What reward/perk credit cards do you have? Do you like them?

[ead79]

My parents currently have the Delta Skymiles American Express. Of course, with the teetering on the edge of bankruptcy situation, my parents are concerned. They want to get a new rewards/perks card to replace that one.

I have both the Starwood Preferred Guest American Express (which I love!) and the Chase Disney Visa. I plan to recommend the SPG Amex to them, but I wanted to have other options. They pay the balance off monthly, so a good interest rate isn’t a prime concern. I think they would be more interested in the value of the perks/rewards.

What cards do you have? What are the rewards/perks? Do you like them?

 

[DawnCt1]

I feel absolutely confident that Delta will emerge from this bankruptcy so I have no concerns about the tickets that I purchased for next January, nor my 6 (4 coach, 2 FIRST CLASS) award tickets for Hawaii this summer that I got from my dedicated use of my Delta Sky Miles American Express Card. I use this card for everything. There are double miles on everything for approximately four months out of the year. Last year it was double miles in July and August....just in time for vacation. This year it was double miles for November and December...just in time for Christmas. Right now there is a 20% mileage bonus for March and April. There are always double miles for gas, groceries, home improvement stores, drug stores,quadruptle miles for automatic billing of my cable and cell phone as well as my home phone and internet. I use my card for Idine restaurants and get 10 miles per dollar that we spend. I use it for home heating oil, fast food, for everything. I rarely use cash. I consider it a cash card and pay it off every month. With six in our family, we would have never been able to go to Hawaii more than once. It was my dream vacation and I was thrilled to be able to take the kids. Now it has become DH's favorite vacation and we are going on our forth trip. We wouldn't be taking four DSs back to Hawaii a second time without the Delta Sky Miles Card. As hard as award seats are to come by, Delta makes more award seats available per air miles than most other major airlines. You do need to plan 331 days ahead and be flexible but it is all doable. In fact, I use my card so much that I have to replace it a couple of times before they send me a new one automatically. The numbers and my signature strip wear off!

 

[Bob Slydell]

We have the Quicken Card -- I like it for two reasons. One, the points I accumulate are good on any airline, at any time, even just to knock $100 or $200 off the price of a ticket. Two, the card details download into our Quicken software, so we have better organization of our spending.

We also have Continental OnePass frequent flier cards -- I have just over 200,000 miles, DW has around 150,000. For the most part, we're planning on using those to go to Hawaii on business class next year for our 10th anniversary.

 

[DawnCt1]

We also have Continental OnePass frequent flier cards -- I have just over 200,000 miles, DW has around 150,000. For the most part, we're planning on using those to go to Hawaii on business class next year for our 10th anniversary.

I would suggest that you pick your dates and see how far ahead you can book with Continental. With most airlines it is 331 days ahead. With Northwest, 365. Hawaii is a very popular route no matter which class you are traveling in or when you go. Summer is particularly difficult because school is out. Be sure to call as soon as those seats hit the inventory. The day begins at midnight and to be successful, you want to start dialing a couple of minutes before. Good luck!! We also have the Continental OnePass card but it doesn't accummulate miles as quickly as the Delta Card. DH has American Express Awards card and the miles can be used on any airline as well.

 

[Christine]

I have a Costco American Express Card that gives me anywhere from 1.25%-3% on purchases (I get the 3% cash back when I book hotel rooms, airline tickets, etc.). Every 6 months, American Express cuts me a check. The catch is that I have to take the check to Costco to cash it--no big deal really.

I also have a Pentagon Federal Credit Union Visa Card that just gives me "rewards" every month. Usually about 1.5% of my bill gets deducted every month. Sometimes the percentage is higher based on where I use the card.

 

[Bob Slydell]

I would suggest that you pick your dates and see how far ahead you can book with Continental. With most airlines it is 331 days ahead. With Northwest, 365. Hawaii is a very popular route no matter which class you are traveling in or when you go. Summer is particularly difficult because school is out. Be sure to call as soon as those seats hit the inventory. The day begins at midnight and to be successful, you want to start dialing a couple of minutes before. Good luck!! We also have the Continental OnePass card but it doesn't accummulate miles as quickly as the Delta Card. DH has American Express Awards card and the miles can be used on any airline as well.

We know our approximate dates, but it's not until October '07, so we're not inside of the 365 day window yet.

 

[tkd lisa]

I have two that I use. I've had a standard (now platinum) Discover Card since 1987. I truly love the 1% back, and sometimes they run promotions where the gas is 3% or entertainment purchases are 3%, etc. You just need to call in or log in, and the promotion is offered to you. Downside is that not everyone takes Discover (although it's much more than it used to be!)

I also have the Chase Disney Visa. It's also 1% but the credits are only good for Disney type things (meals at the parts, Disney store purchases, etc). I historically used it whenever people wouldn't take Discover. But since we're taking more Disney trips now, I'm using it more since the credits make the costs at Disney seem better!

I did just sign up for the southwest visa (I'm pretty sure it's Chase too), but that was because SWA was giving you a $20 credit if you did, so as soon as the flight is over and the refund processed, I'll cancel that card.

I used to have an American Airlines Mastercard. We got that to get FF miles to use for travelling to our cruise in 2004 (we knew we'd be a little short with the standard miles we had). In my opinon (mine only, your mileage might vary), mileage cards just aren't the best use of this type of card. To get a free flight, you need $25000 charged to the card. On a standard 1% card, that would mean the value is $250 of "credit". So if I used my Discover, charged the same $25000 to get an American FF ticket, I could have Discover send me a check for $250. I can almost always find a cheap ticket for less than $250 to anywhere I need to go, and then I'm not bound by the FF limitations. The one bonus was that by signing up for the card, they gave me 10,000 miles free. As soon as we had the miles for the tickets we needed, I cancelled that card.

 

[mickeysgal]

We have a Chase Travel Rewards Visa. We use it for everything - I try to never use cash or checks. This only works if you can pay it off every month though We earn 1 point for every $1 spent and can get a roundtrip ticket within the 48 states (not to exceed $400 in value) at the 25,000 point level. We can get to Hawaii and Alaska at the 35,000 point level. It also can be used toward hotel stays, restaurant and retail gift cards, etc.

 

[kpm76]

We have the Southwest card and we love it. We fly SW alot so it works very well for us.

 

[Disney-Kim]

Elizabeth,
if they are looking for airline rewards, Chase has a good card that earns points toward airline tickets and they are usable on a few diff airlines. that way you always have an option.

American Express membership rewards is good too. you can use them towards all kinds of rewards.

We use American West Airlines...now US Airways cards for EVERYTHING.
They are our hometown airline and now that they are US Airways they fly worldwide.
We have flown to Hawaii free twice and upgraded our upcoming WDW flights to first class. very worth it

 

[Tanuki]

we use a Mastercard thru Fidelity Investments which contributes 2% for every purchase to my daughter's 529 fund for college.

 

[tekmom]

Amex membership rewards. You can link the all the cards from your household to earn points faster. We have my husband's corporate card linked with our gold cards and it has helped us earn alot of points very quickly. It's like Christmas when you're picking out rewards from the catalog.

 

[vetrik]

DH and I don't actually travel much, so we have a Citi Dividend Rewards card. It gives 5% cash back for all purchases at grocery stores, gas stations, and drugstores (I just wish Target were considered a drugstore! ) and 1% cash back for all other purchases. There's also no annual fee. I've been very happy with this card.

 

[ead79]

I think several of these would really appeal to my parents. I'd love to hear more about the Fidelity Investments MasterCard (for instance, can you put the 2% into an IRA or 401(k)?), the Costco Amex, and the Citi Dividends rewards cards. Of course, any other card info is much appreciated too.

 

[Christine]

Elisabeth,

Here is the link for the Costco card:

http://www.costco.com/Browse/Product.aspx?Prodid=10028121&whse=&topnav=&browse=

Now, this is not my card but it is very similar. I have the Costco Platinum Cash Back Card. They don't "push" this one anymore but I do believe they still have it. It is just a bit different on the percentages.

 

[Dan Murphy]

Same as you, Elisabeth, SPG AMEX.