Credit cards with cash back or points?

[Gringo185]

What type of credit card rewards do you guys tend to lean towards? What are the benefits of one over the other? I've never really given any thought to either until recently. But then I purchased a fairly expensive item using points and my eyes were open. I know that it's going to vary from card to card so as an example, I've had an Amex Every Day credit card for a while now and I'm looking to either upgrade to the Amex Everyday Preferred or switch to the Blue Cash (then eventually the Blue Cash Preferred when eligible). To be clear, I don't carry a balance from month to month so APR is somewhat irrelevant. I just use it for all of my purchases for the month, review my statement, and pay it off.

Is one better than the other? Or are we looking at more of a "6 in one, half-dozen in the other" situation?

 

[AustinSN]

$0 fee is a big one for me. Paying for a card pisses me off.

I have the chase freedom card, 1% cash back unlimited and 5% on quarterly specials. (gas, restaurants, amazon, etc)

 

[sleek98]

I almost always do cash back, except for when I need a trip then I open the southwest card for the bonus miles.

I just find it easier to apply the cash to something I want via statement credit than trying to figure out how to use their points (call it lazy, but I havent looked into a points card in 10 years)

 

[Russo]

I have Chase Ink through my business. When my wife and I bought our house, I redeemed enough points to get a Kenmore Elite refrigerator, washer, and dryer..

 

[ssj4sadie]

I've had the blue cash preferred for a little under 3 months now. I havent dealt with CC's really until this card and the huge draw for me was the 6% back on groceries. Downside is that is only for the first year, after that it drops to 1%. But at this point the card has paid for itself and i like it. On a random plus side the card is clear/iridescent blue and looks cool as ****.

 

[Gringo185]

From what I've read, the drop to 1% is only after $6k is spent in a year and resets every year. You always earn 6% for the first $6k at grocery stores.

 

[BlueSnake01]

Cach back that can be used for anything or points thats limited to certain stuff? Hmm Ill take cash back.

 

[black4vcobra]

Travel points are what I go for. Sometimes cards have special offers where you get $400 credit in travel expenses for spending $500 in 3 months. It's too good to pass up for me

 

[ssj4sadie]

From what I've read, the drop to 1% is only after $6k is spent in a year and resets every year. You always earn 6% for the first $6k at grocery stores.

If that is truly the case i dont see myself ever going to a different card.

 

[oldmodman]

I buy a lot of stuff from Amazon.
So I got the Visa Amazon Chase card. I get 3% on most everything I buy, except gas is 2%.
It makes it even more convenient that there is a Chase office 1/2 mile from me.

 

[03cobra#694]

I buy a lot of stuff from Amazon.
So I got the Visa Amazon Chase card. I get 3% on most everything I buy, except gas is 2%.
It makes it even more convenient that there is a Chase office 1/2 mile from me.

Same, along with a few others that have similar.

 

[jbs$]

I use a Capital-One Venture Card for travel points. No black-out issues and excellect service on travel arrangements. Also, no foreign currency exchange fees.

 

[TK Doom]

From what I've read, the drop to 1% is only after $6k is spent in a year and resets every year. You always earn 6% for the first $6k at grocery stores.

This.

I have it as well for the cool as **** factor. Pays for itself.

That said, if I wasn't a Blue Card fanboi, you think that everyone would have that one card that Samuel L Jackson pimps. I forget what its called though.

 

[ford fanatic]

We used to have a card that would give us points towards airline travel, now with a two year old we can't just pick up and go like we used to.

We are currently using the CITI Double Cash back card for everything. We pay off every month so interest is not an issue.

 

[Blk04L]

Well, shit, might sign up for that Blue Amex. 6% at the grocery store is really nice.

 

[LS2GTO]

Points and cash back is basically the same thing (money in your pocket), except one you can use anywhere while the other you can only use at certain stores or vendors (airline miles for example).

But that doesn't mean the latter is bad, just depends on the amount you get back.

For example, I travel alot and have a Jet Blue card. For every $10,000 that I spend I get the equivalent of about $150 in Jet Blue currency that I can use on flights. That same $10,000 would get me about $100 in cash back from a regular credit card. So even though I can only use my points on flights, since I travel alot it makes sense to use points because the $150 that I save on my flight I get to use on other shit (compared to only $100 if I had chosen a cash back credit card).

So think wisely of where you shop and compare those benefits vs. straight up cash. I will second that Amex Blue however, it has 6% at groceries, 3% on gas and 1% everywhere (and that's all year long). If you're like me with a big family those grocery and gas bills really add up and getting that kind of cash back on a $250 trip to the grocery store is pretty nice.

 

[Blk04L]

So think wisely of where you shop and compare those benefits vs. straight up cash. I will second that Amex Blue however, it has 6% at groceries, 3% on gas and 1% everywhere (and that's all year long). If you're like me with a big family those grocery and gas bills really add up and getting that kind of cash back on a $250 trip to the grocery store is pretty nice.

I swear this was covered before, but I can't find the older thread, but does Target/Walmart fall under grocery or something else?
Damn Publix(grocery store) next to me charges around $10 more for what we usually buy for food over Walmart/Target. And we usually only spend $60-75 a trip for food, not including Costco.

 

[ford fanatic]

Points and cash back is basically the same thing (money in your pocket), except one you can use anywhere while the other you can only use at certain stores or vendors (airline miles for example).

But that doesn't mean the latter is bad, just depends on the amount you get back.

For example, I travel alot and have a Jet Blue card. For every $10,000 that I spend I get the equivalent of about $150 in Jet Blue currency that I can use on flights. That same $10,000 would get me about $100 in cash back from a regular credit card. So even though I can only use my points on flights, since I travel alot it makes sense to use points because the $150 that I save on my flight I get to use on other shit (compared to only $100 if I had chosen a cash back credit card).

Get another $50 on that 10K, here's what I am using http://creditcards.citicards.com/us...k&ProspectID=3A8F4B98824042A99EB8C217DEE25800

 

[LS2GTO]

I swear this was covered before, but I can't find the older thread, but does Target/Walmart fall under grocery or something else?
Damn Publix(grocery store) next to me charges around $10 more for what we usually buy for food over Walmart/Target. And we usually only spend $60-75 a trip for food, not including Costco.

I'm not sure how that works over there as they may be considered regular deparment store which then falls under their 3% category (which I forgot to mention also includes some department stores not just gas).

By their wording it seems the only stores that sell groceries which are not part of this program are big lot places like BJs or Costco.

 

[jbs$]

For me, the Capital-One Venture card offers two advantages. One, I get points on everything that I spend money on, two, I can choose what travel expense or which air line to use the accumulated points on. Capital-One treats it as a cash account for me to use as I see fit. Question to those who know such things; on the cash back cards, where the amount runs several thousand per year, how is this viewed by the IRS?