited into Delta Skymiles account.

Are the rewards easy to redeem? Varies. For very popular destinations, you have to plan your redemption in advance. We've had no problems redeeming for San Diego to Orlando flights.

Are you happy with this card and its rewards? Yes - although I think the American Express Cash Rebate card might be even better (1.5% cash rebate on every dollar spent, 3% rebate on supermarket, drug store and home improvement store spending, and no annual fee), so I'm considering changing.

What restrictions does the card have? No double miles given on spending over $100,000 per year (you still get 1 mile per dollar when you go over that amount). It's unclear whether balance transfers and cash advances get miles, but I suspect not.

 

[TreeOfLife]

Another supporter of the Delta Skymiles AMEX here.

Our three tickets to Disney this year are award tickets. We booked early enough to be able to select non-stop flights and our seats.

About a third of my miles I got through offers such as MCI's. 5,000 miles and then a bunch for each dollar on your bill. When MCI stopped granting miles, I switched to AT&T. Those alone got me 10,000 miles. Then Earthlink grants 5,000 as well, groceries at your supermarket and gas purchases give you two miles per dollar. Pharmacy purchases do as well, paying your cell phone bill, buying Delta tickets online, using the kiosks at the airports...

Oh and if you do not want to redeem your miles for flights, you can get other offers through another program where your miles are switched to. It is absolutely the best rewards card around.

I still say Disney's is an insult to their guests' intelligence. They are, again, marketing to people's impulses with their little "Day 1" and pin hoopla. But just give it like you take it: get the card, get your pin and then show them that it is all it was good for and don't use it for the rewards. It should encourage them to come up with better offers when they get the hint that most guests take care of their wallets and are rational rather than blindly taking it all in as they'd like us to be.

 

[Ithastobe]

Just redeemed our CC Points for 4 4 day park hopper plus tickets (Value of 680.00 I'm told). Here is the info:

Which card do you use? HiltonHonors American Express
What bank offers it? Not sure.. direclty from HHonors I think.
Does it have an annual fee? No
What rewards do you get? HHonors points
How are those rewards distributed (monthly, quarterly, yearly, as a credit on your statement)? Appear monthly on statement
Are the rewards easy to redeem? Yes, via 800 number or website
Are you happy with this card and its rewards? VERY happy
What restrictions does the card have? AMEX not taken by all merchants.

In addition to Hopper tickets, you can redeem for airline tickets, or rooms. If you stay at a Hilton (Grand Vacation club or others) and rent it and get HHonor points for your stay, Also can 'double dip' and get points for airline partners and hilton stays.

They have a website if interested in learning more: www.hhonors.com

 

[TreeOfLife]

AMEX not taken by all merchants.

True, but very,very few merchants don't take AMEX. I use it virtually everywhere with no problems: The grocery store, the post office, the doctor's office, the gas station, the pharmacy, the dept store... In fact, with most who do not take AMEX you can just take your business elsewhere and find a merchant who does. It used to be that Visa and MC were easier to use but now they take AMEX virtually everywhere.

 

[kfeuer]

Which card do you use? Toys 'R Us Visa

What bank offers it? Chase

Does it have an annual fee? No

What rewards do you get? 4% back on Toys 'R Us, Kids 'R Us and Babies 'R Us purchases, 1% on everything else

How are those rewards distributed (monthly, quarterly, yearly, as a credit on your statement)? Monthly, as long as you reach $10, you get a gift cert in the mail (usually before my bill even arrives)

Are the rewards easy to redeem? Very easy, although you must spend the full amount of the gift cert (no cash back or carrying a balance forward like with electronic gift cards)

Are you happy with this card and its rewards? Yes, this has been a good card for us considering we have a 2-year old and another baby on the way. Obviously, this card would be of little value to someone who doesn't have children or isn't near a KRU/TRU/BRU.

What restrictions does the card have? Not sure, but I think it has the standard reward card restrictions.

I've applied for the Disney card and provided the redemption is easy (wish they weren't so vague about it) I intend to use it until our trip in the fall. Every little bit helps!

In addition, I recently got the American Express cash rebate card and I am *not* impressed with the rewards. Here's what the fine print says, taken directly from the cardholder agreement:

"For the first $2,000 in Annual Purchases, you will receive a rebate of 0.5% for "Everyday Purchases" and .25% for "Non-Everyday Purchases". For the next $4,000 in Annual Purchases you will receive a rebate of 1.0% for Everyday Purchases and .50 for Non-Everyday Purchases. For Annual Purchases above $6,000, you will receive a rebate of 3.0 for Everyday Purchases and 1.5 for Non-Everyday Purchases. You will receive an additional 2% rebate for Everyday Purchases and an additional 0.5% rebate for Non-Everday Purchases posted to your account in any billing period for which you do not pay in full the undisputed outstanding balance on your account for that billing period provided your account is not in default."

It's hard to know exactly how this would work out for my family, but I don't think we'd get enough above $6,000 to balance out the low rewards they pay on the first $6,000. I'm sure there are people out there who spend enough to make this worthwhile, but we don't. I don't think this card is for everyone (just like the Disney card isn't for everyone). Also, I have a different Amex card and I have had issues of it not being accepted in some of the places I like to shop (and I'm in a big city). I could never have it as my only card (like I can w/ my Visa).

 

[mad4themouse]

Thanks for posting the details about the AmEx card, kfeuer.

I looked all over their site and could not find out just how you could get "up to 3%'" cashback. It sound a little too restrictive for me. Who wants to pay interest on a balance carried over from month to month? Won't that pretty much wipe out the rebated about? And to have to charge $6K in order to get 3% back on "everyday purchases" would take me a few months. I think I'll pass up this one.

 

[Eilonwy]

Thanks for the details on the AMEX card. I looked all over for that info, too. I kept wondering what the "up to" part meant. Let's hope the Disney Card doesn't work like that. I signed up for my Disney Visa this morning!

 

[lynda220]

I usse 2 cards
Southwest Visa ( adds points to your rapids rewards account with Soauthwest Airlines) WWW.iflyswa.com
they have alot of partners to earn point through alot of double dipping!

Also Am Express alot of places to redem pts @
Southwest is my favorite. We earn enough pts each year to get a free companion pass to travel with the member free on any trip.

Lynda

 

[psimon]

The card to get is the AMEX CASH REWARDS card. It gives you cash that can be spent ANYWHERE, not miles for airline seats that are getting harder and harder to cash in as airlines keep losing more $$$.

THe AMEX Cash Rewards card pays 1.5% on all purchases except for food, gas, drug store chains (like CVS) and Home maintenance places (like Home Depot). These 4 categories pay up to 3%. Both of these are on a sliding scale and pay the max after accruing a total of $5000 in annual purchases. Around here, that isn't hard! 2-3 months and I've met that

There is NO annual fee. If you carry a balance, the cashback is even higher (up to 5%). I don't carry a balance, so I will never get that much back (that's probably a good thing!)

Cash is universal, points.... well, what if you decided not to travel for whatever reason. You get nothing! Cash comes regardless!

Something to think about.