PlasticIQ - Latest Comments

Re: Summary of the BankAmericard Cash Rewards Visa Signature

Bill — Sat, 12 May 2012 00:40:02 -0000

This might be why...

7. We may, at any time, for any reason (a) modify, delete or terminate the Program, Program Rules, benefits or features, in whole or in part; (b) discontinue or replace any method of redemption for Cash Rewards with a similar one of lesser, equal or greater value; or (c) terminate a Cardholder's participation in the Card Program.

Re: Summary of the BankAmericard Cash Rewards Visa Signature

Popklein38 — Fri, 11 May 2012 17:19:37 -0000

What is the fee ?

Re: Summary of the Penfed Premium Travel Rewards Amex Credit Card

Andrew — Tue, 08 May 2012 23:37:30 -0000

This review should be updated to reflect that the current value of 1 point is now 1.25 cents (instead of 1.6 cents). Still a great value, but redemptions are now significantly less. Buying airfare to use on airfare can therefore give you a total yield of 6.25% on this card (5 x 1.25).

Re: Summary of the BankAmericard Cash Rewards Visa Signature

max loh — Mon, 07 May 2012 14:48:30 -0000

bank of america is slimy. they changed their keep the change program to give you the benefits only once per day as opposed to once per transaction. There is also no record of this change, and of course if you google "keep the change change" on google you won't get any relevant results since the word "change" is already IN the name of the program itself... haha

Re: Which US Airways Credit Card Should You Get?

Hematino — Wed, 02 May 2012 02:17:30 -0000

This is really awesome! This appeared as number one on my plastic iq personalized list for value. Already having an Amex Blue Cash Preferred, and a Discover More, I decided to try for the Hidden Gem offer. I left the employee code blank, as I do not work for US Airways, and got approved in a minute or two with a starting 5k credit limit! I was even debating on trying it cause this was posted last October, but apparently as of 5/2/12, the offer still stands. Thanks, PlasticIQ!!

Re: Summary of the Penfed Premium Travel Rewards Amex Credit Card

Heybucko — Mon, 30 Apr 2012 20:53:34 -0000

From what I can tell, the points on PenFed's rewards site now translate to .0125 cents for airfare. The switch may have happened when they revamped the website. Bummer.

Re: Review of the US Bank FlexPerks Travel Rewards Visa Card

DustinK — Sat, 28 Apr 2012 23:03:35 -0000

Keep in mind that US bank checking package customers get a points bonus. It says platinum package customers are supposed to earn a 50% bonus, but I seem to be getting a 100% point bonus. (match point for point) So, they must offer a bonus for something else too.

Great card with the package bonus. Ends up being 4% rewards for the signature card, and 2% for their no annual fee card at the top threshold for travel redemption. The no annual fee card has a no interest balance transfer promo, but the transfer fee is 3%.

Re: Summary of the BankAmericard Cash Rewards Visa Signature

Meleber — Tue, 24 Apr 2012 22:19:01 -0000

I am really ticked off. I joined believing the 1,2,3 % rule, it didnt limitto to total of 1500 dollars of spending per quarter. Unless I go to the browser, this is nowhere to be found. B of A and Visa
really hide this ripoff. We have spent over 5000 dollars in th last 4 months and in turns out it is
mostly 1% even though most was on 2% groceries nd 3% gas. Not good pr folks!

Re: What is the Value of American Express Membership Rewards Points?

Puxxu — Mon, 23 Apr 2012 22:02:52 -0000

To get a $25 amex gift card you actually need 5,000 points. Sometimes they offer 20-40% off the points but is only for selected customers... I've had the 30% discount on my gold card and found out my mother didn't on hers even though it's also a gold card

Re: Review of the US Bank FlexPerks Travel Rewards Visa Card

Joneisenberg — Mon, 23 Apr 2012 15:10:03 -0000

I just purchased air tickets. Had I been paying cash, I would have purchased the lowest cost fare which was 7 a.m. on a Sunday and $247. But because of the Flexperks tiers, I was able to get a much better flight time (10:30 a.m.) which would have cost about $350 for the same 20K points. This made my points worth $0.0175 which is quite good.

Also the good write-up does not mention that you get $25 credit on award travel (only) towards baggage fees or onboard food/drink. You just have to write yourself a reminder to submit the charge after. I believe the charge also has to be against the same account. (Not cash drink for example.)

Re: American Express Car Rental Insurance

KJ — Sun, 22 Apr 2012 18:24:17 -0000

You say that Amex’s Car Rental Loss and Damage Insurance Plan is EXCESS coverage. If I drive but don't have auto insurance because I don't currently own a car, will I still be covered by this plan?

Re: How Much Are BA (British Air) Miles Really Worth?

Marc Davis — Fri, 20 Apr 2012 18:23:00 -0000

Yes the current 50K sign-up plus opportunity for another 50K Avios (you'll need to put $20K on the card in first year to get the full additional 50K; you'll get 25K for each $10K of spend) is, prima facie, a very good offer. Folks need to understand that redeeming for travel from the US to Europe makes Avios points nearly worthless due to the insane fuel surcharges. That leaves you working with their partners. While totally feasible, inventory (seats) are always harder to come by when booking on partner airlines, so be prepared for some additional frustration and to book well in advance.

Re: How Much Are BA (British Air) Miles Really Worth?

Medicalstud — Fri, 20 Apr 2012 17:40:53 -0000

British Airway miles are good for redeeming with their partner airlines as the surcharges and taxes are relatively low. I paid $7.50 tax and 7,500 miles for my flight from NYC to ATL. I would not buy British Airway points, but if I could get them cheap I would certainly use them. Right now BA is giving away 50,000 Avios miles after your first purchase and another 50,000 miles after you do some insane spending. There's an annual fee of $95. The initial 50,000 miles are relatively simple to get and definitely worth spending the $95 bucks.

Re: Review of the Blue Cash Preferred Credit Card from Amex

Marc Davis — Mon, 16 Apr 2012 18:32:18 -0000

I wouldn't have expected Target to be classified as a supermarket, so not hugely surprising to me (personally). But that's just my own perception. Thanks for the info though. I have this card too, and I do dig the 6% cash back at supermarkets, since food is my major expense these days!

Re: Summary of the Fidelity Investment Rewards American Express Credit Card

Staledale — Wed, 11 Apr 2012 20:25:15 -0000

i love this site, the author knows how to write in the emotionally provocative style in today's world

Re: Review of the Discover Escape Credit Card

Monson987 — Sat, 07 Apr 2012 16:44:11 -0000

For those of you who consider Amazon gift cards as good as cash, I recently noticed that Discover is now allowing the use of Miles towards all purchases at Amazon. It appears that when you do this, each mile retains their full %2 cashback return value -- just as if you were spending them on travel expenses.

BTW, this is a great blog. Thanks for all your hard work and advice. I didn't know the escape card exsisted until I read the excellent post on this blog. It has been an excellent credit card (albeit, I wish my credit limit was a bit higher, as it was with my prior Citi Visa card).

Re: Review of the Blue Cash Preferred Credit Card from Amex

Michael N. — Sat, 07 Apr 2012 14:48:51 -0000

I just recently switched from the old AMEX Blue Cash to the AMEX Blue Cash Preferred and since I only have 1 month of transactions that have gone toward rewards I can see from my activities that Target transactions only get me a 1% return. I also shop at Publix and Whole Foods and all those transactions get 6%. Since Target is our main household items store, it looks like it is time to sign up for the 5% Target card!

Going by the category in AMEX is fairly accurate, but not 100%.

Re: What is the Value of American Express Membership Rewards Points?

Marc Davis — Sat, 07 Apr 2012 11:00:21 -0000

These are Express Rewards points and not full MR points. PIQ estimates Express Rewards pts to be worth around $0.009 per point (just slightly less than a penny a point), making your total points worth around ~$200, give or take.

Re: What is the Value of American Express Membership Rewards Points?

Dori Wood — Thu, 05 Apr 2012 18:29:22 -0000

I HAVE AMEX BLUE CARD - EARNED 22,000 POINTS - WHAT ARE THEY WORTH IN $

Re: Review of the Blue Cash Preferred Credit Card from Amex

Marc Davis — Wed, 04 Apr 2012 22:27:23 -0000

Hmm, really clever idea. I'll do some digging around (and maybe a hands-on experiment!) to see if it works. Thanks for sharing with the community.

Re: Review of the Blue Cash Preferred Credit Card from Amex

travelingmom — Wed, 04 Apr 2012 14:30:22 -0000

So, I've read that others are buying gift cards from their local grocery store and then using them at the superstores and amazon so they can get the 6%. Has anyone ever tried this? Does it actually work?

Re: Penfed Platinum Rewards Credit Card Review

Marc Davis — Tue, 03 Apr 2012 03:01:50 -0000

Damn good question. I'm going to ping Penfed tomorrow and get back on this one.

Re: Penfed Platinum Rewards Credit Card Review

Marc Davis — Tue, 03 Apr 2012 02:57:30 -0000

Correct and good catch--I mention this on most of my other Penfed posts, but slipped on this one. Your best bet is to join the National Military Family Association (anyone can join) for a one-time fee of $20. You'll also need to open a Penfed savings account and fund with $5. That's it. It's a minor inconvenience, but the power of this card more than justifies it, in my opinion.

Re: Penfed Platinum Rewards Credit Card Review

OldPingHai — Mon, 02 Apr 2012 19:09:30 -0000

In order to get the card, you have to belong to certain groups. If you don't belong to any of the groups they list, you might have to join one -- for a contribution/fee.

Re: Capital One Spark Business Credit Card Review

Barry — Fri, 30 Mar 2012 13:03:23 -0000

My 16 year old company spends a lot on hardware each month and I was anxious to start banking some rewards for all these purchses. So I signed up for the capital one Spark Business card. I have had the card less than a week and the experience so far has me wanting to close my account - but now capital one will not let me.
On the very first transaction, they declined the charge and froze the account. I had to call them and they said the transaction I made was 'suspicous' and so they locked the entire account. I had to personally confirm to them that the charge is authorized before they would unlock the card.
Two days later I login to pay the balance in full (because the credit line is ridiculously small) and I'm surprised to find the account is locked out again! I had not even made any charges. So I call them up again and now they are implying it is me who is committing fraud against them! I was not aware people who commit fraud actually pay their bills. In any case, they wanted me to fax my drivers license and social security card. I personally have not seen my social security card since I was ~16 years old. I know the number but have no idea where that card is. anyway I told them that and they said to fax in a W2 instead.
This was after I got done telling him I am the owner of this business. Needless to say, business owners do not give themselves W2's.
So instead I told them to just close the account and I will take my business to a bank that values it. They told me they can't until I fax in my personal documents.
That is not happening and so now I am stuck with a capital one card that I do not want and they refuse to close.