Archive for the ‘Credit Cards’ Category

Chase Freedom 3 Percent back on Dining, Childcare

Wednesday, January 20th, 2010

3 percent cash back educationMany offers come and go in rewards credit cards but this one really stood out to me when I saw it advertised earlier tonight.  Chase bank’s Freedom Card is offering a 3% cash back in four major categories from January to March 2010.  These categories include dining, utilities, childcare, and education.

This could not be a better time to offer the 3% back on college tuition and childcare.  It is too bad they do not offer this year round but then again if you have a grandfathered-in Freedom card you may be able to get 3% back on any of the top 3 categories you use the most so this really means nothing.

This promotion is great for students, parents who have children in childcare centers, people who eat out frequently, and consumers with high heating bills this Winter.  Utilities would be better of course in the Summer when we spend the most on those heat wave electric bills.  Gas bills are normally pretty steep too though during the first few months of the year.’

Get this card while you can and start saving on these categories at three percent.   You can apply for Chase Credit Cards online or goto yourchasefreedom.com for information on how to sign up with your existing card.

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The Hassle of Applying for a Pre-Approved Business Card Offer

Tuesday, December 29th, 2009

Capital-One-approved-businesscardNo one can complain when you get credit card offers in the mail during one of the worst markets and housing bubbles of all time. It has truly been awhile that I have gotten any offers from Chase or a few of the other banks that I used to get mailings each week. Back then they would bug me but now I am excited.

Capital One sent me a 0% APR on purchases until 2011, $0 Annual Fee, and an offer for a card that will result in Double Miles for purchases for 12 Months. The bad thing is that earlier this year I was denied twice from the same bank. I was just trying to get a credit card to use for foreign purchases while traveling which is really one of the only reasons to have a Capital One card. Their rewards are good but I am pretty content with my Chase rewards.

The only downside to this offer from Capital One is that when I goto fill out the application it kept giving me errors. I had to try over ten times to get this application to be error free. This thing is picky as to dashes and what phone numbers you have listed. For instance, you cannot have your home phone number and your business phone number the same or it will come back in an error. I filled out the application a few more times trying to see where the other error came from and it said it was from the Business Tax ID where it automatically took out a number when I copied and pasted it with a dash originally. I then had to go back in and fill out the Capital One Business Platinum Credit Card application with the full set of Business tax id numbers and without the dash.

I was then approved. This will be my first Capital One Business card and I am very excited!

Some information is missing or incorrect. Please update fields to continue.

# Date of Birth is a required field
# Business Phone is a required field
# Business Phone Prefix is a required field
# Business Area Code is a required field
# Business Tax ID Number (TIN) or Employer ID Number (EIN) must be 9 digits

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Finding a Credit Card is Easy!

Friday, November 6th, 2009

You know I dislike debit cards.  I have never understood why so many people use debit cards instead of credit cards. With credit cards you get at least a 20-day free loan but you have to have the self governing power to pay the bill off before the end of the month or when it is due just like any other bill.  You do not want to pay the high interest rates you get charged by the banks in this day in time.

When searching for the credit card that fits your lifestyle you need to consider rewards versus interest rates.  The other factors in finding a credit card is your credit if you have good credit you can normally get better rewards but if your credit stinks then you better just start out with a lesser card such as the Orchard bank or Buy Right.

Most of us have average credit and should apply for that card.  A good site to compare the various cards online is here at 123 Easy Card.  This is a simple site for those card shopping before the Holiday season race begins.

Here you will find offers such as the Freedom and Sapphire cards from Chase Bank.   You may also see Citibank, American Express, Discover Card Platinum, and many others.  My favorites are the Discover and Chase cards because I dislike these annual fees that banks such as Bank of America are threatening over our heads.  Say no to annual fees and yes to rewards.

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Discover Card Pulls the Plug On $20 Cash Rewards

Friday, May 15th, 2009

Discover Card has made what some may call a fatal mistake in the credit card industry.  Discover was known for its small bank-like friendliness until now.  They gave you a real cash back onto your statement which was the most non-hassle of them all.  The credit crisis has made all the banks greedy including the friendly credit card issuer Discover Card.

Discover now is making you wait until you get $50 in reward to get cash back instead of the $20 previous.  This is more than double the increased time to have to wait and to have to make more and more purchases which some people may have to wait years to add up the small under 1% payouts from Discover.  This is a sad change to Discover policy that recently changed.

I have been with Discover Card for over ten years now and never have they pulled a fast one on me like this.  The fact that I could go online and redeem my $20 to my account was the ONLY reason I had a Discover Card instead of a Citi ThankYou or a Chase Points card where there is much more hassle involved.

The customer service rep acted as if we could earn more in their shopping mall called ShopDiscover.  ShopDiscover is nothing more than a site where they get paid the more you buy online from the links they send you.  EVERYONE has one of these now including Chase and Bank of America Add It Up.  This service is similar to Ebates and online shopping malls with the airlines.  This is certainly not the answer to the steep increase of redemption at Discover Card.

My friends, family, and co-workers will all be in shock when they sign into their account online and find that they will no longer be able to redeem cash at $20.  Of course, there will be the $20 redemption of gift cards that no one wants for these companies that are all going out of business like Red Lobster (I mean really?).

Call Discover at 1-800-347-2683 and complain.  Get this changed now!!

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MTV Visa for the Entertainment minded

Thursday, May 14th, 2009

If you like catching sports games in person, watching movies at the theater, and eating some taco bell on your date then you may be in luck.  The new Capital One card ad I saw today from a MTV community website is definitely targeted to young males who spend lots of money at these places.

There are two card offers for the MTV Visa Card from Capital One.  One is for Limited Credit and the other is for Good Credit.  I do not really see any mentions of Student card but I supposed that is saved for the Citi version MTVU card which mainly targets College students.

Give me the rewards!

  • 5 points per $1 spent on entertainment like music, movies, video game rentals, and sporting events
  • 2 points per $1 spent at restaurants, fast food places, and coffee shops
  • 1 point per $1 on everything else
  • 25 bonus points each billing period you keep your account in good standing by paying on time – These are special rewards for those who “do good” similar to Citi’s Myspace Forward Card.

The only difference in the MTV good and limited credit card is that the good credit profile’s get 0% until April 2010; after that, 16.9% variable.  The bad dudes who have limited credit get the high interest of 24.9% variable stoned into their billing statement.

The MTV credit cards have no annual fee and neither offer balance transfer fees.  There are 4 hip hoppin MTV rockin cards to choose from.

How do you get your no hassle rewards?

You may Redeem for MTV stuff, events and shows, or create your own MTV experience.  You can get gift cards from retailers,  give points to a charity,Trade points for cash and save up for your next purchase, or Fly for free on your next vacation for as few as 15,000 points.  The latest MTV rewards are always posted on the No Hassle PointsSM website, which you can access once you get your MTV Visa card.

Capital One seems to hate me they deny me every time I apply for a credit card even though I make over the required amount and have a great credit score.  They claim I apply too often.  Maybe they will let me attempt to be cool with this MTV generation Visa Card.  This card has 4 designs with one of the moon man, one all access and some other fun colored cards.

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Chase Double Summer Bonus

Thursday, July 17th, 2008

chase visa summer double bonus
Chase Bank is offering a Summer bonus to stimulate your spending in July, August, and September. This is a welcomed bonus at a time that everyone is cost cutting and looking for ways to save on summer travel.

The 2% bonus came in the mail to me as a folded up mailer but it made me jump up and down when I saw I could save 2% back – at that time I thought it was on everything I spent. I should have known Chase was not in that good of a mood when they sent me the mailer. I looked at the fine print and discovered that it is only 2% back or double rewards on “Vacations” such as airfares, car rentals, and hotels. Which is better than nothing.

Although it does get worse. When I looked more at the fine print I noticed that my Chase Freedom card double promotion was only good up to $50 in bonus rebates which is close to $5,000 in spending. I was hoping to use the card in Europe so that will help some with the huge transaction fees that Chase and Visa/MasterCard allow compared to a Capital One card.

The up to $50 back is better than the Summer offer from Discover card which only gives you up to $400 in spending at the 5% Cash Back or maybe it kind of equals out since the Discover offer is at 5% but allows less.

The cards featured in the Chase Summer promotion of double rewards are the AARP, American Kennel Club, Chase Freedom Card , Disney Rewards, Sony Card, Amazon, British Airlines, Mary Kay Visa, and various Chase rewards cards.

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Strange rewards charges on your credit card?

Wednesday, May 14th, 2008

If you have been seeing charges for rewards on your credit card you may want to call your credit card company immediately and dispute them.  There are a few things the charges could be including a charge from the actual card you are using.  Chase credit cards allows a third party to bill your credit card for rewards programs that really amount to nothing and their are other offers that are really dirty.

If you have went to the movies recently using Fandango or MovieTickets.com or maybe on some other sites there may be a pop-up window that asks you to save $10.  Advice from The Consumerist warns users not to enter your email address because the fine print sets you up on a Webloyalty monthly subscription service.

Your credit card statement may say RESERVATION REWARDS NORWALK
SHOPPERDISCOUNT.COM NORWALK, or WLI*.   You may call to cancel at 1-800-889-8776 and they will issue you a refund.  If that does not work then contact your credit card directly and dispute the charge.

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