Finally applied for Discover card after reading this thread, been putting it off for a while. Approved for $5,000 limit. Ship it.
Info: Credit Karma 748, 2% Credit utilization
Reward Card Collection:
1. Citi Forward (5% Restaurants, Fast food, Movies, Amazon) - $7500CL, got $200 bonus for signing up
Point Value & Discussion: Others have reported this card's cashback value is not 1:1. For some this may be true but for me it is not. You can use points to make a payment on student loans or mortgage at a 1:1 point:dollar value. I'm a graduate student with undergradute loans in deferal, and I just cash out my points to make small payments on my loans when I get enough.
2. Chase Freedom (Rotating 5%) - $5000CL, got $300 cash bonus for signing up
Point Value & Discussion: This is the highest point value card I have, mainly because you can usually track someone down online who has the Chase Sapphire Card, which values points at a ratio of 100pt = $1.50-$2.00. When I got my 30,000 bonus points for signing up I was able to find a guy to give me like $1.25 to my 100 points and I traded him my points. Currently there is at least one website that does this. With a quick google search I found this site
http://www.rewards2cash.com/ that gives $1.25 for each 100 points. I opened a checking account with these guys for a $150 signup bonus as well. If you have a freedom card and a chase checking account you get an extra 10 points (10 cents) per every transaction you make with the Forward card.
3. Bank of America Cash Rewards (2% Groceries, 3% Gas) - $3000CL, got $250 cash bonus for signing up
Point Value & Discussion: These guys don't have points, they just give you straight up cash. Once you get $25 you can cash out to any checking account you have. If you have a BoA Checking account and cash out into it, you get 10% bonus cash, effectively increasing the cashback of the card by 10% (i.e. 3.3% on gas). I haven't opened up a BoA checking account account mainly because I haven't seen any decent cashback offers for opening one with them ($100-$150+)
4. Citi Dividend Mastercard (Rotating 5%) - $8000CL, got $200 cash bonus for signing up
Point Value & Discussion: The 5% categories on this card are typically very bad, though they did have utilities one month and I paid my Comcast bill for like 9 months in advance. Another bad thing about this card is that you can only cash out in $50 increments. Cashouts from this card get delivered to you in the form of a check.
5. Discover More (Rotating 5%) - $5000CL, will get $200 bonus once I spend $1500 within next 3 months for signing up
The next card I have my eyes on is the US BANK Cash+ Rewards card, mainly for the 5% cashback on my comcast bill. Unfortunately local gas and electric companies dont allow auto payment from credit card. But still, the way I look at it I will get 6.25% off my Comcast bill in the long-long run. Reason I am waiting on opening this card is that it is a relatively new and I am waiting for them to start a promo for at least $100 cashback for card opening before I jump on this.
Last edited by beansroast01; 11-22-2012 at 06:09 AM.