Credit Card Tune-up 2011
Clark Howard recommended the website creditcardtuneup.com where you can plug in your spending patterns, and the site will point you in the direction of the best rewards program. I did this almost three years ago and decided to switch our "first card out of wallet" from Discover Card to American Express Blue. At the time I did not realize I could only get cash back annually, unlike Discover who allows you to get cash back as you go. But, the estimated $1,000 cash back by the estimator has proven to pay off.
I just ran our spending patterns (which are still largely grocery, department store, and gas) through the tune up again and got the results below. Where is American Express Blue? It didn't even show up in the list. (I'm just showing above $500 payback below.) I wonder how much of this is driven by advertising campaigns paid to Credit Card Tune-up or referral fees? Perhaps Amex is not pushing Blue right now, because it has certainly continued to pay back. Hmmmm.....
| Credit Card Name | First Year Reward Minus Card Fee |
Best 2-Card Combo | Best 3-Card Combo |
|---|---|---|---|
| Capital One® Venture(SM) Rewards Card | $1090.00 | ||
| Chase Sapphire(SM) Preferred Card | $932.00 | $716.00 | $692.00 |
| Escape by Discover® Card | $900.00 | ||
| Starwood Preferred Guest® Credit Card from American Express | $837.50 | ||
| PenFed VISA Platinum Gas / Cash Rewards Card | $744.00 | $540.00 | $540.00 |
| Chase Sapphire(SM) | $682.00 | ||
| American Express® Premier Rewards Gold Card | $636.00 | ||
| Capital One® Rewards No Hassle(SM) Cash Credit Card | $636.00 | ||
| Capital One® VentureOne(SM) Rewards Credit Card | $625.00 | ||
| Gold Delta SkyMiles® Credit Card from American Express | $620.00 | ||
| Blue Sky from American Express® Card | $558.60 | ||
| Discover® Open Road - $150 Restaurant.com Gift Certificate | $544.50 | ||
| Chase Freedom® Visa - $100 Bonus Cash Back + 0% Intro APR | $520.00 | ||
| Citi® Dividend World MasterCard® - $100 Cash Back | $520.00 |
This just in from CardRatings.com:
Best cash back credit cards:
Fidelity Investment Rewards American Express
It's still hard to find a better deal than this cash back credit card that deposits 2 percent of your purchases into your linked account at Fidelity. It's an easy way to supplement your IRA, or to stash extra cash in a high-yield cash management account.
Capital One Cash
Jimmy Fallon helped reboot Capital One's cash back reward card in a series of funny ads that highlighted a no-nonsense rebate program that earns cardholders up to 1.5 percent of their purchases as automatic statement credits.
Blue Cash Everyday Card from American Express
Though we really love the "Preferred" version of this card that offers cash back rebates of up to 6 percent, very few people get approved for that all-star offer. Still, AmEx's "Everyday" cash back card offers a 1 percent rebate on all purchases, with double rewards at gas stations and triple rewards at supermarkets.
Cash back credit card predictions for 2012: I think we'll see more of the same great deals. Issuers have already ramped up their rewards programs quite a bit over the past year or so. I expect issuers to continue to be aggressive with signup bonuses and rewards programs.