Buy Two Amex Gift Cards, Get Free $25 Gift Card

American Express

When you purchase any two American Express Gift Cards between now and September 30, 2007, you’ll receive a free “Back-to-School Card” worth $25 that can be used at Banana Republic, Old Navy, Gap and Linens ‘n Things.

You’ll need to purchase the gift cards in-store, which is where you will also find the accompanying rebate form to be filled out and returned. Participating retailers include A&P, Albertsons, Carrs Food Store, CVS, Dominick’s, Duane Reade, Eagle, Genuardi’s, Kings, Pak N Save, Pavilions, Randalls, Rite Aid, Safeway, Simon David, Tom Thumb, Vons, Wawa, and Winn Dixie.

American Express gift cards are available in denominations ranging from $25 to $500. There is a limit of two rebates per household, and the $25 reward gift cards must be used within three months from their date of issue. For more information on Amex gift cards, see http://www.americanexpress.com/gift.

Leave a comment

A Few Noteable Balance Transfer Offers

Balance Transfer Offers

I’ve recently added some offers to the database. In these days of increasing balance transfer fees, a few are worth highlighting:

Leave a comment

Starwood Amex Summer Promo – Up to 200% Bonus

American Express, Travel Cards

From FT:

I got a mailer from AMEX for my Starwood Card. No Promo code not sure if it is open to everyone or it is a targeted promo.

Spend anywhere between 8-15-07 and 9-15-07 and get the following bonus depending on the amount you spend.

$500-1000 = 25% bonus points
$1k-5k = 50% bonus points
$5k-10k = 75% bonus points
$10k-20k = 100% bonus points
$20k + = 200% bonus points.

Bonus in addition to normal earned points and SPG Bonus.

This is a sizzling offer for Starwood Amex cardholders, though I strongly suspect that the offer is targeted, as Amex rarely makes these promos available to everyone.

Leave a comment

Suze Orman Talks App-O-Ramas; Hilarity Ensues

App-o-rama

Yesterday Suze Orman had a segment dedicated to App-o-ramas, so out of curiosity, I tuned in to find out what she had to say. I must admit, it was entertaining for all the wrong reasons. I was amazed at the number of factual errors an 8 minute segment could contain. For fun, I’ve run down each of her points as she tries to warn viewers away from pursuing the strategy.

Suze: To qualify for 0% offers, you must have a FICO score of 760-850.
This is patently false, as there is no such hard line. Of course you’re more likely to qualify for these offers if you have an excellent score, but plenty of people with lower scores can and have received 0% credit. Should you bother to try if you have a 500 credit score? Probably not. But as long as you can afford the short-term ding to your credit from the inquiries, what do you have to lose? If you don’t get a 0% offer after applying, and instead get a higher rate offer, you can always say no.

Suze: You need to use a cash advance, which usually has a 21% interest rate.
Huh? She lost me there. If you’re paying cash advance fees in an app-o-rama, you’re doing something seriously wrong.

Suze: Balance transfer fees used to be $75 flat fee, regardless of how much was transferred. Now, they’re a minimum of $75, up to 2%-3% of the transferred amount.
Where to begin? Her characterization of balance transfer fees both before and after issuers “wised up” are inaccurate. There are literally hundreds of offers listed in our offers database with a minimum balance transfer fee of $5-$10 and a maximum of $75. There are also still some without any fees at all.

Suze: You must pay taxes on your savings account interest, and you must make minimum payments on the amount you’ve borrowed, so you’re earning less interest than you think.
For once, she’s gotten something (partially) right, but no one has ever argued that this isn’t the case. When calculating your profits you should of course consider that you’ll need to pay taxes and minimum payments. What she neglects to mention are how signup bonuses can also significantly boost your effective return.

Suze: 0% is not fixed. The credit card companies can change your interest rate at any time they want.
Another extremely misleading statement. Yes, the credit card companies can jack your rate if you’re late on a payment, but they won’t go about raising your rate just because they feel like it, and certainly not without warning. If you’re not responsible and organized, and think you might miss a payment, you shouldn’t be playing the game.

It should be noted that I have absolutely nothing against Suze Orman. To be honest, if I was giving advice to her target demographic, I also would advise against trying an app-o-rama. The problem is that her arguments were littered with factual errors and scare tactics. There are many legitimate reasons to avoid an app-o-rama; it’s a shame that her staff couldn’t be bothered to do the research to identify them.

3 comments

Citi CashReturns Mastercard: 5% CashBack for 3 Months with No Cap

Cash Back Cards, Citibank, MasterCard

For a big spender, this deal seems a bit too good to be true. The Citi CashReturns MasterCard is offering 5% cash back on everything for 3 months, apparently with no cap:

Automatic cash back on purchases.2 Who wouldn’t like that? With the Citi CashReturnsSM MasterCard®, you’ll earn 5% cash back on all purchases for 3 months and 1% thereafter.2 It’s smart, it’s simple, it’s automatic. Receive your cash back redemption check automatically after you earn 50 CitiDollarsSM. Plus, there’s no limit to the amount of cash back you can earn.2

If you can funnel a lot of spending onto this card, as long as you can get a large credit line, or can reallocate your existing Citi lines, this could mean a large short-term bonus. The card also does offer an intro 0% balance transfer for 12 months, but it is basically an afterthought, because it has a 3% fee, $5 min and no cap. Since you have up to 12 months from opening the account to use the balance transfer, you should at least wait until the intro 5% period is over before considering using the balance transfer offer.

Link (via FW)

2 comments

How Safe is Your Credit Card?

General

A new study was just released examining how well credit card issuers are protecting their customers from fraud. The study looked at the security practices from 25 of the largest issuers, particularly in the areas of prevention, detection and resolution. Overall, the results identified the top six safest issuers as:

  • 1. Bank of America (Visa Platinum)
  • 2. American Express (Blue from American Express)
  • 3. (2-way tie) Discover (Discover Platinum Card, now called the Discover More Card)
    First National Bank of Omaha (Platinum Edition Visa Card)
  • 5. Citibank (Citi Platinum Select)
  • 6. Navy Federal Credit Union (Platinum MasterCard)

You can read more details about the results of the study here.

One comment

Free Zagat Survey Access with a Visa Signature Card

Visa

Visa has just added complimentary access to Zagat Survey restaurant ratings and reviews for its Visa Signature cardholders. This will go along with the other fine wine and food services that Visa Signature provides, including:

  • A Visa Signature Concierge available 24/7 to handle restaurant reservation requests
  • Discounts on Zagat Survey guides and maps, ZAGAT TO GO software, packs and bundles, and ZAGAT.com membership
  • Exclusive tastings, cooking classes and private gourmet events

For more information, see http://www.visa.com/signaturefood.

Leave a comment

Chase Freedom Dynamic Cash Rewards

Cash Back Cards, Chase

If you have a Chase Freedom card, then Chase Freedom Dynamic Cash Rewards is a program you’ll want to join. And if you don’t have the card, this program may be a compelling enough reason to get one.

Instead of earning 3% of your spending at grocery stores, gas stations and quick payment service fast food restaurants, in this program you earn 3% for the 3 categories (out of a pre-defined set of 15) where you spent the most each month. Like the standard program, you’ll earn only 1% for each $1 in purchases once you’ve reached $600 in spending on your top categories for the month. Both programs earn 1% on everything else, with no cap.

The categories for the Dynamic Cash Rewards program are defined as:

  • grocery stores (that are not affiliated with or departments of superstores, warehouse clubs or discount stores)
  • gas & convenience stores
  • quick service payment/fast food restaurants
  • telecommunications
  • cable/satellite TV/Internet Service Providers
  • video rentals
  • department stores
  • dry cleaners
  • drugstores
  • movie theatres
  • local and suburban commuter passenger transportation (including ferries, bridges, tolls, parking garages, taxis/limos)
  • pet supply stores and veterinary services
  • utilities
  • beauty shops (salons and spas)
  • gym/recreation memberships

If you already have a Freedom card, you’ll have to contact Chase in order to convert your card. People from FW and BS have reported mixed results, as not all customer service reps appear to be familiar with the program. There appear to be at least two routes to convert:

  1. Upgrade to the Chase Freedom Visa Signature version of the card. The Dynamic Rewards program appears to come with the Visa Signature. You’ll need a credit limit of $5,000 on your card as a prerequisite.
  2. Convert to the Chase Freedom Points Visa. Some have reported being automatically converted to this program after their Cash card was converted to earn points.

This program makes the Freedom card even more suitable as a general purpose card, especially among lighter spenders. The $600 monthly cap on 3% doesn’t make it the first choice for big spenders, but as a backup card, it could still work well.

One comment

Washington Mutual MasterCard: Up to 10% Rebate on Gas for 6 Months

Balance Transfer Offers, Cash Back Cards

Benefits include:

  • 0% FIXED APR for 12 months on Balances Transferred now (not on Purchases or Cash Advances)*
  • Up to 10% Cash Back on Gas Purchases for 6 Months*
  • Up to 5% Cash Back on “Everyday Purchases” and 1% on Other Purchases*
  • No annual fee!

The most impressive aspect of this card is that it turns into a 5% rebate card at grocery stores, gas stations, drugstores, and dry cleaners (exluding purchases made at superstores and warehouse clubs) after $4,000 in spending:

Total Net New Purchases to Date During Rebate Period Rebate on Everyday Purchases (Except Gasoline for First 6 Months of Account) Rebate on Purchases of Gasoline for First 6 Months of Account Rebate on Other Purchases
$0–$1,000 0.5% 5.5% 0.25%
$1,001–$2,000 1% 6% 0.5%
$2,001–$4,000 3% 8% 0.75%
$4,001+ 5% 10% 1%

For anyone who spends a lot annually on “everyday purchases,” this becomes an attractive card. You would have to “suffer” through the first $4,000 in spending, which, if you charged only on EDP, would earn an effective rebate of 1.875%. That’s considerably better than the Amex Blue Cash, which earns only 1% on EDP for the first $6,500 of annual spending. The one advantage that Blue Cash has over this Wamu card is that once $6,500 is reached, the base rebate becomes 1.5%, as opposed to Wamu’s 1%.

Link (via FW)

Leave a comment
1 … 74 75 76 77 78 … 93