The Credit Card Rewards Game

[DaFace]

It came up a bit in the thread about spare change, but it seems like there are af few of us at least enjoy playing "the game." So here's a place to talk about earning strategies, brag about your favorite redemptions, get advice, etc.

[Jewish Rabbi]

Originally Posted by Iowanian

I’m getting ready to start traveling alot more so i need to start playing that airline/hotel points game harder.

I’m putting a semester of college tuition on a card this week that I can turn into several hundred in gift cards to a sporting goods store. So I’m trying harder to make my spending work harder for me too.

For big purchases like that I normally open a new card to easily hit the sign up bonus. We don’t travel a ton so I don’t maximize as much as I used to/could, most of my spend goes on a 2% cash back if it’s not in a quarterly 5% category and I don’t worry about it.

[BWillie]

Originally Posted by |Zach|

The 750 is just cash on your statement not points? What BOA card is that. 10k might be steep in 3 months for me while doing the same on another card but I do my normal banking with BOA.

Its BOA WITH a Merrill Lynch advisor where you have at least 500k amount of assets with ML. Visa Signature Card thru boa.

[Simply Red]

So far all that I have that have actually accumulated are 14 proof of purchases for Burrito Supremes at Taco Bell.

[George Liquor]

This might be the right place to ask... but is it possible to get a credit card company to lower your interest rate? I recently emailed chase and asked them to and they basically said lolnope. Thing is, my credit score is like 825 so i feel like 24% is a tad high. Ive had this card since like 2010 and havent always had the best record with it, but for the better part of the last decade I've been responsible.

I'm thinking about calling them and asking again, then canceling it if they say no.

[mr. tegu]

A while back we switched over to Chase Freedom and Chase Sapphire. Very happy with it.

Here is nice little hack for getting 3% back on groceries using Sapphire. With Sapphire you get 3% back at grocery stores, but only online purchases. But we don’t really like buying groceries online.

So we buy a decent size Hy-Vee gift card on their web site once or twice a month. Because it’s an online purchase it gets the 3% points rewards instead of 1.5% from the Freedom card. Obviously then we use the gift card for our groceries but also for gas at the Hy-Vee gas station which is only about a minute from our house.

[lewdog]

Originally Posted by bdj23

This might be the right place to ask... but is it possible to get a credit card company to lower your interest rate? I recently emailed chase and asked them to and they basically said lolnope. Thing is, my credit score is like 825 so i feel like 24% is a tad high. Ive had this card since like 2010 and havent always had the best record with it, but for the better part of the last decade I've been responsible.

I'm thinking about calling them and asking again, then canceling it if they say no.

You shouldn’t be keeping a balance and paying interest on any credit card. It’s literally one of the worst ways to “borrow” money because the interest rates are enormous. You’re better off taking a home equity line of credit to pay for things in a crunch if needed. More importantly, you need to get your spending in order if things you’re buying on a credit card aren’t paid off monthly.

[George Liquor]

Originally Posted by lewdog

You shouldn’t be keeping a balance and paying interest on any credit card. It’s literally one of the worst ways to “borrow” money because the interest rates are enormous. You’re better off taking a home equity line of credit to pay for things in a crunch if needed. More importantly, you need to get your spending in order if things you’re buying on a credit card aren’t paid off monthly.

My spending is in order. I have $300 on the damn thing. There's just a huge discrepancy between my main credit card at 9% interest and this one at 24%

[Bearcat]

Originally Posted by bdj23

This might be the right place to ask... but is it possible to get a credit card company to lower your interest rate? I recently emailed chase and asked them to and they basically said lolnope. Thing is, my credit score is like 825 so i feel like 24% is a tad high. Ive had this card since like 2010 and havent always had the best record with it, but for the better part of the last decade I've been responsible.

I'm thinking about calling them and asking again, then canceling it if they say no.

Mine is 21% and I've paid it off every month I've had it, so a few percent seems reasonable if you've had some issues with it in the past.

[BigRedChief]

I'm running 80% of my spending through an American Express card with Delta. Only missing mortgage. So far this year I've earned enough points for two free tickets to Europe. Or 6 trips to NY/LA.

But this only works if you pay it off every month. The rate is 29.99% if you leave anything on there for 30 days. Thats where they are making their money.

[Jewish Rabbi]

Originally Posted by bdj23

My spending is in order. I have $300 on the damn thing. There's just a huge discrepancy between my main credit card at 9% interest and this one at 24%

I literally have no clue what the interest rates are on any of my cards and don’t care since I pay the balance in full every month. All your rewards go poof with even one interest payment and you are better off using cash or debit at that point.

[BigRedChief]

Originally Posted by Jewish Rabbi

I literally have no clue what the interest rates are on any of my cards and don’t care since I pay the balance in full every month. All your rewards go poof with even one interest payment and you are better off using cash or debit at that point.

THIS! If you cant pay the balance off each month in full, then don't get one of these. You wont get any rewards and have to pay the highest % they can legally charge you,

[Shaid]

Originally Posted by bdj23

This might be the right place to ask... but is it possible to get a credit card company to lower your interest rate? I recently emailed chase and asked them to and they basically said lolnope. Thing is, my credit score is like 825 so i feel like 24% is a tad high. Ive had this card since like 2010 and havent always had the best record with it, but for the better part of the last decade I've been responsible.

I'm thinking about calling them and asking again, then canceling it if they say no.

Dear lord, I was annoyed when mine was recently raised to 12.5%. I never really pay interest on it anyways but I wouldn't even consider that shit.

[blake5676]

I get offers from Chase and Discover that will "lower your interest rate for 12 months" or something to that effect, but I don't even bother to click to activate. In theory, you shouldn't care what interest rate you have on your credit card as you should try everything in your power to never give them even a penny of interest payments. I realize that's not how more than half of Americans handle their finances, but the point remains.

So to answer that original question, yes, some CC companies will lower your interest rate if you ask. Many of them even send "offers" to entice you to spend even more. The secret is...they don't want you to pay it off in time.

[Sure-Oz]

I have a capital one savor one card... no annual fee, 3% groceries/restaurants/streaming/entertainment, no foreign transaction fee. I like it. Also have a chase freedom that has rotating categories that I've had forever and now a sapphire for travel.

Just got that one recently for a nice bonus offer to help pay airline tickets for overseas and points and hopefully we will travel more since we have the card and annual $95 fee. If not I'll probably get rid of it after a year or two.

[DaFace]

Originally Posted by Shaid

Dear lord, I was annoyed when mine was recently raised to 12.5%. I never really pay interest on it anyways but I wouldn't even consider that shit.

If you care at all what interest rate you have on a credit card, you're doing it wrong. You should never pay a dime of interest if you're playing the "game." If you do, you're what's funding the game for everyone else...so thanks.