So I was looking for a 5% card to use at restaurants. It looks like the forward card is the only one that offers this. But if I want to use the points for airfare and get a 25% discount then I need to also have a premier elite card and having the elite card will also improve my redemption options? But if I want to get the annual fee waived for the elite card then I need to sign up for a gold bank account? This is turning out to be a lot more complicated then just a simple 5% Cash Back card to use at restaurants. Have I got all this right and is there a better option for me? I already have the 2% FIA AMEX, just looking to get 2 more one for gas(penfed or fort knox) and one for restaurants.
scorptrigger said: So I was looking for a 5% card to use at restaurants. It looks like the forward card is the only one that offers this. But if I want to use the points for airfare and get a 25% discount then I need to also have a premier elite card and having the elite card will also improve my redemption options? But if I want to get the annual fee waived for the elite card then I need to sign up for a gold bank account? This is turning out to be a lot more complicated then just a simple 5% Cash Back card to use at restaurants. Have I got all this right and is there a better option for me? I already have the 2% FIA AMEX, just looking to get 2 more one for gas(penfed or fort knox) and one for restaurants.
The Forward gives you 5% at restaurants if you redeem towards gift cards or travel. The TY Premier gets an additional 25% discount, making the Forward essentially 6.25% at restaurants. In other words, you're making it complicated. It's not. Forward gets you 5%. If you want better than that, it gets complicated.
As you noted, it only gets you the 5% if you redeem it for gift cards or travel. For people like me who don't travel a lot anymore, don't spend much in the stores for which gift cards are available, and just want the cash, it's less.
TooManyCards said: dukerau said: Forward gets you 5%.
As you noted, it only gets you the 5% if you redeem it for gift cards or travel. For people like me who don't travel a lot anymore, don't spend much in the stores for which gift cards are available, and just want the cash, it's less.
Hold on now, a lot of us have 1:1 student loan or mortgage rewards, and if you want to get technical it's 6.25% on flights since you get a 25% bonus.
TooManyCards said: dukerau said: Forward gets you 5%.
As you noted, it only gets you the 5% if you redeem it for gift cards or travel. For people like me who don't travel a lot anymore, don't spend much in the stores for which gift cards are available, and just want the cash, it's less.
Then just sell the popular gift cards on one of the many sites that buy them. I think WalMart and Target get about 91% back so your 5% turns into around 4.5%. Don't know of any CashBack cards that give that type of return all year long.
TooManyCards said: dukerau said: Forward gets you 5%.
As you noted, it only gets you the 5% if you redeem it for gift cards or travel. For people like me who don't travel a lot anymore, don't spend much in the stores for which gift cards are available, and just want the cash, it's less.
Also you can redeem for straight cash for a ~3.7% CashBack. I stick to mortgage or student loan payments which are a full 5%
As long as it is confirmed that it is still possible to use the student loan check option without a student loan then this is great! It would be the way to go given that the GC options are very limited with only forward. I am thinking I am about to apply for 3 cards at the same time. Forward, Fort Knox Visa(or possibly penfed if it has a chance of a higher limit), and Priceline Visa. My true fico scores range between 781-811 but my income is only ~$50k. I have not applied for any credit in almost 2 years. What is the chance of getting approved for all three?
scorptrigger said: So I was looking for a 5% card to use at restaurants. It looks like the forward card is the only one that offers this. But if I want to use the points for airfare and get a 25% discount then I need to also have a premier elite card and having the elite card will also improve my redemption options? But if I want to get the annual fee waived for the elite card then I need to sign up for a gold bank account? This is turning out to be a lot more complicated then just a simple 5% Cash Back card to use at restaurants. Have I got all this right and is there a better option for me? I already have the 2% FIA AMEX, just looking to get 2 more one for gas(penfed or fort knox) and one for restaurants.
Citi MTVU also rewards 5% at restaurants. I have had the Citi MTVU card since 2005 and they ran extra typ promos quite frequently. Right now I am getting extra 20% on base typ (I.e. 5.2% at restaurants, bookstores, movies, music and record stores & 1.2% on other spend). This current extra typ promo is running Aug 2011-Feb 2012.
Please correct me if I'm wrong, but isn't the elite (I suppose you are referring to the premierpass elite) discontinued?
hightide said: scorptrigger said: So I was looking for a 5% card to use at restaurants. It looks like the forward card is the only one that offers this. But if I want to use the points for airfare and get a 25% discount then I need to also have a premier elite card and having the elite card will also improve my redemption options? But if I want to get the annual fee waived for the elite card then I need to sign up for a gold bank account? This is turning out to be a lot more complicated then just a simple 5% Cash Back card to use at restaurants. Have I got all this right and is there a better option for me? I already have the 2% FIA AMEX, just looking to get 2 more one for gas(penfed or fort knox) and one for restaurants.
Citi MTVU also rewards 5% at restaurants. I have had the Citi MTVU card since 2005 and they ran extra typ promos quite frequently. Right now I am getting extra 20% on base typ (I.e. 5.2% at restaurants, bookstores, movies, music and record stores & 1.2% on other spend). This current extra typ promo is running Aug 2011-Feb 2012.
Please correct me if I'm wrong, but isn't the elite (I suppose you are referring to the premierpass elite) discontinued?
No, he's referring to the Thank You Premier card. If I were looking to get 2 cards to max out my rewards on restaurant and gas spending, I think Forward + Penfed is a slam dunk. Plus the 5% at Amazon is a nice cherry on top.
Forward $6500 Priceline visa $12500 Penfed $9500 I went for penfed because I have read reports of people who normally get approved for high CL getting low ones on Fort Knox, plus the interface on penfed looks much nicer. It will be interesting to see how my credit scores are changed by this.
dukerau said: hightide said: scorptrigger said: So I was looking for a 5% card to use at restaurants. It looks like the forward card is the only one that offers this. But if I want to use the points for airfare and get a 25% discount then I need to also have a premier elite card and having the elite card will also improve my redemption options? But if I want to get the annual fee waived for the elite card then I need to sign up for a gold bank account? This is turning out to be a lot more complicated then just a simple 5% Cash Back card to use at restaurants. Have I got all this right and is there a better option for me? I already have the 2% FIA AMEX, just looking to get 2 more one for gas(penfed or fort knox) and one for restaurants.
Citi MTVU also rewards 5% at restaurants. I have had the Citi MTVU card since 2005 and they ran extra typ promos quite frequently. Right now I am getting extra 20% on base typ (I.e. 5.2% at restaurants, bookstores, movies, music and record stores & 1.2% on other spend). This current extra typ promo is running Aug 2011-Feb 2012.
Please correct me if I'm wrong, but isn't the elite (I suppose you are referring to the premierpass elite) discontinued?
No, he's referring to the Thank You Premier card. If I were looking to get 2 cards to max out my rewards on restaurant and gas spending, I think Forward + Penfed is a slam dunk. Plus the 5% at Amazon is a nice cherry on top.
Gotcha- I am waiting for my citi premier card to arrive in the mail (wasn't aware that it is also called 'elite') Citi MTVU also rewards 5% at Amazon.com (as Amazon is considered a bookstore)
hightide said: Gotcha- I am waiting for my citi premier card to arrive in the mail (wasn't aware that it is also called 'elite') Citi MTVU also rewards 5% at Amazon.com (as Amazon is considered a bookstore)
They converted my MTVU to a forward a couple years ago(without a choice to keep it). It might be standard to convert it after a few years. It seems to work out just as well or better since I never sent in grades for the bonus points every 6 months and the Forward gives the extra points every statement just for having a charge/paying the bill. Also there are often +points offers on the forward and my other Citi Cards. I think I have an extra .2 pts/$ right now through dec 31 but also had an extra 1 pts/$ for black friday weekend (so I got 2.2pts/$ on $7k purchases that weekend -- A retail chain was running a "Buy 200 in giftcards, get $30 free" promotion that I almost went overboard with... and I also got a 3D epson projector. No 6.2pts/$ on Amazon though because I bought a bunch of Amazon giftcards....).
Will the the Thank You Premier card also increase my gift card redemption options(I already know its good for redeeming points for airfare)? I understand the GC redemption options are terrible if you just have the Forward card.
guoyuucla said: Will citi thankyou preferred card give you 1:1 redemption rate for gift cards too?
I have only forward card, and Amazon gift card is $50/6000pt, which is miserable. Would like to know if it will become $50/5000pt with preferred card. I have Preferred and Premier ... one of them does. Probably just the premier because you have to pay for it.
MisterEd said: guoyuucla said: Will citi thankyou preferred card give you 1:1 redemption rate for gift cards too?
I have only forward card, and Amazon gift card is $50/6000pt, which is miserable. Would like to know if it will become $50/5000pt with preferred card. I have Preferred and Premier ... one of them does. Probably just the premier because you have to pay for it.
I have a preferred card linked and it gives me the better redemption values.
I have the Visa Forward card, and it's only showing $25/3500TYP and $50/6000TYP. I guess this is one of those premier-only things.
Looking through gift cards right now, the only one for 10k points is a Hyatt card $100/10000TYP.
I feel so screwed with this Forward card.Yes, get the ThankYou Premier with the 50K points bonus now. You can then downgrade to Preferred after first year. Apparently, both of these have the better reward redemption options.
PitPirate said: Amazon $100 card is now available for 9,000 points, and I only have the forward / MTVu / platinum dividend cards.
A pretty good deal, though with the forward I get 5% typ Cash Back at Amazon. Still, a 10% discount is not bad at all. I see it too, and I only have a Forward (and Dividend, which doesn't use thankyou points). I didn't have that option a few days ago, when people with Premier cards had the deal.
Probably not a coincidence that Chase Freedom Ultimate Rewards also has Amazon gift cards 10% off (though people say last Thanksgiving, Ultimate Rewards had really good deals for Best Buy and they bought Amazon gift cards at Best Buy for a better deal). For ThankYou though, I think this is a pretty good deal.
[Edited to fix typo; it's Chase Freedom Ultimate Rewards; and note that some people said Ultimate Rewards for non-Freedom cards doesn't have the discount]
govenar said: PitPirate said: Amazon $100 card is now available for 9,000 points, and I only have the forward / MTVu / platinum dividend cards.
A pretty good deal, though with the forward I get 5% typ Cash Back at Amazon. Still, a 10% discount is not bad at all. I see it too, and I only have a Forward (and Dividend, which doesn't use thankyou points). I didn't have that option a few days ago, when people with Premier cards had the deal. Probably not a coincidence that Chase Forward Ultimate Rewards also has Amazon gift cards 10% off (though people say last Thanksgiving, Ultimate Rewards had really good deals for Best Buy and they bought Amazon gift cards at Best Buy for a better deal). For ThankYou though, I think this is a pretty good deal.
Thanks for the heads up on Chase having the Amaz0n GCs on sale also. I just got two $100 GCs through Chase so I feel less bad about not having quite enough points for the Citi GC sale ATM.
Thanks also, this is a useful sale and there is no obvious way from Citi to know it's going on, only FWers. I tried to get 2 $100 cards & could not, limit one per person. I'm spreading some green around for this help. Are any other gift cards on sale?
sullidav said: Thanks also, this is a useful sale and there is no obvious way from Citi to know it's going on, only FWers. I tried to get 2 $100 cards & could not, limit one per person. I'm spreading some green around for this help. Are any other gift cards on sale?
(ps - I am a Forward only customer of Citi)
You can get as many as you want just check-out one at a time. I just cashed $1200 worth, no problem.
PitPirate said: Amazon $100 card is now available for 9,000 points, and I only have the forward / MTVu / platinum dividend cards.
A pretty good deal, though with the forward I get 5% typ Cash Back at Amazon. Still, a 10% discount is not bad at all. Yay!!! They are finally available for those that only have the Forward card.
I just redeemed $500 worth. Now I just have to finally apply for the ThankYou Premier with the 50K bonus so I can make it $1000 worth.
Does anyone know if we can still redeem student loan checks to pay off credit card bills (Chase)? I'm a poor student but my (federal) loans have a low interest rate. I'd rather pay off my credit card to free up some cash.
You can usually just get a check made out to whatever Bank you bank with. Deposit it into an ATM for the best chances of these checks being accepted and not returned to you.
I came upon this post but I ended up redeeming for Amazon.com gift codes. $100 Amazon.com code for 90,000 points, which is pretty good in my opinion because I will always use Amazon.com. After I use up all my points I will probably close out the credit card because I find Thankyou points pretty useless.
glee719 said: I came upon this post but I ended up redeeming for Amazon.com gift codes. $100 Amazon.com code for 90,000 points, which is pretty good in my opinion because I will always use Amazon.com. After I use up all my points I will probably close out the credit card because I find Thankyou points pretty useless.
If a $100 GC cost me 90,000 points, I'd find the program pretty useless as well. LOL. What rewards card(s) do you recommend?
How is it that you have no badges displayed? Is there a way to hide them in your profile? You've been a member since 2000 and have over 1,000 posts, so you must have more than a few badges.
SarCastro67 said: sullidav said: Thanks also, this is a useful sale and there is no obvious way from Citi to know it's going on, only FWers. I tried to get 2 $100 cards & could not, limit one per person. I'm spreading some green around for this help. Are any other gift cards on sale?
(ps - I am a Forward only customer of Citi)
You can get as many as you want just check-out one at a time. I just cashed $1200 worth, no problem.
I cashed in a few as well, it does require doing it one at a time. Make sure and redeem the e-codes as soon as possible, they mistakenly sent me the same code twice so I had to call in get it resolved.
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