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Cash Back Credit Card Comparison
- floatingatoll 8y agoAuthor of this page, if you're reading this, thank you for making this a plain text table of data with none of the tracking and marketing cruft that most people would do with this data. I really appreciate the efficiency of this approach and I'm grateful to you for keeping it simple.
- 3into10power5 8y agoThanks very much floatingatoll This is way better than reading endless blogspots and searching on google. How much time did you invest into making this?
- chrisseaton 8y agoWhy are you asking them? They didn't write it.
- jpmoral 8y agoThe 'Author of this page' phrase might be confusing.
- floatingatoll 8y agoI didn’t make it; my phrasing apparently failed. I’m sorry :(
- hyperenergy 8y agoI believe it may have been sourced from Reddit: https://www.reddit.com/r/personalfinance/comments/b5qjvf/i_researched_cashback_credit_cards_so_you_dont https://www.reddit.com/r/personalfinance/comments/b5qjvf/i_r...
- Meekro 8y agoThanks for the data! Are you sure that the USAA card gives 2.5% cash back? Their website says it's only 1.5% [1]. [1] https://www.usaa.com/inet/wc/bank-credit-card-preferred-cash-rewards-visa-signature?wa_ref=pub_home_cc_details https://www.usaa.com/inet/wc/bank-credit-card-preferred-cash...
- loeg 8y agoThe USAA 2.5% "limitless" card still exists for now (I have it) but it hasn't been offered to new customers for some time. https://www.doctorofcredit.com/usaa-limitless-2-5-cashback-now-available-louisiana/ https://www.doctorofcredit.com/usaa-limitless-2-5-cashback-n...
- gravity_123 8y agoHah, I was so confused on reading this comment. First I thought you are the author, so then who are you thanking. Seems like I am not the only one :)
- deleted 8y ago[deleted]
- chrisseaton 8y agoSome of these are incredible - 6% cashback on groceries? I'd be surprised if the profit margin on groceries was as high as 6%.
- alexhutcheson 8y agoOne theory is that the high rate on groceries is a way to make you carry around the card every day, so you're more likely to use it on other things.
- dnhz 8y agoWith contactless payment systems like Apple Pay, there's little need to carry around more than one default credit card.
- favorited 8y agoUnless you end up somewhere that doesn't support ApplePay, and doesn't accept AmEx. It's uncommon (where I live, at least), but it definitely happens.
- michaelmior 8y agoI assume that's why the parent said there's little need to carry around more than one
- favorited 8y agoBut if your 'one' is the '6% on groceries' AmEx, you do need to carry more than one (or accept that there will be places you can't spend money).
- michaelmior 8y agoThat card is still accepted anywhere Amex is accepted. But yes, if you want to cover vendors who don't accept Apple/Google Pay or Amex, then you would need to carry multiple cards.
- deleted 8y ago[deleted]
- alexhutcheson 8y agoIf you're into optimizing things like this, I highly recommend the Doctor of Credit blog[1]. Most credit card blogs are basically just ads for credit cards that make their money off affiliate links, but DoC has made an explicit choice not to do that, and generally has good information without the "this is a super lucrative card everyone should apply for" junk that you see everywhere else. [1] https://www.doctorofcredit.com/ https://www.doctorofcredit.com/
- rradu 8y agoBarclaycard Arrival Plus missing from the list, it's my go-to card. I recommend it to everyone. * 2 points for each $1 spent + 5% bonus on redeeming (effectively 2.1% in cash back) * 70,000 points ($700) on signup with minimum spend * $89 annual fee, waived first year * No foreign transaction fees https://cards.barclaycardus.com/banking/cards/barclaycard-arrival-plus-world-elite-mastercard/ https://cards.barclaycardus.com/banking/cards/barclaycard-ar...
- loeg 8y agoCounterpoints: * Redemption is extremely limited (only 1cpp for reimbursements for "travel" charges, and minimum 10,000 points ($100) redemption) * That annual fee quickly eats into effective cash back after the first year. There are 1.5% cashback cards with zero annual fee; for that extra 0.5% to be worth $90 you have to put more than $18k in spend on the card every year. I got one of these for the sign-up bonus (and I'd recommend doing so!) but I wouldn't hold on to it for a cashback card.
- markovbot 8y agoI get these once or twice a year, meet the minimum spend, use the points and cancel the card. Repeat after 6 or more months as a "new customer".
- rsanek 8y agoIt's a good card, but I'm not sure I'd recommend it to everyone. For all but the biggest spenders, the Citi DoubleCash makes more sense because it also gives 2% but with no annual fee. Since you're paying the $89, you'd have to spend over $89,000 annually ($89 / 0.1% difference) to make the 2.1% worth it over the 2%.
- bufferoverflow 8y agoThat's not a good deal. You have to spend $89K on it just to break even.
- LeoPanthera 8y agoAnother good guide from The Wirecutter, that covers more than just cashback: https://thewirecutter.com/money/credit-cards/ https://thewirecutter.com/money/credit-cards/
- encoderer 8y agoIf your spending is high enough: Chase sapphire reserve. Has an effective annual fee of $150 but strong benefits. You can cash out or get a 25% bonus when using it to pay for air travel. It’s metal which seems nice but really isn’t. You can’t stick it into many machines and eventually it delaminates.
- ryan-c 8y agoI believe the Chase Sapphire Reserve has a 50% redemption bonus on "travel" booked through their portal, and Chase Sapphire Preferred is the one with the 25% bonus.
- mehrdadn 8y agoAnnual fee is $450 not $150. You forgot to mention the $300 travel credit is only relevant if you spend $300+ on travel each year regardless of whether you have the card.
- loeg 8y agoIt's easy to cash out the travel credit without traveling.
- mehrdadn 8y agoWait really? How? I thought it was called travel credit for a reason...
- loeg 8y agoThey don't take the credit back on refunds.
- MaxGabriel 8y agoUber/Lyft count for travel which helps a lot.
- mehrdadn 8y ago
- ryan-c 8y agoThere's also a bunch of good info on https://www.reddit.com/r/churning/ https://www.reddit.com/r/churning/ though that is more geared towards signup bonuses.
- gst 8y agoFor a no AF 2% card the PenFed card not on the list (https://www.penfed.org/credit-cards/power-cash-rewards https://www.penfed.org/credit-cards/power-cash-rewards) looks better than Double Cash as it doesn't have foreign transaction fees. To receive the full 2% cashback a PenFed checking account is required, but there's no annual fee on that account either.
- mehrdadn 8y agoFor travel you might want the Pathfinder Rewards card instead. If you're not traveling Citi has the advantage of letting you create virtual account numbers and showing you your FICO score.
- randomacct3847 8y agoPersonal opinion: Straight cash back cards are not exciting at all. You’re better off watching what you spend than getting excited about getting $20 back for spending every $1000. Credit cards in the US are exciting right now because of premium rewards, mainly airlines miles, credit card points (Chase Ultimate Rewards, Citi TY, Amex Membership Rewards), which could be worth 2-5 cents per point. Unlike cash back cards, these usually come with a fee though many waive it the first year.
- michaelmior 8y agoI prefer cash back cards because I don't fly enough to care about miles. I also don't really want to think about points that I don't get to spend however I want. But I can imagine if you like the other rewards offered on some cards, you're probably getting more value than with cash back.
- randomacct3847 8y agoIf you fly even 1-2x a year then why not fund that trip with one signup bonus from one card vs getting a cash back card (which usually don’t even come with a signup bonus and if they do it’s very small)? If you don’t want to be tied to one airline card, a Chase Sapphire card which you can use to transfer to airlines or book directly with their reservation portal will give you 1.25 cents per point redeemed on flights or hotels.
- ip26 8y agoI've tried to pay with points before and it never seems to work out advantageously. A $200 bargain basement Southwest flight will cost like 60000 points. Is Southwest, or international for that matter, an anomaly?
- randomacct3847 8y agoThat’s just...wrong. If you transfer to Southwest from Chase or book directly it should be around 15000 points. Both Chase and Southwest have a point value of greater than 1 cent per point, so there’s no way that could be true for a $200 flight.