Hey travel gurus! Some really good news to share with you if you don't want to do your own research. Here are some cards that you can get a lot of bang for your buck. Whether you're looking for a great cash back card on all your purchases or whether you're interested in getting the best travel card, here are a few of the best current, available options.
Bottom Line:
$200 online sign-up bonus offer. NEW 3% cash back on online shopping, drug stores, travel, dining, home improvement and furniture, or gas. Up to 5.25% for Preferred Rewards clients. Best Intro APR - No interest for over a year. No annual fee.
The Bank of America® Cash Rewards credit card’s $200 bonus offer and 3% cash back. (See comparison chart)
If you sign up online today you can receive a $200 online cash bonus after spending only $1,000 in the first 90 days of opening the account — that’s like earning 20% back on the first $1,000!
Looking to make a big purchase or balance transfer? This card's long 0% intro period will save you a bundle. It's like taking a 15 month vacation from paying interest.
The card offers an insane 3% cash back on your choice of six categories and 2% at grocery stores and wholesale clubs (up to $2,500 in combined choice category/grocery store/wholesale club quarterly purchases), and unlimited 1% on all other purchases. These are the categories that you can choose to earn 3%:
Online ShoppingDrug StoresDiningTravelGasHome Improvement
You choose the category you want to get 3% cash back for, and it stays on that category until you change it. Unlike other high cash back cards, there is no monthly activation required, and the categories don’t rotate. You can change the category once per calendar month.
The 3% for online shopping is the best in the industry. It applies to all online retailers. I already have this credit card and I love getting 3% back each time I shop online.
I also like the 3% back for drugstores, which is perfect for families that buy a lot of household goods and medication. Around summer time I’ll be taking advantage of the 3% gas for road trips and travel bookings.
Up to 5.25% Cash Back
Bank of America’s Preferred Rewards clients earn an extra 25%-75% bonus rewards. As a long time Bank of America and Merrill Lynch customer, I’m excited about getting up to 5.25% cash back on an online purchase, and at least 1.75% on other purchases.
Who Should Get This Card
Bank of America Cash Rewards is a great fit for most people — who doesn’t love a $200 bonus, 0% interest for over a year, and no annual fee?
The high 3% cash back on online shopping, drug stores, dining, travel, furniture, or gas is unheard of for a no annual fee credit card. Bank of America Cash Rewards pretty much blows its leading competitors out of the water.
That being said, Rich and I are looking at a different travel card, Chase Sapphire. Right now, here's the deal with it:
60,000 bonus points after you spend $4,000 on purchases in the first 3 months. Premium travel & dining at restaurants. APR 18.24%-25.24% variable APR and an annual fee of $95. That's why you pay off the balances right away. It's crazy to pay that kind of interest!
Card benefits are that you get the 60,000 bonus points by spending $4,000. If you have big purchases you need to make, like we do with putting our Africa flights on the card and other household purchases for our new home, we will spend that amount! Again, the key is to make the charge, but pay it off before any interest is due...in the first month.
Additional benefits of the card: You get 25% more in travel redemption. The 60,000 points are worth $750 toward travel.
Then, you receive 2X points on travel and dining. Plus, earn 1 point per dollar spent on all other purchases.
Of course, the way we play this card deal is that we get the card, make the purchases on it and then close out the card in a relatively short period of time, since our main goal is the travel points. Then, onto the next card offering big travel rewards.
Enough for this blog. Next, I'm actually going to start giving details on some of our trips. First one is the trip to Steamboat Springs, CO. See me at the next blog, travel gurus!!!
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