Credit Card Goodies - Rebates, Rewards, and other Incentives

The Historical Grapevine

8/31/98

FYI, American Express offers cash back optima card with no cap and rate is from 0.5% to 1.5%. http://www.americanexpress.com/apply/rewards.shtml

The Edvance card is a 1% rebate. $2500 in purchases gets a $50 bond. A $50 bond has a purchase value of $25. Edvance also limits you to 10 savings bonds per year.

Could your poster give a contact for the Omaha Steak Visa? Details on the rebates? Stuff like that.

I applaud your website for credit cards. We are all getting ripped off by these companies, and no single individual has sufficient incentive to get to the bottom of it all, even though we all benefit collectively; so thanks for doing this. I'm particularly glad at your focus on those of us who pay off our bill each month, since as you note most articles on the subject has focused on those who don't.

That said, let me add to the subject by pointing out one thing that has worked for me, and one thing that hasn't where I still need help. What's worked for me: because I travel a lot, I found that whatever I was saving in rebates was quickly eaten up by any fees if I was even a few days late sending in my bill. So I found the best solution was to have my credit card bill automatically deducted from my bank's checking account; this also saves on the hassle of bill-writing and postage. Luckily, Discover's Private Issue does that, so I get all of that plusx the Private Issue's 2% rebate. The problem is that Private Issue isn't accepted universally, and I have yet to find a visa or mastercard that issues a reasonable rebate and can also be paid automatically from my checking account. GE Rewards doesn't, and even the bank where I have my checking account, Citcorp, won't do this on its Citicorp visa! Does anyone have any suggestions? I'm perfectly willing to settle for a mere 1% rebate for a visa or mastercard that has this function.

8/28/98

I didn't see (in nearly two minutes at your site :-) the "Edvance" MasterCard. This is a deal whereby you get 2% (we think, unlimited amount charged per year). They do this by sending you a $50 savings bond for every $2500 you charge. However, if you're late with a payment they don't count that month's balance towards the next $2500! We always pay our full bill, but one month's bill got lost in the mail.

It's offered through Advanta National Bank USA out of Wilmington, Delaware. Their number is 1-800-492-2500.

We used to be on the GE Rewards card, and bailed when they insisted on a yearly fee (and because they capped the earnings with that bizarre formula). We've found that nearly all other cards waive their yearly fee if you threaten to cancel the card when that charge comes.

I just got an Omaha Steaks Visa account, after filling out an application that came with some Omaha steaks my parents sent to my wife and me. It has no annual fee, a requisite for me.

8/27/98

I currently have a Travel Plus card from Bank One. It used to give 1 point for each $1 but they recently changed it so that you get 1 for 1 if you don't pay all your balance and only 1 point for every $3 - booo, hissss. Plus they charge for the card. I was wondering if anyone else has run across any good airline card deals lately. My ideal card would do the following: 1 point for each $1 in purchases, 1 point for each $1 in balance transfers onto the account, grace period for balance transfers, and no annual fee.

I am finally giving up on BP Visa, which has forgone crediting 1% on all purchases (and 3% on BP purchases) to the statement in favor of vouchers. To make matters worse, the vouchers seem to be distributed sporadically, and they are holding most of my balance.

I found your site while searching for alternatives, but saw no mention of Centura's CashMax card, which credits .5% on the first $4,999 in purchases each year and 1% on all above that, cash to the statement once each year. No fee. Limited to residents of four states (I can't remember which) or current account holders. They also offer a travel card. The address is http://www.centura.com/cashcards/cashmax.html

I've had no experience with the Chevy Chase Bank, but i've heard horrible things about them. Check out : http://www.webpan.com/pgrice/chevy.htm. It's enough to keep me away from the 1% flat rebate.

This week I heard on Chanel 10 news there was a credit card company that offered 5% cash rebate. I wrote the number down but lost it. What cards give cash rebates. We charge about 50,000.00 a year but pay off each month and pay no interest except a high yearly fee. We get airline miles one per dollar. I want a better card.

I wonder what the chances are of gathering information for balance transfers. I currently work for AT&T Universal Card (now owned by Citibank) and work with customer service. There are many many people who are scrambling around transferring balances from one card to another in an effort to pay off their balances at a low interest rate.

At Universal Card, we just finished a program where people could transfer a balance at very low variable rate until the balance was paid off. In other words, no more transferring balances. Of course there are catches!! Ours was a one time 2% fee maximum of $20 (in the future $35), partial payments go to finance charges then the promotional balance. No part of the payment goes to any revolving higher interest rate balances. But there were ways around it.

No, this is not an advertisement for my company, on the contrary, the program is over and you could not call up and request the program when it was on, a person had to be solicited. But many people did not know they had been solicited as information was not received or thrown away. (Even as an employee I could not get that offer, which did not set well!) Truth of the matter is Citibank is closing our site down and will be out of a job by 11.30.98. (That was good news actually since the Salt Lake City employment market is to the advantage of the employee.)

What I am wondering and would very much like to help, is if at all possible, could another area of your information address balance transfer options on credit cards? Many people do not care for frequent flier miles or cash back as they just want the lowest interest rate to get rid of debt.

There's a flat 1% card, all purchases, no annual fee, $1000/year minimum at http://www.fonz.org/credit.htm. It's a beautiful card, and the Zoo gets a percentage of the sales. It's a Chevy Chase Bank 'Affinity (?)' program card. The card is available (versus the spectacular cards listed that no-one can get). But--you'll need the CC customer service number (800 937-5000), the Underwriting department (800 292-3651), and keep the FONZ number handy. Take detailed notes. When you apply, send in a W2; they will have trouble getting an accurate credit check. Why all this? I've been anxious to tell you about it, as it fills a gap on your card return vs. spending graph at the low end. But it took me three tries and 7 months to get the thing. I applied once, and after 2 months applied again. They responded this time & needed employment verification. I had to get my credit report and clear up the employment info. CC Underwriting won't call a 900 number employment verification service. On and on and on. The service dept. said the program was cancelled several times over the several months. But the FONZ site was still taking applications. Incessant delays and "I'll take care of it right away, sir!", and nothing happening until the next call. They finally sent me a $300 limit card if I would send the $300 to cover it, because I didn't qualify for the credit. Wrong card. Another application. They lost my W2-send another.

I didn't receive the first correct card they (said they) mailed to me. After more calls and another month later, it finally arrived via Fed Ex. With an $800 credit limit. Gad. Their computer says $12000, and have no explanation why my copy is $800.

Have you left out the TravelSmart program at Centura Bank on purpose? They offer a round trip ticket within the US (lower 48, I presume) on any airline, any time, for 20K points/miles/whatever. And for 20K they will give you $350 credit toward any international tix. So that's 2% for domestic and 1.75% for other--better than most. I read about it in a Consumer Reports Travel Letter about a year ago.

It's a pretty good program except they have caps on earnings. 1,000/month and 60,000/year. When we signed up they didn't show these on the application, although it WAS in the detailed brochure of program rules--which we don't remember having received until after signing up. (Their new application does show the caps.)

Unfortunately we didn't read the fine print and charged $20,000 + with them after we'd received our 60K credits and before our year was up. Obviously we got no rebate/bonus miles, whatever they call it. They have yet to answer my letter advising them of our disappointment with them. (There were some other problems that were peculiar to our situation but don't affect the general value of the program.)

re this posting: Well Household sent me some credit line access checks without an transaction fee. Here's the fine print.

The customer was sent Balance transfer checks aka: Powerpay checks. If you call and simply ask for access checks they carry a fee- read the Cardmenber agreement you will see access checks carry a fee. There is a difference between access checks and Powerpay checks.

8/26/98

Here's an article published in today's (8/26/98) Edition of the Washington Post and a web address you can access it at; if unsuccessful, go to the main Washington Post page and click Search then enter Don Oldenburg's name then press the Search button and click on "More Dope on Credit Cards"

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/WPlate/1998-08/26/043l-082698-idx.html

I have a Chevy Chase Visa card that pays 1% on all purchases. While there's an annual fee after the first year I call and request that they waive it. After a few minutes of baloney (and a quick review of my charges for the year showing them their nice interchange fee) they waive the fee. Here's my question: Why isn't a card that pays 1% on everything better than a card that has a sliding scale (Discover Private Issue)? What am I missing?

I use 3 "no annual fee, rebate cards. To date, I've been pleased. I'd like you (& your readers) to consider 1 more asset of credit cards in your evaluation. How prompt & efficient are they in reconciling "disputes" and/or effecting "charge-backs". The 3 cards I'm listing have been very good! All my experiences are based upon paying all balances each month.

I.ve been w/ Discover since it's initiation. Greenwood Trust Co. has been dependable w/the 1% rebate, w/out any problems for nearly 11 years. (1-800-347-2683 /Dover.DE) They pay annually.

My platinium Master Card from First BankCard Center (1-800-688-707/ Omaha, NE) also pays annually. They also have a Visa card.) Believe they may also extend the "manufacturer's warranty" & insure your purchases for 90 days. I've used them for many years. (And based upon their policies of about 8-9 yrs. ago, they do not combine the 'limits' of the cards as some do.)

I also have the Bell Atlantic Visa card. Would like to correct 1 point mentioned in a previous comment I noted in your "Grapevine". This card isn't new, it began in 1996 . Everything else noted was correct. It also extends product warranties & insures for 90 days. However, the 'extended warranty' MUST be the 2d; eg; you can't use a store's service contract & the Bell Atlantic one. (I hope I'm explaining this clearly, I usually don't buy 'service contracts' but bought an inexpensive item (less than $100) that had a 6 mos. warranty. The store offered an addt'l 6 mos for less than $10 so I bought it. When I queried the Bell Atlantic depot. I learned I couldn't use the store's warranty & was able to get a credit for that amount.) The 'extended protection # (used to be ) 1-800-635-5529

However,I have a greater concern about this card. It was originally serviced by First Omni Bank,NA of Millsboro, DE. & after a slightly rocky start (omitted some rebate 'rewards'), did beautifully. I received my $20 reward checks regularly. Early this year , Chase Manhattan took over & I've had problems ever since. I've tried to work w/their customer service dept since March & just recently (earlier this month) had to write K. Reilly, their Vice-Pres. of the credit cards div. w/a copy of all data to R. Smith, Pres. of Bell Atlantic. I'm hoping they will take care of my problem.

I'd caution everyone using this card to check ALL rewards carefully each month. My difficulties started w/the transition. In March, I didn't get my 2% phone services reward. I didn't get an April statement at the normal time. I did get a May statement w/a finance charge & no rewards but got a $20 check. However, balance forwarded should have been $1.87, not $.87).

I then received a "notice of my change of address request" (I've lived at same address for over 27 years.) And my next statement showed a -$9.?? reward balance!!. Everyone was very nice & polite but couldn't explain the negative balance! My next statement didn't correct the negative balance but gave me rewards for using a calling card! I don't use them! They're also careless, when they 'corrected the $3.08 calling card reward, they subtracted $3.09! & omitted the phone service 2%!! I did not get my $20 due in July & my August statement was as confused & messed up as ever. That's when I wrote the head people. And, as I noted to Mr.Smith, I doubt I'm the only Bell Atlantic customer having these kinds of problems.

The theory behind the card is excellent since we have to pay our phone bills @ month. The 'practically' instant reward was better than the annual setups but we, as card users, must be ever vigilant!

I looked up your web site but to be honest I found all the info to be a little confusing. I charge approximately $15,000 a year on my card. I never carry a balance and pay off the bill in full every month. Currently I use a USAIR NationsBank card where i get i frequent flyer mile for every dollar i charge. Can i get a better deal? Based on my spending and the fact i never carry a balance what card would you reccomend i use.

Currently, we use our first card to charge most everything we can, perhaps $500-1000 a month and, naturally, pay it off. This month, however, our charges are up over $5000 because we charged my wife's tuition at school. I got this idea that I would stick the money for her tuition into a market account for the next month -- at the 4.75% interest, we'll make about $20.

Then, I remember an offer I had received from First USA for a card with a 1.9% intro rate. So here's my new idea: Transfer the first cards balance each month (including the big one this month) to the First USA card, pay those minimum payments, and keep the money working for the six months, then pay it all off after 6 months. Sure, it's just a 3% return but would turn out over a $100 off money that I shouldn't really have. I'd like your expert opinion: Do you think that might make the first card unhappy that I transfer each month (I don't know why it would; they're still getting paid)? Or will this look bad on my credit history?

One observation: British Airways Visa is now issued through First USA Bank (not Chase). I learned about it from full page ads back in May offering 5,000 miles to sign up and no fee for one year. (Low introductory interest too, but I don't carry a balance.) I joined and before I even received my first statement, I read in the August Frequent Flyer Magazine (published by OAG) that BA/First USA were offering 10,000 miles to join, plus 5,000 more as a bonus with the first BA flight.

I called to verify this information and to see if I could get the better deal. I was put on a buck passing loop between BA Executive Club and First USA, each saying the other had the information. After a few such sessions, First USA finally said yes they had such an offer, but I'd have to reapply for another new card and that meant another credit check. There was a definite hint of "no one would want another credit check," but when I asked why not, they had no good answer. Then after a while, they said, oops, that offer expired 7/31. I had never seen it advertised anywhere, just a short item in FF magazine.

Is this a typical experience?

I read about your site in the Washinton Post today and thought I would check it out. I noticed that you didn't have any mention of the AT&T Universal Card. I have this card and I get a 1% cash back because I have my long distance through AT&T. It has no annual fee. Additionally I believe that if one has AT&T as their cellular provider and internet service provider each is worth an additional 1%. I do not use AT&T for either of these additional services so I cannot confirm the bonus percentages.

Now that BellSouth has cancelled their VISA, are there any cards that pay a rebate on balance transfers?

8/24/98

In regard to the savings bond question...Novus offers a savings bond rebate with a 1.5% rate. It's offered through their Smithsonian card. Watch out for the Dual-cycle billing.

Someone on the grapevine asked if Egghead Cuepons could be used at Surplus Direct for non-computer stuff like espresso makers. I called and asked a rep and they said yes. I think they can even be used at the Surplus Auction, but I'm not positive.

Discover card is offering a $5 bonus if you spend more than $50 on purchases or cash advances between August 15 and October 24, 1998.

Well Household sent me some credit line access checks without an transaction fee. Here's the fine print.

"Interest on the amount of the enclosed checks will accrue on the date of transaction. The APR on the amount of each enclosed check will be the Reward APR (4.9% 6 months, then 17.4%) as disclosed in the cardmember agreement. The standard check transaction fee, if applicable, will be waived for the enclosed checks."

I received these free checks without request soon after opening my account. The rep said they are put into the computer and forever treated exactly the same as purchases, with the exception of no grace period. No other fees or charges were applicable.

The checks can be made payable to anyone but CASH (yourself) or to another household bank card. I think it's called the POWERPAY program.

For the past two years I have used M&T Bank/Visa card and received $50 savings bonds for every $2500 I spent. This program works well for me to save for my childrens college. Unfortunately, the program was discontinued. Are you aware of any programs out there offering the same thing? I pay off my account monthly.

8/23/98

We made the Kansas City Star. Here is a link to the article.

What is happening to Discover Card / Novus services (MWD)? I found that the President (THOMAS BUTLER) resigned. Not to mention, other senior management, like Joe Yob. This occured in Riverwoods, Illinois.

Futhermore, there is rumor that the Bravo Card has failed, and been cancelled. Also, they are no longer issuing Bravo Cards, but none of the Internet links indicate that. This decision was made months ago. When you call 800-BRAVO-YES, you are told the card has been discontinued. I just heard the Bravo Card and Private Issue Card have lost tremendous amounts of money, and the bottom line looks bad because the credit losses are too high due to poor acquisition strategies over the last 5 years. Rumor has it that they are "CLEANING HOUSE" in the facilities.

Concerning Household Bank's Acess Checks. They do carry a fee.

We have a site that features a comparative listing of credit cards + a java based "calculator" + a search tool and some consumer info. Basically, the whole idea was to create a site to help people make an educated decision about applying for a credit card. The site is called the "Credit Card Advisor".

http://www.gromco.com/cca/

8/11/98

I just started using a new 1% rebate card that is not tiered, and pays rewards every month. The card is branded as a HyVee Foods Mastercard. The rewards are paid in HyVee dollars which can be spent as cash in any HyVee Foods grocery store.

HyVee is a medium sized grocery chain in the upper midwest with stores in the following states: Minnesota, Iowa, Kansas, South Dakota, Missouri, and Illinois.

I just received my first $5 reward check in the mail for $500 worth of charges last month. What is great about this card, is you do not have to wait a year to get your rebate. The card is offered by MBNA America Bank. The number to apply for the card is 1-800-421-2110

Does anyone know of any cards that offer a 0% intro period, including balance transfers? I know someone mentioned a First USA card that might have, but which would this be, and are there any others?

8/10/98

Where do I order up a *Bi-Low* charge card offering a 2% rebate on food? Can't find any other reference to this one.

How would I find a Visa or Mastercard 1% cash rebate card that allows me to download my transactions to Quicken?

8/8/98

The 7/29/98 writer stated the annual Private Issue refund came with the same statement that assessed the $18 annual fee. Mine did not. When I called, I was told it takes 5-7 weeks but I may be able to get it earlier by having the refund applied to the next month's bill. Seems inconsistent with the concept of "cashback." Odd that we must pay within 25 days yet the issuer does not.

I can add a little bit to the Chevy Chase Cash Rewards Card discussion. When I applied the person that I spoke with said (and my card agreement confirms) that there is no annual fee for the first year, and it is $40 per year after that. The thing I can add to the discussion is that she told me that after the first year, if everything is OK, the annual fee is highly negotiable, and has a very good chance of being waived. Presumably those for whom it would be waived are those that make Chevy Chase the most money, viz. those who charge a lot and pay on time. I will be using this card in lieu of my BellSouth card that has recently betrayed me with a change in terms.

Have you seen the AMEX (yes, AMEX) Optima Cash Back Card? Available in regular and platinum. .25% of the first $2k, .5% of the next $5k, but then 1.5% on everything above $5k and it does not seem to be capped. No annual fee.

Apply at http://www.americanexpress.com/ or 1-800-4OPTIMA.

8/7/98

If you didn't know already, Shell mastercard no longer offers a 2% cash back. They downgraded to 1% unlimited and 5% for Shell gas purchases.

Bi-Low still offers a 2% unlimited card. Not cash but good for food. Everbody eats.

Just applied for US West Platinum card; still no annual fee, but cash back program changed quite a bit:

.5% - First $2000
1% - Greater than $2000, less than $5000
1.5% - Greater than $5000, less than $8000
2% - Greater than $8000

Cap of $125, which you hit at $6250; Will still use Discover Private edition when can, but as you say, lot of places still do no accept discover, so nice option up until $6250 (then use frequent flyer or whatever goodie cards when Discover not accepted).

So, which card are you using these days? I actually haven't switched back to my (still no-fee) gold GE rewards MC. I have been using my straight 1% Bell Atlantic card. it's easy, and there's no figuring out what % I am getting or whether I have maxed it out.

Chevy Chase Bank doesn't seem to be giving a consistent story. I called them today (1998-08-06) and was told that to get the rebate card, you must accept an annual fee. The no-annual-fee cards don't have a rebate. They said they'll keep my name in case they do a special promotion for a rebate card with no annual fee.

I called to apply for the Chevy Chase CashRewards Card. I was told that there is no annual fee for the first year only. After the first year, the annual fee is $28 for the classic card and $35 for the gold card. I cancelled my application.

8/6/98

I currently have a BellSouth Visa but due to their latest changes, I'm switching to Chevy Chase. Thank you for the information - it was helpful.

I have just received the Cash Rewards Visa from Chevy Chase Bank and it looks to be a good card. The card member agreement clearly states that there is no annual fee and the card will pay 1% cash back with no limit. The cash back will be credited to your account each anniversary date. I did receive a change in terms with my card, but it did not mention any annual fee. It was just telling me that the late fees, returned check fees, returned cash advance fees, and overlimit fees will increase from $25 to $29. If this card can maintain no annual fee it may be a good one. I'll keep you posted on the changes. People interested in the card can call 1-800-307-1015. By the way, you have created a great web page for consumers. Thanks.

8/4/98

My offer from Discover was $10 credit on Oct bill if I spend $100 betweek July 15 and Aug 31. The card has not been used in the last couple years . I use a Mall Visa which is a straight 1 or 2 percent even though in "mall dollars". Also I get the rebate whenever it exceeds $10.

I received the same offer of an extra 1% rebate on my August & September Discover, but only if I charge at least $1750 each month. Maybe the threshold is tied to credit limit, or to our previous spending?

This comes at the right time, assuming I spend that much, as I capped out the Discover Private Issue rebate, so switched to regular Discover for the rest of my "credit card year". I think my Private Issue anniversary is September 6, so in October I can go back to using the Private Issue.

Comments on two other cards: I also obtained the ChefSmart Visa from Jefferson Bank (It, the ArtSmart, and two others were advertised as "no annual fee ever" and a flat 1% rebate.). After two or three months, they changed the terms to add an annual fee, so that account is now dormant. I applied for the Chevy Chase Visa, same offer, and the new cards came WITH a change in terms to add an annual fee. So that account will be dormant too.

I just got a flyer regarding my Discover Card (the cheapy one, not the Private Issue).

If I charge at least $350 in August, they will give me an extra 1% rebate on my August purchases (Cap: $25). The rebate will be awarded as a credit on the October bill.

Additionally, if I charge at least $350 in September, they will give me an extra 1% rebate on my September purchases (Cap: $25). The rebate will be awarded as a credit on the November bill.

I do not know whether this is a general offering, or a special offer targeted to a specific population.

8/3/98

Well, folks, just got the news on the new and improved Bellsouth card. Improved? Hardly. The card is now serviced by GE Capital and has a cap of $200/year. It's scaled up from 0.25% up to 3% but again, it's capped for the first $15000 at $200. Ah well... another flat 1% card gone. The old program (flat 1%) ends on September 18, 1998. Also, the program is no longer cash-back; it's now a credit system shwere you earn "Bellsouth Credits" and can only redeem them for Bellsouth products and services. -- Peter

CITIBANK finally changed their homepage (sorry I should have checked again before posting it to grapevine): Unfortunately they also changed the driver's edge program: Now it's only a 1% rebate capped at $500/year! It seems no bank wants to pay more than 1% anymore....

I also got the smartflier newletter: In my version they are even asking for $15.- for the information about the fee free credit card. The problem is that they do not even disclose what kind of a card it is: We already know that the fee free ITT Sheraton AmEx allows you to collect miles for all these airlines. I also have a question about the Driver's Edge card: Can anybody apply or is that card exclusively for from Ford rebate card holders? I could not fing any information on the CITIBANK homepage on how to apply for the card...

The Citibank Driver's Edge rebate is not a 2% cash rebate. It is a 1% cash rebate on purchases if you do not use the 2% auto purchase credit during its five year life. It is not automatic and must be requested after the five years, or it will lapse.

In some cases Smartflyer is accumlating frequent flyer miles by referring people to offers with their website. Smart-surfers can use Smartflyer info to credit a friend with for a referral and have the friend do the same for them, thereby getting the deal and the miles.

I received an offer for the First USA Titanium Mastercard, which said it would start me off at 1.9%, and they switch to 12.99 later. As for the rewards, it was really short of details, mentioning some sort of "Satement Savers" that "can save you up to 30% on products and services you already buy." Also, there is a "Universal Gift Pass" that lets you save 10% from selected retailers. Anyway, this card looks like a waste of time. I assume this isn't the same as the Titanium Rewards card that has been mentioned here? One post in July said that care with 0% promotion, which could potentially be useful sometime. But I guess that isn't this.

Also, before I had looked at the Titanium offer, I called to ask about the Cash In Card. The phone representative at first offered to sign me up, telling me the rebated was up to 2%. When I asked for details, she said to hold on so she could check. Then someone else came on the line and said the card was still in testing and not available, but they'd put my name on a list for when it is ready. Guess we all must wait.

8/2/98

On 7/28 someone on the grapevine said:

"Citibank Drivers Edge recently announced that one could take the rebate in cash instead of applying it against the cost of a car. If you hold that card, you benefit."

I'm a Drivers Edge cardholder and was thinking about changing cards after buying my next car [I'm bummed that they took out the free roadside assistance]-- can you point folks to where Citibank announced this? I didn't get any mention of this change with my bill... A 2% cash rebate on all purchases blows the rest of the rebate cards out of the water!

Well it turns out FIRST USA does in fact treat purchases of TRAVELERS CHEQUES from AAA, as a cash advance.

After documenting two First USA representatives assurance that there are NO fees, and writen email from First USA that this would be treated as a purchase..I decided to test it out.

I went to my local AAA dealer and purchased $1000 in travelers cheques. To my surprise, First USA charged this as a Cash Advance. When I called the First USA the rep insisted that Travelers Cheques were stated in my agreement as a cash advance. This actually isnt true, cause i have several copies of the fine print of the original credit card agreement. In any case, because of my proof, he reversed the cash advance fees and rewarded me with a 1000 points.

So dissapointed at this, I decided to get a AAA Visa, which I know treat purhases of Travelers Cheques as a regular purchase and NOT a cash advance.

P.S. Providian National Bank's policy and services regarding the $100 rebate is misleading and not worth the effort.

I saw the following in SmartFlier's newsletter:

"Get a no annual fee credit card that will allow you to earn miles with American, Continental, Delta, Northwest, United and USAir. Send a check for $10 to SmartFlier.com and include your mailing address and Email address. Send the check to:
SmartFlier
1234 Jones, Suite 18
San Francisco, CA 94109"

I feel so strange. If there is a credit card like this without annual fee, why do we have to pay to know the detalied information? Isn't it true that the credit card companys would like their name known by the public, so that they can earn more business? Why is that except for SmartFlier, I have not heard anything about this "perfect" credit card from anywhere else?

Any comment? Or is there someone who had the experience of, or is using this "too-good-to-be-true" credit card?

I have a 1st USA Platinum visa with "Value Miles". They notified me about 5 months ago that convince checks would now have a fee on them. I called and asked if my old "no fee" checks were still good. They assured me that they were. NOT ONLY ARE MY OLD "NO FEE" CHECKS STILL GOOD BUT NOW THEY ARE NOW ACCRUING MILES IN THE "VALUE MILES" PROGRAM. Previous to this only regular credit card purchases did that. Needless to say, I strangely benefited by some computer glitch on their part. I have filtered over $60,000 though in the last 5 months and have maxed out the allowable points for this year. Next year I still have 12 "old" checks waiting to go to work for me.

Regarding that cardholder that complained about their Amoco Visa being upgraded and the rebate taken away, well the same thing happened to me. I also live in Minnesota and the Amoco station by me just got in a new display of Amoco Visa applications with the rebate. I called the Associates bank and complained. They will not switch my card back to the rebate program, but verifed that the program is still available to new customers. The original credit agreement on the rebate Visa did not change. They just closed my account and switched me to a different card. The "upgraded" account has a different account number and a different card agreement. I don't like being stomped on for paying my bills in time, and I will complain to the attorney general just like the first cardholder did. Are there any other government units that regulate commerce that I can complain to? Its about time we start to fight back and turn up the heat on unscrupulous companies.

7/29/98

You've posted quite a bit about problems opening up credit card accounts, but I haven't seen anything about closing accounts. I recently closed my Private Issue account. With the recent change in their rebate program and the amount I charge per year (less than $12K), I'm better off avoiding the $18 fee and going back to my free Discover Card, but I had to wait until after my anniversary date to close the account or I would lose my cash back award. I received my cash back award the same day that I received a billing statement containing a charge for next year's $18 fee. On the back of the billing statement was a statement that said I could avoid paying the fee by closing my account within 30 days, along with the phone number to call. I immediately called Private Issue and told them I wanted to close out my account. I was then transferred to a person who kept trying to to get me to change my mind. Even after I told him that I didn't want to hear any more of his arguments, he still kept it up. Finally, after several minutes of arguing, he agreed to close the account, but then told me that I would still be responsible for the next year's $18 fee because I had called to close the account after my anniversary date. When I complained about this, he said that he would credit back most of the fee, but was still going to charge me a one month pro-rated fee, which he somehow calculated to be over 2 dollars. Only after I demanded to speak to his supervisor did he finally agree to credit back the full $18. This argument about the fee should never have occurred. All in all, what I expected to be a brief business call turned into a very unpleasnat experience.

Amoco= Gas station, Associates=Credit card Issuer.......I am not aware of an Associates Gas station...So give them time to communicate to Amoco stations to take down the displays ... If you apply for a new account I am sure you will get a revised agreement stating the change and would be your choice to accept terms or cancel the new account. Open up your credit card agreement and read it ...... They can make changes to it...that is a standard disclosure.....Bait and switch?

A few pieces of info you might be interested in.......

Here's the best one : I have had the First USA Yahoo Visa for 3-4 months. They have screwed up my Rewards Points ever since I got it. I am supposed to have over 5000 points (which is what it says on my statement) but their web site hasn't let me redeem any (their points must be redeemed on the web). When I first contacted them with the problem, the person at customer support said I had to email someone about the problem. The people at the email address said I had to call customer support. It finally is showing some points for me, but only 700, which is the amount from the latest statement only. None of the points from the previous statements are available. They told me last month this would be fixed when I received my statement for this month (July). It wasn't, and now all they are saying is that it can't be fixed for at least another month, because the rewards points are only posted to the web site once a month!!! They have told me they would have someone email me or call me about this several times, and I haven't heard anything.

I just received an offer in the mail today from Chevy Chase for their CashRewards Visa. It seems to be targeted to Discover users based on the wording of the offer. It is a flat 1% with "absolutely no annual fee". There was no mention of limits or charges for not carrying a balance (but those will probably come in the cardmember agreement, which you can't get until you apply for the card). Any ideas if this one is good?

I also got an offer for the First USA Titanium Visa. Its rewards were very vague, and included % off merchandise from some retailers, but they couldn't tell me which retailers.

As for the Discover Card, when I got my rewards check this year, they included a catalog of merchandise and tried to get me to pick the merchandise, instead of cashing the rewards check......

Thanks for all of the great credit card info. Our card which gave us 1% back in the form of savings bonds ($50 bond for every $2500), cancelled the program. We'll probably start using the Discover Private Issue soon and I also found a Visa/MC which advertises up to 2% back with no fee, but I still have to get in touch with them.

7/28/98

Most people who visit this site probably understand that credit card companies are businesses that want to make as much money as possible. Consequently, terms change as market conditions change. And all the cardmember agreements state they can change terms at any time.

There seems to be a tightening in a lot of rebate programs. Depending on your circumstance you may come out a winner but more likely a loser.

When Shell MC reduce their rebate on non-gas purchases but lifted their cap and raised the rebate on Shell gas, I came out a winner. Shell is the cheapest station near me and I'll benefit.

I came out a loser with my LL Bean VISA. I got a letter from an LL Bean's vice president stating that in response to suggestions from card members to improve the program, he was happy to inform me of the changes. The interest rate was lowered, but I pay my balance in full so that was no use to me. The rebate amounts on LL Bean and non-LL Bean purchases were reduced, but I would now get free monogramming on items!!! I guess if I only ordered monogrammed shirts, the savings on monogramming would outweigh my decreased rebate.

Just like the AMOCO cardholder who just complained about the "Upgraded" card that was obviously a downgrade, the letter I received from LL Bean treated me like a fool. I would have much more appreciated a letter stating that due to economic conditions, LL Bean apologizes for having to change the terms.

Citibank Drivers Edge recently announced that one could take the rebate in cash instead of applying it against the cost of a car. If you hold that card, you benefit.

No one is forcing us to use their card. Fortunately, this site can be very useful to someone trying to take the most advantage possible of this industry. Let's hope the industry doesn't consolidate any more so that some competition continues to exist.

Dear unhappy user of Providian's! Could you give us a bit more info? What didn't work for you might be just right for some of us... and you spent so much effort to get the info from them, it would be a shame not to use it.

A hint: you don't have to have a thousand-bucks balance on your other card(s) to transfer $1000 there. There's no problem with transferring more than you owe. You end up with credit balance. If it doesn't get negative in couple months, they are supposed to send you a check. If you need your credit balance cashed right away, you may also use a cash advance, loosing $10 or so in transaction fees, for the sake of $100 freebie. Or transfer it back to Providian.

So: if I transfer $1K there and send them a $1.001 check right away (how about Cash-In Visa check for that?), and then charge something once a month, are they going to credit me $100 in 3 months?

Or I actually have to keep balance? Or charge at least some minimal amts? Could I transfer balances back to their card?

To the Amoco VISA user: It is common for all gasoline cards to reduce rebates since the Shell MC change. Just be happy that we have taken advantage of the rebates when they were available. GM is the only generous rebate card around if you still like GM car. GE is the only generous cash rebate card. I agree with the previous comment that it really does not pay to fight the entire card industry.

We have also received the same letter stating that our Amoco card has been upgraded and we will not receive any rebate on non Amoco purchase. I guess they did not want to give money away. However, when I called them they told me that this letter was sent to only some of the customers. The person could not tell me on what basis they have chosen the 'lucky' customers. So it seems to me that it is not just bait and switch but it is also a case of discrimination. And yes, I was not able to talk to a supervisor. I was disconnected after a long hold. Thanks.

[I just post'em; I don't write'em - Peter]

To the person who was complaining about an alleged "bait-and-switch" tactic by Amoco: LIGHTEN UP! All of these credit card companies try to screw us one way or another. Take it as a compliment that they are zagging to your zig. It sounded like your initial response was correct: canceling the card and reapplying for a new one. Running to the government every time you encounter a small problem is silly . . . solve it yourself.

In following up on my recent letter to you regarding the Associates National Bank Amoco Visa, attached is a copy of the letter I mailed this evening to the Minnesota Attorney General's office.

Minnesota Attorney General
Consumer Enforcement Division
445 Minnesota St. 14th Floor
St. Paul, Minnesota 55101
Attn: Eric Swanson

Dear Sir:

I wish to report a situation involving Associates National Bank of Delaware, P.O. Box 15067 Wilmington, Delaware 19850. This credit card issuer issues Amoco Oil Company Gasoline, and Amoco Visa credit cards in the State of Minnesota.

I personally opened an Amoco Oil Gasoline credit card account in 1976. In August 1995, I received a letter from Associates National Bank offering to upgrade my old gasoline card to an Amoco Visa card. This new card offered a 3% rebate on all my Amoco purchases, and a 2% rebate on general purchases at non-Amoco locations such as grocery stores, department stores etc. It was my choice to either keep my old credit card account, or switch to the new Amoco Visa. I made the decision to switch to the Amoco Visa at that time and accepted their offer. I was especially interested in the rebate program, and that influenced my decision to switch.

In April of 1997, my wife XXXXXXXX picked up an Amoco Visa credit card application at an Amoco gas station and obtained her own Amoco Visa with the same rebate terms as my account.

Both of us have been using our Amoco Visa cards since August 1995, and April 1997 respectively. Both accounts have a flawless credit history with balances paid in full monthly and no late payments ever.

On July 25, 1998, both of us received a letter from Associates National Bank informing us that our credit card accounts have been upgraded, and that we would no longer receive a 2% rebate at non-Amoco locations. I am enclosing copies of both of these letters. I made several calls to Associates 24 hour customer service line and requested them to cancel the upgrade and to re-instate our original accounts. Each time the rep that answered the phone was reading off a pre-prepared speech telling me how great my new card was. I asked to speak with a supervisor and was either put on hold indefinately or told that no supervisor was available. On Monday July 27, 1998 I was put through to someone claiming to be a supervisor. I explained to this person, that I had just stopped at an Amoco gas station, and that they are advertizing the Amoco Visa card that I had with the full rebate, and that I wanted both of our cards re-instated. This person told me that once a credit card was upgraded on the computer, that it could not be switched back. I was also told that Associates had the right to switch me to any credit card that they wanted to, and that my choices were to accept it or close it. My account currently had no balance, so I told them to close it then. My wife's account currently has a balance on it, so we left her's open.

I am enclosing the Amoco Visa Rebate card application form that I picked up at an Amoco Gasoline Station on the morning of July 27, 1998.

We allege bait and switch advertizing, by displaying advertizing and credit card applications for the Amoco Visa Rebate credit card in Amoco Gasoline stations, then stripping the customer of a substantial part of the rebate after they participate in the program.

We also allege breach of contract. By displaying advertizing and credit card applications for the Amoco Visa Rebate card in Amoco Gasoline Stations, Associates is making an offer to the general public. By cancelling our rebate credit cards in good standing and refusing to reinstate them, Associates is excluding us from their offer which is a breach of said contract.

We also allege false advertizing and deceptive trade practices. By advertizing the Amoco Visa Rebate card and refusing to honor said offer to customers in good standing, Associates violated Minnesota Statute Section 325D.44, Subd. 1 (9). By replacing our existing Amoco Visa Rebate cards with new cards offering lesser rebate benefits while promoting it as an upgrade, Associates committed deceptive trade practices by engaging in conduct which creates a likelihood of confusion and misunderstanding in violation of Minnesota Statue Section 325D.44, Subd. 1 (13).

We request that you investigate this matter as it may affect thousands of Minnesotans who already carry this credit card, and potentially thousands more who pick up an application and apply for it.

7/27/98

Just visited your site by accident while attempting to get to Providian's e-mail. I'm furious. DO NOT SIGN UP FOR THIS CARD!!! The company offers $100 free for signing up, then they get confused and can't tell you whether your card is on the way or not. When you receive your card and start using it (at 0% interest for 90 days) and wonder what your real APR will be (you have to send your lowest card bill and they will beat it), you realize that something is wrong. Calling to question yields these results: someone hangs up on you when you excuse yourself to get additional info from your spouse and you find out that you have to balance a transfer of $1000(12.9% interest) and charge for 3 months in order to get your $100. Hey, we never have $1000 combined on any cards and I have a better APR on my current card. So why would I sign up for this given this information up front. UP FRONT---that's what's missing, up front and clear information. So I promptly cancelled this card.

For the past 2 years, my wife and I have been using the Amoco Visa rebate card from Associates National Bank in Delaware. This card has provided a 3% rebate on Amoco Gasoline and a straight 2% rebate on other general merchandise purchases. The rebate was credited monthly off any Amoco gasoline purchases. We would buy 1 tank of Amoco gas per month and end up getting that free. The rebate was capped at $70 per year, so each of us had our own individual account netting $140 per year total.

This worked out fine for us until last Saturday July 25th, when each of us got a letter in the mail from Associates National Bank stating that they had upgraded our accounts effective August 4st to Amoco Platinum Visa accounts. The letter went on to say what good news it was and that the interest rate was also being reduced to 12.99 %. Then the letter also states in fine print that we will continue to earn a 3% rebate on gasoline, but that purchases at non-Amoco locations (formerly 2%) will no longer earn rebates.

I have called Associates 8 times since Saturday. On the first 6 calls, all I got was someone who was reading off a pre-prepared speech telling me how good the new credit card was. I asked to talk to a supervisor each time, but was unable to. On the 7th call, I was put through to a supervisor. I demanded that both of our cards be reinstated and to cancel the upgrade, but was very rudely and firmly told that once the card was upgraded on the computer that it could not be changed back. I stopped in an Amoco gas station today, and they have applications for the rebate card that I had. The station manager said that they were new applications that they had just gotten in. I made one more call to Associates, and told them to close my Amoco Platinum card account immediately. Then I called the number on the new account application and applied for a new account under the original rebate program. My wife still has a balance on hers, so we left that alone. After we collect the final month's rebate will we close that account too, and apply for a new one.

I called the Minnesota Attorney General's Office and explained this whole thing to an assistant there. He told me that it sounded like an illegal bait and switch tactic, and false advertizing since they will not give me what they are advertizing in Amoco gas stations. Tonight I will draft a letter to the Attorney General explaining what I have described here, and send them copies of all the documentation that I have. I fully intend to file a charge of "bait and switch" and false advertizing with the State of Minnesota where I reside.

Has anyone else run into this yet?

I just received a notice from my Mastercard (Amalgamated Bank) that they will be charging a $29 annual fee now. There used to be no charge, so you may want to update your web site (it shows no annual fee).

I know several mortgage companies award frequent flyer points for taking out a mortgage but have heard several including North American Mortgage allow monthly mortgage payments to be made via credit card. Can anyone confirm or add more? I have one mortgage with Bank America and one with GE but can't get them to accept payment by credit card and would gladly re-finance with a company that took monthly payment via credit card.

Also, does anyone know of auto/home insurance companies that accept credit card payments?

On 6/26/98, you wrote about Chevy Chase Bank.

I called 800 307 1015. They told me to call 800 937 5000 and they told me to call 800 556 6333.

After a few phone calls I found out they have an annual fee for their cards. They may have an introductory no annual fee, but after a year they charge.

7/24/98

Does anybody have information about the BEST WESTERN Visa card issued by PNC Bank? Their homepage is rather vague about the rewards program...

I can't find any mention of any 'catelog' spending of the First USA/AOL Visa card points. Does anybody know of anything besides free AOL time you can spend the rebate points on?

7/21/98

Presently, one of the better rebates is from First USA / AOL Visa (1-800-265-6524). 1% rebate that can be applied against your America Online bill or against some gifts that you can order. $2000 a month in billing means that you surf for free. The card is no charge.

Did anybody try to buy trav. checks with a First USA credit card from AAA? Did the charge show up a cash advance or a purchase?

7/16/98

Does the person who sent the Egghead cuepons in with the invoice mean to imply that they REFUNDED the difference in cash?!?

I've never had a problem with Egghead. I look on the Internet and print out what I want to order, then add tax a nd shipping and mail the printout along with the coupons. I give them a credit card number to take care of any additional amount. Usually, though not always, they will 'adjust' the price of the item so that the total comes to exactly what I sent in in coupons. Last week I got a 4 gig hard drive, listed at $215. Add 6% sales tax and $5 shipping. I sent $200 in coupons, and that ended up covering everything. I think the whole arrangement is wonderful.

7/15/98

I have been using Egghead Coupons recently. I order off the internet, then when the receipt comes with the package, I send it in with the cuepons, and they send me a check. It worked in June, 1998.

Are any of you readers still using Egghead 1st USA card? Any ideas how to make the past rebates work? 1st USA cust service doesn't have a clue about Egghead rebates...

Egghead.com won't redeem First USA rebate "Cuepons" over the Internet. They wouldn't accept the "Cuepons" over the phone either, although they would redeem them for telephone orders. A customer has to mail the coupons in, and it takes 10+ days before the credit shows up on their system.

But the worst fact is that the Egghead catalog service is in such a pitiful condition that they wouldn't even guarantee shipping of any of the CDs from their catalog which I wanted to buy. Absolutely everything had to be back-ordered, with no delivery time expectation (and their reps hinted that they may never ship these software items at all). Moreover, before my rebates cleared their system, at least some items were still available. What's going on, I wonder? Are they about to go OOB? Are they hiding stuff from us freeloaders to sell it to somebody with the real $$ instead?

saw some new details about the Citibank driver's edge card at: http://biz.yahoo.com/bw/980715/citibank_1.html

Well, for a *second* time I've called First USA and asked for a Titanium Rewards catalog, and for a *second* time I was denied. The rep said he could only send that out to cardholders. I told him that somone said they were able to get a catalog from a rep before applying. He said he didn't know how they got that information. I specifically said "So I can't get anything more than general information about the rewards program before applying?" He replied that that was correct. For entertainment, maybe the successful Grapevine poster might like calling again to see how a second representative responds to his request.

Interestingly enough, the first rep told me it was a good deal... he said he knew of one customer who did a huge transfer at the start, and is just letting it sit there through the 0% APR promotion. Since you get rewards each month for carried balances, his points are racking up, and the rep said he might be going on a free vacation soon. I thought it was amusing that a rep was essentially encouraging me to take advantage of them :) .

Today I again called the First USA Cash In Card phone number (1-888-231-4102) to check on the status of the program. The representative I spoke with said that the program was still by "solicitation only" but claimed that she could take my name and address and cause a solicitation to be sent to me in 7-10 business days. So I did that, but I'm somewhat doubtful given what other correspondents' have said. I'm curious to see what experience other readers of the Grapevine will have.

7/14/98

I've seen many requests for info about this card. I actually found your site by altavista's search engine trying to get more info on this card also. After noting the issuing bank, I had more than enough info to begin ... and thanks to your page I found it quickly. For that, here's what I did.

www.firstusa.com

Above address shows platinum card and 800 number to call. I called and asked for info regarding Titanium Visa.

Basic info is no annual fee, fixed 9.9% APR, catalog credits of some sort.

Real happy to mail me a catalog without any sort of invitation as mentioned by some other people. Give em a try ... I'm waiting for the application.

The USAA Visa has 2 rebate programs:

5% on travel booked through USAA travel agencies.
1% on convenience checks (3 per month, comes w/ statement.)

No rebate is earned on regular non-travel charges. Here's the catch (and there always is one)...The convenience checks are treated as a cash advance and earn a finance charge from day one until you pay your bill. No thanks.

Now, if I could just figure out how to get that First USA Cash In Visa w/o a solicitation...

FirstUSA finally gave me some usful info on the Yahoo! Visa rewards program. You can check out browseyahoovisa.com to see what merchandise is available. Most of the merchants have limited selections, except for CDNow and Amazon.com, which let you get gift certificates amounting to 1% of purchases/transfers/etc.

I just called MBNA about the RCA card. I thought it was strange that another Grapevine poster said he was getting rebates on balance xfers and cash advance checks, while the info on the web was fairly explicit about credits only being given for "retail purchases". The rep said balance xfers and checks will only get the 1% credit through December '98. After that, only new purchases will be eligible for the rebate.

Someone mentioned the Nordstrom Visa Card. Here's info from their Web site: "How do I apply for a Nordstrom Credit Account? If you are interested in applying for a Nordstrom credit card or Nordstrom Visa card, visit any Nordstrom Store to receive instant credit upon approval or call (800) 964-1800 to request an application."

I called today, 1998-07-13, & obtained this additional information: the Rewards program is changing, essentially to a flat 2% rebate (2 points per $1 spent; 2000 points gets a $20 Nordstrom's merchandise certificate.) However, the points are only earned on purchases at Nordstrom's - purchases using this Visa elsewhere earn no points!

7/13/98

An American Express Gold Card with 2% cash back? An Amex green or blue with 1% back? Yes! But only if you live in Canada.

See http://americanexpress.com/canada/

Also, I believe Subaru is now offering a 5% rebate program of their own. It's quite similar to the GM offer. www.subaru.com

7/10/98

Ran across an old post on your site asking about caps on RCA MasterCard. I've had one for a year and there are no caps or fees. Besides the usual discounts on RCA stuff, this card is a no-brainer for anyone with a DSS satellite system. I had to work to find this out (why????) but USSB and DirecTV both take points to pay your monthly programming bill, even if your DSS system is not RCA (mine's a Sony).

I assume you are aware of the nordstrom credit card (it is in this month's Kiplinger magazine). Anyway, it is a visa: first $1000 charges each year earns 1% credit, the next $1000 earns 2% AND SO ON UP TO 5% ON CHARGES EXCEEDING $5000.

I'm looking for info on the Yahoo! (FirstUSA) Visa rewards program. It says you can redeem points at places like amazon.com, CDnow, Cyberian Outpost, etc., but they don't say if it's for any product there that you want. On visa.yahoo.com, it has an option to "browse rewards catalog" if you already have an account, so that makes me think you can only redeem points for certain things. FirstUSA is always annoying when I call for info on these "catalog/certain-item rewards" programs (they refuse to send full info unless you're enrolled!), so I wonder if people who have the card could tell me what is up.

7/9/98

Users of LL Bean rebate card note that they have dropped the rebate for non-L.L. Bean purchases to half a percent. Used to be 1 percent.

I'm looking for a credit card that has the 5% travel service rebate like Private Issue once had. I make lots of weekend trips to theme parks and the rebates for car rentals and hotels really add up.

USAA has just introduced their Platinum Master Card & Visa.

5% cash back on travel
1% rebate - up to $100.00 on attached convience checks
Reduced hotel rates
Extended auto rental protection
$1,000,000 travel insurance
25 day grace period
ATM acess and convience checks with no transaction fees
Credit line up to $25,000
Year end Summary of charges
Extended warrenty on purchases
APR Prime rate as published in the Wall Street Journal on the 15th of the month plus 3.9% (currently 12.4%) as of May 15, 1998.
Annual Fee none
Minimum Finance fee none
Returned check fee $20.00
Late payment fee $20.00
Toll Free Hotline 1-800-922-9092

7/7/98

Hi, I stumbled on your site tonight and I am thoroughly enjoying it. I just thought I would let you know that Shell Mastercard has changed their deal. They informed me last month that they would now be giving 1% credit on regular purchases and 5% on gasoline purchases to go toward free shell gasoline. For people like me who spend only a small percentage of their money on gasoline, this is definitely not as good of a deal as it used to be.

Here in Maryland we have been using a Metro mbna mastercard that has 1% back general and 3% back on purchases at Metro market. We get $20.00 coupons in the mail all the time good for purchases at Metro market. We always shopped there anyway! Giant has a very similar ( 1% and 3%) with a Chevy Chase visa card. We are using a Travelers master card also for purchases as there is no interest at all until the closing date in October. We have had to use balance transfers for the first time and are using a nursing card (mbna mastercard) as it is 3.9 % until the closing date in October. Then I have a 4.9% card lined up that is good until March, 99. These balance transfers are rough unless you use the transfer checks, some offer, so you can be sure of the timing. I keep reading about people doing the credit card hip hop, but I can't figure out how, without paying interest. Does anyone know of any cards that give a grace period on balance transfers, especially if made with the transfer checks?

7/5/98

What do you think about a Personal Savings Account (PSA) charge card? The idea is simple. The PSA card would pay a percentage of each card transaction, for approved purchases, into the cardholder's retirement fund account - much like the dining a-la card concept. The retirement rebates would accumulate with card use and earn interest on a tax deferred basis. Access to the account would be totally independent of the cardholder's employer, thus completely portable. Participating merchant's profits would be augmented by the increase sales volume created by repeat customer loyalty. Merchant advertising costs would decrease as consumer's habits become driven by their desire to contribute to their retirement savings.

By 2012 Social Security will begin paying out more in benefits than it collects in revenues. In order to meet the revenue shortfall, the government will have three choices: raise taxes, lower benefits, or privatize the system.

As recently as 1950 there were 16 workers for every retiree. Today there are only 3.3. By 2025 there will be fewer than two. The current system is unsustainable. The $9 trillion Social Security liability is more than twice the national debt!

Many leading financial experts believe there is no economic issue facing the world today that is more important than converting public pension programs from pay-as-you-go government run systems into individually capitalized privately owned retirement systems.

I received a letter in the mail today from M&T Bank, issuer of Fisher-Price VISA, that effective August 1, 1998, the Fisher-Price card would no longer be valid. I used this card to earn U.S. Savings Bonds. ($2500 charged resulted in a $50 Savings Bond, or effectively 2% cash back at maturity.) They will be sending me a new M&T Bank VISA card to replace my Fisher-Price one, but, of course, with no rebates offered.

Now that my daughter's first semester of college is paid for with M&T's Savings Bonds, they've stopped this program. So, now I guess I'll open the myriad of credit card offers I get every week, looking for the best deal again because I won't be carrying the plain M&T Bank VISA and I don't carry a balance!!

In response to the e-mail raving about a 2% cash back, no cap on rewards : I called and it should be noted that you have to be solicited by this bank to receive this card.....they ask for a specific code number...the individual I spoke with claims that it is a random selection....but I truly wonder if maintaining a balance increases your chances of a phone call

Just received a letter from M&T Bank cancelling the Fisher-Price VISA card and program. Through July 31, I can continue to accumulate points. In Aug they will send bonds and a check for any points earned below the 25 point increment. (I thought that was an unusually nice touch!) Meanwhile I will automatically get another M&T bank VISA card. (Oh, yea!) Anybody have an idea of how to convert those $10 certificates from the Mall VISA card into cash???? After getting enough rebate points to pay my service from AOL VISA, I think that's the card I'll go to. Any other suggestions??

i tried to apply for a wells fargo credit card and they told me that because i live in the northeast they cannot accept my application as i do not live in their service area...

6/26/98

Platinum CashRewards VISA card
Chevy Chase Bank
800-307-1015
  
1%, no limit cash back
no annual fee
Automatic BonusRewards savings up to 30% (they don't elaborate on it
though)
Automatic extended manufacturer's warranties

6/24/98

After trying the Providan 'The $100 is yours' campaign, I would like to warn people about this bank.

After initially thinking this was a good deal, I can report it is a very poor investment in time and money. They have very restrictive requirements on getting this money. This involves transferring the bulk of other lenders balances for 3 months. They will create a card with a limit to accommodate all your balance transfers and then give you margin for breathing space on top. The best rate they give on the transfer is 12.9% for three months and then back to a negotiated rate to better any REGULAR rate for any existing bank (providing of course the transferred rate does not go below 12.95%). They provide 0% for the first three months on purchases. They also claim they will better any existing bank rate for purchases, but of course for only the 'regular' retail rate, in reality they would not beat my Wells Fargo Proven Credit rate which is reviewed every 12 months. They also create a customized agreement for you. With special provisions like, "we will review your credit profile every quarter. In order for your account to remain in good standing, you must not increase your indebtedness with other lenders beyond $x,xxx. If we determine your account is not in good standing your APR may be increased".

My suggestion is run don't walk away from them. Try USAA (12.5%) regular rate, or www.nextcard.com (deal depends on your rating) or try talking to your regular bank about 'taking your business elsewhere'.

Their '24 Hour customer service' is in reality an answering machine tree with an obscure reference to customer service at the end of it. The customer service number is only manned 8am to 9pm Monday to Friday.

Their customer service personnel are very hard nosed and experienced (I guess they are this way from being the largest secured card lender in the US). They are not out for customer satisfaction.

6/23/98

do you know if credit/pts are given for xfer balances on the first usa aol visa??

chase Nynex visa card used to offer 1% of all purchases in the form of a "check" payable to Nynex which you could mail to Nynex with your phone bill. When bell atlantic merged with Nynex they have renamed it the chase bell atlantic visa and they automatically deduct 1% of your purchases from your bill whenever you accumulate $20 worth of rebates. there is no limit and no annual fee. Ever since bell atlantic took over they, also automatically give you 1% off your phone bill and add it to your credit card rebates. let me know if you need any more info.

I noticed that one of your newly-recommended sits contains no details about their "most-recommended" 5% back CITGO companion card. The details could be found at http://www.citgo.com/cfaq.htm, and a (very long) online application form at http://www.citgo.com/Creditcard/application.htm.

Briefly, annual cap is $200, no monthly cap, you have to carry balance to earn rebates. It's an ANB card.

6/22/98

I found two more good sites - see http://www.mcs.net/~schultz/ and http://poset.stanford.edu/people/vera/veracred it.html - Peter.

6/21/98

I have been told since the Ford Citibank card has been terminated that their rebate points are useable on GM vehicles as well. If this is true do you think or have you heard if GM card rebates will one day be useable for the purchase of Ford products? I am considering purchasing a Ford product but will wait if this is a possibility since I have over $1,700 in GM card rebate accumulated. Thank you for any information you are able to provide.

I found out about the GE Rewards Mastercard on this page about a year ago. Recently, I got a rebate check for $139.95 - - the max being $140 a year. No sign of the dreaded "$25 maintenance fee" so far. So far, then, the card is a good one for earning up to 2% cash rebate at zero cost, zero fees, and by paying off the balance each and every month.

Good news for those of us in the northeast! Bell Atlantic has just started a rewards card. I got a pre-approved mailing yesterday. Claims to be a non-transferable offer, but here are the details, mostly parroted from the letter:

Call 1 800 973-4442 for Bell Atlantic Visa Gold Card from Chase

Earn 1% cash value on your Bell Atlantic Visa Gold purchases.
Earn 2% cash value on your Bell Atlantic home phone services.
Earn 3% cash value on your qualified Bell Atlantic Calling Cards calls.

Everytime you earn $20 in rewards, you receive a check you can use toward your Bell Atlantic phone bill.

Also comes with premium services (still at no fee), including Purchase Protection and Extended Warranty, & Collision/loss insurance

Summary of Terms

25 day Grace Period for purchases
no grace period for transferred balances
no Annual Membership Fee
Average Daily Balance (including new purchases) used to compute the
balance for purchases
$.0.50 minimum finance charge for purchases
no transaction fee for purchases
3% ($3 minimum) transaction fee for cas advances
$25 late payment fee
$25 over the credit limit fee
APR for purchases:
first nine months 6.9% fixed (if account in good standing)
Thereafter Prime Rate +7.4% if balances equal or exceed $2,500/Prime
Rate + 9/4%if balances less than $2,500

For the person who asked about getting money switching phone service,

I had been on ATT for several years and last November or so I switched to a local reseller and within a month ATT sent me a $50 check to switch back. I took their money of course and switched back. In January I switched to Sprint and in less than a month ATT sent me a $100 check to switch back of course I took their money but they wanted to put me on a plan that had a monthly charge so I asked if I could get a better plan with no fee and they found one. In March I got a flier that stated I could earn 4 flight credits on my Southwest Airlines card to switch to MCI so I switched and got my 4 flight credits. Probably two weeks later I got another $100 check from ATT to switch back. Now here is the tricky part, it takes about 3 or 4 weeks for the credits to show up and the ATT check is good for 30 days so I called Att to see if I could wait another week and they said no problem. So after my Flight credits showed up I cashed my ATT check. Within two weeks I got another flier to earn 4 more flight credits for switching to MCI I thought what the heck switched and my 4 flight credits showed up faster this time and they finished out my 16 flight credits and I actually got my free ticket in the mail about 3 weeks later. You can probably guess what I got in the mail.....yep $100 check from ATT, which I cashed Tuesday. Of course my wife thinks I'm nuts but free money and airline tickets are hard to pass up. I don't know why they want us so bad we only spend $20 to $30 a month on long distance, might be a computer glitch or something. You do have to pay $5 dollars each time you switch but MCI sent me a $5 check made out to MCI or my local telephone company to cover the cost.

I double checked and wrote a SECOND email to First USA regarding using their card to purchase TC at my MICHIGAN AAA dealer. Their second response is below. I have printed their email out, so that if there are ANY cash advance charges, I can fax them evidence and have any fees reversed. I will post my results durning my next credit statement.

P.S. visit http://www.aaa-calif.com/travel/amex.info.html for details.

It clearly states fees and interest associated with TC purchases are dependent on varying credit card company policies. Beware that MOST, but not all, credit companies impose fees in this area. (except First USA)

  Thank you for your online inquiry regarding your AOL VISA.
  If you choose to purchase Traveler Cheques they are considered a
  purchase not a cash advance.  As with all purchases, no fee will be
  charged.
  Thank you for your online inquiry.  We look forward to assisting you
  in the future.
  Sincerely,
  First USA Bank

6/19/98

Can you get rebates buying Travelers Cheques? Prior to 1998, yes you could BUT not ever since. However, AAA MC (in CA) does not charge it as a cash advance but simply as a purchase.....so you can earn alot of interest on it or simply spend it wisely on "sure thing" investment but we know how that goes with our yo-yo stock market.

Do any credit card companies allow me to execute a balance transfer from my AAA MC card to them and earn points or rewards for the transfer of which I could then pay off immediately, costing me nothing?

6/18/98

How do you earn $100 switching phone company?

I was happy to find a comprehensive list of cards, fees and websites. Unfortunaltely I signed up for Citibank American Airlines card before I found this site. Any way, I got a call last night about signing up for a card to get mileage points. Here is the info I found that I will pass on to you and others:

Issuing company: Travelers Bank and Trust phone: 800 772 7889 specifics: 1 point per dollar. 6000 points for a certificate worth $100 off "any" airline rate. (read what you want out of that) you can save 4 certificates and get a free pass good on a round trip within 48 states or $400 off an international flight.

I was called due to Quicken. Quicken was alowing a free online access to this credit card to view and download statement info into Quicken.

I just got my 1st USA Cash In Card. It is supposed to rival the Private Issue card. I got a pre approved application about a month ago and called in to apply. I didn't think I would get a card because I already have an AOL and South West Airlines card from 1st USA, ( my wife has a Holiday Inn card from 1st USA also) but I got my Cash in card via Fed Ex last Friday. And then I got another card on the same account on Monday by regular mail. Weird, anyway it looks pretty good to me up to 2% no caps no annual fee, also gets to 2% quicker:

.5% $0 to $1000 
1%  $1001 to $2000 
1.5% $2001 to $3000 
2% $3001 and above

What's the catch? Looks good to me.

Also why doesn't anyone mention the 1st USA Southwest Airlines card when talking about airline miles cards. You get a free ticket for only $16,000 in purchases, 16 flight credits, 1 flight credit =$1000 in charges. Actually I got my ticket for about $1000 in charges. I believe you get 2 credits for opening an account, up to 5 credits for balance transfers and 4 credits for switching your long distance to MCI (which I did twice within 3 months and got $100 dollars each time to switch back to ATT after I had switched to MCI in addition to the 8 flight credits) You also get 1 flight credit for every $150 dollars in MCI long distance charges charged to your SWA card. I can't remember what I got the other two flight credits for but it wasn't actual purchases. I just got my voucher for my ticket in the mail the last week. It's good for one year, I'm thinking I should get a card in my wife's name and repeat the process so she can come along on my trip!

Do anyone know much about the American Express Rewards Plus Gold Card? I understand that it carries a $125 annual fee which is steep? Does anyone know of any catch?

first usa sent me this email regarding purchasing travelers cheques. I also confirmed with two different reps..both say no fees or interest applies.

However, when i called my local aaa branch an employee told me that it would be treated by my cc company as a cash advance.

Thank you for your online inquiry regarding your AAA VISA account.
We appreciate your interest in our Credit Card Services.
If you choose to purchase Traveler's Cheques with your AAA account,
they would be considered a purchase and not a cash advance.  As with
any other purchase, you will not be billed any fees.
We thank you for your interest in our online services and look
forward to assisting you in the future.
Sincerely,
First USA Bank

 On 6/16/98 07:50:42 you wrote:

 >The following information was submitted on Tuesday, June 16, 1998 at
 >07:50:24
 >---------------------------------------------
 >Customer Information
 >---------------------------------------------
 >---------------------------------------------
 >Question:
 >---------------------------------------------
 >I plan on taking a vacation and I do not want to carry much cash  with
 >me.  My AAA membership allows me to purchase Travelers Cheques with
 >my credit card.
 >
 >My question is are there any fees associated with this transaction
 >and is it treated as a purchase or a cash advance?
 >
 >Thank you very much.

Concerning the AAA confusion. In California, AAA does not charge for traveler's checks, however, you need to make sure that you are using a card that does not you a cash advance fee for purchasing them. Does anyone know if PI, or any of the NOVUS cards charge? If First USA does not charge, and treats traveler's checks like a regular purchase, then can one get rebates/rewards when buying TCs? Does anyone know of other cards that will NOT charge a cash advance fee for purchasing TCs?

6/17/98

One poster on the grapevine, on 6/17/98 claims that AAA does allow buying TCs with their credit cards (Visa and MC, I assume), and that this is considered a member benefit.

Does s/he mind sharing in which AAA office is this the norm? Note that AAA is actually a collection of clubs across the nation, and each state is served by one or more AAA clubs. I have resided in OH, NJ, PA and lately, MN. I found that the practices can vary between these clubs. Examples are that, the membership fees varies between a low of $39 in OH to $47 in MN; in NJ they don't allow members of other clubs to have triptiks or maps-for-free (they would sell for a small fee, though); etc. However, in all these clubs, if I wanted to buy TCs, I needed to either write a check on a local bank, or pay the amount of TCs in cash -- which presupposes that the amount of cash is already available, and doesn't constitute a 'free loan'.

Will the poster reveal which state and which AAA club s/he belongs to, for our benefit?

Of course, I am not including AAA-Mastercard and AAA-Visa in my question.

As reported on http://www.ramresearch.com/, (under Consumer news 06/16/98), American Express is offering double mileage on all supermarket and gasoline purchases thru 08/31/98.

I'm posting this only to add to the confusion of using your credit card to buy travelers cheques from AAA.

Facts:

AAA does not charge any fees for purchasing travelers cheques with ones credit cards. It's considered a member benefit.

GE Rewards Cards - buying travelers cheques are considered a cash advance.

MBNA Sharper Image - buying t. cheques are considered a purchase but their 2% cash advance fee applies.

First USA - buying cheques are treated as normal purchases, and no fees apply. once again, first USA makes it easy for us to build up points.

If anyone knows about any good tactics credit cycling, please post to this board.

Traveler's Cheque(TC) can not be regarded as purchase. TC is just another form of cash and it's cash advance if we want to buy it using credit card. Nothing can be earned without pain.

AAA travlers checks -- only AAA Mastercard treats them as regular purchase. No rebate, but you get free loan.

Shell gas rebate -- any grade of Shell gasoline.

6/16/98

OK, I just got back from AAA, where I was planning on buying some traveler's checks with my Private Issue card. I was told that I'd be charged a cash advance fee. I didn't buy. What's the point? I must be missing some important step in this traveler's check thing. Do you need to use a special card, or buy the checks someplace special? It seems like there are people who've posted here before who've successfully pulled this off. How?

I noticed in the 6/14/98 posting that Shell offers a 5% rebate on all Shell gasoline purchases. It goes on to say that the rebate is "good towards free FormulaShell® gasoline". Could someone let me know if "FormulaShell®" refer to all grades of gasoline or only to their premium grade of gasoline? The rebate doesn't sound so good to me if I have to buy premium gas which usually costs over 5% more than regular grade. On top of that, most cars don't require premium gas. Thanks

6/14/98

Just received an invitation to get a First USA Titanium M/C. It provides credits against "certain" purchases. It just doesn't list who those establishments are.

Does anyone out there have the list of establishments that you can get the credits against????

"Titanium" today; "Kryptonite" tomorrow?

I got notice from Shell about this recently and found this item on Interent under chase/shell:

Apply online now for the Shell MasterCard from Chase: •Earn a 5% rebate on all Shell gasoline purchases and a 1% rebate on most other purchases, good towards free FormulaShell® gasoline •There’s no limit to the amount of free FormulaShell gasoline you can earn •No Annual Fee •24-Hour Customer Service •Accepted at over 15 million locations worldwide, including over 10,000 Shell stations nationwide

For more information or to apply by phone call 1-800-FREE-GAS

Can you get rebates buying traveler's checks?

6/12/98

I've used my AAA Mastercard before to get up to my credit limit ($8,000) in travelers checks. Take the travelers checks to the bank and deposit in my checking account. I then used to write an $8000 check to my mutual fund money market account that earns 5.15%. I would do a balance transfer of $8000 which was for free onto another card and pay it off later the following month by utilizing the checkwriting privilege that my mutual fund money market fund had. The interest earned added up over the year and it was worth it. At the AAA I would just tell them I needed the sizable $$$ of travelers checks to go to Las Vegas or sometimes for a Hawaii Cruise and they never questioned me. I also made sure to pay it off on time. FREE MONEY but it ws so easy I stopped thinking that it was ILLEGAL. Do you know if it is illegal to do all of that?

I came across your website on YAHOO by putting in "providian financial". My wife got a letter two weeks ago with the $100 check (FREE). I told her to send it in since there was no gimmics attached. I'll continue to look at your website for the $100 free credit on your card. The letter did not mention the 3 things that you needed to do to get the $100 credit

I have a question....I received an application in the mail for an Advanta Gold Master Card offering a 4.9% introductory rate until March 1999. Do you have any info on this card? I cannot find a bank name, phone number or address. The business reply envelop is addressed to: Preferred Account Processing Center, PO Box 8002, Southeastern PA, 19398-9942.

[Um - how about http://www.advanta.com/]

6/11/98

For the person asking about series EE bonds, they are typically worth 50% of face value so the Smithsonian card sounds like it has a 1/2% rebate. To find the interest rate on the bonds (probably 4.75 to 5.25%) you can go to any bank and they should have a book with it listed (along with the future values).

On another subject, does anyone know of any non-1st USA cards which give free BT's or points on BT's?

I just got the visa signature card from First USA. $49 annual fee. The airline reward program is $1=1 mile, 24,000 miles for domestic coach ticket, etc. But the points expire in 4 years. The other Signature benefits like the concierge I can do without.

6/10/98

It gives points for EMS (Eastern mountain sports) stores. 1% of purchases and 5% of EMS purchases. Their stuff is expensive, but good quality. As the name says the stores are in the East (check the web site --- http://www.easternmountainsports.com )

The card also used to give points for balance transfer.

What is an EMS card with 1st USA? What is the reward program?

For the question on gas rebates. I have two Shell cards (my wife's and mine) and I got $140/year easily (mainly via other purchases) with 2% rebates ($3500 on each card). With the 1%/5% deal, I do not need a second card. Further, Shell is about 2% more expensive than Mobil or Exxon. I got only 3% on gas only. For $1000 gas/year I get only $30 (big deal!). The 1% on purchase I can get from any of the twenty cards I have. I am ditching my Shell cards and going with GM/GE cards.

Just a question. You say that gas cards don't convince you. I wonder why. For example, if I charge a full tank every week or so, why not to take a 5% back on that expense? Of course, a 1% on cash is better than a 1% toward gas, but I think that 5% toward gas is better than 2% in cash. Of course, it is better to use that cards just to pay the gas. If I plan to use it in that way, which is the best card for me? It may not be necessarily a credit card, it could be a gas card, if it is better.

Just got a letter from First USA --- no more points for balance transfers on EMS card.

Letter is dated June 2, new rules apply starting June 1 (!!!) Did everybody get a letter? Is this a wholesale policy change, or they are doing it selectively?

I just got a flyer on the Smithsonian (Discover / Novus) card. They claim to give you 1 point on each $100. When you earn 50 points they give you a $50 Series E Savings Bond.

I couldn't get the 800 number people to explain the Bond to me. They couldn't tell what the interest rate or maturity was, so I suspect the $50 is a future value (a few year away).

6/8/98

Just wanted to give you an update on the Shell Master Card. Now from June, they have changed their rebates from 2% capped at $70 to 1% no cap, + 5% off on shell purchases.

While there are small number of people who have the time and the inclination to play "shenanigans" with their credit cards, most other people are stuck supporting the banks obscene profit margins, especially on credit cards. The banks work hard to prevent the "shenanigans" described in the 6/5/98 posting, but they work even harder to design programs that "tear peoples' eyes out" in the name of their bottom line.

6/5/98

One writer on the grapevine page asked about the legitimacy of doing a large balance transfer between cards (resulting in a large credit), then asking for a credit refund. I doubt that's illegal, or that the transferrer would know the balance on the card you're transferring to, but it's likely to raise eyebrows with the card company accepting the payment. What I did with one of my cards was a balance transfer to my discount brokerage account. Ostensibly, it could be covering a margin loan, but if not, it just goes into your cash account. You can then use the checkwriting feature of the brokerage account to pay off the credit card balance.

Note that banks (at least mine, Cal Fed) get cranky about accepting balance transfer payments, probably because they don't want you pulling similar shenanigans with their cards.

BP visa has a new scheme to keep use of your rebate longer. Instead of simply crediting your account, they will now accumulate it. When you have $20 worth they will issue a BP pre-pay card. They try to make it sound better by being able to use it at BP stations for other things than gas.--I never do--

My Shell MC just changed 3 things, 2 good, one bad.

rebate on gas went from 1 or 3% to 5%.
$70 limit is removed
new rebate is now 1% on most stuff. I note that they did not mention it used to be 2% :(

6/4/98

Between my fiance & I we have 16 credit cards. (not including dept. stores) We own an ad agency & charge all our media. We must have a zillion frequent flier points. But becuase we can't get away very often, I basically give them to my parents (they go to Europe once a year on us!) and save a few for a quick get away to florida...

I have a Discover & always meet my max... but What I like even more is credit cards with prizes with what AMEX has. But this year I'm not thrilled with the selection. One of my cards Travel Plus VISA, had a limited time offer to use points for gifts (I got a TV), and I have a Chase Visa with the old reward program, (I just got a new fax) but other than that I can't seem to find cards with give-aways. So what I'm basically asking is for your expert advice on what card to get next.

Also your list does not have the Sunoco Gas MC card. I don't think it has a cap - because every month I earn about $50 of free gas.

In response to the question about the $100 Providian offer. I have not received it yet, but after getting my statement and not seeing a credit, I called customer service and asked about it. They were very helpful and said you need to wait 90 days to get it. I will reach 90 days in about 2 more weeks, so I expect to see the $100 credit on my next statement. I'll keep you posted.

...I have a providian national bank card, which will pay me a $100 (credit to my account) if I meet all of the following requirements:

make at least one regular credit card purchase with their card
do at least one balance transfer
use their card for at least 3 months.

I'm currently in month 2 of 3....and I'll post you if I actually get the $100. I plan on cancelling after i get my $100.

...I do have one question regarding OVERPAYING a balance.. I have a AOL First USA credit card, which pays me 1% credit toward my AOL account (1 month free for every $2000 I spend). Now the great thing about this First USA card is that BALANCE TRANSFERS over the phone with their reps ALSO accumulate points. Using First USA convenience checks do not collect points and a possible FEE might be added. So i was thinking over transfering over $10,000 to my MBNA visa over the phone to accumulate points, and the requesting MBNA bank to send me a check for any amount over my balance paid.

is this legal or constitute fraud?
do you know if First USA would know that I am overpaying my MBNA account?
have you or anyone else done this without incident?

I would appreciate your input and advice.

6/2/98

I just tried to apply for the National Bank of Commerce Cash Back Visa Card. The terms sounded great--no limit on rebate and no annual fee. Problem is, I couldn't apply because I don't live in Nebraska. If I have a friend with a card who can refer me, I can apply. Anyone have a card and care to offer a referral?

In April I received a call from Chase asking if I would like to convert my regular Mastercard ($20 annual fee, which has required a phone call from me to get them to waive it over the last 6 years) to a Platinum Mastercard with no fee, additional services and a dedicated customer service line. Of course, I said yes.

Just received my first statement with my new account number.

First, I tried accessing my account info using a touch tone phone at my office. I couldn't. The rep said that I had to be calling from my home phone. I know they validate new cards that way to ensure they weren't stolen in the mail but not being able to get account info without speaking to a rep is ridiculous considering I can get automated info for my Chase Shell MC and Chase Visa.

Secondly, the dedicated Platinum rep was obviously a new hire off the street. To verify who I was, she asked me "What state issued me my social security card?" When I replied that the federal gov't. issues these cards, she had to speak to her supervisor.

The KICKER though is that since I am regularly charged the annual fee for my old card in May, the first charge I was hit for when converted to Platinum was for the $20 annual fee of the Mastercard they just cancelled.

Anyone being converted to Chase Platinum better take a close look at their first statement.

To the person looking for flyer miles, I suggest you check the following site:

http://www.smartflier.com/

6/1/98

I've been bugging BellSouth for the last six months or so to find out just when their BellSouth Visa Card would be re-opened to new applicants.

The last time I called was the first week of May, when I was told that unless something "weird" happened, "they" would begin taking new applications sometime in June.

_Something_ is going on, as BellSouth has removed the URL to their credit card page (http://www.bellsouth.com/cards) within the last seven-ten days.

I too received a notice from Travelers about being upgraded to World Mastercard -- My question is, is this a good deal? The benefits seem similar to my present card, except for the "concierege" service (not interested in that) and the "no credit limit" which is supposed to compete with American Express. My first reaction is I would rather stay with my present stated limit, which I never get near reaching, rather than some unspecified limit the company determines "based on prior spending patterns". A friend was cutoff by AmEx during a vacation because of unusually high spending -- I don't want this to happen -- Is it a real concern?

Your page looks very helpful. I have been trying to locate credit cards that offer flyer miles. Just so you know, several of the links on your page end up displaying a 404 url not found error message and several of the other links go to cards that apparently do not offer flyer miles anymore (or else they sure make it hard to find any info on it on their sites). I was looking for over an hour and I still haven't located an actual site or company that says they offer flyer miles on their credit card. Maybe I am not using this information correctly. I thought you would at least want to know about the outdated links ( I know bankunited was one, but I don't remember what the other two or three were off the top of my head).

Let me defend at least part of the problems with PNC Bank. From the work I've done in the credit industry, I know that overpaying your account is, or at least was, a very active fraud problem. People were writing bad or stolen checks, then using the card quickly or getting a cash refund and then disappearing. I can understand if your account is watched more carefully, but once you have a pattern of prepaying and not cancelling, it shouldn't be a problem. I'm afraid that your going to encounter that problem at most banks. One solution would be to not prepay, but send in a payment every two weeks. I don't work for PNC, but do have 3 cards with them, and have never had a problem with prepays and cash refunds. I do get calls from the fraud department, and I do have to wait 15 days to be sure the payment has really cleared, but it all works out OK in the end.

On the other hand, MBNA did just lock my two accounts with them. From their annual credit check, they found that I had too much outstanding credit for my income. I explained that I paid in full each month, and that the large numbers were from wrinting convience checks, then paying them off to get the rebate. The phone rep told me that if I paid in full each month, it wouldn't show on my credit report. Now, looking at my credit report, my MBNA account show $17,000, even though I pay it off each month. She sees the 17,000 on the credit report, she sees my MBNA statement showing that I borrow and pay in full each month, and then she tells me that it wouldn't be on my credit report if it wern't carried from month to month. Oh well. I know what I'm doing can looking confusing on paper and look like potential fraud. But even when I fully explain what I'm doing, their still confused.

Also, unrelated, my MBNA RCA Mastercard stopped giving me rebates as soon as I hit $1000.00. I didn't see this limit anywhere in their literature. Has anyone else encountered this?

5/29/98

Has anyone been successful with the $100 offer from Providian Bank?

5/28/98

I obtained a Best Western Visa card in December the hopes of earning some free stays this summer. An customer service rep. at PNC Bank explained I could prepay my card blance to keep my credit line open . . . thereby have more opportunity to earn points. That proved to be VERY WRONG information. Several prepayments created a credit balance. PNC shut down my credit line (without telling me). It also triggered MANY inquiries from their credit fraud division! Once my checks cleared my bank I requested and received a refund so my credit line was restored. This is the first I have heard of a bank being nervous about a customer having a credit balance!

It that wasn't enough: they lost one of my payments, five calls to the head of their credit fraud division were never returned, it was suggested by one rep that the prepayments might involve some illegal activity, the one and only order for Best Western gift certificates was lost, the replacement order (expedited because of the lost order) has not been received after 3 additional weeks ($10.00 service fee for the extra service).

Once the lost deposit is credited, and the gift certificates are received, I'll cancel the card and avoid every doing business with PNC again! Best Western is in my opinion not going to make any friends with its PNC/Visa alliance.

British Airways, First USA and Visa launch their new credit card. Apply by calling 800-859-5352.

You will receive 10,000 bonus Executive Club miles when you make your first purchase with the card and 5,000 miles when you take your first British Airways flight charged to your card.

The first year's annual fee is waived for both Classic and Platinum card holders. Classic card holders save $50; Platinum card holders save $65.

The introductory interest rate for the first five months is 4.9 percent. The rate then jumps to 16.99 percent. You earn one Executive Club mile for each dollar charged. Miles can be redeemed for free travel on British Airways as well as partner airlines Alaska, America West, American, Canadian, Finnair and Qantas. Miles can also be redeemed for hotels stays and car rentals worldwide.

To receive these bonuses, you must apply by July 31, 1998. The 5,000 bonus miles are awarded upon completion of your British Airways flight, with a last travel date of July 31, 1999.

I came across you site today - http://www.creditcardgoodies.com - while surfing the web, and I wanted to ask you to consider including a link to http://www.esmarts.com in the Related Links section. People might as well save money on the purchase as well as get a rebate.

I just found a new 1% cash back no annual fee Visa card offer at: http://www.getsmart.com

Select the following links from the GetSmart home page: Credit Cards, Show me Cards with Rewards, Cash Back Rewards.

The card is from the National Bank of Commerce, in Lincoln Nebraska, The card is called the "National Bank of Commerce Cash Back Visa Card" and you can apply on-line or by calling 800-635-8503

The cash rebate terms follow:

CASH BACK: You will receive a rebate based on your annual Card purchases. The rebate calculation period will be successive 12 monthly billing cycles. You will earn rebates based on purchases during the rebate calculation period as follows:

.25% for the first $1,000 of purchases;
.50% for purchases from $1,001 through $2,000;
.75% for purchases from $2,001 through $3,000;
1.00% for all purchases over $3,000.

Has anyone used this card before?

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