boonkauc said:For those who get gas cards and waste their 5%, why not get a citi dividend platinum? It offers the same rewards, but you can just get a check rather than having to get giftcards.

It's a pretty small waste to me. Each point is worth .95 cents to me instead of 1 cent, since I use that gas station anyway, and use the gift cards up quickly.

I don't have to worry about maxing out (much larger max which I'll never hit) and I'm a more profitable customer to Citi. Not sure what Citi pays for the gas cards, but probably less than 95%?

Don't know if they are, but Citi should be keeping data on how profitable I am, and treat me appropriately. When it's no big deal to me, I try to help out companies I deal with. Especially since these cards are already almost too good to be true--I didn't expect the deal to stay this good for so long.

If I were to try to squeeze out every penny, I'd have both cards, keep careful records, and if max out the benefits on Cash Back one, then switch to the points one.

triggerhappy007 said:boonkauc said:For those who get gas cards and waste their 5%, why not get a citi dividend platinum? It offers the same rewards, but you can just get a check rather than having to get giftcards.
It doesn't have BVG that my Diamond Preferred has. This has saved me about $200 already.

How easy it is to claim BVG with Citi? AMEX is getting tougher these days...

Got $600 in GC to Circuit City to buy me a flat screen along with 10% cpn.

Amazon GC's are nice, but you lose the 3% you'd get with the Amazon Visa.

ImLovinFW said:triggerhappy007 said:boonkauc said:For those who get gas cards and waste their 5%, why not get a citi dividend platinum? It offers the same rewards, but you can just get a check rather than having to get giftcards.
It doesn't have BVG that my Diamond Preferred has. This has saved me about $200 already.

How easy it is to claim BVG with Citi? AMEX is getting tougher these days...

Hmm, IMHO AMEX is easier than citibank. Able to get claim # immediately and FAX information over to them. Citibank is wait until the form and claim # comes in the mail then submit with paperwork. A lot of run around the two times I've done citibank. AMEX sometimes asks for the physical ad to be sent if the scan/fax doesn't come out nicely (usually if red background like Staples or RadioShack).

AyresFan said:aegean94305 said:Susannah said:
Just wanted to mention that American Airlines gift cards can now be purchased at Safeway, so if you're flying American, that's going to be a better point/$ ratio (5 pts/$) than the PP Elite card.
Disagree. By doing this you get 5 pts/$ only for the amount of the gift card, and you are losing potential flight points, while with PP the flight points boost all your spending to 2 pts/$ (again given that you fly enough).
Actually, the proper strategy is to buy AA GCs for an amount slightly less than the total price of your ticket and put the balance on the PP card. I believe that the flight points should still post OK. Say you're buying a $350 ticket, get 3 $100 AA GCs. You get 5 pts/$ on this, 2 pts/$ on the remaining $50 charge that goes on the PP card (with the flight point match), and your flight points. This strategy essentially nets an extra 3 pts/$ on the $300 portion paid using GCs. Also if you buy at Safeway/Pavilion, you can get 125 United or Alaska miles per $250 spent.

I did something similar. I used my continental points for a free roundtip 25k miles. There is a $10 security fee you still have to pay. I use my Elite premier plus card for the $10 fee. I got 2800 thank you points for the 2800 miles my free flight at .01c per poimt. equiv to $28 worth of points for the $10 charge

I usually ask them to send me a check to pay to US Dept of Education for student loan. Then I just drop it into my bank's ATM machine to deposit to my checking account. It has been working pretty well.

ILikeDollars said:I've redeemed twice for the student loan rebate, once about a year ago and again recently. My loans are all Direct Loans, so they're financed through the US Dept of Education. A year ago when they sent me the rebate the check was made out to (imagine my name is John Smith and I live on TwoWay Street):

US Dept of Education
John Smith
TwoWay Street
Anytown, USA 12345

I took that check straight to the bank and deposited it, no problem. However, I just redeemed again recently and received my check a few days ago. This time, the check was just made out to:

US Dept of Education

No account number (even though the thank you rep asked me for it), nothing. I went ahead and actually sent this one towards my student loan, but next time I'll probably just tell them the name of my local bank so I can deposit it into my savings account (my student loan interest rates are less than what I can earn at Presidential/ING/etc, so no need to pay them down).Thanks for the great tips, but when I clicked on Add to Cart for a Student Loan Rebate, it tells me:

We're sorry, but this reward is currently not available for ordering on our Web site. Please call our Service Center to order at 1-877-7-REDEEM (1-877-773-3336). The ThankYou Service Center is open from Monday to Friday, 9 a.m. to 11 p.m. EST.

Were you able to redeem your recent student loan rebate online? If this restriction is totally new, I wonder if it was because of the FW effect.

I always get target gift cards for necessities - groceries, health products, etc. Or if I want to purchase something from Target online, I get 4.4% FatCash.

Call the number for the Thank You Rewards Network. They have a travel department. They are very helpful. Just tell them which airport you are leaving from and which you want to go to. Give them dates and time for flight, and they will try their best to match your needs.