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.

[DRU]

Originally Posted by DaFace

Sure, I don't disagree with that perspective. What I might disagree with is whether that constitutes the "game." The real fun starts when you are actually getting more like 15-20% "returns" on your spending because you're constantly churning cards for the sign-up bonuses and getting redemptions of 5-10 cents per point. (I'd call that "expert" level.")

Churning for sign-up bonuses wasn't included in your options. Of course I do this, and that just goes on top of the numbers I mentioned.

[Infidel Goat]

I have three cards:

AMEX Blue Card Preferred: 6% on Groceries and Streaming Services
Costco Visa: 4% Gas, 3% Restaurants, 2% Costco
Amazon Visa: 5% Amazon

[DaFace]

Originally Posted by DRU

Churning for sign-up bonuses wasn't included in your options. Of course I do this, and that just goes on top of the numbers I mentioned.

Fair. I'm accepting of how people like to identify themselves without strict definitions.

[Coochie liquor]

Jet Blue card helps us afford our NYE trip every year. We get the points and use them either for just a flight, or for JetBlueVacations.com.

[loochy]

Amazon Prime Visa and Costco Visa

[Third Eye]

I generally keep it fairly simple according to your definitions. I will periodically jump in to a new card for some intro offer, but I don’t do the “churn” so to speak.

Outside of a special promo offer, I’ll use:

Amazon Visa - 5% off Amazon purchases
Costco Visa - 4% off gas, 3% restaurants and all travel
My wife’s Chase Unlimited - 5% off travel booked through them (may or may not be a better deal than the 3% I get from the Costco Visa)
Applecard - 2% off everything else

Works for me and is pretty low effort.

[CapsLockKey]

Not exactly a credit card, but if you have a Samsung phone Samsung Pay has a lot of pretty good rotating cash back deals and it will stack with whatever you are getting from your credit card. If you shop from the retailer app on your phone sometimes it will automatically pop up any potential rewards. It mostly only works for online shopping though and it dumps the rewards into a digital debit card.

Still, I got $300 from it when I bought a bunch of flooring from home Depot when I redid the basement. Right now they have 3% back from Sam's Club online which gets me 8% total when I use it with my Sam's CC as long as I buy it though the app.

[notorious]

Originally Posted by CapsLockKey

Not exactly a credit card, but if you have a Samsung phone Samsung Pay has a lot of pretty good rotating cash back deals and it will stack with whatever you are getting from your credit card. If you shop from the retailer app on your phone sometimes it will automatically pop up any potential rewards. It mostly only works for online shopping though and it dumps the rewards into a digital debit card.

Still, I got $300 from it when I bought a bunch of flooring from home Depot when I redid the basement. Right now they have 12% back from Sam's Club online which gets me 17% total when I use it with my Sam's CC as long as I buy it though the app.

Now that's some good returns.

Dayum.

[CapsLockKey]

Originally Posted by notorious

Now that's some good returns.



Dayum.

I noticed the 12% is specific to memberships after posting but still 3 on everything else. Works on the scan and go app in store though which I use anyway.

[DaFace]

Originally Posted by Third Eye

I generally keep it fairly simple according to your definitions. I will periodically jump in to a new card for some intro offer, but I don’t do the “churn” so to speak.

Outside of a special promo offer, I’ll use:

Amazon Visa - 5% off Amazon purchases
Costco Visa - 4% off gas, 3% restaurants and all travel
My wife’s Chase Unlimited - 5% off travel booked through them (may or may not be a better deal than the 3% I get from the Costco Visa)
Applecard - 2% off everything else

Works for me and is pretty low effort.

To be clear, I don't at all think of the poll categories as being "better" or "worse" (well, aside from just paying cash for everything). The best approach is whatever works for you. I'm meticulous about keeping track of my accounts and don't mind juggling 10-15 of them at a time, but it takes work. Similarly, I've mentioned my "expert" friend. He's willing to spend hours playing around on booking websites and traveling at weird times in order to maximize what he's getting - I'm not. Just depends on what you're into.

As for your setup, that's pretty solid IMO and has all of the major categories covered well.

[DJJasonp]

Chase sapphire preferred. Flying to Hawaii this summer on points.

I use that card for damn near everything, and pay off the balance each month. Had several flights free and hotels, etc.

fantastic service too.

[Perineum Ripper]

If I remember right, the wife and I have these




Chase Sapphire Reserve
Chase Freedom Unlimited
Capital One Venture X
Amazon Prime Visa


We like to travel and Momma says these are the ones we need. So I just buy what I can with them, which is damn near everything but the normal cash transactions I do.

[DaFace]

Originally Posted by mac459

If I remember right, the wife and I have these




Chase Sapphire Reserve
Chase Freedom Unlimited
Capital One Venture X
Amazon Prime Visa


We like to travel and Momma says these are the ones we need. So I just buy what I can with them, which is damn near everything but the normal cash transactions I do.

I have an agreement with my wife that I give her the one card at a time (plus one backup) that she uses for everything. She has no desire to keep track of 15 of them like I do.

[Reroka]

Discover and amex, 1.5% cash back and some other rewards that I never use or take advantage of.

[Rain Man]

I've pretty much always gone with travel cards. There's something exciting about getting free travel, and it's easy to maintain. I may get more aggressive about maximizing the benefits as I retire and have more time to study things.

My wife maximized our income this week by signing us up for a time share presentation while we were out on a short vacation. They offered to pay $175 for a 90-minute presentation. I didn't realize that I had to go too, but such is life. It was a Marriott time share, so I figured I could tolerate it and it would be professional.

Wow. I was really wrong. But it was fascinating to observe. It was like time-traveling back to the 1950s or something. They had a predictable script that had every element that you hear from bad salespeople: terrible attempts to create urgency, verbal promises that were clearly not true, and so on.

Then right on script they brought in a "closer". His job was to get us to sign a purchase contract for a five or six-digit purchase on the spot with no information. He actually pushed a contract and pen across the table at us. It was so bad that it was fascinating, and it was hard to imagine these guys doing this multiple times a day. Then at the end they brought in a woman to give us our gift card and she tried to sell us other stuff. I really hope those gift cards work.

I was really surprised that a big company like Marriott would use such amateurish and unethical sales practices.