There is no lack of rewards credit cards that offer alluring features that are worth money, with some offering potential annual savings of hundreds of dollars.
However, if the rewards program is difficult to understand and use, getting any value from your card purchases may be difficult. Instead of being able to save money, you will be left with a large number of points that were hard to get and much more challenging to convert into cash.
There will always be those who look forward to the challenge of optimizing more intricate cards, particularly if doing so allows them to win more valuable rewards. These cards are a good choice for that purpose.
Cash-Back Cards
Chase Freedom Flex℠
In practice, the Chase Freedom Flex℠ card combines two distinct incentive rewards into a single, convenient product. You are eligible for consistent tier rewards, in addition to 5% bonus categories that vary from quarter to quarter:
- When you book your trip via Chase Ultimate Rewards®, you'll get a 5% cash back bonus.
- Get a 3% cash back bonus at pharmacies and eateries.
- Other than when you do, you will get 1% cash back on anything else.
- When you activate bonus categories during a given quarter, you will get 5% cash back on up to $1,500 in total purchases in that category; beyond that, you will receive 1% cash back.
For example, the quarterly incentive categories beginning on October 1, 2020, and ending on September 30, 2021, include grocery shops and some streaming services. Oh, and one more thing: from now until March 2025, you may receive 5% cash back on Lyft trips. That has the potential to be a significant amount of wealth, but it is also a significant amount to monitor.
U.S. Bank Cash+® Visa Signature® Card
This card combines the idea of a quarterly bonus cash-back with the flexibility to choose the rewards categories you get. You'll benefit from the following:
- 5% cash back on two categories that you choose from numerous possibilities.
- 2% cash back on any category of everyday spendings, such as grocery, petrol, or restaurants.
- One percent cash back on all other purchases.
You'll need to keep track of numerous categories and activate your bonus categories once every three months, much as with the Chase Freedom Flex℠ credit card. However, the customization possibilities available to you with this card are more limited. For instance, "fast food" can be eligible for 5% cash back, but not all establishments do. Or, "certain" apparel retailers may give you a rebate of 5% of your purchase, although not all of them do.
Travel Rewards Cards
Hotels.com® Rewards Visa® Credit Card
Do you know how some coffee shops provide customers punch cards that may be used to purchase a complimentary 12-ounce medium roast after filling the card? If you replace the daily cup of coffee with hotel stays, you'll get closer to understanding how this card works. However, things may get rather convoluted quite rapidly.
- Make transactions totaling $500 with the credit card to get a "stamp" valued at $110.
- However, if you are a member of the Hotels.com loyalty program and book a stay via Hotels.com, you will earn stamps regardless of whether or not you use a credit card to pay for your stay. The amount of money you spend on lodging is equivalent to the value of these stamps.
After collecting ten different stamps, you will be rewarded with a hotel stay; however, this reward will not be redeemable for any stay of your choosing. Your "reward night" value is equivalent to the value of those ten stamps you accumulated on average. And the worth of those stamps, on average, might change depending on how you got them in the first place. If the full purchase were made with the credit card, you would get a hotel stay of $110 free of charge. If not, then what? You may want to have a calculator on hand for this.
Barclays' cruise line credit cards
Barclays provides several co-branded credit cards for cruise lines, some of which are as follows:
- Princess Cruises Rewards Visa® Card
- Holland America Line Rewards Visa® Card
- Carnival World Mastercard
The terms and restrictions of each card are a little bit different, but in general, you may cover qualified expenditures with redeemed rewards in the form of a statement credit. This can apply to cruise reservations, onboard purchases, and in some circumstances, flights.
On the surface, it seems to be a straightforward question, but here's where things start to get complicated: Your points are worth anything from one cent to two and a half cents apiece, depending on how much credit you want to be applied to your account and what kinds of rewards you want to get in exchange for your points.
