What if you could save time and find multiple credit card offers that you're prequalified for without impacting your credit score? Sometimes, you may even get targeted for special offers (not publicly available) based on your credit profile when you use the CardMatch Tool.
CardMatch is a tool that shows you pre-approved and special targeted offers (sometimes) from select credit issuers. The tool conducts a soft pull so that it won't affect your credit score. See your matched offers in less than 60 seconds.
Every so often, the CardMatch tool has great offers for select cards. For example, not everyone will be targeted, but sometimes you can find The Platinum Card® from American Express with 125,000-150,000 point welcome offers after you spend $6,000 within the first 6 months. Terms apply. A couple of AskSebby subscribers have reported they were able to apply for and get the offer. YMMV.
Users may not be matched with all offers or banks, and matches are based on your credit profile.
To take advantage of targeted offers available, simply go to the CardMatch tool. Enter your information, agree to the terms of service, and the system will search for offers.
Be sure to view "All Matches" to see everything you're targeted for.
Want to see if you're pre-qualified for any great offers? Try it out yourself!
The Platinum Card® from American Express is a premium travel credit card that offers a wide range of exclusive benefits and rewards. Some of the benefits offered by the card include travel perks, such as airport lounge access and elite hotel status.
The Platinum Card has a public offer available to everyone, but there's also an elusive elevated Amex Platinum 150,000 point bonus.
American Express has a once-in-a-lifetime welcome bonus rule, so if you earned an intro offer for the Amex Platinum in the past, you likely do not qualify for the elevated offer.
Here’s how to find the 150,000 Amex Platinum offer for first-time Amex cardholders.
There are several ways to check whether you’re eligible for the Amex Platinum 150K offer by either:
Here’s how each method works to see if you qualify for the offer.
One of the easiest ways to determine whether you qualify for the Amex Platinum 150k offer is by simply visiting their website. Sometimes American Express will show elevated offers to new customers.
There may also be the American Express pre-qualification tool that shows an elevated offer. This will allow you to enter your information securely (no hard credit pull) and match you with available offers.
Through the pre-qualification tool, rather than applying for The Platinum Card from American Express through the ‘Apply Now’ page, you can use a special “Check for Offers” link, which will ask for your information and tell you whether you’re pre-qualified for the 150k Platinum offer.
If you're not targeted for elevated offers on American Express's website, one of the quickest and easiest ways to determine whether you qualify for an elevated offer is through a free tool called CardMatch.
Have you ever applied for a credit card only to be told you don’t qualify? It can be frustrating, especially if you’re not sure why. That’s where CardMatch comes in.
CardMatch is a tool offered by CreditCards.com that helps you to match yourself with credit card offers from multiple issuers based on your credit profile. It’s quick, easy, and, best of all, free!
CardMatch is a tool that allows you to compare credit card offers from multiple issuers in one place. All you need to do is provide some basic information about yourself, including:
From there, CardMatch will generate a list of pre-approved and special offers tailored specifically for you in less than 60 seconds.
One of the best things about CardMarch is that it’s completely free to use. There’s no obligation to apply for any of the cards you’re presented with, so you can shop around without worrying about damaging your credit score.
Note that since these are targeted offers, not everyone will have the same results. CardMatch may also not have all cards currently available on the market.
We recently took a trip to the Canadian Rockies in September. People often ask me how I plan my trips, so this is a step-by-step guide on how we planned our trip to Banff.
One of the main reasons why we wanted to take this trip is because Parks Canada is offering free admission to their national parks for their 150th anniversary.
1. Hotels
2. Flights from SFO to Calgary
3. Car rental
I signed up for the Chase Fairmont card earlier this year for the two free night certificates. The card was discontinued in August.
Peak season rates for the Fairmont Lake Louise is usually $1099 CAD/night.
To book reservations using the Fairmont certificates, we had to call the reservation line on the back of the card. They don't have an online system, so the representative has to manually look through different dates.
On our first attempt, there were no consecutive dates available for Lake Louise. After doing some more research, we realized it was better to stay in Banff Springs because there are more attractions near the hotel.
We called a few weeks later and were able to secure two consecutive nights in September for Banff Springs. Another benefit was that we could use the suite upgrade certificate with the booking.
Bottomline, try calling the reservation line several times over the span of a few weeks to check for availability.
For the remaining hotel nights outside of the Fairmont certificates, I booked using Hotels.com. My goal was to spend less than $100 for hotels in Calgary. I booked the Marriott in downtown Calgary two weeks before the trip and found a deal for $97/night.
Pro-tip: Hotels.com has a 10% discount if you book using a mobile phone.
On the last night, we were supposed to drive back to Calgary, but we wanted to spend more time in Banff, so we canceled the hotel reservation. I booked a last minute hotel reservation at the Juniper Hotel in Banff and used my Hotels.com free night since I accumulated 10 stays.
The free night is equivalent to 10% of all your hotel.com stays, so my free night certificate was worth $119.77. I still had out of pocket costs to pay, which came out to be $68.65.
To book flights, I set up a Google Flights notification for deal alerts. I routinely check for flights on Tuesdays because that tends to be the cheapest day to book a flight.
Pro-tip: if you're planning multiple trips at the same time, set up a folder in your bookmarks bar to stay organized.
Flights to Calgary from SFO usually range from $350-$550, but we wanted to wait for a deal. We kept an eye out on Scott's Cheap Flights for a price drop. Luckily, a few weeks later, there was a deal alert.
The great thing about booking through the Chase Travel Portal is that discounted fares are also reflected. I used the Chase Sapphire Reserve and spent 15,872 UR points on a roundtrip ticket.
We booked a rental car using the Costco Travel Portal. From my experience, they usually have the cheapest rates and offer free upgrades or additional discounts at select locations.
I usually don't check anywhere else for rental cars unless the Costco rates are absurd. Since reservations are free to cancel, I typically make one at least a month in advance and then check what the prices are closer to the travel date.
Pro-tip: If you have to wait more than 20 minutes for a car, that usually means the rental agency ran out of cars, or they're slowly cleaning returns. Ask the agent nicely if they can do anything for you for the inconvenience, i.e., discount or free upgrades.
We waited an hour for the rental car, and the agent took off a day of rental and gave us a free tank of gas.
Here's the breakdown of the cards we used to book the trip:
On July 23, 2017, Citi removed their card benefits like trip protection and insurances.
A lot of cardholders are wondering what their options are — should they cancel or product change the Citi Prestige?
A significant factor in determining which route to take is the annual fee. The annual fee is $450, but it comes with a $250 travel credit, making the effective annual fee $200.
In some cases, you can apply in-branch to receive a lower annual fee of $350, making the effective annual fee $100 after the travel credit.
The main question is if the lower $350 annual fee will be honored the second year, or if the fee will increase to $450.
We’re hesitant to keep the card with an effective $200 annual fee because there are alternative luxury cards like the Chase Sapphire Reserve and American Express Platinum that provide the same, if not better, value.
Before considering downgrade/product change options, we need to consider if this card is worth keeping.
The best perk the Citi Prestige is known for is book 3 consecutive nights, get the 4th night free. In order to redeem this perk, you have to book through the Citi Prestige Concierge.
Effective July 23, 2017, Citi will rebate the average room rate across your stay of 4 or more nights, not including taxes.
My main concern is that if I cancel or product change the card, I won’t be able to receive an intro bonus for a Citi card (that earns ThankYou points) in the next 2 years.
Citi has a rule that you can qualify for an intro bonus every 2 years across the same product family. For example, if you were approved for the Citi ThankYou Preferred card in 2015, you would not receive an intro bonus for the Citi Prestige if you applied the same year. You would have to wait until 2017 to qualify for another Citi intro bonus.
Since I signed up for the Citi Prestige in September 2016, that means I won’t be eligible for another ThankYou bonus until September 2018. If I cancel the card now, it resets the clock meaning I won’t be eligible for another bonus until September 2019.
In terms of product changes, there are 3 cards I’m considering:
Pros:
Cons:
Pros:
Cons:
Pros:
Cons:
To request a product change, call the number on the back of your Citi Prestige credit card. Let the agent know which product you'd like to switch the card to.
The average national gas price now exceeds $5 a gallon, and experts predict prices will rise to above $6 during the summer.
A good gas credit card will provide you with cashback and/or reward points for fuel purchases to optimize your spending.
In this article, we will focus specifically on cards that offer consistent cash back or points on gas. While several other cards offer quarterly rotating gas rewards, we’re looking at consistent gas rewards cards to maximize your total gas savings.
While you may not have heard of this card, it has one of the best value for gas rewards at 5% cash back on gas purchases. It also has 1% cashback on all other purchases and a rotating 5% cashback on other categories throughout the year, including streaming services, Amazon purchases, travel, and health fitness.
Although you can apply for the Abound card without becoming a member, the risk is that credit unions tend to remove card benefits when there are too many applicants.
It's usually the way credit union cards work, so this card may not be suitable for everyone.
The Citi Custom Cash card is good choice for a no annual fee keeper card. In addition to 5% back on gas, it also offers 5% cashback on a handful of other categories, including restaurants, home improvement, grocery stores, and select travel. The benefit of the Citi Custom Cash Card is that even if your spending habits change and you spend less on gas, this card can still provide valuable rewards to you in other categories.
It is also flexible in how you choose to spend your rewards. The Citi Custom Cash card rewards are in the form of Thank You points™. This means that if you chose to redeem your points for travel, you could potentially receive more than 5% cash back that month.
The drawback is that there is a $500 per month earning limit on rewards. This means that if you spend more than $500 on eligible purchases during the month, only the first $500 will receive the 5% cashback benefit.
Cardless is a white-label card-issuing service that partners with brands. The Cardless family of credit cards is a series of cards that allow various brands, focusing on American basketball and European football (soccer) teams, to have their own branded, customized credit card.
We’ll look specifically at the New Orleans Pelicans credit card. It offers some great rewards on gas – 4x rewards points with no annual fee and no monthly cap. The 4x rewards work out to 4% cash back since Cardless calculates its rewards points at 1 CPP.
The drawback to Cardless is that you are only allowed to have one Cardless card at a time. So if you already have a Cardless card for your favorite team, you can’t get the Pelicans card to cash in on the gas points. If you are interested in a Cardless card for special deals on your favorite team’s tickets and merchandise, you would be losing out on those things to have a Pelicans card just for gas, so choose wisely.
With the PenFed Platinum Rewards Visa Signature® Card, you earn unlimited 5 points per dollar spent at the gas pump, including EV charging stations. This is among the best rewards rates you will find on gas. Along with free fuel rewards, the card also pays unlimited 3 points per dollar on groceries and 1 point per dollar on everything else.
However, there are a few things to be aware of. For starters, you must join PenFed's credit union to apply. Getting a PenFed membership requires an application and a $5 deposit into a savings account.
The redemption options are also limited, as you can’t use your points to redeem for cash back. A PenFed spokesperson confirmed that points earned with a Platinum Rewards card are usually worth about 0.85 cents each. Considering this card has no annual fee, its redemption value isn’t that great when compared to other no-annual-fee rewards cards.
On the other hand, travel points are potentially worth 1.7 cents each on average, depending on dates and options. There may also be travel booking fees when redeeming for travel.
Another thing to note is that since the PenFed Platinum Rewards Visa Signature® Card is a credit union card, you'll have to keep a close eye to ensure that the points or deals on the card don’t change or decrease.
Credit unions typically make a larger percentage of their income from credit cards and other loan interest than larger banks, so they are more likely to change the terms of their credit offers to ensure that it remains profitable to them.
These cards are designed for buying gas at the respective wholesale clubs. Not only can you take advantage of the discount gas at your club store, but you can also earn cash back with your credit card.
These are both similar cards in terms of rewards level. The Sam’s Club card gives you 5% cash back on gas purchases for up to $6,000 a year, which works out to about $500 per month in gas, and then 1% cashback above $6,000. Depending on your membership level, there may be additional reward caps on earning and redemptions.
The Costco Anywhere Visa® Card by Citi gives you 4% cashback on your first $7,000 in gas purchases in a year and then 1% rewards after. One major drawback is that you can only redeem cash back once per year.
If you aren't already a member of Costco or Sam's Club, these card options might not be for you.
However, if you are already a member, this could be a valuable way to save on your gas budget. The ideal strategy is to get the card for whichever store is most convenient to you.
The Bank of America Customized Cash Rewards Card isn't as competitive as some of the cards on this list, but it still offers decent gas rewards.
With only 3% cashback on gas (or your other chosen rewards category) for most users, it doesn’t look as good as 4% or 5% like some of the other offers we’ve looked at. However, if you are already a Bank of America or Merrill Lynch customer, this might be a good option for you.
Bank of America and Merrill Lynch offer tiered rewards levels for their current customers, so if you have more than $35,500 saved or invested in a portfolio, you will be eligible for higher rewards percentages.
With a bit of research and planning, you may be able to earn up to 5% back (or even more) on gas purchases and other expenditures. To learn more about these top gas cards for 2022 in more detail, check out the video below.
As an InterContinental Ambassador member, travelers have the opportunity to indulge in a complimentary weekend night stay.
With a selection of over 200 InterContinental Hotels & Resorts available, guests simply need to book a weekend stay of at least two nights to qualify for this enticing offer. The second night's charge is waived upon check-in, provided guests present a valid ID and IHG One Rewards number. Book here: https://www.ihg.com/intercontinental/content/us/en/ambassador/free-weekend-certificate
Redeeming the Complimentary Weekend Night perk is hassle-free – guests can make their reservation through the IHG booking portal and will receive their complimentary weekend night credit upon check-in, upon presentation of a valid ID and member number.
It's important to note that this offer cannot be combined with Reward Nights or any other ongoing promotions. However, guests can easily access this offer through their IHG One Rewards account.
Before you apply for an American Express card, it’s important to learn about the rules to increase your chances of approval.
The guidelines presented here include non-negotiable rules explicitly stated in the terms and conditions, as well as practical insights gleaned from experience and shared among industry insiders.
While certain guidelines may apply to a broad range of individuals, there may also be exceptions to these rules that could impact your personal experience.
Terms apply to American Express benefits and offers. Enrollment may be required for select American Express benefits and offers. Visit americanexpress.com to learn more.
To be eligible for US credit cards, you typically need to meet certain requirements, such as being a US citizen or legal resident and being at least 18 years of age. However, obtaining a card can be challenging for those without an ITIN or SSN.
That being said, there are exceptions to these requirements, as residency can be interpreted broadly. For example, Canadian citizens who operate a business in the US for a limited period may be able to obtain US cards by using their US mailing address.
Additionally, even if you are not perceived as a resident, you may still be considered one for tax purposes, which American Express typically looks for.
Furthermore, there are programs like Global Transfer that allow you to bring your Amex history from another country to the US, potentially improving your chances of getting approved for US cards.
Across the board, American Express tends to be one of the most stringent, so there’s a list of things they require, such as:
A big reason for this is just due to the financial compliance that’s required in the U.S.
Typically, having a credit score of 700 or higher is desirable, although it is not an absolute requirement. In my experience, a score of at least 700 is generally necessary to qualify for most American Express cards, but others may suggest different thresholds, such as 670 or even 650. Personally, I find that aiming for a credit score of 700 helps to minimize the risk of rejection and reduce the hassle of applying for credit.
You might be surprised at how simple it is to improve your credit score if you lower your credit card utilization. However, even if your score is at a satisfactory level, such as 670 or 700, you may still be denied credit due to other factors, such as a high credit utilization rate or being on a blacklist.
The intro offer may not be available to those who have previously had the same card or versions of it.
Although many of the features may be identical, these are technically different products, not previous versions. Some issuers may still consider it a disqualifying factor if you have had the same card before or if you did not receive the welcome bonus previously.
This is why it is important to be cautious when upgrading or downgrading your card, as it could potentially lock you out of the intro offer. Since the intro offer is a significant incentive for many applicants, a mistake here could cost you hundreds or even thousands of dollars.
The key takeaway is to avoid downgrading your card unless you have had it before or are not interested in the intro offer.
Exceptions to the general rule exist, such as:
Therefore, it is recommended to apply for cards during elevated offers or use tools like CardMatch to determine if you are targeted for an elevated offer rather than solely relying on exceptions.
In the past, this was referred to as the Five Card Rule, as American Express historically limited customers to five credit cards. This means that if you already have five personal credit cards and attempt to apply for a business credit card, your application will likely be rejected. If you only have four personal credit cards, you can only be approved for one business credit card, which means that you are limited to a total of five credit cards between your personal and business accounts.
There are also several distinctions between credit cards and hybrid cards. Hybrid cards are those that do not have a specific spending limit, including:
When you log in to view these cards, they typically state that there is no set spending limit. However, there is a limit based on risk assessment, which can change frequently.
All other cards are considered credit cards:
If you have five credit cards, you can still be approved for the American Express® Gold Card, The Platinum Card® from American Express, and other non-credit-card products. The American Express® Gold Card and Platinum cards do not count towards the five-card limit. However, there is some variability in this rule, as some people may be limited to only four cards, while others may be allowed up to six.
The rule states that you are only allowed to be approved for one credit card every five days. However, the 1 in 5 rule does not apply to other cards. This means that you can apply for one credit card and any number of other cards on the same day without any issues. However, it is important to keep in mind that you will still be responsible for meeting the minimum spending requirements for each card.
Another thing to note is that applying for multiple American Express cards typically does not have a significant impact on your credit score. Once you have one Amex card, they usually only do soft credit pulls for subsequent applications. Your mileage may vary.
If you apply for more than two credit cards within 90 days, you will automatically be rejected for the third one. However, it is important to note that this rule only applies to credit cards and not to other cards. Therefore, you can apply for as many other cards as you want without worrying about this rule.
"Popup Jail" is a term used to describe a scenario where you apply for a credit card, and a popup appears, informing you that you can still apply and receive the card but without any intro bonus. The reasons for this can vary greatly, but it is often due to the applicant's behavior being considered unprofitable or not meeting the issuer's criteria.
Common reasons include low spending on current cards, closing a card too quickly or after taking a retention offer and spending too much on elevated categories.
To avoid ending up in popup jail, it's recommended that new applicants start with other issuers first, especially if their spending is relatively low.
Another example is self-referrals, which can result in shutdowns and blacklisting in extreme cases. Ultimately, the issuer is less likely to provide an intro bonus if the applicant is perceived as unprofitable, as it doesn't make economic sense for them to do so.
This rule states that you're eligible for only one introductory bonus across the various versions of The Platinum Card® from American Express (Standard, Charles Schwab, and Morgan Stanley versions).
Example Scenario: If you’ve had The Platinum Card® from American Express Exclusively for Charles Schwab or The Platinum Card® from American Express Exclusively for Morgan Stanley, you’re ineligible for the welcome bonus of the standard Platinum card. This rule necessitates a strategic approach - choose the Platinum card that offers the most value based on your lifestyle and spending habits.
There’s an unwritten rule suggesting you can only be approved for one Platinum card every 90 days. While this might be flexible, the system often flags multiple Platinum applications as duplicates.
Example Scenario: If you're aiming to collect different Platinum cards for their unique benefits, space out your applications at least 90 days apart to avoid automatic rejection.
One of the most impactful new rules is what I like to call the "Little Brother Rule." This rule is about prioritizing certain cards in your application strategy to ensure eligibility for welcome offers.
Specifically, with the Delta SkyMiles card lineup:
Your eligibility for a welcome offer on a lower-tier card may be affected if you already have or have had a higher-tier card.
Example Scenario: If you apply for the Delta SkyMiles® Blue Card from American Express, you're ineligible for the welcome bonus if you've had any of the higher-tier Delta cards. Conversely, holding a Delta Blue doesn't affect your eligibility for higher-tier cards' bonuses. This cascading effect means it's strategic to start with the Delta Blue and work your way up, potentially unlocking four distinct bonuses.
American Express recently stopped counting airline gift card purchases towards airline incidental credit reimbursements.
As a reminder, the airline credits are intended to be used for incidental fees such as checked bags and in-flight refreshments, and not gift cards.
Since the gift cards stopped coding, there have been scattered data points of select non-gift card transactions triggering the airline incidental fee reimbursement.
Some of the data points below are of legitimate airline incidentals like seat upgrades, pet fees, and early check-in fees. If you believe that your purchase should be considered an incidental and it’s not reimbursed by your statement close, contact American Express and let them know.
Disclaimer: Data points do not mean that the method is guaranteed to work. Methods are subject to change at any time. Use at your own risk.
Credits are getting reimbursed ~10 days from transaction posting (NOT transaction date).
i.e., you make the purchase on Nov 15 and it posts on Nov 18. It would be ~10 days from 18th so hopefully 28th.
Works:
Doesn’t work:
Works:
Doesn’t work:
Works:
Doesn’t work:
Credit card rewards "transfer wealth" from cash users to credit users. If you select the right credit card and use it responsibly, it can be form of couponing.
By using credit cards (that earn rewards), you get the cash back. For example, let’s say a merchant (Walgreens) pays 2-3% in interchange fees to accept your card. In most states, this amount is the same, so that the merchant will increase the product cost.
Consumers who use credit cards get the rewards back, and cash users foot the bill. Per the Federal Reserve Bank of Boston, cash users pay $149/year into this system. Credit card users get $1,133/year from this same system. Keep reading if you want to learn more about how to be on the receiving end of the money.
Side note: If you don’t want to use credit cards but still want to reap the benefits of rewards, I recommend looking into cash back portals. One of the most competitive rates and payouts right now is Rakuten. Here’s a referral link to check them out: https://www.asksebby.com/rakuten
These are generally the starting point for people who are new to this channel. They know they should have a credit card for all the reasons we just mentioned, including building credit and getting some rewards back but haven’t looked into it too much beyond this.
You can usually derive 2-3X more value with minimal work. For example, some 1.5% cards tie into other card setups, but this is generally due to something (a premium card) making it worth more.
These cards are my recommendation for people who want to set it and forget it and use one card for everything.
The Citi Double Cash Card® (1% when you buy and 1% when you pay), Fidelity 2%, and the PayPal 2% Mastercard all fit the bill along with some regional credit union cards. Of these, I recommend the Citi Double Cash because it gives you more optionality.
One of the benefits about Citi is that you can product change between any of their cards when it comes to using it for travel or cash back. For example, the Double Cash can be changed to the Costco credit card.
Regarding travel, the 2% is the baseline value that we use when comparing cards; we want it to pass the 2% hurdle rate.
The Citi Double Cash card is a great example of making a travel card work for you with up to 4% cash back for advanced redemptions like business or first class.
These types of cards are for people who spend a lot of money at specific places. Cash back is cash back here, so generally, there are no additional reward options. The goal here is to find cards that offer at least 3% back. You want your cards to work for you.
There are three sub-types of cards in this category:
An example of a payment method type of card is Apple Pay. Apple gives you 3% cash back when using Apple Pay at places like Apple, Walgreens, Duane Reade, Nike, Uber and Uber Eats, and Exxon, to name a few.
For people who have expensive medicine, 3% cash back at Walgreens can be huge. By the same token, if you spend a lot of money on Apple products, this is a great option.
The Amazon Prime card is a great example of an extremely competitive 5% cash back for high Amazon spenders or frequent Whole Foods shoppers.
If you’re someone who buys a lot of electronics or cameras, B&H is worth considering because it can cover the tax amount at 8.5%. That’s a lot of savings on a $1000 camera lens!
Be careful with this; avoid getting cards for places you don’t spend a lot of money or don’t see yourself using in the future.
Specific Categories Examples:
The benefit here is that you are not locked into a specific store. You can go to Trader Joe's, Safeway, and Whole Foods, and any restaurants or gas stations, etc.
For a lot of these cards, there are annual fee versions as well. The American Express Everyday Preferred and the Blue Cash Preferred are good examples of cards with various annual fees.
To see which card is the best for you, do a simple break-even calculation. Ignoring all other multipliers, for example, if your supermarket spending is $3,167, you are impartial to either card. If you spend more than that, the Blue Cash Preferred has the better value.
Lastly, make sure these cards cover the bases that you need covered. If you only cook at home and your restaurant spending is low, or if you don’t have a car, these might not be the best cards for you.
This is the setup I recommend for lower spenders using the U.S. Bank Cash Plus and Chase Freedom Flex℠ cards. The U.S. Bank Cash Plus lets you pick two categories where you can earn 5% cash back on up to $2,000 spend per quarter.
There are lots of categories to choose from, and I’ve seen this played in two ways.
First, pick a category that you consistently spend a lot of money on. (The same idea as Tier 3 but covers two categories.) Electronics are an easy example here.
Secondly, use this card for items you don’t usually purChase but could have a spike in spending throughout the year.
For example, buying new furniture, a new cell phone, sports equipment, or back to school shopping.
The Chase Freedom Flex is the other major pick in this category, and this is for the potential upside of earning 5x cash back on up to $1,500 in combined category purchases each quarter you activate.
Similar to the Citi Double Cash, this can be worth twice as much (10% cash back) if you decide to switch to a travel set up. The fact that you have a good 5% baseline and huge optionality with this card is a great benefit.
If this is confusing, or you have a Player 2 that always uses the wrong card, I would invest in a label maker. It takes 30 seconds of work every 3 months to help clarify which card to use and when.
Tier 2 is also the best spot for most cash back people who are low to normal spenders who want to maximize their card's value.
The card systems in Tier 1 have the most upside, but almost always have something that makes it hard to justify.
We'll quickly go through these, but I could make a dedicated post for each.
Here you’ll earn Membership Rewards (MR) points from the American Express® Green Card, American Express® Gold Card, and the The Blue Business® Plus Credit Card from American Express. Then, cash them out using the Schwab Platinum card for 1.25 cents per point (CPP).
The main disadvantage here is that you generally need a pretty sizeable spend to justify this setup long-term. There are also a lot of annual fees involved; generally $800-$950 per year. But there are also many credits that help subsidize these fees, like the $200 annual travel credit. Terms apply.
This is generally the setup I recommend to people who have a lot of work spending, or for someone who only takes one short vacation per year and they can’t use all of the points anyway.
In this instance you might as well cash out the points into your brokerage account.
The main disadvantage here is that you need $100,000 in your Bank of America account or Merrill Lynch brokerage account. With this setup you get a 75% rewards bonus on Bank of America cards.
That means the 3% Cash Rewards is 5.25% cash back on a pretty wide range of things like gas, online shopping, dining, travel, drug stores, and home improvement.
There are spending caps, but people who run this setup get multiple cards or product change to different cards.
This is new for 2021, mostly because Chase added the Pay Yourself Back program. With this program, you can redeem your points for additional value; 25% or 50% boost for everyday purchases. This sounds good on the surface, but there are some disadvantages.
The main disadvantage is that Chase picks the categories, so we don’t know if it will stay as groceries or switch to gas, for example.
You’ll also likely need a decent spend or multiple Freedom or Freedom Flex cards for it to work well. To take advantage of the additional credits, it’s a good idea to commit to a little bit of travel for this setup to be beneficial as well.