Bank Rewards Cards

April 30, 2012 - Rick

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Chase Sapphire Preferred® Benefits:

40,000 bonus points after you spend $3,000 in the first 3 months – that’s $500 toward travel rewards!
2 points per dollar spent on travel and dining at restaurants & 1 point per dollar spent on all other purchases
Get 20% off airfare, hotels, car rentals and cruises when you redeem through Ultimate Rewards^SM
No foreign transaction fees
Receive a 7% Annual Points Dividend on all new points earned on purchases – even on points already redeemed
1:1 point transfer to leading frequent travel programs – that means 1,000 Ultimate Rewards points equal 1,000 partner miles/points
Direct access to expert service advisors anytime
Introductory Annual Fee of $0 the first year, then $95

Apply Now!

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American Express(R) Premier Rewards Gold Card Benefits:

Earn More: earn 25K Membership Rewards® points after you spend $2K during your first three months of Card membership; earn 15K points after you spend $30,000 within one calendar year
Earn Fast: 3X points for flights booked with airlines, 2X points at US gas stations and US supermarkets, 1X points on other purchases. Terms and limitations apply.
Use points for gift cards for dining, entertainment, and to shop over 300 of some of your favorite brands
Access to Benefits: Baggage Insurance Plan* when you travel, and shop with confidence with Extended Warranty* and Return Protection.*Underwritten by Amex Assurance Company
Book two consecutive hotel nights through American Express Travel and receive $75 back at checkout. Restrictions may apply
$0 introductory annual fee for the first year, then $175
Terms and Restrictions Apply

Rick’s Review: If you have high spending on gas, groceries and airline tickets, this card is well worth looking into. The purchase of airline tickets earns three points per dollar and gas and groceries earn two points per dollar. The first year fee is waived as an introductory offer and the sign up bonus is 25,000 Membership Rewards points after spending $2000 in the first three months. This a charge card requiring payment in full each month. Hold onto your Membership Rewards points until a transfer bonus appears that you can use. They quite often offer significant bonuses to varies airlines and hotel programs that make your Membership Rewards points extra valuable when you need them. Apply now!

Here’s how I used the card: I got this card with a 50,000 point signup bonus a few years back. We used it for the multiplier categories, but cancelled the card before the annual fee was due. I’ll strongly reconsider this card again in the future.

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Citi ThankYou® Preferred Card Benefits:

Earn 15,000 bonus ThankYou Points after $1000 in card purchases within 3 months of account opening – enough for $150 in gift cards or other great rewards!
0% intro APR on Balance Transfers and Purchases for 12 months. After that, the variable APR will be 12.99%-22.99% based upon your creditworthiness*
Earn 1 ThankYou Point for every $1 you spend on all purchases
No expiration and no limit on the points you can earn
Redeem ThankYou Points for merchandise, travel rewards, gift cards, cash and more
Earn extra points when you shop through the ThankYou® Bonus Center, a network of 600+ retailers you know and love
Travel with ease and enjoy global acceptance with Chip Technology
No annual fee*

Apply Now!

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	Citi Forward® Card Benefits:
	10,000 ThankYou Points after $650 in spend in 3 months with paperless statements 0% intro APR for 12 months on balance transfers and for 7 months on purchases 5 points for every $1 spent at restaurants and on books, movies and music. No Annual Fee

Rick’s Review: This card is a no annual fee card that pays a big bonus in several popular categories: You will earn 5 points per dollar at restaurants, movies, on books and music and 1 point per dollar on all other purchases. I carry it for restaurant spending. If you also have a Citi Premier Thank You Points card, you can combine your points into one Thank You point account and earn 1.33 cents per point on air travel when purchasing tickets through the Thank You Points online travel agency. The sign up bonus (10,000 points) is not the reason to apply for this card. Choose this card if you are heavy in the above spending categories. And there is a Forward Card for College Students as well, with no co signor required. The college version still offers the five points per dollar in the above categories with a 1000 point sign up bonus after signing up for paperless statements for three months.

Here’s how I use the card: This is my restaurant card. With no annual fee and five points for all of my dining, this is the best dining card available.

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Barclaycard Arrival World MasterCard – $89 Annual Fee Card Benefits:

Earn 40,000 bonus miles if you make $1,000 or more in purchases in the first 90 days from account opening. 40,000 bonus miles equates to $400 off your next trip!
0% introductory APR on purchases for the first 12 months after account opening. After that, variable APR, currently 14.99% or 18.99%, based upon your creditworthiness.
Earn 2X miles on all purchases
No mileage caps and no foreign transaction fees
Get 10% miles back when you redeem for travel (i.e. redeem 25,000 miles for travel and get 2,500 miles back)
Use miles for a statement credit toward any airline purchase to any destination with no seat restrictions and no blackout dates
Easily redeem your miles for statement credits toward flights, cruises, car rentals, hotels and more
Complimentary subscription to TripIt Pro mobile travel organizer — a $49 annual value!

Apply Now!

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	Citi Forward® Card for College Students Benefits:
	No Cosigner required 5 ThankYou® Points for every $1 you spend at restaurants and on entertainment; 1 point per $1 on all other purchases. APR reduction on purchases when using credit wisely 100 ThankYou Points each billing period that you pay on time and stay under your credit line

Apply Now!

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U.S. Bank FlexPerks® Travel Rewards Visa Signature® card Benefits:

Get 17,500 bonus FlexPoints after the first $2,500 in net purchases in the first 150 days
Award travel starts at just 20,000 FlexPoints (up to a $400 ticket value) on over 150 airlines with no blackout dates or redemption fees
Earn one FlexPoint for every $1 of eligible net purchases charged to your card
Earn two FlexPoints for every $1 spent on gas, grocery or airline purchases – whichever you spend most on each monthly billing cycle – and on most cell phone expenses
Earn Triple FlexPoints for your charitable donations
Earn 5,000 FlexPoints when you refer a friend who acquires and uses the card
$0 Annual Fee* the first year, after that $49*
Earn 3,500 bonus FlexPoints each year when you spend $24,000 in Net Purchases. You can redeem these FlexPoints for your annual fee or combine them with other FlexPoints for travel or many other rewards
Receive an airline allowance of up to $25 with every award travel ticket to use toward baggage fees, in-flight food or drinks and more

Apply Now!

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Wilsliu85

If you use the Ultimate Rewards site to book a United flight, will you get RDM/EQM for that flight?

http://www.frugaltravelguy.com/ Frugal Travel Guy

If you book directly through the UR site yes. If you transfer points to United miles and book with United no.

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JB

Rick, I am interested in a card that gives me airport club access. Which card do you recommend? Do you prefer getting club access another way?

http://www.frugaltravelguy.com/ Frugal Travel Guy

amex platinum – http://www.frugaltravelguy.com/credit-cards/speciality-cards#amexplat That card + star alliance gold through Aegean will get you in anywhere.

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MikeO

Rick, I have the Chase Sapphire but I also have a Capital One Venture card. The capital one card gives me two points for every purchase. Isn’t that better overall? Thanks. Mike

http://www.frugaltravelguy.com/ Frugal Travel Guy

Mike, If all points were created equal then yes, indeed that would be spot on. That said, it just isn’t the case. CapOne points are simple/straightforward and worth a penny a piece. I value Sapphire Preferred (Ultimate Rewards) points at more like 1.8 cents a point. Other points such as SPG I value at 2.5 cents. So while on the surface it may seem better, it really depends on how you plan on using them and what you’re looking to do. I just redeemed 140,000 Ultimate Rewards for Business and First class to Australia, for a ticket that would have been almost $20,000 (or 2,000,000 CapOne points). So it really does depend on what you’re looking to do with your points.

MikeO

How do you determine the value of a point? What is SPG? Thanks for your reply

http://www.frugaltravelguy.com/ Frugal Travel Guy

SPG is starwood preferred guest. I determine the value of a point to be what I would otherwise be willing to pay out of pocket for an equivalent product/service. That said, some things I’d never pay for (such as business class to australia) so there is some intangible value associated with that. I’ve written a few posts on point value; search for that also.

MikeO

I’ll do that. Thank you

Carla

So tell me about that booking award travel. If I book through Ultimate rewards with points instead of through United I get my miles even though it’s an award ticket? If I pay my Taxes with my United Card does it get me my free bags? And what about with American Gold. I never use that card. I find the people at American express extremely difficult to work with. So I’m better off booking tickets through those sites instead of my Airline Account?

http://www.frugaltravelguy.com/ Frugal Travel Guy

If you use the UR points to book directly you will earn miles. I’d recommend verifying with Chase on that as I don’t know if that is the case with just paying for taxes. -Howie

alex

Amex Gold Rewards
Use caution with American express as they are not the company they used to be. I got this card for the Bonus points.I asked them on various separate occasions whether I qualify or not for the bonus as I had a prior card wihtin 12 months, Each time the representative ASSURED me I will qualify. After meeting the requirement I did not get the points as only then did they say i did not qualify. No one to talk to on the phone or by email and i was forced to write and mail a hard copy letter (probably to discourage people from complaining). Now lets see what happens. They used to be client oriented. now they are not.

http://www.frugaltravelguy.com/ Frugal Travel Guy

That’s a tough one. All the amex apps I’ve seen explicitly say no dice if you’ve had it within the past 12 months. Hope you have good documentation. best of luck! -Howie

alex

Frugal

thanks for your input. yes. i know. But it is a business acount so alittle bit different . I wrote them and lets see what they say. I took them to task on they should honor commitments made by their reps. especially if made multiple times.
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