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If you're in that situation, you're probably best off earning one of the flexible currencies like Chase's Ultimate Rewards or Amex's Membership Rewards. You ca

by saryant 11y ago

If you're in that situation, you're probably best off earning one of the flexible currencies like Chase's Ultimate Rewards or Amex's Membership Rewards. You can redeem for a statement balance or transfer to one of their partners. If you do just want cashback, Fidelity has a straight-up 2% cashback card.

ghaff 11y ago
I actually use the Chase Sapphire Rewards card but I should probably look into the Fidelity as most of my points seem to end up getting shifted into Amazon anyway. It's a little complicated because of the minimum to get to 2% but it's probably a better deal than my free Chase Amazon card in any case. Thanks!
- saryant 11y ago
  Though I find this game to be lots of fun, I do think that most people are probably better off with a cashback card. Actually, most people probably shouldn't have a credit card to begin with (it pains me to say that given the differences in fraud protection but CC debt is something most are better off avoiding).
  - ghaff 11y ago
    CC vs. debit is a matter of discipline but, of course, no real argument for most people if using a credit card in all but the direst circumstances means carrying a balance. The issue with a lot of the rewards game is that the best "values" usually come from redeeming for awards that you'd never have considered actually paying cash for. There's still an equivalent cash value to you that may or may not be more than the 1-2% of actual cash you could collect but it's often not really free money in that you're giving up some level of actual fungible cash to get it.
- ethbro 11y ago
  > It's a little complicated because of the minimum to get to 2% but it's probably a better deal than my free Chase Amazon card in any case. If you're talking about the Visa (?) with the spend then 2%, the Amex version is straight-up 2% from the first dollar. A free-to-sign-up-for-no-fees Fidelity Cash Management Account suffices for a transfer target for accumulated cash back, then you can EFT the funds wherever you like (side note, Fidelity has great EFT options). The downsides to the Amex are: (1) slightly lower acceptance (2) FIA Card Services (the administrator is not Amex proper) has no auto-pay (3) it's not an Amex proper, so you aren't eligible for most of the Amex $x off $y at z deals https://www.fidelity.com/cash-management/american-express-cards https://www.fidelity.com/cash-management/american-express-ca... That said, the 2% w/ no AF is still my benchmark that I evaluate everything else against. It's amazing how many alternatives it weeds out.

by saryant 11y ago

ghaff 11y ago

I actually use the Chase Sapphire Rewards card but I should probably look into the Fidelity as most of my points seem to end up getting shifted into Amazon anyway. It's a little complicated because of the minimum to get to 2% but it's probably a better deal than my free Chase Amazon card in any case. Thanks!

saryant 11y ago
Though I find this game to be lots of fun, I do think that most people are probably better off with a cashback card. Actually, most people probably shouldn't have a credit card to begin with (it pains me to say that given the differences in fraud protection but CC debt is something most are better off avoiding).
- ghaff 11y ago
  CC vs. debit is a matter of discipline but, of course, no real argument for most people if using a credit card in all but the direst circumstances means carrying a balance. The issue with a lot of the rewards game is that the best "values" usually come from redeeming for awards that you'd never have considered actually paying cash for. There's still an equivalent cash value to you that may or may not be more than the 1-2% of actual cash you could collect but it's often not really free money in that you're giving up some level of actual fungible cash to get it.
ethbro 11y ago
> It's a little complicated because of the minimum to get to 2% but it's probably a better deal than my free Chase Amazon card in any case. If you're talking about the Visa (?) with the spend then 2%, the Amex version is straight-up 2% from the first dollar. A free-to-sign-up-for-no-fees Fidelity Cash Management Account suffices for a transfer target for accumulated cash back, then you can EFT the funds wherever you like (side note, Fidelity has great EFT options). The downsides to the Amex are: (1) slightly lower acceptance (2) FIA Card Services (the administrator is not Amex proper) has no auto-pay (3) it's not an Amex proper, so you aren't eligible for most of the Amex $x off $y at z deals https://www.fidelity.com/cash-management/american-express-cards https://www.fidelity.com/cash-management/american-express-ca... That said, the 2% w/ no AF is still my benchmark that I evaluate everything else against. It's amazing how many alternatives it weeds out.