Our credit card strategy has changed from travel to earning more points while not traveling during this pandemic. One thing we did while quarantined and ordering online is we collected points and miles in order to save money in the future. Our strategy has changed wanting more benefits with travel and high cash back on Gas.
That space in your wallet or purse is valuable, and you should be the one to get that value. Selected banks are offering strong perks and $500+ value for a single card during the first year to encourage you to apply and try it out. These are the top 10 credit card offers that I would personally apply for right now, if I didn’t already have most of them. Notable changes:
IHG Hotels 140k/75k – 140k still highest ever, new 75k traveler offer.
Chase Freedom Unlimited raised to $200 Bonus plus extra cashback on groceries and gas stations
AmEx Blue Cash Preferred to Add Streaming, Transit Bonus Categories
If you pay off your balances every month, then you can join me and many others in funding a huge chunk of your annual travel budget with cash credits, points, and miles. You don’t need to be a “I only fly business class” world traveler. I mostly use my rewards points on domestic economy flights, mid-class hotels, and cheap car rentals. If you have credit card debt, you should focus on paying that off first as the interest charges could offset most of the perks.
This is a companion post to my Top 5 Best Business Card Offers. Small business bonuses are on average even higher than those on consumer cards.
$300 in statement credits every cardmember year for bookings made through Capital One Travel; this can be applied toward any type of travel booked through Capital One Travel, including flights, hotels, rental cars, etc. 10,000 bonus Venture miles on the account anniversary every year; there’s no spending requirement to unlock this, and it’s worth a minimum of $100 toward a travel purchase, or could get you up to 10,000 airline miles (which I value at $170)
$200 Bonus when you make a purchase for spending $500 in the first 3 months
5% cash back on Lyft rides
5% cash back on Amazon, Hotels, & Restaurants starting in April 2024! 5% back on GAS is coming back for another quarter but for now Discover offers 5% back.
1.5% cash back on all other purchases
0% Intro APR for 15 months from account opening on purchases and balance transfers
No annual fee
No minimum to redeem for cash back
Standard offer on both has typically been $150/$500, so this is a small boost. There are occasionally targeted or branch offers of $300 for either of the cards.
Up to 50,000 Hyatt points. 25,000 Bonus Points after $3,000 in purchases in the first 3 months. Plus an additional 25,000 Bonus Points after a total of $6,000 in purchases within the first 6 months. See link for details and rough valuation of points.
$95 annual fee, free night award upon card anniversary.
INTRO OFFER: Discover will match ALL the cash back you’ve earned at the end of your first year, automatically. There’s no signing up. And no limit to how much is matched.
Earn 5% cash back on everyday purchases at different places each quarter like grocery stores, restaurants, gas stations, select rideshares and online shopping, up to the quarterly maximum when you activate.
Plus, earn unlimited 1% cash back on all other purchases – automatically.
Redeem cash back any amount, any time. Rewards never expire.
Use your rewards at Amazon.com checkout.
Get an alert if we find your Social Security number on any of thousands of Dark Web sites.* Activate for free.
Marriott credit cards from Chase and American Express now earn an elevated 6X Marriott Bonvoy points per dollar spent on eligible grocery purchases amid coronavirus.
60,000 American Airlines miles after $3,000 in purchases in the first 3 months. See link for details.
First checked bag free on domestic AA flights ($60 value per roundtrip, per person).
$0 annual fee for the first year, then $99.
Barclays AAdvantage Aviator Red World Elite Mastercard
60,000 American Airlines miles after any purchase in the first 90 days and paying the $99 annual fee. See link for details.
$99 Companion certificate offer. Earn a certificate good for 1 guest at $99 (plus taxes and fees) after making your first purchase and paying the $99 annual fee in the first 90 days.
First checked bag free on domestic AA flights ($60 value per roundtrip, per person).
$99 annual fee.
Citi Premier Card
60,000 points (worth $750 towards travel booked at ThankYou.com) after $4,000 in purchases in the first 3 months. See link for details.
3X points for every $1 spent on travel including gas stations.
Must not have gotten bonus from or closed a Citi Rewards+, ThankYou Preferred, Premier, or Prestige card in the past 24 months.
$95 annual fee.
Bank of America Premium Rewards Card
50,000 points (worth $500 towards travel) after $3,000 in purchases within the first 90 days. See link for details.
2 points for every $1 spent on travel and dining purchases and 1.5 points for every $1 spent on all other purchases.
$100 annual Airline Incidental Statement Credit.
Up to $100 credit towards TSA PreCheck or Global Entry application fee.
$95 annual fee.
Hawaiian Airlines World Elite MasterCard
50,000 Hawaiian miles after $2,000 in purchases within 90 days. See link for details.
Free first checked bag for primary cardmember when using your card to purchase eligible tickets directly from Hawaiian Airlines.
Receive a one-time 50% off companion discount for roundtrip coach travel between Hawaii and The Mainland on Hawaiian Airlines.
$99 annual fee.
During this Coronavirus pandemic your credit card rewards can help you pay for groceries, food delivery and essentials. This is by using points, gift cards, or statement credits from existing cards or new ones with bonuses.
Note: Certain Chase cards have a “5/24 rule” which is an unofficial rule that they will automatically deny approval on new credit cards if you have 5 or more new credit cards from any issuer on your credit report within the past 2 years. This rule applies on a per-person basis, so if you are new, you might want to start with those Chase cards.
Costco has the largest overall membership base of the bulk wholesale clubs with more than 90 million members. They are best known for the bulk family-sized and commercial grocery offerings, it also offers savings on gas, electronics, clothing, and electronics.
One major con with Costco is that your credit card may not be accepted at checkout but you will most likely find that out when purchasing a membership.
Credit cards accepted at Costco
When you shop at Costco, you can use the warehouse club’s co-branded card, the Costco Anywhere Visa® Card by Citi, as well as any other credit card backed by the Visa network.
Here are some credit cards that can be used at Costco warehouses:
Since Costco has an exclusive contract with Visa, shoppers can’t use credit cards backed by the other three main networks — American Express, Mastercard and Discover — at Costco warehouses. However, you’re able to pay with Mastercard and Discover cards for purchases made at Costco.com and the Costco app.
Here are some cards that can be used online or via the Costco app:
Does Costco accept Discover card at the warehouse?
Costco does not accept Discover credit cards as a form of payment at the warehouse in-person. You can use it online.
Does Costco accept AMEX?
Costco stopped accepting American Express as a form of payment at its warehouses and gas stations. However, American Express may still be accepted at Costco-affiliated businesses such as Costco Travel or at certain Costco locations outside of the United States. I would recommend checking with the specific location you plan to visit to confirm their accepted forms of payment.
Costco U.S. accounts for 8% (10% worldwide) of spending on American Express cards overall right now but it appears the agreement will end on in 2016. Warehouse club retailer Costco Wholesale Corp will stop accepting American Express credit cards after a 15 partnership at U.S. stores and the loss of Costco would reduce spending on AmEx cards by about $80 billion a year, including their use at businesses other than Costco’s 468 stores in the United States and Puerto Rico.
If the idea of an unlimited 2% cash back card is on your mind, this is the comparison you’re likely here to see.
As mentioned previously, the Citi Double Cash is one of our favorite credit cards because it offers a straightforward 2% cash back. You earn 1% cash back as you purchase, followed by an additional 1% cash back earned when you pay your bill.
This PayPal Cashback Mastercard can match that 2% cash back, but does it stack up with the Double Cash in other areas? One card that is not mentioned is one that is better than both of these the Discover IT Match Card where you get double cashback with an additional 2% and 5% on quarterly bonuses.
Here’s a quick comparison of the cards to help you understand the main differences between the two:
Credit Card Perk
PayPal Cashback Mastercard
Citi Double Cash
Annual Fee
$0
$0
Intro Period for 0% APR on Balance Transfers
None
18 months
Cash Back Rewards
Unlimited 2%
Up to 2% unlimited (1% when you purchase, 1% when you pay your bill)
Cash Back Balance Redemption Minimum
No minimum
$25
Cash Back Redemption Method
Via linked PayPal account: Debit card or bank account credit
Check, statement credit, credit to linked bank account, or credit card points
Intro Period for 0% APR on New Purchases
None
None
Welcome Bonus Opportunity
None
None
Foreign Transaction Fees
None
3%
When trying to decide which is the better fit for your wallet, consider things like your preferred cash back redemption method and whether or not you’d have a use for the Double Cash’s introductory balance transfer offer.
The Citi Double Cash is possibly the most versatile no annual fee credit card out there. It’s the credit card I use for everyday spending, and it’s one I recommend regardless of whether you want to earn cash back or travel rewards.
Here are the four reasons that the Citi Double Cash should be in your wallet:
Earn a higher cash back on all spending
The Citi Double Cash has a phenomenal rewards structure if you’re looking to earn cash back. At this point that’s understandably what lots of people are looking to earn, as getting cash towards your daily expenses may be preferable to earning travel rewards.
The card offers:
1% cash back when you make a purchase
1% cash back when you pay for that purchase
By the time you’ve paid for your purchase you’ll get two cents back on every dollar spent. This is more rewarding than a vast majority of cash back credit cards, and is in line with the best cash back return you’ll find on a credit card.
There’s not a single card I can think of that offers a return of better than 2% cash back unless its a business card such as the Capital One Spark Visa and you have to pay a $59 annual fee.
The Citi® Double Cash Card used to just be an excellent cash back credit card, but nowadays it’s also an exceptional credit card for those looking to earn rewards points. So in this post I wanted to provide an updated review of this amazing card.
As far as were concerned, this card has ushered in a new era of credit cards, where you can earn 2x transferable points on all purchases with no caps. So not only is this a great card for those looking for a simple credit card strategy, but it’s also a great card for those who go great lengths to maximize their points.
No Annual Fee The Citi Double Cash has no annual fee, which you can’t beat. A lot of people sacrifice credit card rewards because they don’t want a card with an annual fee, so here you’re getting a valuable card that won’t cost you anything.
0% Intro APR The Citi Double Cash has an offer for 0% intro APR for 18 months on balance transfers from date of first transfer when transfers are completed within 4 months from date of account opening. After that, your APR will be 13.99% to 23.99%, based on your creditworthiness.
This won’t be for everyone, but I know that this is something that some people take advantage of. While some cards offer 12 months 0% APR, 18 months is quite a long time.
Mastercard Benefits The Citi Double Cash is a Mastercard, which is worth mentioning because Mastercard has excellent acceptance with merchants.
The same is true of Visa, though this is an area where American Express is still improving. So there is something to be said for getting a Mastercard that will be accepted virtually everywhere.
Citi is among the most generous issuers in letting people product change between cards:
You can downgrade any personal Citi credit card to the Citi Double Cash; this even includes co-branded cards You can generally only product change if you’ve had a card for at least 12 months, so you can’t do this with a new card You’ll want to call Citi to see all the options available to you The benefit of product-changing rather than applying new is that you can maintain your credit line, and also that it won’t count as a further inquiry on your credit report.
Whether you apply for the card outright or product change to it, you have options.
Earning Rewards With The Citi Double Cash This is where the Citi Double Cash gets truly incredible, especially with the changes that were made to the card recently. When you spend a dollar on the card (and pay the bill) you’re potentially looking at earning two cents of rewards, and those rewards can even be transferred to Citi ThankYou points at a ratio of one cent per point.
Earning Cash Back With The Citi Double Cash The Citi Double Cash offers 1% cash back when you make a purchase, and 1% cash back when you pay for that purchase.
So after paying for your purchase, you’ll earn rewards worth two cents back on every dollar spent, which is great. A lot of people earn 1-1.5% cash back on their credit cards, so this is much better.
HOW TO REDEEM CITI DOUBLE CASH REWARDS AS CASH As explained above, the Citi Double Cash offers a return of two cents on the dollar for your spending (after paying your bill), but how does the actual process of earning cash back work?
The cash back will show in your Citi account after logging in, and will appear in two columns — the 1% cash back you earn from spending, and then the 1% cash back you earn from paying for your purchase.
You’ll need a minimum of a $25 cash back balance to redeem your Citi Double Cash rewards, which is earned after $1,250 of spending. You have four redemption options for Citi Double Cash rewards:
You can redeem for a gift card from a variety of retailers
You can redeem for a statement credit, which will post to your account within 2-3 days
You can redeem for a direct deposit, which can be to a Citi account, or an account with another bank
You can redeem for a check, which will be mailed to you within 7-10 days
Personally, I wouldn’t redeem for a gift card (why limit yourself?), but rather would choose either a direct deposit or check, which gives you the most flexibility.
Earning ThankYou Points With The Citi Double Cash In September 2019, Citi added the functionality to convert Citi Cash Rewards into Citi ThankYou points at the rate of 100 ThankYou points per $1 of Cash Rewards. In other words, 100 cents cashback converts into 100 ThankYou points.
There are lots of ways you can redeem your Citi ThankYou points. You can redeem them for one cent each towards gift cards and other purchases, though that isn’t worth it. At that rate you’re just better off earning cash back outright rather than gift cards.
Where this gets really valuable is if you have the Citi Double Cash in conjunction with either the Citi Premier or Citi Prestige. If that’s the case then you can also transfer these points to Citi’s airline transfer partners, including Etihad Guest, Singapore KrisFlyer, Virgin Atlantic Flying Club, and more. This is a fantastic way to redeem for international first & business class experiences.
Points potentially transfer at the following rates to the following programs:
Citi ThankYou Transfer Partner Transfer Ratio Aeroméxico Club Premier 1000 : 1000 Air France KLM Flying Blue 1000 : 1000 Avianca LifeMiles 1000 : 1000 Cathay Pacific Asia Miles 1000 : 1000 Etihad Guest 1000 : 1000 EVA Air Infinity MileageLands 1000 : 1000 Jet Airways JetPrivilege 1000 : 1000 JetBlue TrueBlue 1000 : 1000 Malaysia Airlines Enrich 1000 : 1000 Qantas Frequent Flyer 1000 : 1000 Qatar Privilege Club 1000 : 1000 Singapore Airlines KrisFlyer 1000 : 1000 Thai Royal Orchid Plus 1000 : 1000 Turkish Airlines Miles & Smiles 1000 : 1000 Virgin Atlantic Flying Club 1000 : 1000 This is the first credit card out there to offer an uncapped return of 2x transferable points per dollar spent. I value ThankYou points at 1.7 cents each, so to me that’s like a return of 3.4% on spending.
In some cases, you can do even better than that. Citi frequently has transfer bonuses, so you can potentially take advantage of those while earning 2x points on this card.
Is The Citi Double Cash Right For You? The Citi Double Cash has long been lucrative. However, historically I’ve thought this card was ideal for those looking to earn simple cash back rewards, rather than true points hobbyists. That’s no longer the case, since major changes were made several months back.
After you spend a dollar on the card and pay the bill you’ll have your choice of earning:
Two cents cash back Two transferable points, assuming you have the card in conjunction with the Citi Premier or Citi Prestige Earning 2x transferable points per dollar spent with no caps on earnings is unrivaled.
Citi Double Cash Card Alternatives The Citi Double Cash is now industry leading when it comes to the return it offers on transferable points, though there are still some other cards that may be worth considering:
If you want a card that has among the best cash back rates in the industry, the Bank of America® Premium Rewards® credit card (review) has a $95 annual fee, a welcome bonus worth $500 of travel, provides great perks, and potentially offers up to 2.625% cash back If you’re looking to earn flexible travel rewards, the Chase Sapphire Reserve® Card (review) and Chase Freedom Unlimited® (review) are an incredible duo that offer a great return on spending and valuable perks If you want a cash back card and spend a lot on dining, the Capital One® Savor® Cash Rewards Credit Card (review) has a $95 annual fee that’s waived for the first year, offers a welcome bonus worth $300 cash back, has no foreign transaction fees, and offers 4% cash back on dining and entertainment If you want a travel rewards card that offers flexible points, the Capital One® Venture® Rewards Credit Card (review) has a $95 annual fee that’s waived for the first year, offers a welcome bonus of 50,000 points, offers 2x Venture miles per dollar spent, has no foreign transaction fees, and more
Citi Double Cash Card Summary The Citi Double Cash has gone from a great cash back credit card, to an unrivaled card for those who are into miles & points. Not only can the card potentially earn up to two cents back per dollar spent, but in conjunction with the Citi Premier or Citi Prestige you can potentially earn 2x ThankYou points per dollar spent, which can be transferred to airlines or hotels.
This card is now a must-have. I picked up the card recently, and it’s now the card I use for my everyday, non-bonused spending.
This card is also a no brainer for paying your taxes with, for example, since you can do so for a fee of 1.87% (which is like acquiring ThankYou points for under a penny each). The same is true for payments through Plastiq.
Most credit card offers involve free flights, hotels, and gift cards but this new one from Citi Cards may be the one that I now want the most. Citi and AT&T introduced the AT&T Access More card which lets you earn a new smartphone for free (up to $650 value). This is great for us AT&T customers who want the latest and greatest iPhone’s that come out and may miss out because we cannot upgrade. A perfect alternative to the T-Mobile or Apple upgrade programs to get into a new iPhone 7 or 7 Plus.
Best of all you can apply for the AT&T Access More card then purchase a new smartphone right away and you’ll earn reimbursement for the cost of the phone. Basically after you apply and get approved for an AT&T Access More card you will then get a unique link to a website where you purchase a new smartphone at full price. You pay full price at first but will get a statement credit for the cost of the phone up to $650 after making $2,000 in purchases on your new card within the first 3 months of account opening and maintaining service with AT&T. (more…)
Citi Cards is finally catching up to the amazing AMEX Offers we have enjoyed so much this year. Once a week we have made a post on the amazing American Express offers so let’s hope that Citi gives us something to talk about as well. They have launched the new Citi Smart Savings Program that offers special deals at participating merchants when you make purchases with your targeted Citibank credit card. They’re only targeted offers for now and no Twitter or social media syncing like the AMEX Offers.
You can connect your credit cards with deals at select retailers and service providers. You can access the available offers within your online account for your Citibank credit card. Although, You must add the offers to your card before you make the purchase in order to qualify for the deal. These deals offer cash back in the form of an account statement credit on qualifying purchases at participating merchants.
Some of the offers on my card with Citi were a Earn 10% cash back at Chili’s Grill and Bar, Sear’s, Sports Authority for in-store and online, and Earn 20% cash back at Starbuck’s. (more…)
Most credit card offers involve free flights, hotels, and gift cards but this new one from Citi Cards may be the one that I now want the most. Citi and AT&T introduced the AT&T Access More card which lets you earn a new smartphone for free (up to $650 value). This is great for us AT&T customers who want the latest and greatest iPhone’s that come out and may miss out because we cannot upgrade. A perfect alternative to the T-Mobile or Apple upgrade programs to get into a new iPhone 7 or 7 Plus.