I should get a credit card.
I mean, I have one, but it has a $2500 limit and it only gets charged $10 a month by Planet Fitness.

3/22/2011 12:49:10 PM

yeah, you should...jump on that $150 bonus deal through mint for the chase freedom visa

3/22/2011 1:21:39 PM

yep. the wife and I both did that last year

3/22/2011 1:24:39 PM

[Edited on March 22, 2011 at 3:56 PM. Reason : .]

3/22/2011 3:51:37 PM

Quote :

"But with the Amex gold premier, I got 50,000 signing miles, 3x on travel, 2x on groceries and gas, and an extra 15k miles if I charge more than 30k a year (wont be a problem). The first years fees are also waived with the gold (not with the platinum)."

We just got this offer in the mail and I was looking it over. What kind of stuff are you paying for with your credit card to spend $30,000 in a year. We pay for all of our in-store purchases and online purchases with credit cards and rarely get to even $1,500 a month.

Also, how many points do flights start at?

3/24/2011 10:35:37 PM

Assuming we're talking about Delta here, their reward availability sucks.

3/25/2011 8:34:52 AM

"We just got this offer in the mail and I was looking it over. What kind of stuff are you paying for with your credit card to spend $30,000 in a year. We pay for all of our in-store purchases and online purchases with credit cards and rarely get to even $1,500 a month."

Different lifestyles with lots more expenses. this months bill will be $4000! I have insurance drafting to the card, all meals, all groceries, all gas, everything related to the pet. This past month we had to get the dog spayed and some other vet crap that added in $700. Also just bought a boat, and I'm busy buying crap for that. I suspect we'll settle in around $3000 a month.

We booked two tickets to Hawaii last year for 130,000 miles. I have flown a few places in the continental U.S. for around 30,000 miles.

Just to keep it simple, if the ticket is $500, it will normally take 50,000 miles. So 10,000 points=$100 credit.


[Edited on March 25, 2011 at 9:29 AM. Reason : .]

3/25/2011 9:25:16 AM

Just got my chase freedom. $150 cash back if I spend $500 in the first three month.

3/30/2011 9:31:28 AM

Anybody pay their mortgage with a credit card?? BofA won't let me do it with their credit card. I just want to do it for the points...because I pay it off at the end of every month.

3/30/2011 9:48:10 AM

I don't think you can pay your mortgage with CC's. If so, I have been missing out on some serious points for a long time haha.

3/30/2011 10:22:39 AM

No, but my cousin's apt complex used to let him to the tune of $1500 a month.

3/30/2011 10:27:18 AM

there are sites that let you pay any bill with a CC.... for a fee

^congrats on the $150, but that's chump change. I just signed up for an AARP Chase CC that gives 5% cashback on everything for the first 6 months. Just cashed in $350 on the first statement alone. Step yo game up!

The only downside I'm 28 and already an AARP member

[Edited on March 30, 2011 at 1:12 PM. Reason : d]

3/30/2011 1:05:32 PM

You spent 7K last month? :

This reminds me of when I used to bonus whore the casino websites. Ah the memories...

[Edited on March 30, 2011 at 3:22 PM. Reason : ]

3/30/2011 3:21:11 PM

haha, I remember those days too...

There are ways to game the system. I don't even come close to 7k in real spending in your average month.

[Edited on March 30, 2011 at 3:30 PM. Reason : d]

3/30/2011 3:30:20 PM

You guys are like "Wooo I got $350 back"



while the credit card company is like "wooo I got just made $900 from you using the card"

3/30/2011 3:36:49 PM

Psh, that's money out of the merchant's pocket, not mine.

3/30/2011 3:39:11 PM

Quote :

"Anybody pay their mortgage with a credit card?? BofA won't let me do it with their credit card. I just want to do it for the points...because I pay it off at the end of every month."

I did briefly with my FIA card (which is owned by BofA) but they don't give reward points for mortgage payments.

3/30/2011 3:40:37 PM

^^ exactly. And because everyone pays with credit cards sure it might be built in but it's not going away. And, besides gas at some stations, it cost the same with cash or credit to buy just about anything so you might as well use the credit and earn the rewards.

3/30/2011 3:44:26 PM

Quote :

"Psh, that's money out of the merchant's pocket, not mine."

Thinking critically:

Extrapolate how credit card points affect the economy on a grand scale. How many people use credit cards and how much money are credit card companies actually skimming from businesses?

How will it come back and bite you in the ass?

3/30/2011 3:46:35 PM

^ while we're at it, why should business have to pay for the convenience of having a location? i mean, businesses shouldn't have to pay rent on space, right?

IT MIGHT COME BACK TO BITE US IN THE ASS

3/30/2011 3:54:43 PM

Businesses benefit significantly from credit cards, less from debit cards.

Credit cards allow the consumer to spend more than he/she currently has.
Debit cards allow the consumer to spend no more than what they currently have (under normal circumstances).

The 2-3% the stores pay for credit card purchases seems reasonable considering the credit card agency guarantees payment, even if their member defaults.

This is where I was happy to see debit card transactions being limited by the recent bill. Unlike credit card companies, the risk to the banks from the use of debit cards is essentially limited to fraud (someone steals your card, buys shit with it, they are liable, not you). That isnt as big of an issue compared to the default risk credit card companies have.

Quite honestly, the banking industry has been feasting over debit card transaction fees while giving very poor rewards to their consumer compared to credit/charge cards. They've been greedy. Since I know this financial reform may kill a lot of the use of debit cards, it is what spurred me to get AMEX.

I am actually really pissed I didnt do this sooner. I am going to be able to pay for 2 tickets to Hawaii with points earned in under a year. Disgusting I didnt do this sooner, and I would have had hundreds of thousands of miles.

[Edited on March 30, 2011 at 4:04 PM. Reason : .]

3/30/2011 4:03:22 PM

Yeah, certainly don't see my credit card rewards coming back to bite me "in the ass" any time soon.

3/30/2011 4:35:03 PM

Quote :

"you guys are like "Wooo I got $350 back" while the credit card company is like "wooo I got just made $900 from you using the card""

a true win-win!

3/30/2011 4:40:35 PM

Oh look what I found in my mailbox from Sam's Club

Quote :

"Dear Joshua, Because you're a small business Member, we feel it's important to let you know about issues that could impact your business. You may have seen news in recent weeks about efforts to block the implementation of a new law that addresses unfair debit card interchange fees. Learn more. According to the National Association of Convenience Stores, since 2001, interchange fees have tripled and last year cost Main Street businesses and American consumers roughly $48 billion. Interchange fees are far higher than the actual processing costs and risks involved, yet these transactions fees continue to rise. In fact, since 2002 alone, the average swipe fee charged to a retailer on a $100 check card purchase, using a PIN pad, more than quadrupled — from 20 cents to 90 cents. Unfortunately, legislation was recently introduced in both the U.S. House of Representatives and U.S. Senate to delay implementation of interchange reforms. Congress is expected to act soon on an issue we know is impacting you every day, and we wanted to let you know how you can make your voice heard. Sincerely, The Sam's Club Member Service Team "

3/31/2011 5:00:36 AM

i KNOW you're trolling because you can't possibly be this obtuse...but i'll respond anyway, because i've had to listen to the same bitching from small business owners multiple times

1.) a verifone omni POS card terminal costs $200 or less
2.) accepting just visa and mastercard (the most popular of them all) will run ABOUT $25/month with a $20 transaction fee minimum (usually)
3.) most merchants have to pay another 3.5% transaction fee for visa and mastercard

okay, so let's say a business does $1000/week without accepting credit cards...obviously every business and situation is different, but it is a perfectly reasonable assumption that accepting credit cards will boost business by 25% or more

by that measure, let's do the math...hell, i'll pretend that every single transaction will be credit (rather than just the 25% increase) and assume a worst-case scenario:

$1000 * 1.25 = $1250
$1250 * 0.965 = $1206.25
$1206.25 - $25 = $1181.25

so that's an increase an increase in sales of 15% AFTER the fees...hell, let's throw in some business-class internet at $100/month in order to connect to the system (pretending that you didn't have it before) and average another $4/week for the credit card terminal ($200 split between 50 weeks, assuming you're closed a total of 2 weeks per year) and you're STILL coming out with almost an 8% increase in sales

yes, i realize this is simplified and yes, i realize that i'm making certain assumptions (like assuming that the business already has a POS system in place), but it's also a pretty accurate representation of what adding credit card acceptance to an existing business would cost...and that's ignoring the fact that most businesses couldn't survive on just $1000/week in sales

what it comes down to is this: credit cards simplify the process for both the business and customer and they're not going anywhere

[Edited on March 31, 2011 at 8:24 AM. Reason : if i missed anything major, let me know...i am, admittedly, not that great at math]

3/31/2011 8:22:01 AM

GeniuSxBoY seems to really like it when he can use a thread topic as an excuse for the failure of his restaurant.

3/31/2011 8:53:24 AM

GeniuSxBoY seems to really like it when he can use a thread topic as an excuse for the failure of his restaurant.

3/31/2011 8:58:56 AM

I'll mention something else. As a general rule, the places that do not take credit cards/debit cards do not get my business. There is an ice cream store (brusters) near me that is great, but they dont take credit. My solution? I drive 4 miles in each direction to get it from Baskin Robins. It is the DUMBEST MOST IGNORANT MOVE for businesses to not take cards. They lose significant business.

I do NOT have a problem with a retailer charging a 3% fee to take a debit/charge card. A gelato shop I go to does this. I am happy to give them 30 cents to not have to make a trip to an ATM to withdraw cash.

3/31/2011 9:27:05 AM

Quote :

"I do NOT have a problem with a retailer charging a 3% fee to take a debit/charge card. A gelato shop I go to does this."

it USED to be (in NC, at least, and i would assume in all of the US) that a business would be violating the credit card ToS to charge an additional fee OR put a minimum purchase on credit card purchases

i don't know why that would have changed, either...it's in the best interests of the credit card companies to put the cost on the merchant and specifically require that they NOT charge an additional fee to customers because that could, in theory, discourage people from using their cards, thereby depriving the credit card company of revenue

part of me is okay with it just like you are...but the other part is kind of pissed off when they do that...i mean, THEY'RE the ones making money, not me...why should i pay an individual cost as a big "thank you" for allowing them to patronize their establishment? isn't that the point of paying more than the product or service costs in the first place?

3/31/2011 9:47:17 AM

Quote :

"i don't know why that would have changed, either..."

government regulation... making the world a better place one tough issue at a time.

3/31/2011 11:11:03 AM

^ okay, what i meant is that the credit card companies wouldn't WANT it to change and the large businesses (those with the cash monies to lobby) wouldn't care enough...i know there are small business lobbies and republicans are a bunch of douchebags, but i'd still be surprised

if i had to guess, i'd say that any business charging a fee or requiring a minimum is doing so against ToS

3/31/2011 11:23:01 AM

On page one, someone mentioned that Fidelity AMEX card with a solid 2% Cash reward option that goes into your investment acct or Roth. Does anyone else have this card and have any experience with it? I have the Chase Freedom card, but I think a flat 2% would beat it now that they $250 for $200 is gone. Before I used that card, I had the AMEX Blue Cash (and still have it) but I stopped using it for the Chase...

3/31/2011 11:26:55 AM

Quote :

"if i had to guess, i'd say that any business charging a fee or requiring a minimum is doing so against ToS"

It is against the ToS, but the gov't is working on that. The CC issuers are making too much money!

3/31/2011 12:36:04 PM

Quote :

"it USED to be (in NC, at least, and i would assume in all of the US) that a business would be violating the credit card ToS to charge an additional fee OR put a minimum purchase on credit card purchases"

Yeah, this was true, last I checked. Same goes for saying you have to spend at least X dollar to use your credit card.

3/31/2011 12:38:56 PM

Well, there are places that do it. Henry's Gelato charges something like 40 cents to use your debit card. I guess its possible that a debit card is under different requirements.

And there are gas stations that have different advertised prices for gas depending on credit or cash.

3/31/2011 12:42:50 PM

IIRC, it's actually kosher for gas stations do that. Not sure why they get a pass, though.

[Edited on March 31, 2011 at 12:44 PM. Reason : f]

3/31/2011 12:43:48 PM

Quote :

"Well, there are places that do it. Henry's Gelato charges something like 40 cents to use your debit card. I guess its possible that a debit card is under different requirements."

yeah, it's possible that debit cards are different...i'm not sure how they're different than a credit card, as many of them use the visa or mastercard network to process transactions

Quote :

"And there are gas stations that have different advertised prices for gas depending on credit or cash."

i've never seen that on anything but diesel, but it's possible, i guess...given how prevalent that is (diesel, anyway), i'm betting there's a loophole or provision for this

3/31/2011 12:45:54 PM

You do realize the economy existed with only cash money and bank notes right?

Credit cards were injected into the market and for the first time to let people spend money they don't have which pushed Americans deep into debt.

There is a time and a place to use credit cards, but the credit card companies have brainwashed the general public to use them all the time instead of cash.

Yes, I know a business has to have credit card abilities to survive in the market today, but it's only because you all are stupid and can't understand the entire system and what it's doing to the economy. Credit is a ideology that only works if everyone were honest and responsible.

Most people only understand "rewards points" like a dog understands "cookie". The moment someones says "rewards points" you start salivating over it and do whatever the owner says to get that cookie.

3/31/2011 2:27:15 PM

Quote :

" There is a time and a place to use credit cards "

all the time?

3/31/2011 2:56:57 PM

Yeah. Even if I just buy a pack of gum I'm definitely using the ole cc.

3/31/2011 3:11:24 PM

"You do realize the economy existed with only cash money and bank notes right?"

We can debate the effects of a credit economy versus a cash economy some other time.

"There is a time and a place to use credit cards, but the credit card companies have brainwashed the general public to use them all the time instead of cash."

Its not brainwashing. It is called convienence. Not to mention safety, having to carry around large amounts of cash or planning to stop at a bank every day to withdraw cash.

"because you all are stupid and can't understand the entire system and what it's doing to the economy."

Really? I'm kinda surprised. I mean, I thought I understand the entire system pretty well. Please tell me the part of the system I dont understand so we can debate it. So far, you've not convinced me of your superior knowledge.

3/31/2011 3:13:17 PM

^^^^

While this might be true of some people:

Quote :

"Most people only understand "rewards points" like a dog understands "cookie". The moment someones says "rewards points" you start salivating over it and do whatever the owner says to get that cookie."

It is not true of your general audience here, so why waste your breath preaching to the choir? Since you are having a hard time understand this however, I will do a recap for you:

1) Credit Cards are embedded in society and will not be going away.
2) Yes we understand that these merchants get charged a fee to use the service, however, almost everywhere the price of goods purchased from a given store are the exact same to the consumer whether that consumer uses a credit card or cash or debit.
3) Given #2, there is no negative impact of said consumer using their credit card instead of cash if they have the money to pay for it. The icing on the Cake of Convenience here is that the consumer is getting some % of money refunded for that purchase (that would have cost the same if they paid for it in cash).
4) If said consumer is not spending more money simply because they have a credit card then they might as well take advantage of the rewards.

If you can explain the flaw in my recap there or what scenarios it is "better" to use cash than a credit card I would like to hear it. I think my wife and I maybe had $700 worth of credit card rewards cashed in last year (new card promos + regular use) but our spending habits were not altered one bit. There are certainly some people out there with poor spending habits who probably make poor decisions based on the fact they are getting rewards, however that is not true of almost everyone in this thread so I am not sure what you are trying to argue.


PS. ^,^^,^^^: agreed.

[Edited on March 31, 2011 at 3:19 PM. Reason : .]

3/31/2011 3:17:07 PM

"Genius" - you're preaching towards the people that carry balances and alter their spending habits because they have a CC. While that is certainly the majority of Americans (I'd guess 75%) they aren't the ones chiming in here (the 25% who aren't morons). What you're saying is true, just to the wrong audience. If everyone who had a CC paid their balance off every month and sucked the rewards they give out of them, the CC companies wouldn't make any real money. Once again, the people that pay off their balances are in effect, hurting CC companies bottom line and ability to do business and function. In fact, I'd bet they are losing money on me if they charge 3% to the merchant and turn around and give me back 2% and pay their employees/expenses.

3/31/2011 3:45:10 PM

i've carried a balance on a credit card exactly once in my life, and then it was because my car needed major work, i was in undergrad, and i only carried some of it over from one month to the next before paying it off

carrying a balance isn't even an option for me right now (and i both county myself lucky and consider myself an intelligent consumer for that), so there are exactly 0 downsides and many upsides to using a credit card for everything i possibly can

as noted, i (and most, if not all, of the people in this thread) are not sources of income for credit card companies, aside from transaction fees paid by the merchant

3/31/2011 3:52:04 PM

Quote :

"If everyone who had a CC paid their balance off every month and sucked the rewards they give out of them, the CC companies wouldn't make any real money. Once again, the people that pay off their balances are in effect, hurting CC companies bottom line and ability to do business and function. In fact, I'd bet they are losing money on me if they charge 3% to the merchant and turn around and give me back 2% and pay their employees/expenses."

DUMB.





FUCK.



[Edited on March 31, 2011 at 4:19 PM. Reason : every swipe incurrs a SWIPE FEE and PERCENTAGE OF TOTAL FEE and every acct has a MERCHANT FEE. ]



Why are you people so dense?

[Edited on March 31, 2011 at 4:20 PM. Reason : .]



fuck damn, you people are so fucking stupid.

[Edited on March 31, 2011 at 4:20 PM. Reason : .]

3/31/2011 4:17:05 PM

haha, you really think you're the only one who understands how CCs work, don't you?

I'll be over here rolling around in my piles of rewards cash.

3/31/2011 4:34:29 PM

Wow, this guy has issues. Please move along.

^ same here. In under 12 months, I will have two free tickets to hawaii. Enough said.

[Edited on March 31, 2011 at 4:35 PM. Reason : .]

3/31/2011 4:34:56 PM

^^^ wow. serious facepalm dude.

you think we don't know this:

Quote :

"every swipe incurrs a SWIPE FEE and PERCENTAGE OF TOTAL FEE and every acct has a MERCHANT FEE."

?

You just keep posting stuff we already know, acting like you know something we don't, all the while avoiding answering any serious questions to back up your logic. lol


[Edited on March 31, 2011 at 4:38 PM. Reason : .]

3/31/2011 4:37:44 PM

"Genius" (quite Shakespearean by the way)- You are the only one in this discussion that truly is deficient with ZERO financial sense. Hate to break it to you. The merchant fee is totally and 100% exclusive from me personally, and if you want to split hairs and break it down into my portion of the merchant fee, it's a negligible %. Merchants are going to be paying whatever flat fee to the CC company regardless of whether I personally have a CC. CC's are here to stay as a whole and my using one doesn't affect the merchant fee one way or another. You are also hilariously ignorant of the fact that at the grocery store or whatever, they don't give you a cheaper price for using cash. So you can either get the rewards back using a CC, or use cash and get NOTHING back. Who's dense again?

Like I said earlier, the swipe fee and % of sale probably in the end doesn't yield them a lot of profit off of me personally since they give me rewards, I pay off my balance, and they have business expenses before they turn a profit. You think the CC companies are a group of 5 people sitting in Delaware office raking it in off people that pay their balances? No, and you're rationale is beyond idiotic to think otherwise. Late fees and interest charges is where they rack up, this is something anybody with common sense can understand. Now go stock up on batteries and canned goods for Armageddon when it comes in 2012, you sound exactly like that type. And by all means, keep using cash. For your sake, I hope you're 18 and in that "lashing out" phase of your life.

The sad part Genius, is that we haven't even really gotten into other aspects of CC's, like how it builds credit to pay it off every month and how that can reduce your interest rate on home and car purchases for younger folks. That and it's a lot safer to have a CC than walking around with $500 in your pocket. But we should leave it to the main issues, no need to kick you while your down.

[Edited on March 31, 2011 at 5:14 PM. Reason : .]

3/31/2011 4:52:51 PM

I kind of want to go buy a pizza and put it on my credit card.

5x points at restaurants! Holla atcha CitiForward!

3/31/2011 4:53:01 PM