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s/o: Which credit cards offer the best rewards?


Greta
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Spinning off of the thread about using credit cards to pay bills in order to get the rewards:

 

Which credit cards do you feel offer the best rewards programs? I would be particularly interested in travel-related ones. Are there any airline cards where you can use your points/miles towards a flight you would actually want to take? Because my impression of those is that they have so many “black out dates†that it’s basically worthless. Am I wrong? What about hotel cards, are those better? Or if there are no impressive travel-related ones, what good “general purpose†ones are there?

 

We use an REI credit card, because my husband loves mountaineering and all of its related gear. But he owns everything he could possibly ever need and then some, and the rewards can’t be used towards the things he most wants to buy, so it seems like a waste to me. And while we don’t use the card to pay our bills, we do use it for most other expenses (groceries, etc.) so it does add up.

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I love my REI rewards because I use them to buy things that are slightly frivolous or too expensive for me to buy them with cash.  I get much better trail running shoes, and really outstanding socks, and good sandals because of this.  And a great sun hat.  And a running belt, excellent fanny pack, and hydration backpack, none of which I would have bought on my own.  Plus I got my computer briefcase there, and it's held up amazingly over the years.  They have fantastic quality stuff--the mountaineering equipment is just the tip of the iceberg. 

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We like the Amazon card from Chase - gives 1% on purchases most places but restaurants give more as does purchasing from Amazon (2 or 3% for restaurants and some other categories I can't remember, and 5% from Amazon as we are also Prime members)

 

Another Courtney (and my maiden name began with a B :lol:) who loves the Amazon card from Chase.  I use the reward points on everything from books to shoes for the boys or myself to home decor to earbuds and everything in between.

 

I just used points to get a couple new Contigo coffee cups this morning :D.

Edited by JudoMom
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We use Capital One Quicksilver and Chase Freedom. But those are cash rewards, not travel. 

 

ETA: We've never understood the point of locking into a travel rewards card or one tied to a specific retailer. We can use our cash rewards for anything, anywhere.

Edited by Pawz4me
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ETA: We've never understood the point of locking into a travel rewards card or one tied to a specific retailer. We can use our cash rewards for anything, anywhere.

 

If you have an airline credit card and actually also travel with that airline, you can accumulate miles by flying. And add them to the miles earned through spending.

 

Edited by regentrude
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You might find some help on The Points Guy site, if you are interested in travel.  He does get support from the cards, but his comparisons are fact based.

https://thepointsguy.com/cards/

 

We like the Chase Sapphire Reserve.  It seems crazy expensive at $450, but you get $300 cash back for your first $300 in travel each year.  And the $150 is pretty easily offset by perks if you travel much.  

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I have a costco exec membership - and that is 5% back on purchases at costco. it more than pays for the membership.

I also have an amazon card - 5% back on amazon purchases.   and I buy a lot.

 

I had looked at the alaska airlines card.  they have a two-for one deal in addition to their miles, but you have to pay for the card. we didn't like the returns, didn't feel they were worth it to us.  (and I like the airline.)

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We use an airline card and it works because 99% of my work travel is on that airfield because they are a business partner with my company. The miles from Flying add to the miles from the credit card to get decent rewards faster.

 

I doubt if an airline card is worth it if you don’t travel a lot on that airline.

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We have a credit card through our bank that gets 2.5% back on everything. I'm thinking of getting the Costco card for gas and DH's reimbursable work expenses. His flights go on a work account, but it would be 3-4% for the rest of it. Sifting through work travel charges on our everyday card drives me batty.

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Thank you all for your help! I appreciate the information. :)

 

Check out your investment establishment's credit card offers. Some of them offer 2% back to your investment account.  Saving without seeing.

 

  

We have a Fidelity Visa, 2% back is automatically deposited into an IRA.  :)

This is a great idea. We have most of our investments with Fidelity, so I will check into their card. Thanks!

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United MileagePlus offers something like 50,000 bonus miles and then something for using the card. We’ve accumulated a lot of miles by signing up for bonus miles + miles for purchases. Then, we cancel the card and reapply to get bonus miles, etc. I have about 350k miles to use. We use the miles to fly to Hawaii and sometimes Montana.

 

Amazon’s credit card offers 5% for Amazon and Whole Foods purchases.

 

Citi’s Double Cash Back might be worth checking out.

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