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January 11, 2008
My cash rebate for my American Express Blue Cash Card was paid out in November, but I completely forgot about it until I got my December bill and wondered why I didn’t owe anything. For a minute I thought someone was paying my bill for me since I know I used the card a lot in November but the balance due didn’t account for it. This required some investigation!
After going through my December statement I found this at the bottom:
I was very surprised to see that I received over $800 back since I really wasn’t keeping track. The total return is 1.73% back in my pocket. The percentage is on the lower end since I funded my wedding mainly using this card so those large purchases only rebate back .5% and 1.5% until I passed the $6500 purchase mark. Another reason is that the grocery store we go to does not accept credit cards, so we are missing out on the 5% return there. But the store’s prices are cheaper over all so the difference is negligible.
Here is the rebate break down for this card:
So the key is to get to the $6500 spending limit as soon as possible so for the rest of the year you are earning the higher percentages. Everyday purchases are considered supermarkets, drugstores and gas stations. I use this card for almost EVERYTHING where I can use a credit card. The only time I use another card is if the place I am at doesn’t take American Express. I rarely use checks or a debit card.
I realize that there are other rebate cards out there that offer 5% here, 2% there, 3% for 2 months, etc, but for me the Blue Cash card is easy in the fact that you know exactly what % you are receiving for the year.
One thing to note here is that ff you don’t spend more than $6500 per year then there are other cards out there that are probably better. You might try the Chase Freedom Visa. See here for a $50 credit when applying.
I spend about $24,000 on Adwords a year via credit card. I am interested in American Express, but in the past have had issues with credit. I have a few cards now and things are looking up. My score is getting in the 700 range. I haven’t filled out an app yet because I always assumed I needed pristine credit for AMEX and I didn’t want to have an extra hit on my report and not get the card anyway. Should I try it or wait for my rating to go up?
Stephan Miller’s last blog post..links for 2008-01-10
If you are spending $24,000 a year on a credit card and have been making regular on-time payments, that should be directly reflected on your credit report which is something that credit card issuers look at. I would go ahead and sign up. The worse they could do is reject you, but I bet they would love if you sent some of that $24,0000 their way!
I’ve been thinking of handling the credit I use more intelligently. I thought of getting a card with miles because that would be a lot of miles, but getting the cash back in December is awesome timing and since I plan of doubling my ad spending this year, it might be the better plan.
I’ll check out your link later tonight when I have more time.
Stephan Miller’s last blog post..Traffic Options
[...] I only use 2 credit cards for purchasing. My main card is the American Express Blue Cash Card (see post). I use this for everything from groceries, gas, utilities, and insurance payments. I never pay [...]
Stephan -
If you are spending in the five figures regularly on your credit card purchases with AMEX and have been good with paying off your balances, you can prolly qualify for the new Plum Card that they are pushing. I spend around $45,000 on PPC myself, and was invited into the Plum program and Im in love with it. Not only does it look cool, but it gives you 2% cash back on ALL purchases and imo is the next best thing to the Centurion card (Ill get there someday :D) If you already have an account with AMEX online, you can really easily submit a form to see if you qualify. Id check it out.
Nick
Annual Free Credit Report’s last blog post..Reviewing Your Free Annual Credit Report Before Applying for a Loan
[...] paper check and receive nothing for the transaction. Personally I use the Amex Blue Cash Card (see post) and get 5% back at Gas Stations, Drugstores and Grocery Stores. I get 1.5% back on everything [...]