Comments on: Credit Card Rewards – Are They Really Worth It?

By: mike

mike — Thu, 01 Jan 1970 00:00:00 +0000

Can you use a rewards card to pay your mortgage or would that be considered a cash purchase? Has anyone tried this, this seems like for me the fastest way to gain the rewards and just pay it off every month.

By: NtJS

NtJS — Thu, 01 Jan 1970 00:00:00 +0000

That 85% number seems quite high. I haven’t seen this CR study. Did it include the new rewards debit cards as well? Interesting that GMAC found 41% don’t redeem the rewards. I used to hear stats that 75% of air miles were never redeemed.

The rewards game is just a gimmick. We’d much rather (and do) pay for the item once, and be done. No statements, no reconciling, no redeeming.

There is no rewards program that is worth allowing those snakes into my life. Life is much simpler without them.

By: PT

PT — Thu, 01 Jan 1970 00:00:00 +0000

Thanks for sharing this article, Pete. Excellent write up and summary of the issue.

By: Mrs. Micah

Mrs. Micah — Thu, 01 Jan 1970 00:00:00 +0000

I thought about this when applying recently. It seemed like my choices were no annual fee or fee but rewards. Since we’re not planning to use the card for most of our spending at this point (I want to get the hang of using it and then paying it off!), I doubt we’d get that much back in rewards. If we do, it’ll definitely be cash. I can’t think of anything else that I KNOW I can use all the time.

By: MyMoneyAdventure

MyMoneyAdventure — Thu, 01 Jan 1970 00:00:00 +0000

I just was about to write the same type of post! I recently decided to cancel my rewards credit card because it was not worth the hassle. I’m trying to simplify my finances, not increase them.

By: FFB

FFB — Thu, 01 Jan 1970 00:00:00 +0000

I have an Amex Blue card that earns rewards points. I’ve redeemed my points a number of times. The way I see it, I don’t go out of my way to make a charge. I would use the card anyway most times. The rewards are just a bonus. Plus we make sure to pay off our balance every month.

You have to read the fine print and see if a rewards card will be worth it for you.

By: Frank

Frank — Thu, 01 Jan 1970 00:00:00 +0000

I actually use my card for nearly all my purchases, including some bills. This gives me cash back of about $35-40/month, which I deposit directly into my Roth IRA. This adds up quickly.

But you are right, it really takes a disciplined spender to make credit card rewards work for you.