What isthe best rewards credit card?

[imsayin]

I always want the best rewards credit card. Anyone have good recommendations? Currently I am using a Discover card that accumulates miles, but I don't think it is the "Best" out there.

 

[Rash]

IMO, Amex Blue Cash.

 

[disneysteve]

I don't think there is necessarily one card that is the best for everyone. It depends on your spending patterns and what types of rewards are most valuable to you.

Many people around her love their cards that earn them airline miles. Personally, we fly very infrequently so that would not appeal to us. Others like cards that give them cashback. While that's great, I find that I just don't feel I've gotten something free that way. The money just goes into the bank account and doesn't seem special somehow.

We use two reward cards. An AOL Visa and a Marriott Visa. With the AOL card, we earn points toward our AOL bill. As a result, we have not paid a penny for AOL service for 7 or 8 years since we got the card.

With the Marriott card, we earn points toward hotel stays. What I like about that is that the points earned with the CC get combined with the points earned by staying at Marriott properties. We travel pretty often so those points add up quickly. At the moment, we've got about 80,000 points which can get us up to 14 free nites. And we've redeemed points several times during the 2-3 years we've had the card.

So find a card that has a reward that you value. Check the way points accumulate and be sure it won't take forever to actually get anything. If there is an annual fee, don't automatically skip that card. I pay $30/year for our Marriott card but earn about 5 free nites per year so I think that $30 is a good deal.

Sorry this was so long. I just don't think there is one BEST card out there.

 

[Rash]

Blue Cash - from the Amex web site

Up to 5% cash back
No Annual Fee
0% Introductory APR for up to 15 months
Pay over time

Your annual cash reward for everyday purchases at stand-alone U.S. supermarkets, gas stations, drugstores, and home improvement stores is up to 3%. Stand-alone locations do not include the departments of superstores or warehouse clubs where the standard rebate of up to 1.5% applies. Your annual cash reward for all other purchases is up to 1.5%. You will receive an additional rebate of up to 2% in months in which your account carries a balance

https://www66.americanexpress.com/c...11999/b/3/3539889532/353114418381/0/n&from=57

I wouldn't recommend the carrying-a-balance part, but even without the extra 2%, it's a good deal.

As far a getting a card with rewards that you value, it's hard to believe that there's someone out there who doesn't value cash. What reward has better cash value than cash?

I've used travel miles cards, and the one thing I don't like is that you can't use the reward until you've accumulated the points. So if you find a great airfare and you don't have enough points yet, you have to wait and risk missing the great airfare. That's happened to me more than once. With a cash reward card, you can make air ressies whenever you want, since you're reward is not based on achieving a point total, etc.

The best air miles card that I've found that doesn't bind you to a particular airline is the Quicken Credit Card with the Traveler Miles option. http://www.quickencard.com/personal_tm.cgi?Var= You get $100 off any airfare (contiguous US), any airline after spending $8000. That's 1.25%, and you have to book through their travel agency. And there's a $35 annual fee. I'll take the cash reward and book when I want.

just my $.02

 

[disneysteve]

As far a getting a card with rewards that you value, it's hard to believe that there's someone out there who doesn't value cash. What reward has better cash value than cash?

Certainly didn't mean to imply that I don't value cash. Its kind of hard to explain, but I personally get more satisfaction from going to a hotel and knowing the bill is covered by points than I would from getting a check for the equivalent amount. I also like never getting an AOL bill. It might not make sense from a strictly financial point of view, but psychologically it works for me.

The Amex Blue Cash card is a great one with a generous reward, much better than some other cards like Discover.

 

[Rash]

Certainly didn't mean to imply that I don't value cash. Its kind of hard to explain, but I personally get more satisfaction from going to a hotel and knowing the bill is covered by points than I would from getting a check for the equivalent amount. I also like never getting an AOL bill. It might not make sense from a strictly financial point of view, but psychologically it works for me.

Point taken. Convenience sometimes has a value GREATER than cash!

 

[NancyIL]

I like the Starwood American Express card. You get 1 point per dollar charged, and they can be exchanged 1:1 into most airline frequent-flyer accounts. They can also be used for free nights at Starwood hotels (Westin, Sheraton, Four Points, W Hotels, etc.) http://www66.americanexpress.com/ca...efined&mgmID=undefined&request_type=undefined

 

[PolyHereWeCome]

We prefer cash rebate cards over airline mileage or free hotel rooms or even store gift certificates.

The best cash rebate card use to be Discover. Then AMEX came out with their cash rebate card - Blue Cash -- which paid slightly higher (see previous post for details). Now, the very best cash rebate card is Citibank's Citi Dividend Card.

You get 5% cash back on supermarkets, gas stations, and drug store and 1% from dollar one on everything else. We currently have a 90-day promotion where we earn 6% and 2%, respectively.

 

[PolyHereWeCome]

Oh, forgot to mention that the Citi Dividend card has no annual fee.

We have never paid for a credit card. The way I look at it, if we spend, say $10,000/year on a credit card earning 1 point (or 1% back) but then have to pay $30-$60/year, the $100 I would have gotten (1%*$10K) has now been cut way down.

 

[imsayin]

Thanks for all the ideas. I am considering the Amex blue card. For those of you that have Amex, is it accepted at most stores, etc? Currently, I always have my Disney Visa for a backup since Discover isn't accepted everywhere.

I never pay annual fees or carry balances, so I love my free Rewards!

 

[PrincessDadx2]

Certainly didn't mean to imply that I don't value cash. Its kind of hard to explain, but I personally get more satisfaction from going to a hotel and knowing the bill is covered by points than I would from getting a check for the equivalent amount. I also like never getting an AOL bill. It might not make sense from a strictly financial point of view, but psychologically it works for me.

ITA. $100 is $100, but 10,000 Starwood or Marriott points is a night at the Swan or in Hawaii or in NYC, etc. So many more interesting possibilities than just cash that will get spent on groceries.

For points I would also recommend the Starwood card. For cash, for Fidelity customers, you can get a 1.5% card on everything or a 2% card if it goes into your 529.