# Have You Applied For Credit Card(s) To Get Bonuses? I Did Recently



## OneEyedDiva (Jan 7, 2022)

I'm not a big fan of American Express (AmEx) although I already have their card. Schwab brokerage is offering a $200 bonus after approval for their AmEX card; one has to spend $1,000 in three months. I was approved instantly. I started not to bother but realized this card is a better deal. It is 20% cash back after all. I only use the other AmEx for the 3% CB on groceries 6 - 9 months out of the year because Chase and Discover offer 5% cash back during the other months (this quarter they're offering it at the same time). 

I don't like that I've had to wait damn near a year to  get my CB reward due to AmEx's $25 minimum policy. With the new AmEx card 1.5% cash back on purchases gets deposited into my brokerage account, but if it has the same $25 minimum as the other card, I won't use this one after I meet the terms.  One of the requirements is that I keep the card open for a year....doesn't say I have to use it.

Have you taken advantage of any cash back bonuses for credit cards?


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## mathjak107 (Jan 7, 2022)

We got a nice deal at chase .

i down graded my sapphire res to sapphire preferred …..once I did that I sent my wife a link to get one .

i got 20,000 points as a referral bonus and she got 100,000 as a bonus ..plus a 50 dollar ,Orel credit for travel , plus all points get a 25% boost when used through the chase/ Expedia travel portal.

we did the same at citi bank where we took the citi cash card and got a 300 dollar bonus .

just opened another citi bank account for myself and my wife .

we each got 700 dollars plus I got a 100 dollar referral fee for a total of 1500 bucks ..

so we got thousands in bonus dollars the last few months


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## Jackie23 (Jan 7, 2022)

OneEyedDiva said:


> I'm not a big fan of American Express (AmEx) although I already have their card. Schwab brokerage is offering a $200 bonus after approval for their AmEX card; one has to spend $1,000 in three months. I was approved instantly. I started not to bother but realized this card is a better deal. It is 20% cash back after all. I only use the other AmEx for the 3% CB on groceries 6 - 9 months out of the year because Chase and Discover offer 5% cash back during the other months (this quarter they're offering it at the same time). I don't like waiting damn near a year to  get my CB reward due to AmEx's $25 minimum policy. With the new AmEx card 1.5% cash back on purchases gets deposited into my brokerage account, but if it has the same $25 minimum as the other card, I won't use this one after I meet the terms.  One of the requirements is that I keep the card open for a year....doesn't say I have to use it.
> 
> Have you taken advantage of any cash back bonuses for credit cards?


LOL...I did the same when I renewed my Costco card, signed up for their CC for all the goodies only to discover I have to wait a year to get the rewards just in time to renew the Costco card again.


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## OneEyedDiva (Jan 7, 2022)

mathjak107 said:


> We got a nice deal at chase .
> 
> i down graded my sapphire res to sapphire preferred …..once I did that I sent my wife a link to get one .
> 
> ...


Nice MJ! I'm surprised that they allow these offers for people in the same household, especially husband and wife. I was tempted to take Citibank's checking account offer again, but I just couldn't after how turned off I got last time. I haven't come across their credit card offers but I already have the Citibank card which I've never had a problem with. I took advantage of Chase's offer a couple of years back, so now have two of their cards.

@Jackie23 My husband had gotten the Costco business card and that's when we realized it actually comes out being cheaper than the regular membership because of the way it worked. He got a rebate check at the end of each year in addition to the rewards by the card used. A few years ago, Costco dropped AmEx as their card of choice. I never applied for their new Costco credit card.


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## dseag2 (Jan 7, 2022)

I used to use a Citibank American Airlines Mastercard to multiply my miles when I was traveling.  I'm a 2 million miler on American Airlines.    I traveled so much on business.  It was exhausting, so I travel very little these days.

When I retired, I researched the best credit cards for cash back/benefits, and it seemed the Chase Freedom card was the best fit for me.  It typically offers 2-3% cash back.  I'm satisfied.


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## OneEyedDiva (Jan 7, 2022)

dseag2 said:


> I used to use a Citibank American Airlines Mastercard to multiply my miles when I was traveling.  I'm a 2 million miler on American Airlines.    I traveled so much on business.  It was exhausting, so I travel very little these days.
> 
> When I retired, I researched the best credit cards for cash back/benefits, and it seemed the Chase Freedom card was the best fit for me.  It typically offers 2-3% cash back.  I'm satisfied.


Do you have the Freedom Unlimited? My Chase Freedom only gives 1% except for the quarterly bonus 5% categories. The Freedom Unlimited offers 1.5% cash back except they offered an extended 5% back on Lyft rides which is due to expire in March. Makes me wonder if the Chases in different offer different rewards.


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## dseag2 (Jan 7, 2022)

OneEyedDiva said:


> Do you have the Freedom Unlimited? My Chase Freedom only gives 1% except for the quarterly bonus 5% categories. The Freedom Unlimited offers 1.5% cash back except they offered an extended 5% back on Lyft rides which is due to expire in March. Makes me wonder if the Chases in different offer different rewards.


Yes, Freedom Unlimited.  They do frequently offer 5% cash back on things like Lyft and other services that I rarely use.  Sometimes they offer a high percentage on restaurant and drug store purchases.  As I recall, they offered a limited-time cash back offer for a particular gas station, so I took advantage of it.  They also offer Amazon discounts and sometimes 10% discounts on certain gift cards.  I have redeemed Home Depot and Albertson's gift cards through Chase.


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## OneEyedDiva (Jan 7, 2022)

dseag2 said:


> Yes, Freedom Unlimited.  They do frequently offer 5% cash back on things like Lyft and other services that I rarely use.  Sometimes they offer a high percentage on restaurant and drug store purchases.  As I recall, they offered a limited-time cash back offer for a particular gas station, so I took advantage of it.  They also offer Amazon discounts and sometimes 10% discounts on certain gift cards.  I have redeemed Home Depot and Albertson's gift cards through Chase.


Here, its just the reverse, Unlimited doesn't do the 5% cash back, only Freedom. This month the only 5%CB I'm interested in is groceries.  One thing I wish they'd do is be like Discover, which posts their 5% cash back quarters in advance. Chase posts a quarter at a time.


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## mathjak107 (Jan 8, 2022)

The citi  cash card lets you pick what you want each month as a 5% category…i was doing groceries on it but now that chase is 5% for the next three months , plus when I move it to my preferred it gets a boost  by 1.25% so I made my citi card restaurants and take out for 5%


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## Jackie23 (Jan 8, 2022)

OneEyedDiva said:


> @Jackie23 My husband had gotten the Costco business card and that's when we realized it actually comes out being cheaper than the regular membership because of the way it worked. He got a rebate check at the end of each year in addition to the rewards by the card used. A few years ago, Costco dropped AmEx as their card of choice. I never applied for their new Costco credit card.


Yes...the day I signed up for this card was the day I purchased a new set of hearing aids so I should have enough reward credit to pay for this years membership.
I use this card at Costco only and Walmart's Capitol One card at Walmart for groceries and gas only and everything else (all utilities, Insurance and etc) is put on my Fidelity Visa card, the credit from this card goes into a Cash account at Fidelity.  You can certainly save some money if you take advantage of these cash cards.


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## JustinCase (Jan 8, 2022)

Jackie23 said:


> I use this card at Costco only and Walmart's Capitol One card at Walmart for groceries and gas only and everything else (all utilities, Insurance and etc) is put on my Fidelity Visa card, the credit from this card goes into a Cash account at Fidelity.  You can certainly save some money if you take advantage of these cash cards.


>>>>>


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## mathjak107 (Jan 9, 2022)

We have the fidelity 2% back card but don’t use it much .

that is because with the chase freedom , the unlimited and the sapphire preferred even the lowest amount of points beats the fidelity 2% back .

that is because we can move all the other points to the sapphire where when used for travel they are multiplied by 1.25% .

so like now we have 5% on groceries on one of the chase cards ..so we will move the 5% points to the sapphire where they get a 25% boost .

we use the citi cash card for restaurants and take out and get 5%


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## OneEyedDiva (Jan 9, 2022)

Jackie23 said:


> Yes...the day I signed up for this card was the day I purchased a new set of hearing aids so I should have enough reward credit to pay for this years membership.
> I use this card at Costco only and Walmart's Capitol One card at Walmart for groceries and gas only and everything else (all utilities, Insurance and etc) is put on my Fidelity Visa card, the credit from this card goes into a Cash account at Fidelity.  You can certainly save some money if you take advantage of these cash cards.


Certainly can! I've lost count now but about 5 years ago, I calculated that I'd gotten back over $6,000 over a few years.


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## Liberty (Jan 10, 2022)

Discover card gives 5% back on groceries till March 31st - then the discount rotates to gas and so on for the rest of the year.  We buy a lot of groceries so it adds up.


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## mathjak107 (Jan 10, 2022)

Liberty said:


> Discover card gives 5% back on groceries till March 31st - then the discount rotates to gas and so on for the rest of the year.  We buy a lot of groceries so it adds up.


What’s nice is chase is at 5% on groceries on the freedom card for the next three months .

that 5% can be transferred to their higher end cards ..if you move them to the sapphire reserve you get a 50% boost  to 7.50%

If it is the sapphire reserve you get a 25%boost on travel through thechase / Expedia portal


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## caroln (Jan 10, 2022)

American Express can go pound dirt.  Years ago my DH and I applied for a AE card and were turned down.  We didn't make enough money for them to bother with us.  I still don't understand it.  We were both working, made decent wages and had good credit.  Guess middle class doesn't suit them.  It still makes me angry when I get a flyer in the mail from them, saying we're "pre-approved" for their precious credit card.


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## Liberty (Jan 10, 2022)

Have had a Discover card for many years...when it first came out, I paid my Sears Card with the Discover card and got a phone call one day from the VP of Sears.  He said I had figured out a way to avoid charges by doing that...lol.


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## IFortuna (Jan 10, 2022)

OneEyedDiva said:


> I'm not a big fan of American Express (AmEx) although I already have their card. Schwab brokerage is offering a $200 bonus after approval for their AmEX card; one has to spend $1,000 in three months. I was approved instantly. I started not to bother but realized this card is a better deal. It is 20% cash back after all. I only use the other AmEx for the 3% CB on groceries 6 - 9 months out of the year because Chase and Discover offer 5% cash back during the other months (this quarter they're offering it at the same time).
> 
> I don't like that I've had to wait damn near a year to  get my CB reward due to AmEx's $25 minimum policy. With the new AmEx card 1.5% cash back on purchases gets deposited into my brokerage account, but if it has the same $25 minimum as the other card, I won't use this one after I meet the terms.  One of the requirements is that I keep the card open for a year....doesn't say I have to use it.
> 
> Have you taken advantage of any cash back bonuses for credit cards?


I most always use Amex more than any other card I have.  I love their website and they always treat me well.  I have others but this is my favorite and they gave me an astronomical limit which came in handy when I bought my "barn".  They have always been generous to me and raised my limit several times.  I have the the basic one not the yearly fee one.


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## IFortuna (Jan 10, 2022)

caroln said:


> American Express can go pound dirt.  Years ago my DH and I applied for a AE card and were turned down.  We didn't make enough money for them to bother with us.  I still don't understand it.  We were both working, made decent wages and had good credit.  Guess middle class doesn't suit them.  It still makes me angry when I get a flyer in the mail from them, saying we're "pre-approved" for their precious credit card.


I am middle  class and they gave me a huge limit when I first joined and raised it again several times.  I think it depends on who is running the computers, I guess.  Sometimes they can make mistakes too.


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## OneEyedDiva (Jan 10, 2022)

Liberty said:


> Discover card gives 5% back on groceries till March 31st - then the discount rotates to gas and so on for the rest of the year.  We buy a lot of groceries so it adds up.


I like that you can see their 5%cash back categories well in advance, unlike Chase. But since Chase Freedom has 5% off on groceries this quarter too, I'll use that card. I login to Chase more frequently because I have several accounts. With Discover, I always have to look up my password. I wish they weren't having 5% off on groceries during the same quarter. @mathjak107 

@IFortuna Your reply reminded me that when I first logged into my new card account, the credit limit was much lower than what was shown when I logged in a couple of days later. Doesn't matter, I don't expect to ever get anywhere near the lower, let alone the upgraded limit.


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## old medic (Jan 11, 2022)

We have signed up for a few store cards that provided so much off on the 1st purchase and then paid it off.
Have several with 0% interest on purchases, these are used buying our home remodeling stuff...
No mortgage and 0% home improvement loan. Current debt is $1600 for kitchen cabinets over half paid off in less than a year.


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## Pappy (Jan 11, 2022)

Chase is our main card and I do remember getting a $200 bonus when we signed up. My monthly bonus goes directly into my Amazon account.


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## Liberty (Jan 11, 2022)

So many of the cards offer travel points.  Could care less about them.  Son has umpteen miles on Delta - is a diamond or whatever and anywhere we want to go, he can send us first class tickets to...lol.

Just like the discount $$$.


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## OneEyedDiva (Jan 11, 2022)

Liberty said:


> So many of the cards offer travel points.  Could care less about them.  Son has umpteen miles on Delta - is a diamond or whatever and anywhere we want to go, he can send us first class tickets to...lol.
> 
> Just like the discount $$$.


That's a great deal Liberty!


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## Liberty (Jan 12, 2022)

OneEyedDiva said:


> That's a great deal Liberty!


We did a lot of traveling in our business days. Also, for about 14 years went to Florida for the month of January in the beachfront condo in Ft Myer's Beach.

Just glad to stay home a lot these days. Thomas Jefferson said if you have a library and a garden you will want for nothing.  Guess its true...lol.  Have always been a "nester."


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## Aneeda72 (Jan 12, 2022)

We only use Discover card.

Remember don’t ever close a credit card, if you are not using the account just freeze the card and then unfreeze and use it once a year so it does not get closed by the company.  Closing an account really effects your credit rating


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## OneEyedDiva (Jan 12, 2022)

caroln said:


> American Express can go pound dirt.  Years ago my DH and I applied for a AE card and were turned down.  We didn't make enough money for them to bother with us.  I still don't understand it.  We were both working, made decent wages and had good credit.  Guess middle class doesn't suit them.  It still makes me angry when I get a flyer in the mail from them, saying we're "pre-approved" for their precious credit card.


You didn't miss much Caroln, believe me. I only got the first card because it was pre-approved and gives 3% cash back on groceries all the time. My revised American Express motto..."American Express; don't leave home without another card".  Costco dumped AmEx and some places just won't take it. Once I tried to use the card for my resort reservation and I was told it was declined. I have no idea why. I was nowhere near my limit and my credit is excellent. I'm glad it wasn't the only card I was carrying.


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## Rich29 (Jan 14, 2022)

I have a LL Bean Mastercard which gives 4% back on LL bean purchases, 2% on restaurants, 2% on gas and 1% on everything else. Plus free shipping on LL Bean purchases.


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## OneEyedDiva (Jan 21, 2022)

I got a pleasant surprise when I logged into my new AmEx account. They had already credited me the $200! The terms and conditions stated it might not be credited for 8 weeks after the required purchase amount posted. It's only been two weeks.


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