Chase freedom unlimited should earn 1.5 points per dollar spent. Each point is worth 1c, so you should be earning 1.5% cashback with that card.

Switching to the Doublecash increases your cb earning to 2%.
Note that the doublecash (and most no-annual fee cards, including the chase freedom unlimited) do charge a foreign transaction fee.

Rog. Well, I don't live in Germany anymore, so that's not likely to be as big a deal as it once was, but it's good to be aware of.

Thanks again for the help. Saved me a ton of time reading a zillion websites to figure out which ones weren't FOS and then comparison shop.

you should certainly take advantage of Discover's double cashback for 1-year promo. that is 10% back for a year on rotating categories which can be taken advantage of heavily. Up to $75 cash back per quarter before the doubling. So, $1500 spend per category each quarter. When the grocery store quarter is expiring, you go buy a liberal amount of gift cards(what u can float), spend them in the future knowing you earned 10% savings. You do the same for the gas station category. Next quarter u could do this at Amazon, load your balance and again, 10% back up to $75, $1500 spend(but the $75 is doubled after 1 year). Entire cashback match for 1 year, so base 2%(same as the card you are looking at(Citi Doublecash)), so this is a much better option with a signup bonus and the rotating categories. You can activate your categories each quarter by phone(texts), it's easy. Cashback after your first year is matched in one lump sum after you owned the card for one year. Then, after one year, you sign up for Citi Doublecash if you want convenience and a 2% card:

Yeah, that's way more work/tracking than I want to put into this. Thanks for the idea, but I just value my time and lack of aggravation way too much to worry about trying to milk bonuses.

Still, great info for those more interested in maxing value, so thanks.

Do you do ANY meaningful travel at all? While I concur about not necessarily caring about miles, there ARE some offerings with benefits that are extremely useful in the course of travel. One need not be playing the bonus whore game to derive benefits that make cards worthwhile...

Additionally, do you spend any time in casinos that fall under either the MGM or Caesars umbrella?

I belong to a grand total of zero travel rewards programs. When I travel I book rooms on Priceline, usually the "Express Deals." I hate being marketed at, and generally give my military email address (strong firewall) and a fake phone number. I definitely do not belong to any loyalty programs.

When I fly for work, it is booked on the gov't account and the airline is some random US carrier. When I fly on my own, I just book whatever's cheapest and don't belong to any frequent flyer programs.

I do have several casino cards, but I don't track the points or anything. The only game I play is poker, and the points from that aren't really worth bothering with. I really only have them for the room discounts they offer all members (even folks like me with like 38 points on my Boyd card) and the comps (which if I don't remember to use them on food at the table always expire).

I generally loathe being tracked and structuring my plans for reward maxing, and particularly hate being called by marketeers.

This reminds me, I should try to remember my Chase login and turn my points in to cash again. I think it's been over two years since I last did that.

LOL. Had to call Chase to get my login, and then discovered that I had $881 in unredeemed cash-back in there. This thread has already paid off!

lulz at $881 chilling, forgotten, sick brag

You DO realize you can opt out of marketing email and calls, right?

Card issuers are going to track your activity regardless of card. But again, you can opt out of marketing emails and calls. About the ONLY time I hear from America Express, for example, is when I get a text about possible fraudulent activity. I don't get marketing calls. I have my SPG card set to email me about Moments offers in a narrow range of interests and locales...saw Game 2 of the Astros-Boston series last year for something like 10K points (about a hundred bucks for two seats selling outside the juicebox for easily five times that amount).

I get that some people don't like chasing bonus options on sign-ups, but to ignore rewards is -EV since it really IS money left on the table. But then again, people like you help make it possible for people like me and others in the thread to be full-on rewards whores

Yeah, I agree that it is -$EV. For me it is +LifeEV, though. I'm also one of the old curmudgeons who pay for things with cash much of the time (though I'm not militant about it), avoid the grocery stores with loyalty cards, etc.

My sister-in-law works in big data and told me about some marketing info that gives them a strong indication a couple is expecting very early on (and the purchase connections are not at all obvious) and lets them target their marketing very precisely. Me no likey.



Aside from finding it invasive, I just don't have much energy for that stuff. I've kind of reached the point in my life where I'm willing to spend a bit more money to not do the things I don't like doing. I don't change my own oil anymore, and I don't clip coupons, or the modern equivalent. I don't like having to click on the unsubscribe button and hope that the unsubscribe page is not blocked at work (like I'll ever remember to do it from home without the link), etc. The return is not worth the mental energy for me. I've got nothing against you doing it. Many happy returns.

Totally get it and chasing bonuses is not for everyone. I cringe when I see people pay with cash but at the same time if people know theyre leaving cash on the table and are ok with it its none of my business.

Data tracking reminds me of the power of habit, and this story, which is excellent if you have the time https://charlesduhigg.com/new-york-times-magazine/

Even if I didn't get any % cashback I'd still use credit cards for the perks like extended warranties alone. That and I'm not comfortable carrying around really much cash at all since if you lose it or get mugged you're pretty much screwed. If someone steals your credit card and goes on a spending spree, you're likely not out of any money.

heh. I almost linked that article instead of the Forbes one, but figured it was tldr.

As for carrying cash, the only time I spend in areas where I worry about getting mugged is when I'm playing poker and have to carry cash anyway, and considerably more of it than walking around money. I usually have $100-$300 in my wallet, yet I always have at least $1K when I go to a poker game.

anyone have a link or a referral for the 50k point sign-up bonus for a SW chase card? Ideally want one with no annual fee, but open to that if its the only option. Only seeing 40k offered right now. Wife and I are both looking to open one in the next few months to pay for a trip next spring. TIA.

If you're not going until spring, then you should just wait and double up on plus and priority cards to get 99% of the way to a companion pass.

those are both 50k? and to take full advantage I would want to clear the bonuses in early January so I have companion for 2019 and 2020?

They're currently 40k and 65k, but they change fairly regularly.

The 40k takes $1k spend to clear, the 65K takes $3k to clear.

40k + 65k + 4k from the spend would put you at 109k of the 110k needed for a companion pass.

Companion pass is good for the remainder of the current year plus all of the following year, so if you wait until January 2019 it would be good through the end of 2020.

Thanks. Looked to me like the 65k offer was a bit misleading. 40k after 3k spend, and the extra 25k after $15k total spend! In that case is never happening. I'll wait to find a 50k offer later in the year or see about waiting until January like you said.

in most stores you don't actually need the loyalty cards to get the discounts

Anyone have recommendations for a good online or otherwise, high interest savings account? Would probably be looking to park 10-15k emergency savings in there. Figure a good enough sign up promotion could make up for years of slightly lower rate so curious what you all suggest. Have googled around some but most articles are on websites with paid bank adverts.

I've had an offer on my bed (lol bachelor life) from Capital One for 360 Money Market, FDIC insured, $200 bonus for $10K+, plus 1.60% APY. Don't know if that's the best, but that's pretty damn good and I'll hopefully do it before this offer expires on the 31st.

capitalone.com/200bonus

I've also eyed Discover online savings, but they were something like $200 bonus for $25K.

EDIT: Rate is now 1.85%

amex online-no min, no bonus straight 1.8% interest.

Nice, just signed up for this. 1.85 seems like good rate and the sign up bonuses gives me a year of interest free. Thanks.

I use the c1 360 and Discover MM's as well, happy with both. I wouldn't sign up for the Discover account until you can max the bonus out. Also, All American Bank/Redneck Bank are fairly popular with DoC users and at 2% (up to $50K I believe) So I'd recommend them for anybody who doesn't have the funds for the Disc/C1 bonus. There's also several smaller banks over 2% up to 2.25%, but I'd rather open less accounts than always chasing the next .05%. Redneck/Goldman/Sync/C1/Discover would be a nice portfolio of big banks that keep it competitive. If you're adding funds, plop it in whatever is highest at the time, withdraw from the lowest%, easy game.

I haven't looked into it yet, but I have a mailer from UMB.com for a money market account at 2.32 for a year. It starts Sept 4 and doesn't say what it drops to after 12 months.