Everybody knows that you can use your cash back rewards card to save money on your everyday purchases. Indeed, banks compete fiercely with each other in order to offer customers the best cash back return rates, with their best offers only being separated by fractions of a percentage point. At the same time, most card issuers offer their customers and online shopping “mall” that will return far higher rates of cash back on purchases from specific merchants. Discover offers its ShopDiscover online shopping rewards portal that will return a 5% to 20% cash back bonus on each purchase.

How ShopDiscover Works

The shopping portal is available to all Discover customers that hold one of their cash back reward cards. Cash back card holders are eligible for 5% to 20% cash back, depending on the merchant; however miles cards members will only receive double miles. Cardholders will first need to log in to their account with their normal user ID and password. From there, they can choose to shop at over 200 different merchants. 

Each merchant is listed with offer details which specify the rate of cash back and any other benefits and limitations. In addition to bonus cash back, some merchants even offer free shipping for purchases above a specified spending minimum.  Limitations can exclude charges for tax, shipping, service fees, and gift cards.

Fortunately, all offers are in addition to the normal cash back or miles received for spending on the card member’s Discover cash back rewards card. Cash back bonuses will be credited to the cardholder’s account within eight weeks of purchase; however, in the case of hotel stays and cruises, the bonus will take eight weeks from the date of use.

What Types Of Retailers Are Listed

While there are many smaller retailers featured in their online shopping mall, there are also some major outlets including department stores, home improvement stores, office supply chains. For example, purchases at JC Penny are eligible for 10% cash back, 5% cash back at the Home Depot, and 5% at Office Depot. Finally, there are numerous specialty retailers in the areas of apparel, travel, sporting goods, electronics, and gifts. In particular, Barnes and Noble and Nike both offer a 15% bonus.

Who Can Benefit From Using ShopDiscover

Discover customers with a reward card would be wise to familiarize themselves with the list of merchants in the ShopDiscover mall. Online shopping has always held an advantage in convenience while usually saving customers the cost of sales tax. While the savings offered to Discover’s cash back card holders can be very significant, the double miles offered to miles card holders is far less so. By adding an additional bonus for online shopping at popular merchants to cardholder’s existing cash back benefits, ShopDiscover is a valuable asset to their customers.

Frequent flier miles and other loyalty points will always be devalued over time, but cash back is the ultimate credit card reward. Like most other banks, Citi offers a variety of cards that return different levels of cash back based on various merchant categories.  Beyond the standard cash back returned, Citi offers additional rewards for purchases made with merchants in their Citi Bonus Cash Center.

How This Program Works

There are four Citi cash back credit cards that are eligible to participate in the Citi Bonus Cash Center; Citi Dividend World MasterCard – their best credit card offer for rewards – ,  the AT&T Universal Savings Platinum Card, and both the Citi Dividend Platinum Select Visa and MasterCard for College Students. Cardholders must then log into their Citi credit card account online before visiting the Citi Cash Bonus Center. There, card holders can link to hundreds of popular merchants. While each individual online store offers a different percentage of cash back, the average is 5%. Once a purchase is made, the cash back earned will be visible online within 45 days, however it will take one to three statement cycles before that amount is credited to your account. The bonus cash back earned is in addition to the cash back rewards normally earned from purchases. (more…)

If someone made a movie about Hawaiian Airlines, the voiceover for the preview would go something like this, “In a world where major airlines have joined together in global alliances to dominate the planet, one carrier has chosen to go it alone.” That pretty much tells the story of this little airline that has learned how to thrive by connecting its small, but popular state to the rest of the world. Like nearly all other airlines, Hawaiian also has its own frequent flier program and co-branded airline miles credit card. The Hawaiian Airlines Visa Signature Card from Bank of America is marketed to Hawaiians and mainlanders who wish to earn miles towards free travel on their airline and a few select partners. For Hawaiians in particular, this is one of the best credit cards to have.

Overview

Cardholders will earn up to 35,000 miles as a sign up bonus when they open an account. 20,000 miles are earned after their first purchase, with another 15,000 being awarded when customers spend $1,000 within 120 days of opening their account. Subsequently, cardholders will earn a single mile in the HawaiianMiles program for each dollar spent, with two miles per dollar being earned for spending with Hawaiian Airlines. Other benefits include a 25% discount on travel between the mainland United States and Hawaii for the cardholder and a single companion. The card features a variable interest rate equal to the Prime Rate plus 11.99%. There is a $79 annual fee, although cardholders do receive a 2,000 mile bonus each year when they renew their card. Finally, there is a 3% foreign transaction fee on all purchases processed outside of the United States.

Benefits

People do not want to earn award travel to relatively unexciting destinations, and free travel to Hawaii is a very alluring proposition. Although Hawaiian Airlines is not a member of a particular airline alliance, they are still partners with Delta, Continental, Virgin Atlantic, and Korean Air. Another interesting feature of their program is that cardholders can combine mileage balances between family members, allowing them to exercise additional flexibility as they pool miles for awards.

Drawbacks

This card’s annual fee of $79 is rather high, and its foreign transaction fees make it a poor choice for use outside of the United States.

Conclusions

With continuing service to several destinations in Asia and Australia, this is a great card for those who wish to travel to Hawaii and beyond. By combining a generous sign up bonus with some great aspirational award possibilities, Bank of America has produced a product worthy of the scrappy little carrier that bears its name.

Some people look disdainfully at the whole practice of collecting and redeeming frequent flier miles. They rightfully complain that these programs are too confusing, and the awards are too hard to redeem. Others relish the opportunity to explore the details of these programs in the hopes of finding hidden opportunities to earn points and miles towards free travel. Among the later group, Asiana airlines of South Korea has earned a reputation for offering excellent possibilities to earn miles and redeem them on its many airline partners. Bank of America offers their Asiana American Express card, not just for Asiana customers, but for anyone clever enough to recognize how valuable their airline credit card rewards program is.

Overview

For each dollar spent, cardholders will earn two Asiana Club miles in their program, with three miles per dollar earned at grocery stores. Cardholders will also receive a 5,000 miles sign up bonus after their first purchase. As this is not a 0% credit card, card members who carry a balance will incur interest at a rate equal to the Prime Rate plus 12.99%, which applies to both purchases and balance transfers. There is a 4% balance transfer fee, as well as 3% foreign transaction fee on all charges processed outside of the United States. Finally, there is $50 annual fee for this card.

Benefits

By itself, it is exceptional that this card earns double miles on all purchases, and triple miles at grocery stores. When it comes time to redeem their miles for award travel, cardholders can find tremendous value in Asiana’s partner award chart, which is distance based. For example, Americans who live on the east coast can fly on any Star Alliance carrier to Europe in business class for as little as 75,000 miles. In contrast, other Star Alliance partners such as United and US Airways require 100,000 miles for the very same award. Furthermore, customers can make up to 5 stopovers of 24 hours or more on any award flight, as well as an open jaw. For example, a New York based traveler could spend as little as $25,000 at grocery stores to earn enough miles for a  business class ticket to visit London, Paris, Munich, Zurich, and Milan on a single trip.

Drawbacks

This credit card offers a somewhat modest sign up bonus of a mere 5,000 miles, while other airline cards can offer 50,000 miles or more. As with many reward cards, this one features a higher interest rate than other cards, so it is best for those who always pay their balance in full. Finally, a 3% foreign transaction fee is increasingly out of place on products such as these that cater to international travelers.

Conclusions

This is an incredible card for those who want to maximize their miles earned from spending, rather than sign up bonuses. Even if one has no plans to visit South Korea, their awards on partner carriers such as Lufthansa, United, and Thai can be incredibly valuable. For those who crave airline award travel opportunities, Bank of America and Asiana Airlines offer an unbeatable deal.

It is generally accepted that there are two types of credit card users; those who pay their balance in full, and those who carry a balance each month. For those who avoid interest charges by paying their total balance each month, earning credit card rewards makes perfect sense, while cardholders that carry a balance should always be seeking the best interest rates. The Wells Fargo Rewards and Cash Back Visa cards try to play both sides of this game by offering some rewards points as well as an introductory financing offer.

New applicants will receive a 0% introductory APR on purchases and balance transfers for a very short six months.  Many other 0% APR credit cards offer intro periods of up to 21 months, and most offer these rates for at least 12 months. During the introductory period, balance transfers will be assessed a fee of 3%, which rises to 5% after it expires. The standard interest rate is equal to the Prime Rate plus 7.9% to 19.9%, depending on the applicant’s credit worthiness.

In addition to the introductory financing offer, Wells Fargo is also granting Rewards card customers one point in their rewards program for each dollar spent. Wells Fargo Cash Back cardholders receive a one cent rebate on each dollar spent. Since their rewards points are only worth .77 cents each as cash back or in other forms, the cash back card is clearly the superior product. However, many cash back credit cards currently offer a minimum of 1% cash back while also providing cash back sign up bonuses, making this a less than ideal option for those who want to profit from their rewards cards. (more…)