Comments on: Are Credit Card Rewards Really All That?

By: Ulrike

Ulrike — Wed, 11 Jun 2008 23:11:56 +0000

I love reward cards. I only apply for the ones that pay cash. To me, they are not any more trouble than any other bill I have to pay every month. Since I charge everything on these cards, I set up an automatic monthly payment from my bank account (about $100.00), so at least I won’t get slapped with a late fee in case I should be prevented from making the full payment (which has never happened, so far). In the last 12 months, my cash bonuses were just under $1000.00 on four separate cards (one of them paid 5% on everything for 6 months and 10% on fuel – that really added up!).
If you use credit cards and are able to pay them off every month, it would be a shame not to use a reward card!

By: Philip

Philip — Tue, 10 Jun 2008 17:03:16 +0000

I had recently commented over on allfinancialmatters about this. I do have and use a rewards card and carry no balance. I had been considering going back to using a debit card to cut out one payment and worry. However, it was pointed out that their is the security in using a credit card for fraudulent charges and not having it tied to your actual cash. For this reason I will continue using a credit card, and might as well earn CASH rewards while I am at it.

By: JoeTaxpayer

JoeTaxpayer — Tue, 10 Jun 2008 04:06:47 +0000

I agree that if one carries a balance, the interest pretty much will negate any reward. But for those that pay in full each month, the cash back cards make sense. Fidelity has a branded card thru FIA which offers 1.5% (started at 2%, and my card is grandfathered) cash into a 529 account. By the time my child hits college, it will pay for a full semester at the rate we are going. The airline miles are tough to use, and I’ve only used them for upgrades, never been able to get a free ticket for when I wanted to travel.
Joe

By: Curt

Curt — Mon, 09 Jun 2008 15:17:42 +0000

I think they are more hassle than they’re worth.