Best Credit Card Offer with Cash Back Rewards?
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Post subject: visa card
mike
Date: 11/20/2000 9:11 pm CDT
In my business I frequently pay my bills with my American Express card to reap the "rewards program rewards". Some vendors do not accept American Express but do accept Visa or Master Card.
I'm trying to find a Visa or Master Card that mirrors the American Express Rewards program.
Any help would be appreciated.
Thanks
p.s. The bill is paid in full every month.
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Eugene
Date: 11/21/2000 2:05 am CDT
mike wrote:
-------------------------------
> I'm trying to find a Visa or Master Card that mirrors the American Express Rewards program.
(Mike, you might want to skip to the lower portion of my logorrhea for the answer to your question)
I've been researching cash reward cards myself lately, and I realized that figuring out the best choice might not be as obvious as when choosing the card by, for example, the combination of APR and annual fee.
The difficulty with cash rewards is that they will depend on your projected annual spending limit not just linearly, but in tiers. Depending on how much you will spend, a different cash reward card can be best for you.
Another complication - AmEx and Discover, who have one of the best cash back programs around, are not accepted as widely as Visa/MC is. So, choosing a rewards Visa that sucks (relatively to AmEx), might in the end bring you better rewards than AmEx, just because you happen to spend a lot at merchants who do not accept AmEx.
The idea of having both - cash back AmEx and cash back V/MC - also crossed my mind, BUT charging 100% on V/MC and dumping AmEx completely MIGHT be more rewarding than charging, for example, 70% on AmEx and 30% on V/MC (if AmEx gives you better rewards but only 70% of your spending comes from AmEx-accepting merchants). That is because most reward programs (including AmEx) pay you back higher percentage as you spend more. (You're still following me?)
Personally, I am stuck with figuring out what this exemplary 70-30 proportion might be in my particular case. All the brands (V/MC/AE/D) boast acceptance "at X million merchants worldwide" but it's been impossible for me to figure out what collective market share belongs to merchants accepting AmEx, as opposed to those accepting only V/MC. Besides, it would be nice to know this data for *US* merchants, since this is where I will be making the bulk of my purchases. And finally, nobody guarantees that, even if you find this statistics, it will be the same for YOUR pattern of spending.
So, all this research of mine seems to be based on insufficient data, and I have a gut feeling that because I charge far less than a six-figure amount , almost any proportion (like 70%-30% in my example) is well within my margin of error. The most I loose by choosing a wrong cash back card, is, like, 10 bucks annually. Ha-ha.
But getting back to V/MC cash rewards cards, here are the choices I have found:
Bank of America (800-678-2632) cash reward card.
Chase Manhattan Bank (800-356-5555) Bell Atlantic Card.
creditcards.chase.com/servlet/page/BellMain.
(Good only if you have Bell Atlantic phone service to apply rewards to).
Chase Manhattan Bank (800-356-5555) Shell Card. (Rewards collected on all purchases but applied against future gas purchases at Shell).
Fleet (800-492-2500) Platinum Cash Rebate Card.
cards.fleet.com/apply/benefits1_reb.asp
Centura bank (800-Centura) CashMax.
Also, there is this web-site -creditcardgoodies.com/ (besides this one, of course) - that can be helpful in choosing a rewards card.
Oh, and another piece of advice: always ask about the card AND the rewards program annual fees when looking for a reward card - some issuers hide it even deeper than as with usual cards.
> p.s. The bill is paid in full every month.
It better be. APRs on rewards cards are so high that you will be better off forgetting about rewards and instead chasing the lowest APR you can get, if you carry a balance.
Eugene.
CardRatings.com is the most comprehensive source for comparing credit card offers. Please visit CardRatings.com to view the best rated credit cards!
Eugene
Date: 11/21/2000 2:48 am CDT
By the way... How did I never think of this!?
We can approximately figure out this "AmEx to V/MC spending" proportion I was talking about, by comparing similar spending patterns.
If you read this and you:
(1) charge all you can on any AmEx card, but if the merchant does not accept it, you charge a Visa or MasterCard;
(2) do most of your transactions within the U.S.
and
(3) have not done any overwhelmingly big purchases on any of the cards. (If you bought a car on one of the cards and only gas on the other, the proportion would not be objective);
I would be very grateful if you take several of your latest statements and calculate the total spending on Amex (A) and V/MC's (VMC). Then, to protect your privacy and avoid posting absolute amounts in dollars on the web, do this math:
[A x 100] / [A + VMC] - and you will know how much (per cent of your total credit card purchases) you had a chance to charge on AmEx.
Please, post it here, and together with their annual spending limit, everybody will be able to choose their individual best cash reward card with just little error.
I can even do the rest of the math for you and recommend you YOUR best card as appreciation of your time.
Thanks.
Eugene.
CardRatings.com is the most comprehensive source for comparing credit card offers. Please visit CardRatings.com to view the best rated credit cards!
Ira Stoller
Date: 11/21/2000 12:13 am CDT
Eugene,
I'll add the Sunoco MasterCard to your list. I get a TRUE 4% rebate on gas purchases & 1% on all other purchases. I say TRUE 4% since Sunoco sends out multiple $5.00 rebate certificates for the amount of rebate earned. You can use these certificates to purchase Sunoco gas, but if you do so there's no rebate on that gas. However, they also allow you to send back the certificates as partial payment for your account. Thus you're always getting the full rebate. Other gas & oil rebate cards will subtract this month's rebate from this month's gas purchases and give you a rebate only on the difference. Thus other than the first month that you have the card, you can never get the full rebate. Depending on how much you purchase on the card this can be significant. Just thought I'd point this out.
CardRatings.com is the most comprehensive source for comparing credit card offers. Please visit CardRatings.com to view the best rated credit cards!
jennifer
Date: 11/25/2000 9:17 am CDT
Providian visa is an excelent card to have and use.
CardRatings.com is the most comprehensive source for comparing credit card offers. Please visit CardRatings.com to view the best rated credit cards!
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