Morty said:Also add the Advanta Platinum Business Rewards Mastercard that provides 5% back on gasoline, office supplies, technology items, and utilities, 1% on everything else. Max $25/month. Watch for merchants that code as general retail (such as Dell), so you need to be selective about using it.
libralibra said:But my real question is, why do the airline affinity cards still exist? They give only 1 mile/$, have $50-100 annual fee, and have blackout dates (or capacity controls since they're just regular miles). With these 5% cards, spending $5000 gives you a ticket with no blackouts or limited seats, and no annual fee. Am I missing something?Not everybody travels only domestically. Priced a flight to Europe or India in high season? In that case, miles are king, if you can use them. Or you can nearly always spend twice the miles to fly on the last available seat. Ever have to go to a funeral last minute? Its often 5 times the price, but only twice the miles. Or flying business or first class. Lots of reasons for miles over cash.

5% on transportation also. It's a great card, and I have been very happy with their customer support so far. Very polite, friendly, helpful, and speak very clearly.

Thanks OP! Especially for the head's up on the Citibank AMEX- now I can get 5% AND participate in the wishlists and get great CS.

CaptainAlias said:Thanks OP! Especially for the head's up on the Citibank AMEX- now I can get 5% AND participate in the wishlists and get great CS.

its a citi card.

it has nothing to do with AMEX other then the name.

same with mbna AMEX cards.

I doubt it.

Maybe someone who has an MBNA AMEX can chime in and tell us if they were able to participate this year.

didYOUsearch said:OP - att universal has a $300 annual rewards cap, not 750. please edit OP

Thats what I thought too, and that is why I included this card under Dividend after you mentioned it.... until I did some research.... "You can earn up to 75,000 ThankYou Points during any calendar year (eligible purchases appearing on your January-December billing statements" That is in the fine print of the website I linked, and in the terms and conditions of the apply page." Joe1690 described the card (correctly) as very similar to the Diamond Preferred offering, which is what brought the higher rewards limit to my attention. I too thought it was limited to $300, until I did some research after Joe1690's remarks. Thanks Joe1690!

I do find it odd, however, that in the terms and conditions of the apply page, it only mentions 5% off AT&T purchases. In the card description page I linked in my OP it does say specifically that you can save 5% on the Big 3 as well. Joe1690 said that they don't limit the Big 3 discount to 1 year, and he seems to regularly be correct, but I would still call before applying to make sure that is the case. Citi was a bit deceiving when it came to the Diamond Preferred limit, so I don't put my full trust in Citi to disclose everything.

Thanks for looking out for me though dYs. It seems like they upgraded the program though... to our benefit.

The citi/AMEX does have "price protection" per the citicard site.

I'm not sure if this was mentioned, but the reason I feel AT&T Universal is better than Dividend is because of their free cell phone insurance.

Up to 100 dollars back off a new cell phone purchase if your old phone was lost or stolen. Your old cell phone also needs to be at least 150 dollars for full 100 back. Stolen phones need to have a police report done with 48 hours of theft. Lost phones must be reported within 60 days of loss. You need copies of old cell phone receipt, new cell phone receipt, and police report.

Here is an example:

I paid 75 dollars for my old cell phone. It gets stolen. I file a police report within 48 days. I buy a new cell phone for 125 dollars. I send in my old receipt, new receipt, and police report. I will get 25 dollar check back, because they take the lesser value of the two phones, minus the 50 dollar deductable, and then issue the amount. In this example, you take $75 as the lower value of the two, and subtract the 50 dollar deductable, and get a 25 dollar insurance check back.

Best usage of this insurance would be to have a 150 dollar original phone, and replace with another 150 dollar phone if your original phone is lost or stolen. You can get the full 100 dollar discount.

For more info call up AT&T Universal Card.

A small perk for Citi cards is that you can put your photo and signature on the front of the card. I like this feature. The dividend card can also be obtained in a VISA version if you are a student, so that might also be another reason to get Dividend instead of the other 5% MC cards.

the att universal cash rewards 5% card was 5% on gas grocery ad drug for life when a lot of us signed up for it last year, dont know whether new apps have the same terms


sleepynyte - they dont require police report for a LOST phone right?
if so, seems far easier to say it was lost rather than stolen. no one rarely knows for sure if their phone is lost or stolen anyway

It appears that Discover Platinum Home Improvement and Discover Platinum Restaurant cards are no longer being offered on the Discover web site. The Discover Platinum Gas card is still available.

There's something really bothering me, I have two citi cards now, and it's really bugging me that there was a possibility that I could have referred myself for my second card and gotten (in my case) $50... has anyone tried referring themselves? cuz im a college student and i referred myself to see what the email says, and it actually offered any college cards, so i was wondering if i had signed up for my second card through my own referral instead of a straight normal application, would i have gotten the $50 statement reward?!