Wellington
BAAAALLLINNN'
With discipline and patience, there is some serious value to be had with rewards CCs and I'm interested in which cards fellow GAFfers abuse use, lessons learned, and if you're happy with the rewards.
I signed up in early 2008 for the Citi Premier Pass Elite card because I was doing a lot of traveling and I wanted to nab the point per mile flown bonus to get free flights. I've been racking up pretty good point totals since then because I do travel 2-3 times per year and I also book travel for my family. Example, I booked a vacation for myself, my gf, and two other friends on my card and they reimbursed me for it, with the miles flown it became a boon of 12k points plus the cost of the tickets.
I was never really a big point accruer until a friend of mine started pointing out how he uses his discover card everywhere and racks up gift cards for damn near everything. The ThankYou Network wasn't as robust as it is now, so I just stocked up my points for flights and took a cheap vacation every year. The network also allows for converting points into giftcards at well known vendors such as Walmart, Foot Locker, and Loews as well as just flat out buying items with the points. I'm trying to build up points to be able to get a cheap iPad 3 for christmas with Best Buy gift cards. The GC values are set at $1 per 100 points, you can convert 10K points into $100 in increments of 2500 points. So I made a cool $100 just by booking the vacation I mentioned above and am well on the way to $125.
Lessons Learned/Rules to Follow:
1) If you are going to pay an annual fee make sure that the benefit you are getting from it is enough to cover the fee. For example I pay $75 a year for my card but I easily meet and exceed 7500 air miles per year all told.
2) DO NOT carry a balance and incur finance charges. What's the point of trying to earn the bonuses if you're paying $15 a month in interest? My system is that at the end of every week I pay what I charged. Make sure you're card is clean by the time your statement is due. Similarly *make sure your rewards card has a low interest rate* in case you do carry a balance.
3) Know the ins and outs of your cards bonus structure. There are so many different types of cards that offer so many different bonuses. Some cards offer year round multipliers of point totals for certain purchases, rotating multipliers on a seasonal basis, categorical bonuses, etc. It's your job to know what gives you maximum points to best take advantage.
4) Get the right card for you. Goes with the above, but if you don't travel often, don't get a card that gives you bonuses for traveling, as an example.
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What cards do you guys use and how do you take advantage? I've seen a lot of dudes on here with the Amazon rewards Visa, how has it been working out?
Attached are some good sites for those trying to jump into rewards cards:
NerdWallet - Automatically compares cards based on a short questionnaire and recommends the best fit for you.
CreditCards.com/Rewards Lists em all out along with benefits
Bankaholic - Breaks them up by category.
I signed up in early 2008 for the Citi Premier Pass Elite card because I was doing a lot of traveling and I wanted to nab the point per mile flown bonus to get free flights. I've been racking up pretty good point totals since then because I do travel 2-3 times per year and I also book travel for my family. Example, I booked a vacation for myself, my gf, and two other friends on my card and they reimbursed me for it, with the miles flown it became a boon of 12k points plus the cost of the tickets.
I was never really a big point accruer until a friend of mine started pointing out how he uses his discover card everywhere and racks up gift cards for damn near everything. The ThankYou Network wasn't as robust as it is now, so I just stocked up my points for flights and took a cheap vacation every year. The network also allows for converting points into giftcards at well known vendors such as Walmart, Foot Locker, and Loews as well as just flat out buying items with the points. I'm trying to build up points to be able to get a cheap iPad 3 for christmas with Best Buy gift cards. The GC values are set at $1 per 100 points, you can convert 10K points into $100 in increments of 2500 points. So I made a cool $100 just by booking the vacation I mentioned above and am well on the way to $125.
Lessons Learned/Rules to Follow:
1) If you are going to pay an annual fee make sure that the benefit you are getting from it is enough to cover the fee. For example I pay $75 a year for my card but I easily meet and exceed 7500 air miles per year all told.
2) DO NOT carry a balance and incur finance charges. What's the point of trying to earn the bonuses if you're paying $15 a month in interest? My system is that at the end of every week I pay what I charged. Make sure you're card is clean by the time your statement is due. Similarly *make sure your rewards card has a low interest rate* in case you do carry a balance.
3) Know the ins and outs of your cards bonus structure. There are so many different types of cards that offer so many different bonuses. Some cards offer year round multipliers of point totals for certain purchases, rotating multipliers on a seasonal basis, categorical bonuses, etc. It's your job to know what gives you maximum points to best take advantage.
4) Get the right card for you. Goes with the above, but if you don't travel often, don't get a card that gives you bonuses for traveling, as an example.
---------------------------------------------
What cards do you guys use and how do you take advantage? I've seen a lot of dudes on here with the Amazon rewards Visa, how has it been working out?
Attached are some good sites for those trying to jump into rewards cards:
NerdWallet - Automatically compares cards based on a short questionnaire and recommends the best fit for you.
CreditCards.com/Rewards Lists em all out along with benefits
Bankaholic - Breaks them up by category.
