One other, off the beat option, if you insist on pure cash back. Pilfered this off of myfico:
Logix Credit Union has a 3% cash back card here: https://www.logixbanking.com/loans/credit-cards/platinum-rewards. 100k on deposit or in loans is required. CD rates seem competitive for that, but regular deposit rates do not. Only available in Arizona, California, DC, Massachusetts, Maryland, Maine, New Hampshire, Nevada, and Virginia.
Altitude Reserve is another one that hasn’t been mentioned. That will give you 3% cash back on mobile wallet purchases. That can cover a lot of transactions. However, to get approved for that, US Bank generally wants to see a previous relationship through a deposit account.
I pleasantly surprised today to find that one of the Google Flights travel portals I booked through was categorized such that it counted toward Pricelines 33% point redemption discount (+10% points back)
I previously assumed they all categorized themselves as Travel Agencies or something that Priceline doesn’t equate to getting the discount redemption.
Any interest in compiling a list of travel portals that count/don’t count toward the 33% discount? I’d totally pay a small premium if it meant I could cash out a bunch of points. (If I see GoToGate a few bucks more than Kiwi, I’m definitely going through them in the future)
Good information! I am close to book a flight. Google recommends me to book the international flight directly on the foreign airline’s website. In this case, will it be too risky to use Priceline?
Just redeemed 104k points to cover a $1567.80 airfare purchase. The points were deducted, and the transaction was removed from the account history. BUT, the transaction is not credited in rewards history; no confirmation email, and no 10% award rebate was posted.
It’s as if the redemption got halfway through, and then glitched out.
Naturally, I couldn’t even get the first phone rep to understand what the problem was.
Anyone else seeing anything like this? I haven’t in 11+ years of heavy card use.
Unfortunately, I’ve basically given up on the card. It doesn’t surprise me you’re hitting this issue, but I would expect CS should at least fix this problem. If you can’t get a CS agent to understand, try a CFPB complaint.
Barclays is a horrible issuer. On my latest redemption, I did not get the 33% discount on points redeemed against a Priceline express deal purchase. They told me to pound sand.
Well… that’s fine with me then. I’ll give my business to Chase. I keep the card open given it’s a grandfathered card and with their history, who knows what kind of unexpected benefits might trickle down. But otherwise, I’ve stopped using it for almost everything other than a small recurring purchase to keep it alive.
Unless you die.
I’ve been the co-executor of two wills that had Barclays cards with decent balances. In neither case did they make a claim on the estate, despite being notified of the status at least six months before probate closed. The first was in 2013/14 and the second was in 2020/21.
It was as if the entire transaction happened in extremely slow motion. The redemption occurred Friday. Saturday night, it finally showed up as “pending” in the redemption list. Sunday, the 10% rebate points posted (though it wasn’t documented), which enabled me to redeem those points on smaller airfare transactions. Sunday night, all these transactions finalized, and the statement cycled. And today, Monday morning, everything looks perfect.
Like the proverbial stopped clock which shows correct time twice a day, this time the supervisor was actually correct…and it just needed 24-48 hours to post, for the first time in 11+ years (in my case)
Unfortunately, I’ve basically given up on the card…
Barclays is a horrible issuer.
I certainly share your frustration with these glitches. That said, I don’t understand why anyone would give up on this card.
What other issuer / card allows for:
uncapped 3% redemption in cash, (provided one understands how to redeem appropriately
Instant accumulation and (typically) redemption of rewards, so they aren’t stranded in the event of AA
Literally years where a grandfathered product is not force-downgraded. It’s amazing to me that we’re still getting unbonused rewards of 2%, years and years after that product was sunset.
Yes, it’s irritating that some categories advertised as 5%, like prepaid PL bookings, aren’t posting at 5%. My guess is that unlike the 10% points rebate and 33% redemption discounts, that bit of programming logic was actually restricted to the new VIP card, with its 1% base earn. So other than the false advertising of PL’s confirmation page, there isn’t much to complain about there.
As of last night, their site pegs my “Total earn to date” at almost ten million points. That puts gross cash earnings on the card at approx $150,000. In 25 years of optimizing CCs, the only other cards that have performed like that are long since closed for overuse.
+1 has always been my goto when not chasing subs, anything else that was marginally better (4%/5% cards) were always in categories too niche that I couldn’t spend enough amounts to get to cashout regularly.
I do think the end might be near though.
Just got this email which made my heart drop.
I got the same email on Feb 15, 2023. They sent it again in March, and gave up after that.
Happily, Barclays has a long history of NOT force-converting legacy cardholders. Of course that may change. But I’m thinking there are too few of us left to capture their attention.
And I still have my circa 2018 Shatner-embossed card as a keepsake!
