What's Your Credit Card Rewards Strategy?

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VictoriaF
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Re: What's Your Credit Card Rewards Strategy?

Post by VictoriaF »

anon_investor wrote: Sun Mar 12, 2023 6:54 pm
VictoriaF wrote: Sun Mar 12, 2023 6:50 pm A couple years ago I opened a Choice Privileges Visa card with Barclays Bank. Now, Choice Hotels is transferring their credit card business to a Wells Fargo Mastercard. I am reluctant dealing with another bank and considering cancelling this card all together. But before I do, I'd like to know what the others who have this card are planning to do.

Thank you,
Victoria
Can you product change to another Barclays credit card (if there are any that interest you)?
I am not interested in other Barclays CCs. I just want to have some points for inexpensive stays at Choice hotels.

Victoria
Inventor of the Bogleheads Secret Handshake | Winner of the 2015 Boglehead Contest. | Every joke has a bit of a joke. ... The rest is the truth. (Marat F)
Jags4186
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Re: What's Your Credit Card Rewards Strategy?

Post by Jags4186 »

VictoriaF wrote: Sun Mar 12, 2023 6:50 pm A couple years ago I opened a Choice Privileges Visa card with Barclays Bank. Now, Choice Hotels is transferring their credit card business to a Wells Fargo Mastercard. I am reluctant dealing with another bank and considering cancelling this card all together. But before I do, I'd like to know what the others who have this card are planning to do.

Thank you,
Victoria
I’ll just hold onto the card until it transfers to Wells Fargo and then see if I can product change it from there to either the Active Cash or potentially even the Autograph card. Never can have too many 2% cards.
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anon_investor
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Re: What's Your Credit Card Rewards Strategy?

Post by anon_investor »

VictoriaF wrote: Sun Mar 12, 2023 7:05 pm
anon_investor wrote: Sun Mar 12, 2023 6:54 pm
VictoriaF wrote: Sun Mar 12, 2023 6:50 pm A couple years ago I opened a Choice Privileges Visa card with Barclays Bank. Now, Choice Hotels is transferring their credit card business to a Wells Fargo Mastercard. I am reluctant dealing with another bank and considering cancelling this card all together. But before I do, I'd like to know what the others who have this card are planning to do.

Thank you,
Victoria
Can you product change to another Barclays credit card (if there are any that interest you)?
I am not interested in other Barclays CCs. I just want to have some points for inexpensive stays at Choice hotels.

Victoria
Will the rewards earning stay the same with WF?
Jags4186
Posts: 8198
Joined: Wed Jun 18, 2014 7:12 pm

Re: What's Your Credit Card Rewards Strategy?

Post by Jags4186 »

FIPreferred wrote: Sun Feb 26, 2023 9:26 am Hey all - have done a bunch of searching but didn't see any prior threads with my similar question, so here goes...

The 2nd biggest line item in our household budget is travel (~$35K). It is a mixture of lots of business travel (I'm self employed) and personal. While the points thing is great, much of our family trips involve renting houses via Airbnb/VRBO, rental cars, tours & excursions, etc... and booking airfare for dates where we have little flexibility. This tends to make it hard for us to get lots of value from points, although we have a significant amount via Chase UR and Bonvoy. 

Given the above, I'm wondering what is the best cashback option to utilize for travel expenses? So far my research has led me to the BOA CCR with Platinum Honors, which has 3% category for travel + 75% bonus for platinum honors = 5.25% CB. Only problem is it is capped at $2500/quarter, and our spend tends to bunch up in 1-2 quarters of the year.

Any other thoughts on how to approach? I'm sure someone else out there has tackled similar issues in the past... 
US Bank Altitude Reserve. Unlimited 4.5% back on travel and mobile wallet.
Jags4186
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Re: What's Your Credit Card Rewards Strategy?

Post by Jags4186 »

anon_investor wrote: Sun Mar 12, 2023 7:08 pm
VictoriaF wrote: Sun Mar 12, 2023 7:05 pm
anon_investor wrote: Sun Mar 12, 2023 6:54 pm
VictoriaF wrote: Sun Mar 12, 2023 6:50 pm A couple years ago I opened a Choice Privileges Visa card with Barclays Bank. Now, Choice Hotels is transferring their credit card business to a Wells Fargo Mastercard. I am reluctant dealing with another bank and considering cancelling this card all together. But before I do, I'd like to know what the others who have this card are planning to do.

Thank you,
Victoria
Can you product change to another Barclays credit card (if there are any that interest you)?
I am not interested in other Barclays CCs. I just want to have some points for inexpensive stays at Choice hotels.

Victoria
Will the rewards earning stay the same with WF?
No. The new card looks like 5x on Choice stays, 3x on gas, groceries, phone, and “home improvement”, and 1x elsewhere. The current card is 5x choice, 2x everywhere else. If you’re interested in earning Choice points it makes sense to go all in with Citi — Double Cash + Custom Cash + Rewards Plus + Premier has you earning 4.4x everywhere, 11x on your Custom Cash Category, and 6.6x at gas, grocery, air travel, hotels, and restaurants.
Last edited by Jags4186 on Sun Mar 12, 2023 7:17 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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VictoriaF
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Re: What's Your Credit Card Rewards Strategy?

Post by VictoriaF »

anon_investor wrote: Sun Mar 12, 2023 7:08 pm
VictoriaF wrote: Sun Mar 12, 2023 7:05 pm
anon_investor wrote: Sun Mar 12, 2023 6:54 pm
VictoriaF wrote: Sun Mar 12, 2023 6:50 pm A couple years ago I opened a Choice Privileges Visa card with Barclays Bank. Now, Choice Hotels is transferring their credit card business to a Wells Fargo Mastercard. I am reluctant dealing with another bank and considering cancelling this card all together. But before I do, I'd like to know what the others who have this card are planning to do.

Thank you,
Victoria
Can you product change to another Barclays credit card (if there are any that interest you)?
I am not interested in other Barclays CCs. I just want to have some points for inexpensive stays at Choice hotels.

Victoria
Will the rewards earning stay the same with WF?
I have to look into it. You are making a good point: I may have reasons to be glad about the change.

EDIT: I see that Jags4186 has answered this question.

Victoria
Inventor of the Bogleheads Secret Handshake | Winner of the 2015 Boglehead Contest. | Every joke has a bit of a joke. ... The rest is the truth. (Marat F)
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VictoriaF
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Re: What's Your Credit Card Rewards Strategy?

Post by VictoriaF »

Jags4186 wrote: Sun Mar 12, 2023 7:12 pm
anon_investor wrote: Sun Mar 12, 2023 7:08 pm
VictoriaF wrote: Sun Mar 12, 2023 7:05 pm
anon_investor wrote: Sun Mar 12, 2023 6:54 pm
VictoriaF wrote: Sun Mar 12, 2023 6:50 pm A couple years ago I opened a Choice Privileges Visa card with Barclays Bank. Now, Choice Hotels is transferring their credit card business to a Wells Fargo Mastercard. I am reluctant dealing with another bank and considering cancelling this card all together. But before I do, I'd like to know what the others who have this card are planning to do.

Thank you,
Victoria
Can you product change to another Barclays credit card (if there are any that interest you)?
I am not interested in other Barclays CCs. I just want to have some points for inexpensive stays at Choice hotels.

Victoria
Will the rewards earning stay the same with WF?
No. The new card looks like 5x on Choice stays, 3x on gas, groceries, phone, and “home improvement”, and 1x elsewhere. The current card is 5x choice, 2x everywhere else.
Thank you!

Victoria
Inventor of the Bogleheads Secret Handshake | Winner of the 2015 Boglehead Contest. | Every joke has a bit of a joke. ... The rest is the truth. (Marat F)
IowaFarmWife
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Re: What's Your Credit Card Rewards Strategy?

Post by IowaFarmWife »

VictoriaF wrote: Sun Mar 12, 2023 6:50 pm A couple years ago I opened a Choice Privileges Visa card with Barclays Bank. Now, Choice Hotels is transferring their credit card business to a Wells Fargo Mastercard. I am reluctant dealing with another bank and considering cancelling this card all together. But before I do, I'd like to know what the others who have this card are planning to do.

Thank you,
Victoria
For now, I'm going to keep mine. I have two WF credit cards now, and I still will have a few rarely used CCs with Barclays. We'll see how things go over the next year and then make a decision.
"A nickel ain't worth a dime anymore." Yogi Berra's financial wisdom.
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WOMoney
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Re: What's Your Credit Card Rewards Strategy?

Post by WOMoney »

Throwing my strategy out there. I'm sure it's been brought up before.

Amex Trifecta
Platinum 5x on travel
Gold 4x groceries, dining out
Blue Business 2x on everything else

Edit: oh yeah I also have Chase Sapphire Reserve and next on the list is venture x.

I chase the welcome bonuses

Plat saves me a lot on NYT, Sirius XM, and Walmart +, and of course lounges.

I only go after points to convert to hotels and business class travel.
wenchleaf
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Re: What's Your Credit Card Rewards Strategy?

Post by wenchleaf »

My lineup, no annual fees, focused on getting cashback:

Dining: 5.25%, $2.5k/quarter/card - BofA Custom Rewards
Wholesale: 5.25%, $2.5k/quarter/card - BofA Custom Rewards with Costco e-gift cards
Online: 5.25%, $2.5k/quarter/card - BofA Custom Rewards
Travel: 5.25%, $2.5k/quarter/card - BofA Custom Rewards. For uncapped no FTF 3% - AAA Travel
Grocery: 5%, limit $10k/year - AAA Daily (can only have either AAA Travel or Daily per person)
Gas: 5%, limit $7k/year - AAA Travel
Utilities: 5% - Chase Ink Business Cash
Other: 2.625% - BofA Unlimited Cash Rewards
Overseas (No FTF):
- Dining, Grocery: 3%, Gas 5% - AAA-Travel
- Other: 1.5% - CapitalOne QuickSilver

Notes:
BofA Platinum Honors required for 5.25% categories and flat/other 2.625%
Wholesale: e-gift card works surprisingly easy compared to physical. ~30 minute delay from ordering until it's received in the email (e.g. can order on the way to the store), can leave an email draft with remaining balance, no losing cards, can tack on food court orders at regular checkout
Online: Things that also count: online order for in-store pickup, anything that can charge Paypal, online giftcards (with separate cashback) to stores, in-person app payments like Kroger, Publix, and Walmart. Also anything that can charge through Paypal.
Comenity: people have reservations, but I'm not concerned. #1 and #2 I don't care about. Well, #2 is apparently a semantic issue, current balance actually means last statement balance. Now #3 is an issue, but it's a new product, they have acknowledged it and said it will be fixed.
Last edited by wenchleaf on Sun Mar 19, 2023 3:54 pm, edited 1 time in total.
judge1905
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Re: What's Your Credit Card Rewards Strategy?

Post by judge1905 »

Alliant CU 2.5% Cashback visa signature for main card.

US Bank Altitude Reserve- 3X points on mobile wallet use, 3X on travel. I use this card if apple pay is accepted or if it is a travel related expense. Also using it for dining for now as it has a $325 credit for dining and travel.
percolate
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Re: What's Your Credit Card Rewards Strategy?

Post by percolate »

FIPreferred wrote: Sun Feb 26, 2023 9:26 am Hey all - have done a bunch of searching but didn't see any prior threads with my similar question, so here goes...

The 2nd biggest line item in our household budget is travel (~$35K). It is a mixture of lots of business travel (I'm self employed) and personal. While the points thing is great, much of our family trips involve renting houses via Airbnb/VRBO, rental cars, tours & excursions, etc... and booking airfare for dates where we have little flexibility. This tends to make it hard for us to get lots of value from points, although we have a significant amount via Chase UR and Bonvoy. 

Given the above, I'm wondering what is the best cashback option to utilize for travel expenses? So far my research has led me to the BOA CCR with Platinum Honors, which has 3% category for travel + 75% bonus for platinum honors = 5.25% CB. Only problem is it is capped at $2500/quarter, and our spend tends to bunch up in 1-2 quarters of the year.

Any other thoughts on how to approach? I'm sure someone else out there has tackled similar issues in the past... 
You might want to consider the BofA Elite. It's similar to the BofA PR, but you get an extra 25% bonus by redeeming for flights via their travel portal. 4.38% for travel and dining, 3.28% for everything else.
FIPreferred
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Re: What's Your Credit Card Rewards Strategy?

Post by FIPreferred »

Interesting! Hadn’t considered that one, will check it out. Thanks!
Beefriendly
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Re: What's Your Credit Card Rewards Strategy?

Post by Beefriendly »

In retirement. Travel rewards are too restrictive for us. Want to go where we want to go, not be lead by the "deal" leash
Citi Double Cash 2% cash.
Costco 4% on gas, 2% Costco, extends warranties. Only use at Costco and for fuel (have not used for travel)
Target RedCard 5% at Target
Capital One Venture One- keep for international travel as it has no foreign transaction fee and travel insurance for cardholder

Looked at Amazon, for the $500 annual purchases would only gain $30 over Citi Double Cash (not worth my time)
Discover - had for a long time, redeeming rewards had to be incremental. Don't eat out much and buy many groceries at places that don't qualify.
Amex Delta- wasn't worth the annual fee when we reduced flying. The points when we initially signed up made it worth it for one year. 2nd year was a wash with the annual fee being slightly less than baggage fees for one trip. Cancelled after that.
TravelGeek
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Re: What's Your Credit Card Rewards Strategy?

Post by TravelGeek »

Beefriendly wrote: Wed Mar 15, 2023 11:45 pm In retirement. Travel rewards are too restrictive for us. Want to go where we want to go, not be lead by the "deal" leash
Interesting. Early retirement has given us a lot more flexibility in using travel rewards.
Scotttheking
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Re: What's Your Credit Card Rewards Strategy?

Post by Scotttheking »

Just picked up 2 SW cards for wife and I. The companion passes will cover the kids.
3000
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Re: What's Your Credit Card Rewards Strategy?

Post by 3000 »

Cash back

5% Amazon - Chase Amazon Prime Rewards Visa

5% Target - Target RedCard Mastercard

5% on first $500 of a single category - Citi Custom Cash Mastercard

5% on Grocery for first year - Chase Freedom Unlimited

4% Gas - Citi Costco Anywhere Visa

3% Apple - Apple Card Mastercard

3% Restaurants/Grocery/Streaming - Capital One SavorOne Mastercard

2% everything else - Fidelity Rewards Visa
Cruise
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Re: What's Your Credit Card Rewards Strategy?

Post by Cruise »

I just booked some international business class sears using miles/points. Based upon the seat $ cost, I redeemed at a bit over 4 cents per mile. Since my average credit card spend gives me 2 miles/points per dollar, I effectively redeemed at 8 cents per dollar. Not a bad rewards strategy for seats I would actually buy with mone.
theplayer11
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Re: What's Your Credit Card Rewards Strategy?

Post by theplayer11 »

Cruise wrote: Thu Mar 16, 2023 3:46 am I just booked some international business class sears using miles/points. Based upon the seat $ cost, I redeemed at a bit over 4 cents per mile. Since my average credit card spend gives me 2 miles/points per dollar, I effectively redeemed at 8 cents per dollar. Not a bad rewards strategy for seats I would actually buy with mone.
best use of points IMO.
Da5id
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Re: What's Your Credit Card Rewards Strategy?

Post by Da5id »

WOMoney wrote: Sun Mar 12, 2023 10:14 pm Throwing my strategy out there. I'm sure it's been brought up before.

Amex Trifecta
Platinum 5x on travel
Gold 4x groceries, dining out
Blue Business 2x on everything else

Edit: oh yeah I also have Chase Sapphire Reserve and next on the list is venture x.

I chase the welcome bonuses

Plat saves me a lot on NYT, Sirius XM, and Walmart +, and of course lounges.

I only go after points to convert to hotels and business class travel.
Hmm, I guess because I've done a few bonuses and cancelled Amex doesn't like me. I've applied for a few but get hit with a "you aren't eligible for the sign up bonus, want to proceed?". Fair enough on their part, but I as I had a 150K Platinum offer today I tried it and hit that yet again...
MrJedi
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Re: What's Your Credit Card Rewards Strategy?

Post by MrJedi »

Da5id wrote: Thu Mar 16, 2023 10:39 am
WOMoney wrote: Sun Mar 12, 2023 10:14 pm Throwing my strategy out there. I'm sure it's been brought up before.

Amex Trifecta
Platinum 5x on travel
Gold 4x groceries, dining out
Blue Business 2x on everything else

Edit: oh yeah I also have Chase Sapphire Reserve and next on the list is venture x.

I chase the welcome bonuses

Plat saves me a lot on NYT, Sirius XM, and Walmart +, and of course lounges.

I only go after points to convert to hotels and business class travel.
Hmm, I guess because I've done a few bonuses and cancelled Amex doesn't like me. I've applied for a few but get hit with a "you aren't eligible for the sign up bonus, want to proceed?". Fair enough on their part, but I as I had a 150K Platinum offer today I tried it and hit that yet again...
That's known as "pop up jail", and yes often associated with bonus chasing. A common recommendation if you want to try and get out is to put some spending on your Amex cards and periodically try again after a couple months.
EnjoyIt
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Re: What's Your Credit Card Rewards Strategy?

Post by EnjoyIt »

percolate wrote: Wed Mar 15, 2023 9:18 pm
FIPreferred wrote: Sun Feb 26, 2023 9:26 am Hey all - have done a bunch of searching but didn't see any prior threads with my similar question, so here goes...

The 2nd biggest line item in our household budget is travel (~$35K). It is a mixture of lots of business travel (I'm self employed) and personal. While the points thing is great, much of our family trips involve renting houses via Airbnb/VRBO, rental cars, tours & excursions, etc... and booking airfare for dates where we have little flexibility. This tends to make it hard for us to get lots of value from points, although we have a significant amount via Chase UR and Bonvoy. 

Given the above, I'm wondering what is the best cashback option to utilize for travel expenses? So far my research has led me to the BOA CCR with Platinum Honors, which has 3% category for travel + 75% bonus for platinum honors = 5.25% CB. Only problem is it is capped at $2500/quarter, and our spend tends to bunch up in 1-2 quarters of the year.

Any other thoughts on how to approach? I'm sure someone else out there has tackled similar issues in the past... 
You might want to consider the BofA Elite. It's similar to the BofA PR, but you get an extra 25% bonus by redeeming for flights via their travel portal. 4.38% for travel and dining, 3.28% for everything else.
I find using travel portals troublesome particularly on flights when something goes wrong and you need to cancel or adjust travel dates. When ou buy at the airline, you get credit that can be used on any other flight. When you go through the travel portal, you need to jump through some hoops to make it happen and you may not get to use all the credit. I generally try to avoid using travel portals on flights unless I am 100% positive that the flight will happen.

As we speak I am sitting on $450 credit via the chase travel portal. It must be used on United and it can only be used once so if I purchase a flight that costs $less, I'm out the difference. Plus, I have to contact chase travel portal by phone to use the credit.

On the other hand, I am happy to use the travel portal for hotel stays. Never had an issue with refunding cancelations.
A time to EVALUATE your jitters: | viewtopic.php?p=1139732#p1139732
EnjoyIt
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Re: What's Your Credit Card Rewards Strategy?

Post by EnjoyIt »

Question about Schwab Amex Platinum. I see they offer a discount based on assets at Schwab. I am curious, once I get the discount can I move those Schwab assets out the next day or is there some holding period? Which then leads me to ask, when its time to renew, can I send the assets back to Schwab, get a transfer bonus and the discount.
A time to EVALUATE your jitters: | viewtopic.php?p=1139732#p1139732
index245
Posts: 239
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Re: What's Your Credit Card Rewards Strategy?

Post by index245 »

FIPreferred wrote: Sun Feb 26, 2023 9:26 am Hey all - have done a bunch of searching but didn't see any prior threads with my similar question, so here goes...

The 2nd biggest line item in our household budget is travel (~$35K). It is a mixture of lots of business travel (I'm self employed) and personal. While the points thing is great, much of our family trips involve renting houses via Airbnb/VRBO, rental cars, tours & excursions, etc... and booking airfare for dates where we have little flexibility. This tends to make it hard for us to get lots of value from points, although we have a significant amount via Chase UR and Bonvoy. 

Given the above, I'm wondering what is the best cashback option to utilize for travel expenses? So far my research has led me to the BOA CCR with Platinum Honors, which has 3% category for travel + 75% bonus for platinum honors = 5.25% CB. Only problem is it is capped at $2500/quarter, and our spend tends to bunch up in 1-2 quarters of the year.

Any other thoughts on how to approach? I'm sure someone else out there has tackled similar issues in the past... 
The Capital One Venture cards (Venture and Venture X) allow you to "cover" travel expenses over a wide variety of categories (including airbnb, rental cards, vbro, etc.) up to 90 days after the fact. These cards are simple, earning a flat 2% on all categories. You will still earn the miles even if you end up covering the travel expense (statement credit).
jnw
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Re: What's Your Credit Card Rewards Strategy?

Post by jnw »

I called Paypal and got them to increase my credit limit by quite a bit on my mastercard with them. I've been with them for over 10 years. I was stoked they increased the limit, but very sad they wouldn't convert the card over to the new 2-3% cashback card. They said I had to apply for that card separately :( That would worsen my average credit age, bleh. (I was getting ready to buy all sorts of things with that paypal card! Was going to be my primary cashback card.)
Leesbro63
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Re: What's Your Credit Card Rewards Strategy?

Post by Leesbro63 »

JenniferW wrote: Wed Mar 22, 2023 12:34 am I called Paypal and got them to increase my credit limit by quite a bit on my mastercard with them. I've been with them for over 10 years. I was stoked they increased the limit, but very sad they wouldn't convert the card over to the new 2-3% cashback card. They said I had to apply for that card separately :( That would worsen my average credit age, bleh. (I was getting ready to buy all sorts of things with that paypal card! Was going to be my primary cashback card.)
My experience is that adding new credit cards only hit my credit score for a small nick. And that it quickly recovers to 810-820.
Jags4186
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Re: What's Your Credit Card Rewards Strategy?

Post by Jags4186 »

EnjoyIt wrote: Mon Mar 20, 2023 10:02 pm Question about Schwab Amex Platinum. I see they offer a discount based on assets at Schwab. I am curious, once I get the discount can I move those Schwab assets out the next day or is there some holding period? Which then leads me to ask, when its time to renew, can I send the assets back to Schwab, get a transfer bonus and the discount.
To be honest, it makes little sense to do this. You can get much more than $100 for transferring $250k or $200 for transferring $1mm by pursuing a brokerage transfer bonus.
kojima
Posts: 267
Joined: Fri Feb 10, 2023 2:06 pm

Re: What's Your Credit Card Rewards Strategy?

Post by kojima »

For those with many credit cards, any tips and tricks that you have learned over the years?

Here are some of mine:
  • Combining your Chase Personal + Business account so you only have one login instead of two
  • Credit Karma to have more visibility into your accounts
  • Freezing your credit with all the three credit agencies for some extra security if needed
  • Google Sheet to keep track of all your different cards with all relevant information e.g date opened, date bonus received, credit limit etc.
  • Understanding your downgrade options and other policies from the different issuers
EnjoyIt
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Re: What's Your Credit Card Rewards Strategy?

Post by EnjoyIt »

Jags4186 wrote: Wed Mar 22, 2023 4:42 am
EnjoyIt wrote: Mon Mar 20, 2023 10:02 pm Question about Schwab Amex Platinum. I see they offer a discount based on assets at Schwab. I am curious, once I get the discount can I move those Schwab assets out the next day or is there some holding period? Which then leads me to ask, when its time to renew, can I send the assets back to Schwab, get a transfer bonus and the discount.
To be honest, it makes little sense to do this. You can get much more than $100 for transferring $250k or $200 for transferring $1mm by pursuing a brokerage transfer bonus.
I play the transfer bonus game. I am currently at Schwab and just cleared the bonus. But I’m below $1 million at the moment. I figure add the little bit to get me over $1 million. Get the Schwab Platinum Amex card and then transfer it all out for my next bonus. My point is that I don’t want to have to keep $1million at Schwab and wondering if I need to.
A time to EVALUATE your jitters: | viewtopic.php?p=1139732#p1139732
Leesbro63
Posts: 10640
Joined: Mon Nov 08, 2010 3:36 pm

Re: What's Your Credit Card Rewards Strategy?

Post by Leesbro63 »

EnjoyIt wrote: Wed Mar 22, 2023 7:58 am
Jags4186 wrote: Wed Mar 22, 2023 4:42 am
EnjoyIt wrote: Mon Mar 20, 2023 10:02 pm Question about Schwab Amex Platinum. I see they offer a discount based on assets at Schwab. I am curious, once I get the discount can I move those Schwab assets out the next day or is there some holding period? Which then leads me to ask, when its time to renew, can I send the assets back to Schwab, get a transfer bonus and the discount.
To be honest, it makes little sense to do this. You can get much more than $100 for transferring $250k or $200 for transferring $1mm by pursuing a brokerage transfer bonus.
I play the transfer bonus game. I am currently at Schwab and just cleared the bonus. But I’m below $1 million at the moment. I figure add the little bit to get me over $1 million. Get the Schwab plantings Amex card and then transfer it all out for my next bonus. My point is that I don’t want to have to keep $1million at Schwab and wondering if I need to.
What’s the Schwab Plantings Amex card and why might one want it?
mptfan
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Joined: Mon Mar 05, 2007 8:58 am

Re: What's Your Credit Card Rewards Strategy?

Post by mptfan »

Parkinglotracer wrote: Fri Mar 18, 2022 4:13 am I have found the best way to save money on the cards - keep it in my wallet and don’t buy overpriced things
Indeed.
EnjoyIt
Posts: 8272
Joined: Sun Dec 29, 2013 7:06 pm

Re: What's Your Credit Card Rewards Strategy?

Post by EnjoyIt »

Leesbro63 wrote: Wed Mar 22, 2023 8:26 am
EnjoyIt wrote: Wed Mar 22, 2023 7:58 am
Jags4186 wrote: Wed Mar 22, 2023 4:42 am
EnjoyIt wrote: Mon Mar 20, 2023 10:02 pm Question about Schwab Amex Platinum. I see they offer a discount based on assets at Schwab. I am curious, once I get the discount can I move those Schwab assets out the next day or is there some holding period? Which then leads me to ask, when its time to renew, can I send the assets back to Schwab, get a transfer bonus and the discount.
To be honest, it makes little sense to do this. You can get much more than $100 for transferring $250k or $200 for transferring $1mm by pursuing a brokerage transfer bonus.
I play the transfer bonus game. I am currently at Schwab and just cleared the bonus. But I’m below $1 million at the moment. I figure add the little bit to get me over $1 million. Get the Schwab plantings Amex card and then transfer it all out for my next bonus. My point is that I don’t want to have to keep $1million at Schwab and wondering if I need to.
What’s the Schwab Plantings Amex card and why might one want it?
Not much different than other Amex platinum except you can transfer the points to cash at Schwab at 1.25 cents per point. Also they decrease the cost of the card by $100 if you have $250k at Schwab and $200 if you have $1million. There are also a few minor other differences.

This year I have a few delta flights coming up and figured why not get the card so I can utilize the delta lounges while squirreling away a little extra cash from any left over points into Schwab once I’m ready to cancel. Or, if Schwab has a good bonus to get my $1 million back, I can do that as well. Maybe renew the card if the card keeps on aligning with my needs.
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Ketawa
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Re: What's Your Credit Card Rewards Strategy?

Post by Ketawa »

EnjoyIt wrote: Wed Mar 22, 2023 8:48 am Not much different than other Amex platinum except you can transfer the points to cash at Schwab at 1.25 cents per point. Also they decrease the cost of the card by $100 if you have $250k at Schwab and $200 if you have $1million. There are also a few minor other differences.
The transfer rate was reduced to 1.1 cents per MR point in September 2021.
EnjoyIt
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Re: What's Your Credit Card Rewards Strategy?

Post by EnjoyIt »

Ketawa wrote: Wed Mar 22, 2023 8:52 am
EnjoyIt wrote: Wed Mar 22, 2023 8:48 am Not much different than other Amex platinum except you can transfer the points to cash at Schwab at 1.25 cents per point. Also they decrease the cost of the card by $100 if you have $250k at Schwab and $200 if you have $1million. There are also a few minor other differences.
The transfer rate was reduced to 1.1 cents per MR point in September 2021.
Doh!
Still a decent way to use up the last few points left over in the account when canceling the card.
Unless, you have a better option.
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Ketawa
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Re: What's Your Credit Card Rewards Strategy?

Post by Ketawa »

EnjoyIt wrote: Wed Mar 22, 2023 9:33 am
Ketawa wrote: Wed Mar 22, 2023 8:52 am
EnjoyIt wrote: Wed Mar 22, 2023 8:48 am Not much different than other Amex platinum except you can transfer the points to cash at Schwab at 1.25 cents per point. Also they decrease the cost of the card by $100 if you have $250k at Schwab and $200 if you have $1million. There are also a few minor other differences.
The transfer rate was reduced to 1.1 cents per MR point in September 2021.
Doh!
Still a decent way to use up the last few points left over in the account when canceling the card.
Unless, you have a better option.
Yeah. Personally, I cash out all MR points at the 1.1 cents rate.
Jags4186
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Re: What's Your Credit Card Rewards Strategy?

Post by Jags4186 »

EnjoyIt wrote: Wed Mar 22, 2023 9:33 am
Ketawa wrote: Wed Mar 22, 2023 8:52 am
EnjoyIt wrote: Wed Mar 22, 2023 8:48 am Not much different than other Amex platinum except you can transfer the points to cash at Schwab at 1.25 cents per point. Also they decrease the cost of the card by $100 if you have $250k at Schwab and $200 if you have $1million. There are also a few minor other differences.
The transfer rate was reduced to 1.1 cents per MR point in September 2021.
Doh!
Still a decent way to use up the last few points left over in the account when canceling the card.
Unless, you have a better option.
I mean if you can get the bonus and all that jazz fine, but you can backdoor your way into cashing out at $0.01 per point with really any AMEX card if you just want to get rid of the rest of your points balance. Personally, I wouldn't open a Schwab Platinum *just* for the $0.011 cash out.
EnjoyIt
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Re: What's Your Credit Card Rewards Strategy?

Post by EnjoyIt »

Jags4186 wrote: Wed Mar 22, 2023 9:38 am
EnjoyIt wrote: Wed Mar 22, 2023 9:33 am
Ketawa wrote: Wed Mar 22, 2023 8:52 am
EnjoyIt wrote: Wed Mar 22, 2023 8:48 am Not much different than other Amex platinum except you can transfer the points to cash at Schwab at 1.25 cents per point. Also they decrease the cost of the card by $100 if you have $250k at Schwab and $200 if you have $1million. There are also a few minor other differences.
The transfer rate was reduced to 1.1 cents per MR point in September 2021.
Doh!
Still a decent way to use up the last few points left over in the account when canceling the card.
Unless, you have a better option.
I mean if you can get the bonus and all that jazz fine, but you can backdoor your way into cashing out at $0.01 per point with really any AMEX card if you just want to get rid of the rest of your points balance. Personally, I wouldn't open a Schwab Platinum *just* for the $0.011 cash out.
Even if I have $1million in the account to reduce the fee by $200? Why not. Plus I get 100k MR points and lounge access for a year. The cash out is just a bonus. Am I missing something?
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Jags4186
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Re: What's Your Credit Card Rewards Strategy?

Post by Jags4186 »

EnjoyIt wrote: Wed Mar 22, 2023 10:36 am
Jags4186 wrote: Wed Mar 22, 2023 9:38 am
EnjoyIt wrote: Wed Mar 22, 2023 9:33 am
Ketawa wrote: Wed Mar 22, 2023 8:52 am
EnjoyIt wrote: Wed Mar 22, 2023 8:48 am Not much different than other Amex platinum except you can transfer the points to cash at Schwab at 1.25 cents per point. Also they decrease the cost of the card by $100 if you have $250k at Schwab and $200 if you have $1million. There are also a few minor other differences.
The transfer rate was reduced to 1.1 cents per MR point in September 2021.
Doh!
Still a decent way to use up the last few points left over in the account when canceling the card.
Unless, you have a better option.
I mean if you can get the bonus and all that jazz fine, but you can backdoor your way into cashing out at $0.01 per point with really any AMEX card if you just want to get rid of the rest of your points balance. Personally, I wouldn't open a Schwab Platinum *just* for the $0.011 cash out.
Even if I have $1million in the account to reduce the fee by $200? Why not. Plus I get 100k MR points and lounge access for a year. The cash out is just a bonus. Am I missing something?
I don’t think you’re missing anything. I said I wouldn’t open it just for $0.011/pt cash out. You obviously want it for more things.
BashDash
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Re: What's Your Credit Card Rewards Strategy?

Post by BashDash »

I finally got some Shop Your Way offers....home improvement....I signed up and spent at home Depot and Andersen window. No statement credit. Has anyone experienced this. This is aggravating if it takes effort/phone call...
CletusCaddy
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Re: What's Your Credit Card Rewards Strategy?

Post by CletusCaddy »

BashDash wrote: Thu Mar 23, 2023 5:23 pm I finally got some Shop Your Way offers....home improvement....I signed up and spent at home Depot and Andersen window. No statement credit. Has anyone experienced this. This is aggravating if it takes effort/phone call...
It doesn’t take effort but it does take patience
arsenal_fan
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Re: What's Your Credit Card Rewards Strategy?

Post by arsenal_fan »

CletusCaddy wrote: Thu Mar 23, 2023 5:48 pm
BashDash wrote: Thu Mar 23, 2023 5:23 pm I finally got some Shop Your Way offers....home improvement....I signed up and spent at home Depot and Andersen window. No statement credit. Has anyone experienced this. This is aggravating if it takes effort/phone call...
It doesn’t take effort but it does take patience
Look through the past transactions like the day your previous statement closed. For me the credit is back dated for some reason.
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Re: What's Your Credit Card Rewards Strategy?

Post by Mudpuppy »

BashDash wrote: Thu Mar 23, 2023 5:23 pm I finally got some Shop Your Way offers....home improvement....I signed up and spent at home Depot and Andersen window. No statement credit. Has anyone experienced this. This is aggravating if it takes effort/phone call...
How long ago were the purchases? Sometimes, it can take quite a while to post. Check the offer to see if it has a time-frame for the offer to post. Also, check the terms and conditions on the offer. Some of them are only valid when you jump through some very specific hoops. I pass on the ones with too many hoops.
Jags4186
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Re: What's Your Credit Card Rewards Strategy?

Post by Jags4186 »

I recently signed up for Curve Card. This is a card that allows you to link Visa Debit, Mastercard Debit & Credit, and Discover Devit & Credit cards. You then use the Curve card and can have charges routed to whichever card you want via its app to maximize rewards without carrying a million cards. A really cool feature is that for up to 30 days after a transaction you can change which card a charge went on. Also, since you can load it to mobile wallet, it allows you to get cards that are still not mobile wallet compatible into Apple Pay (ahem, Shop Your Way Mastercard). For 6 months, you will also get an additional 1% cashback on all purchases and for each person you refer you get an extra 30 days of 1% cashback. Hopefully they will get Visa credit cards onboard soon and then I can really just carry 1 card around.

For anyone who has this card, do you know if it’s possible to set a PIN so you can withdraw cash at an ATM from linked debit cards? I see reference to setting a PIN on the website, but it all is referencing the U.K. version of the card and the “set PIN” function doesn’t seem to be in the US app.
stilllurking
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Re: What's Your Credit Card Rewards Strategy?

Post by stilllurking »

Jags4186 wrote: Fri Mar 24, 2023 2:05 pm I recently signed up for Curve Card. This is a card that allows you to link Visa Debit, Mastercard Debit & Credit, and Discover Devit & Credit cards. You then use the Curve card and can have charges routed to whichever card you want via its app to maximize rewards without carrying a million cards. A really cool feature is that for up to 30 days after a transaction you can change which card a charge went on. Also, since you can load it to mobile wallet, it allows you to get cards that are still not mobile wallet compatible into Apple Pay (ahem, Shop Your Way Mastercard). For 6 months, you will also get an additional 1% cashback on all purchases and for each person you refer you get an extra 30 days of 1% cashback. Hopefully they will get Visa credit cards onboard soon and then I can really just carry 1 card around.

For anyone who has this card, do you know if it’s possible to set a PIN so you can withdraw cash at an ATM from linked debit cards? I see reference to setting a PIN on the website, but it all is referencing the U.K. version of the card and the “set PIN” function doesn’t seem to be in the US app.
Sounds interesting. How long have you been using it? I'd like to hear your real world experience on this.
Jags4186
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Re: What's Your Credit Card Rewards Strategy?

Post by Jags4186 »

stilllurking wrote: Fri Mar 24, 2023 2:17 pm
Jags4186 wrote: Fri Mar 24, 2023 2:05 pm I recently signed up for Curve Card. This is a card that allows you to link Visa Debit, Mastercard Debit & Credit, and Discover Devit & Credit cards. You then use the Curve card and can have charges routed to whichever card you want via its app to maximize rewards without carrying a million cards. A really cool feature is that for up to 30 days after a transaction you can change which card a charge went on. Also, since you can load it to mobile wallet, it allows you to get cards that are still not mobile wallet compatible into Apple Pay (ahem, Shop Your Way Mastercard). For 6 months, you will also get an additional 1% cashback on all purchases and for each person you refer you get an extra 30 days of 1% cashback. Hopefully they will get Visa credit cards onboard soon and then I can really just carry 1 card around.

For anyone who has this card, do you know if it’s possible to set a PIN so you can withdraw cash at an ATM from linked debit cards? I see reference to setting a PIN on the website, but it all is referencing the U.K. version of the card and the “set PIN” function doesn’t seem to be in the US app.
Sounds interesting. How long have you been using it? I'd like to hear your real world experience on this.
I’ve only had the physical card for 2 days and the card loaded into Apple Pay for 5 days. So far it has worked just fine—even correctly routing different categories of charges to the correct card. One thing I’ve noticed is that there’s no “gas” category I can set a rule to. Not sure if I set it to travel or if it’s just an oversight. And of course the ATM withdrawal restriction I can’t quite seem to figure out.

Another bonus the Curve card provides — no foreign transaction fees. That means you can pay with the curve card linked to say Citi Double Cash and somehow bypass FTF. I haven’t done this personally, but that is supposedly a feature of the card.
tj
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Re: What's Your Credit Card Rewards Strategy?

Post by tj »

Jags4186 wrote: Fri Mar 24, 2023 2:43 pm
stilllurking wrote: Fri Mar 24, 2023 2:17 pm
Jags4186 wrote: Fri Mar 24, 2023 2:05 pm I recently signed up for Curve Card. This is a card that allows you to link Visa Debit, Mastercard Debit & Credit, and Discover Devit & Credit cards. You then use the Curve card and can have charges routed to whichever card you want via its app to maximize rewards without carrying a million cards. A really cool feature is that for up to 30 days after a transaction you can change which card a charge went on. Also, since you can load it to mobile wallet, it allows you to get cards that are still not mobile wallet compatible into Apple Pay (ahem, Shop Your Way Mastercard). For 6 months, you will also get an additional 1% cashback on all purchases and for each person you refer you get an extra 30 days of 1% cashback. Hopefully they will get Visa credit cards onboard soon and then I can really just carry 1 card around.

For anyone who has this card, do you know if it’s possible to set a PIN so you can withdraw cash at an ATM from linked debit cards? I see reference to setting a PIN on the website, but it all is referencing the U.K. version of the card and the “set PIN” function doesn’t seem to be in the US app.
Sounds interesting. How long have you been using it? I'd like to hear your real world experience on this.
I’ve only had the physical card for 2 days and the card loaded into Apple Pay for 5 days. So far it has worked just fine—even correctly routing different categories of charges to the correct card. One thing I’ve noticed is that there’s no “gas” category I can set a rule to. Not sure if I set it to travel or if it’s just an oversight. And of course the ATM withdrawal restriction I can’t quite seem to figure out.

Another bonus the Curve card provides — no foreign transaction fees. That means you can pay with the curve card linked to say Citi Double Cash and somehow bypass FTF. I haven’t done this personally, but that is supposedly a feature of the card.

How do you get special category credit card Cashback and bypass credit card FTF? That seems suspicious.
ArthurDigbySellers
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Re: What's Your Credit Card Rewards Strategy?

Post by ArthurDigbySellers »

Jags4186 wrote: Fri Mar 24, 2023 2:05 pm I recently signed up for Curve Card. This is a card that allows you to link Visa Debit, Mastercard Debit & Credit, and Discover Devit & Credit cards. You then use the Curve card and can have charges routed to whichever card you want via its app to maximize rewards without carrying a million cards. A really cool feature is that for up to 30 days after a transaction you can change which card a charge went on. Also, since you can load it to mobile wallet, it allows you to get cards that are still not mobile wallet compatible into Apple Pay (ahem, Shop Your Way Mastercard). For 6 months, you will also get an additional 1% cashback on all purchases and for each person you refer you get an extra 30 days of 1% cashback. Hopefully they will get Visa credit cards onboard soon and then I can really just carry 1 card around.

For anyone who has this card, do you know if it’s possible to set a PIN so you can withdraw cash at an ATM from linked debit cards? I see reference to setting a PIN on the website, but it all is referencing the U.K. version of the card and the “set PIN” function doesn’t seem to be in the US app.
This is a really interesting card. I know my partner would love not to have to think about which credit card to use, which I would be happy to take care of (and adjust, as necessary) behind the scenes. Unfortunately, most if not all of the cards we use are Visa, so it sounds like they wouldn't be compatible with this. I'll be interested to see if that changes soon. I would be intrigued if I could add my visa cards to this.
Jags4186
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Re: What's Your Credit Card Rewards Strategy?

Post by Jags4186 »

tj wrote: Fri Mar 24, 2023 5:01 pm
Jags4186 wrote: Fri Mar 24, 2023 2:43 pm
stilllurking wrote: Fri Mar 24, 2023 2:17 pm
Jags4186 wrote: Fri Mar 24, 2023 2:05 pm I recently signed up for Curve Card. This is a card that allows you to link Visa Debit, Mastercard Debit & Credit, and Discover Devit & Credit cards. You then use the Curve card and can have charges routed to whichever card you want via its app to maximize rewards without carrying a million cards. A really cool feature is that for up to 30 days after a transaction you can change which card a charge went on. Also, since you can load it to mobile wallet, it allows you to get cards that are still not mobile wallet compatible into Apple Pay (ahem, Shop Your Way Mastercard). For 6 months, you will also get an additional 1% cashback on all purchases and for each person you refer you get an extra 30 days of 1% cashback. Hopefully they will get Visa credit cards onboard soon and then I can really just carry 1 card around.

For anyone who has this card, do you know if it’s possible to set a PIN so you can withdraw cash at an ATM from linked debit cards? I see reference to setting a PIN on the website, but it all is referencing the U.K. version of the card and the “set PIN” function doesn’t seem to be in the US app.
Sounds interesting. How long have you been using it? I'd like to hear your real world experience on this.
I’ve only had the physical card for 2 days and the card loaded into Apple Pay for 5 days. So far it has worked just fine—even correctly routing different categories of charges to the correct card. One thing I’ve noticed is that there’s no “gas” category I can set a rule to. Not sure if I set it to travel or if it’s just an oversight. And of course the ATM withdrawal restriction I can’t quite seem to figure out.

Another bonus the Curve card provides — no foreign transaction fees. That means you can pay with the curve card linked to say Citi Double Cash and somehow bypass FTF. I haven’t done this personally, but that is supposedly a feature of the card.

How do you get special category credit card Cashback and bypass credit card FTF? That seems suspicious.
The way I understand it is that Curve pays for the charge then charges your card. Curve passes through the MCC of the original purchase. Let’s say you buy a coffee at Starbucks. It posts to your credit card as CRV STARBUCKS. I assume Curve makes money from selling transaction data.

I wouldn’t rely on Curve for a large purchase like an appliance that you want say credit card extended warranty. But for restaurants, groceries, gas, regular purchases it’s not a bad deal for someone with card rotation fatigue.
vshun
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Re: What's Your Credit Card Rewards Strategy?

Post by vshun »

5% - Obvious choices of Freedom, Discover, Citi Custom (whatever other category it can cover that quarter)
4.34% - Penfed (its 5% but point value is a bit lower than 1:1 )
3%+ - Saphire for restaurants. 3% transferred to Chase UR at 1.25% or to Southwest at 1.4% gives higher value
3% - Venmo - Both Costco and Sam's label it as supermarket, so easy here. Though next quarter these clubs will work via Discover by buying gift cards online
2% - Double Cash Citi, whatever does not fit above categories. Our Newfie girl cancer treatment/multiple surgeries bills will soon approach 30K and fall into this category for instance :( so getting most cashback from this category despite lower percentage.
erp
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Re: What's Your Credit Card Rewards Strategy?

Post by erp »

Jags4186 wrote: Fri Mar 24, 2023 5:46 pm The way I understand it is that Curve pays for the charge then charges your card. Curve passes through the MCC of the original purchase. Let’s say you buy a coffee at Starbucks. It posts to your credit card as CRV STARBUCKS. I assume Curve makes money from selling transaction data.

I wouldn’t rely on Curve for a large purchase like an appliance that you want say credit card extended warranty. But for restaurants, groceries, gas, regular purchases it’s not a bad deal for someone with card rotation fatigue.
What about paying taxes at eg pay1040.com? Is it a debit card fee but you get the points/miles on your mastercard CC!?

eta: oh I'm reading in the US it's a CC, but in the UK it's a debit card
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