We currently have a Disney Visa that we use for major purchased and my husbands work travel. We like getting the rewards points. We have a Disney trip planned for January but after that I don't know when we will go again so I want to change the card to receive another type of bonus. What types of cards do you use to get rewards? Disclaimer--no need to go Dave Ramsey on me--we pay off every two weeks and never carry a balance--my husband's work expenses can easily be 2 grand a month and I don't want to float that on our debit card.
Hubby uses Capital One for his business, and has had the same one for probably 5+ years. You get 2 points for every dollar spent, and there is no fee for the account. However, not sure what you turn the points in for, other than airlines cause that's all we've ever used it for. It takes 25,000 points to buy a ticket (under $350 cost I think).
Creditcard.com has a decent listing of cards with rewards. Many are tailored to people's interests (like the Disney, Southwest, Diners, etc) and others offer good cash rewards. It's a good idea to call the company to get more information on their rewards program before applying for the card. Because some of them may say you get 2% back per dollar spent, but then you find out you can only redeem your rewards for gift certificates (and be careful to find out what the exchange is, b/c many will charge you $30 in reward money for a $25 gift card) or items from their catalog, and make sure that there are no fees for redemptions. Also, make sure that what you're signing up for isn't a promotional period, like 3% for every dollar spent, but only for the first 3 months or only up to $500 per year (many have a dollar limit, so do the math - you might find that 1% unlimited works out better for you than 3% with a cap). My favorite is my Charles Schwab card. I get 1% back with no limit, and I even get rewards when I pay certain bills (like store credit cards) with the card, as long as I initiate the payment from the other vendor. I can redeem for cash, with a minimum of $10 (so I don't have to wait until I have enough points for $500 or something...although I usually do ) per redemption. I love their website and their customer service is fantastic. I can also redeem for cash to be put directly into my investment account. Finally, I love that their interest rate is tied to prime plus like 1-2% (fixed). So I never have to worry about the rate going up, if I choose (or need) to carry a balance for a while. Oh, and don't ignore awesome rewards if the fine print works for you. My parents have a card that pays 5% back (I think there's a $3000 cap, so they just use up to that point), but you only get certificates and they have to be cashed in at a certain chain of casinos. They're not far from one of the casinos, so they just cash in the certificates and go right to the bank with their awesome rewards. And sometimes they get additional rewards from the casino, like $100 in game play, which they use on the floor and then go home.
I've looked into the Schaub but don't you have to have $1000 in a brokerage acct to get the rewards? Also how do you get the cash out?
www. gottadeal.com has a list of credit card offers. If have any questions about Disney, just ask. We used to go 3-4 times per year.
i use www.mint.com Its a money management site that watches your spending trends, and can offer cards that will give bonuses to save you money. It'll also offer other methods to make your finances more healthy.
You can cash your Capital One points in for cash too. Use it to pay anything you want. Hotels count, too. We have saved a ton of $ on business travel.
We use a Southwest card because we have family in CA and need to fly there sometimes. DH usually flies SW on his business trips, so we get extra credits for flying on the airline, extra credits to book it online, that's on top of all the charges for his business expenses. We also use it for any major purchases and any recurring monthly expenses that will allow credit card payment, such as Time Warner. We also pay ours off every month. There is an annual fee, but for us we save so much on airline tickets that it way more than pays for that.
No, you don't have to have a brokerage account to have the credit card. I've had it for a good two years now and only opened a brokerage account a few months ago...and there is certainly not $1,000 in there. Getting the cash out is easy. I do it all online. Your statement and online account show how many reward points you have. You click on the rewards tab and it gives you a choice of cash, brokerage transfer, or items from the catalog. I typically choose cash. It then shows you how much cash you can get with the points that you have and you can choose how much to get disbursed. The check usually arrives in 2-3 days. No hassle at all. If you do the transfer to the brokerage account, it shows up almost immediately.
