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Personal 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 sp

Personal 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 ago
I 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 ago
  If 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 ago
    I'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 ago
      That’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.
      - ip26 8y ago
        Alright, I'll look again in the future. At the time I wondered if the 'wanna get away' fare was basically cash only.

michaelmior 8y ago

I 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 ago
If 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 ago
  I'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 ago
    That’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.
    - ip26 8y ago
      Alright, I'll look again in the future. At the time I wondered if the 'wanna get away' fare was basically cash only.