Best Reward / Cash Back Credit Cards

FYI, what you described is just the public offer, nothing special.

And this card has been in the thread’s wiki for quite a while.

yes I might cash out as 1% cash back prior to cancelling unless they do good deals over BF. AF posts in Nov.

Yes, but I’m pre-selected. :wink:

PS I know the info is there. I wanted some opinions, thoughts, experiences with it.

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We all used to be pre-approved. Now, we’re just pre-selected to apply. :frowning:

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If you want the new Sapphire SUB, just transfer like this:

Old Sapphire → Freedom → New Sapphire

No need to worry about a deal or anything in the next month or so. Or, just transfer everything out to partners before you cancel the old card. Hyatt is a great choice for that. If you fly Alaska Airlines, transferring to British Airways isn’t a bad deal either (as Avios for whatever reason are an inexpensive way to buy Alaska flights).

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Anybody familiar with the PNC cash rewards card?
Looks like the standout benefits are 4% back at gas stations and 3% at restaurants.
Non standouts are 2% at supermarkets and 1% everywhere else.
But what makes it interesting is double cash back for your first year. So 8% at gas stations, 6% at restaurants, and 4% at supermarkets for a year for no fee.
https://www.pnc.com/en/personal-banking/banking/credit-cards/pnc-cash-rewards-visa-credit-card.html

If I remember correctly, it has relatively low quarterly or annual limits for the category bonuses. I inherited this card at some point, and wasnt inclined to use it until it was eventually closed for inactivity. Being doubled for a year may make it more worthwhile.

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Just checked. Looks like $8,000 annual purchase cap on the 4%, 3%, and 2% categories. Not high, but not too low for organic spend.

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yes, i like Avios since BA has great low distance based pricing in US. Also now QR is using them. I think UR had a Avios promo recently too?

I believe so, yes. Avios almost always have a promo every 6-12 months or so with Chase or AMEX. It’s worth waiting for one before transferring.

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BOA sent out a letter saying their Better Balance cards were being converted to a new BOA Unlimited Cash Rewards card May 16. My families 7 such cards were nice since if you spent something and paid at least the minimum by the due date, you got $30 (if BOA account holder) every 3 months. There will be a one time statement credit of $20 if qualifying payments (more than a minimum payment due) made April 1-May 15. This seems to call for a little spending and then payoffs.

The new cards offer 1.5% cash rebates. This become 2.625% if you are a Platinum Preferred Rewards customer (see thread on this). This is the same reward rate as their Travel card, but the Travel card rewards can only be redeemed at full value against travel.

However, these new cards can be redeemed for deposits to BOA accounts easily it appears. These cards will become my preferred cards for expenses that cannot earn higher rebates on other cards such as taxes, tuition payments, and medical expenses.
This card is available now apparently with a $200 cash rewards bonus offer.and 0%† Intro APR for your first 18 billing cycles for purchases, and for any balance transfers made within the first 60 days of opening your account. see 0%† Intro APR for your first 18 billing cycles for purchases, and for any balance transfers made within the first 60 days of opening your account. See Bank of America® Unlimited Cash Rewards Credit Card
While in theory, I could apply for this card, I suspect they might reject me as having enough credit with them, or enough cards. I do not know their current rules. Possibly a strategy would be to apply in early April after taking advantage of the offers on the Better Balance cards, but before I actually had the new cards (and could be rejected as already having the card).

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see my new post on conversions of the Better balance cards

I’m glad they’re auto converting into a card for which I have no plan to apply.

[ProfessorEd] I think the BBR card was one of the best out there. I have 2. For about 10 years? 120… x 2 =240 per year just by adding 3.00 monthly to my Dunkin app. Sorry, it is going away but too many of us were probably gaming the system and they decided to end the bleeding now. I would never use any BOA card now. BTW, what card are you using for medical payments? I use the fee-free Visa/MCGC $200.00 cards from Staples to pay my co-pays and a few things not covered by insurance or Medicare…(Yes Im on Medicare, probably older than you!!!

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A new card I got is the Paypal Mastercard. It returns 3 % on Paypal and 2% on everything as cash to your Paypal account.
Paypal can be used for Federal taxes with the fee being less than 2% or so. I just paid my Federal taxes with this. The major use I have is for charitable donations which can be made through the Paypal Giving Fund. This fund absorbs the credit card fees on donations to all 503(b) charitable foundations, permitting you to earn points, miles, or cash back on these donations. I am a major donor to the Foundation for Metabolic Cancer Research, so this is valuable to me.

I found a major disadvantage which angered me. After approving the card, Paypal then froze my account saying they needed identification such as a picture of a driver’s license.The potential for this should have been stated in the disclosures. Fortunately, a picture of a driver’s license restored access quickly.

Since those wanting this card are probably users of Paypal, having their funds there frozen as a “reward” seems unfair. Hence allow for this if applying for the card.
Application was easy requiring only a statement of income. If you survive this only then they then will pull a credit report. They gave a $4,000 credit line upon approval which could be used for Paypal purchases even before the card was received.This might be useful for those with taxes to be paid soon.

The rewards are paid as points which can be converted to money in your Paypal account, from whence it can be sent to the bank you have on record.

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Thanks for the informative post and donating to cancer research.

I can’t find the charity that you mentioned on Charity Navigator, nor any obvious alternatives. Do you have a link to their home page / 501c3 name?

Thanks.

Not that hard. :slight_smile:

Google “Foundation for Metabolic Cancer Research”:

That points to (actually the top Google search):

“Contact” on that page says: “formerly Single Cause Single Cure”

Then: Charity Navigator - Rating for Single Cause Single Cure

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I don’t google. I duckduckgo’ed that phrase and primarily got the “therapies” hits, and presumed they were sucking/gliding/scorching hits on the actual charity. I will follow up with single cause, single cure at a later date, but did not glean it from my initial search.

Do you have any idea why they went from Foundation for Metabolic Cancer Research to Foundation for Metabolic Cancer Therapies to Single Cause, Single Cure … or possibly vice versa?

nope

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Marketing? Probably because it’s too bold to assume that there’s a single cause or that there should only be a single cure.

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