I just received my sunday newspaper and in the coupons section I saw an ad for the Chase Cash Plus credit card and then on another page I saw an add for the Chase Rewards Plus Mastercard. It seems that this new mastercard is similar to the Citibank Diamond Preferred Card in that it lets you earn 5 points/$ at Gas stations supermarkets, and drugstores. It doesn't appear to limit it to a year but there is not much information and the card is not on Chase's website so I don't now what the award redemptions are. Apparently you can use it for gift certificates 5,000 points for $50 or get $50 Cash Back for 5,000 points. Also, you can redeem for air travel although they don't provide any information on how many points it takes. The phone number to apply is 1-866-347-8534 and the bonus code is XZD for 5,000 bonus points when you apply. Also, the card gives you 0% APR for 12 months. This offer is valid until 1/31/06.

Hopefully, someone has a link to the card or nows what the various redemption levels are.

I just called to find out additional information and although the travel department wasn't open to offer information on the specific airline redemption rules as well as the particular caps if any, I was able to find out that the points do not expire on this card and also that you can redeem Cash Back in intervals of 2500 points for $25 and gift certificates in increments of 2500 points = $25.00. The person I spoke to told me that most likely the gift certificates available are similar to those offered in Chase's other rewards program meaning Darden's restaurant, Gap, Toys R' Us and a few other. Clearly the gift card option is far more limited than the citibank thankyou network. That being said since you can get 1% CashBack at the lowest redemption level this mitigates the weak gift card offering. I am far more interested in the airline travel though since this could be a very lucrative option and might actually be better than the thankyou network.

JC

Actually the Chase Rewards Plus is not a carbon copy of the Diamond Preferred Rewards Card issued by citibank for several reasons. 1)The Chase Rewards plus card offers 5X points on everyday spend not just for the first 12 months like the Diamond Prefferred but permanently (ie. until chase decides to change it.) 2)The Diamond Preferred Card does not give you a full 1% Cash Back if you redeem for cash but rather gives you (3000 points = $15 statement credit; 17,000 points = $100 statement credit, 5000 points = $25 statement credit etc.) Also, the Chase CashBack rewards come in the form of a check rather than a statement credit. 3) The points on the Diamond Preferred Card expire after 5 years (if I'm not mistaken) vs. the Chase Rewards plus points never expiring. 4) The number of options available through the thankyou network is more significant than the Chase Rewards card. 5)The airline redemptions from the advertisement require 21 days advance notice and a $25 fee vs. Citibanks 14 day advance notice and a $35 fee.

Things still unknown about this card are the number of points for various airline rewards. Will there be a cap (dollar limit) on air rewards like the Chase Travel Plus and MBNA Worldpoints card have. Will this card offer 1st class airline tickets or just coach. Will the card let you book on any airline if space is available or just in certain fare classes like the ThankYou network requires. Also, will you be able to choose your itinerary or will you only get to select the dates and then chase chooses the flights to put you on (ala MBNA worldpoints). Also, will you have to pay taxes and fees on your tickets and if so are they the actual taxes and fees associated with a ticket or a much inflated amount of taxes and fees as Global impact charges. On another forum it has been reported that customer have redeemed tickets to Europe that would have cost $800 and global impact charged them about $150 in taxes while the airline website showed only about $50 in taxes. Also, the Citibank Thankyou Network lets you earn points for shopping online with specific merchants and using a ThankYou network enrolled card which chase does not appear to offer at this point.

I feel though that this card has the potential to be a great card though if the airline rewards mimick the Citibank ThankYou Network redemption schedule and Chase charges only normal taxes because if I want to fly somewhere (where the points redeemed are worth more than 1%) I can redeem the points for an airline ticket but if not than I can still redeem the points for a full 1% CashBack rather than having to get a giftcard which then reduces my future point earnings at that particular merchant since I can't put it on a credit card and also I have to select a specific merchant rather than pocketing the cash and choosing how I please to spend or save it. Additionally, with the points never expiring one has more flexibility in redemption options since you can amass more points toward a higher award where the poibts could be more valuable. Afterall if all of your spending was in the everyday spend categories and you wanted a ticket to Europe at 50,000 points that means you would have to spend $10,000 over 5 years or $2000 every year. Not everyone spends this much. In fact, I think the average consumer spends between $1500 and $2000 a year on a visa or mastercard credit card. So this means some of the higher valued items would be out their redemption league with a 5 year point expiration. Plus, as I've mentioned before any of Chase's rewards programs are available on their partner cards like St. Judes, World Wildlife Fund, American Medical Association, the San Diego Zoo, their various College credit cards for alumni and college students which means that in addition to supporting an organization you can earn these lucrative rewards. This option is not available with Citibank.

Joe, nice summary of the differences between the 2 programs....at first blush the programs looked similar, but when you analyze it in depth, the differences become apparent.


unknownshopper said:

Hey! I don't begrudge YOUR billable hours! You know how careful you have to be when you reuse project work for a 2nd client? You have to make sure EVERY reference to the first client has been changed. That's work, I'll have you know. yeah it can be embarassing when the previous client's name is left on the caption of a pleading

Mathfaster,

When Chase launched the Chase Cash Plus Rewards card they did not list it on their website for almost a month after the flyers in the newspapers came out. However, there were links to this card on the internet doing a google or A9 search. On the other hand, doing a google or A9 search for the Chase Rewards Plus credit card shows absolutely no results except people who mistakenly called the Chase Cash Plus Rewards card the Chase Rewards Plus card. (I know they have very similar names and even when I called Chase tonight the representatives thought I was talking about the Cash Plus card rather than the Rewards Plus card.) Hopefully information will be forthcoming shortly though I doubt that since Chase is not very upfront about their rewards programs since they merged with Bank One. In the good old days chase use to have a great website www.chasetravelrewards.com for their chase Travel Rewards program and their other rewards program had a website as well (the name escapes me right now). Unfortunately after Chase merged with Bank One and changed their rewards programs the information started disappearing. For instance, I used to be a Chase Travel Rewards card holder and in June received a mailer telling me the great news that I was being converted to a Chase Travel Plus card that had a $29 annual fee versus my $0 annual fee and that the program was being enhanced by increasing the number of points for various rewards and decreasing the cap for airline tickets in addition to losing the benefit of converting the points to continental at a 1 point to 1 continental mile ratio up to 25,000 points per year. I was also informed that there would be a new website with all of the benefits of the new program at www.ichoosemyrewards.com. Well, I patiently waited until August 2005 approximately 1 month after the website was supposed to show up and it never did. Ironically enough, the website still doesn't exist almost 6 months after the conversion. Therefore, I highly doubt that we will see much detailed information about this card and redemption levels anytime soon. I wish Chase was more transparent but I guess they took the saying "a sucker is born every second" literally and thus want to entice people to apply for cards without knowing what the benefits and rewards are. At least Citibank, American Express, and MBNA are upfront about their rewards programs. I even tried to get a copy of the rewards book for this particular program tonight from a CSR at Chase Rewards headquarters and was told that I couldn't receive it because I was not a cardholder and it contained privacy information that was specific to cardholders. I laughed at the guy and told him that I have received the same privacy statement for all of my Chase cards and this is the first time I have ever been denied detailed information about a rewards program from a credit card company. Lets be honest, Chase has the Chase Value Miles Card, the Chase Flexible Rewards Card, the Chase Travel Plus Card, the Chase Rewards Plus Card, and several other cards and when you go to their website they give you the most bare bones information about the rewards options. Why can' they be transparent. Probably because they don't want to let their competitors know what they are offering and also because they don't want their customers to know what they are going to get from a card until they have them locked in. Also, I find it ironic that alot of the affinity cards offered from Chase like the St. Judes Card, American Medical Association, World Wildlife Fund, San Diego Zoo, and their college and alumni credit cards can all have any of the chase rewards program applied to them yet the only option chase's website shows is the Flexible Rewards Select program which costs $59. Why because it costs chase extra to offer this in addition to donating money to respective organizations. Therefore, they don't have to give out rewards to a lot of cardmembers since they are unaware that their card could have rewards added. It is all about improving the bottem line.

With that being said, I like chase as a credit card company and have not had any problems with them over the years although I don't like their secrecy about various options available to cardmembers.

Joe1690,

I have two Chase Cards. My impresssion is that the two credit operations have not been merged as yet. The Chase Cash Plus Rewards and my Chase Freedom card both have two different grace periods. Also, one is Visa and one MasterCard. Bank One merged with FNB of Chicago. FNB of Chicago was a big VISA card issuer. Having worked in IT banking for 15 years it takes a while to merge IT and operations so I think the web gives the appearance of a single company but I'm betting it hasn't happened yet. Yeah, I GOOGLED the card as well and came up empty as well. Setting options on a card is just a matter of setting a flag on an account record. That's why you see so many cards but in reality it's just one set of processing logic. Flip a a few bytes on and off and you can charge annual fees, change the points levels. Just a matter of how flexible the system design was.

Here's a scan of the ad:
Chase Rewards Plus MasterCard

Fine Print:

1 Five points will be earned for each dollar of net purchases made at retail establishments that classify their merchant location for Visa/MasterCard as a gas station, grocery store or Drugstore, and one point for each dollar of net purchases everywhere else. Awards are subject to program restrictions, including 21 day advance ticketing and Saturday night stay. A service fee of up to $25.00 will be charged for the use of Reward Headquarters services for redemption of air travel. Points are not earned on balance transfers, cash advances, any checks that access your account, overdraft protection advances, travelers checks, finance changes, or fees of any kind including fees for products that protect or insure the balances of the cardmember's account. Maximum point accumulation is 75,000 points annually on net purchases. The maximum cash reward redemption is $600 per calendar year. Once enrolled, your rewards disclosure will be sent to you containing all program guidelines and benefits.

2 After account opening and first purchase you will receive 5,000 bonus points, which can be redeemed for 1% Cash Back or a $50 gift certificate. Please allow 6 to 8 weeks after your first purchase for bonus points to post to your account.

3 Offer subject to credit approval. Elite and Premium Pricing: An introductory APR of 0% fixed on purchases and balance transfers effective for the first 12 billing cycles following the opening of your account; after that, an APR of 12.74% varaible for Elite Pricing or 16.74% variable for Premium Pricing applies. The APR for cash advances is 22.74% variable or, if your purchase APR is 21 .74% variable, then 26.74% variable. Standard Pricing: An introductory APR of 0% fixed on balance transfers effective for the first 3 billing cycles following the opening of your account; after that, or if you do not transfer a balance wfth your application, an APR of 21.74% variable applies. The APR for purchases from account opening is 21.74% variable. The APR for cash advances is 26.74% variable. You agree that we will consider your application for an Elite Pricing account and that we reserve the right, based upon our evaluation of information furnished by you or others (including credit reporting agencies), to open a Premium Pricing account or a Standard Pricing account, or not to open any account. For all accounts; The default rate equals an APR up to 30.74% varisble. The APR for Overdraft Advances, if applicable, is 13.99% fixed. Variable APRs are based an the 6.75% Prime Rate on 10/06/05. Annual fee: None. Minimum monthly Finance Charge: $1.00. Cash Advance Fee: 3% of the amount of the advance, but not less than $10.00. Balance Transfer Fee: 3% of the amount of each transaction, but not less than $5.00 nor more than $75.00. International Transactions: 3% of the U.S. dollar amount of the transaction, whether originally made in U.S. dollars or converted from a foreign currency. The lender or your account will be Chase Bank USA, NA. You should contact us to obtain information on any changes to these terms after the printing date by writing to Cardmember Service, P.O. Boo 15043, Wilmington, DE 19850-5043. This offer is available only to applicants who reside in the Unded States of America.

4 Length of your introductory period will be either 12 months for purchases and balance transfers or 3 months for balance transfers depending on our review of your application and credit history.

FS17593O_APC6979_J Print date: 11/05

lial said:Joe1690 said:The Chase Rewards plus card offers 5X points on everyday spend not just for the first 12 months like the Diamond Prefferred but permanently (ie. until chase decides to change it.)


I see a couple of references in this thread regading the 5X thankyou points for everyday purchases for the Citi Diamond Preferred Rewards card being only for the first 12 months. Does anyone have any references for that, because I searched on the citi website and I don't find anything.

when you apply for new card, they tell you it's for 12 month only, but later you get the letter which says that it extended forever(i.e. until they decide to cancel it). Which makes it the same as Chase card.
Same thing with AT&T and dividend cards. Unfortunately Driver's Edge only offers 6% on everyday purchases for 12 month(3% after that).

Joe1690 said:I called Chase again today to find out more information about the program and the airline redemption levels. There still appears to be a lot of a confusion on this particular card. For instance, I was told that all of the airline redemptions have dollar caps but no one can seem to tell me what they are. Also, no one can find in the terms and conditions an expiration date for the points although one of the customer service representatives supposedly asked a manager and who informed him it was 4 years. So the expiration date still seems unknown with 3 represenatives telling me that there is no expiration and 1 telling me that it is 4 years.

Airline Travel:

All tickets must be booked 21 days in advance and require a saturday night stay. Unlike Citibank which offers you an unrestricted option apparently Chase does not offer this. Also the redemption levels from the only representative who could find the information was:

Continental US: 25,000 points
Canada, Alaska, Hawaii, and Mexico: 35,000 points
The Carribbean: 50,000 points (although I question this)
Europe, Asia, Australia 60,000 points (although I question the Asia and Australia part because this seems low).

I was also told by the travel department that all taxes and fees are included in the redeemed ticket up to the cap (which is unkown at this point).

So depending on what the cap is, the number of points for some of the redemptions and the number of years until the points expire this card could be competitive with the ThankYou Network although I am not so sure. For basic continental US tickets and Hawaii this seems like an okay deal but for the rest of the redemptions the points are higher than the Citibank counterpart. However, if the taxes and fees are included this could still be a good deal with some of the higher number of points seeing as citibank seems to charge around $100 - $200 in taxes and fees versus chase's $25 fee. Also, citibanks restricted tickets only require 14 days advance notice while Chase's requires 21 days but Chase told me that if there is a seat on the plane they can book it unlike citibank which has specific fare classes and preferred airlines. Also, Chase does not book tickets on JetBlue or Independence air.

I still think this is a better card than the Cash Plus card though because you can get Cash in $25 increments for 2500 points and the points expire either in 4 years or never depending on who you talk to versus 3 years for the cash plus program. Also, the Cash Plus has a maximum earning of 30,000 points while the Rewards plus has a 75,000 point cap. So in theory you can redeem your points for cash if no better options present themselves but also you have the flexibility to possibly earn more than 1 cent per dollar with the airline rewards.

So, did you pull the trigger and apply for the card?

Joe1690 said:No, I did not apply for the card since I already have 2 chase cards with rewards on them. Once I have reached my redemption level on 1 of my chase cards I will call and have my existing rewards program converted and once I get the brochure booklet with the full information I will then consider converting my second card.

I've nearly reached my redemption level with my Cash Plus card. I also possess a Chase perfectcard MC which is for the most part sockdrawered. I could convert the perfectcard into this rewards plus mc, but then I wouldn't gain the $50. Chase will hard pull for either converting or a new app. I may consider applying for this card then at activation either combine the perfectcard entirely, or just some of the credit line. I guess it comes down to whor&*% out a few points for $50, LOL