SpammersAreScum

I just received the 2nd email, which stated that
Notice that they don't actually say the SM card stops working Mar 1. Does it, or does earning on it change to the new scheme at that point? It's really not clear.

So I called, and the agent told me, yes, the SM card will stop working Mar 1 whether or not I've received and activated the new one. Yes, if I haven't received the new one by, say, Feb 25, I can call and they'll FedEx it.

Not that I really care about the latter; I just asked out of curiosity. I expect I will mothball the new card, but I suppose I should activate it first.

General plan:

Citi TYP cards (hopefully switching to CSR in Aug) for travel and restaurants
Pen Fed Cash Rewards (had in mothballs already) for groc and gas
Fidelity 2% for everything else

Note that that Pen Fed cards earn points which can be redeemed for at best 80% as far as I call tell, so not quite as good as they look at first.

Once I've gotten the CSR, I will be able to consider better options for groceries.

As soon as I got the bad news, I started buying $750 Amazon GCs every month, so I won't need to cross that bridge for quite a while.

javabytes

If you spend even a modest sum at grocery stores, then Amex Blue Cash Preferred should be on your radar for groceries at 6%. Despite the $95 AF, you only need to spend $263/month before it becomes worthwhile compared to a $0 AF card @ 3%. Also has 3% on gas, which is on par with pretty much every other decent cash back card, except for when gas stations are a 5% rotating category.

shuom

I have the Citi Preferred. Will probably end up getting the Double Cash back for the no-fee 2% on everything and the Amazon Prime 5% Cash Back. That should cover most of my spending. Taking a hit on the gas.

steve4

I'm currently using the Pen Fed Cash Rewards card (5%) for gas and the AMEX Starwood for Groceries and Amazon purchases. If the Starwood program as we know it dies next year, I might shift the grocery spending to the AMEX Everyday card and Amazon spending to the Capital One Spark Cash card (2%). Of course grocery and Amazon spending will go on my Chase Freedom and/or Discover cards whenever the 5% rotating categories are active.

SpammersAreScum

I'm surprised by the lack of activity here as the moment of doom arrives.

I have yet to receive the new card or any introductory materials for it.

I will be using the old card for groceries until such time as it gets pumpkin'd.

DaVanillaGorilla

I'd be a little careful. The name on mine in the online account changed although I don't have a new card yet either. I'm guessing the rewards changed too. I'll probably make a small test charge for kicks. I cashed out my rewards before the change too, so no datapoint there on the automatic credit.

Oreto

Same here with the new card. It doesn't surprise me that Barclay's logistics department is not on fleek. I feel like I gave them another chance after their Travelocity shenanigans and this card, overall, left me with a neutral opinion about their brand. They are substandard in certain areas but make up for it by not being as objectionable in others. However, the new rewards scheme for this card is not compelling enough for me to give it serious use so I'll probably cancel it within a year which will end my relationship with Barclay's for now.

deekay38

I tried to redeem my rewards last night but with the product switch it was unavailable.

I had 39xx in rewards so I wanted to redeem during the month so I didn't have rewards outstanding on the new card. I didn't want the hassle of linking a bank account to get cash.

This morning I logged in to redeem and I had $39xx.00 in rewards and it appears they will be crediting that amount (100x what it used to be) to my card balance. I'm sure it won't pass muster within Barclays but this was a nice surprise this morning.

You all with remaining rewards may want to hurry up and redeem on the off chance that the full balance goes through as a statement credit.

Alternatively, you might want to send it out to an external bank account where they can't claw it back.

Oreto

Your situation might be a fluke or mine is as I only have less than 100 points in my account which is what I had in there the past 2 days. Given that Barclay's said that rewards points would rollover, I wouldn't worry too much about it. Most people (in the know) in this situation have liquidated prior to today but iirc the new system redemption threshold is $10 so it wouldn't take much 2% spending to get there provided that one did not get a higher % elsewhere.

I don't have any Ink cards so utility spending would be that area for me but since I don't have any student loans, I don't see any benefit of using this card especially since Barclay's has looked at utilization of current cards to approve/deny someone of xyz card in the past.

SpammersAreScum

I see what you mean. As usual, I went to my CC sites last night to queue up all the early-month payments, and it still showed the old card. Today, it shows the new. Last 4 digits are unchanged. So, yeah, the old card will probably still work, but earn under the new rules. Time to blow the dust off the PenFed card.

I went to redeem the rewards -- good lord, I guess I let them accumulate the whole time. With a max bank transfer of $500(!), it's going to take a while to clear them out.

No, wait -- something's not right. The vast majority of the "cash back" earned came from the last statement; way more than the spending caps! I think they shifted the decimal point a couple ("points" became "$") in this transition. You might want to check yours.

UPDATE: I called about this. Agent had me on a long hold to consult with supervisor ... "Yeah, something got messed up in the transition. Yes, your $500 transfer request will simply be rejected." Actually, it would not surprise me if it went thru before they sorted this out, leading to a mess down the road.

deekay38

This is consistent with what I saw when I redeemed my points this morning. I'm interested in seeing how it will play out - I don't plan on using this card anymore so doesn't seem like there should be too much of an issue if they end up clawing back the over-redeemed rewards.

I did a statement credit because I figured the decimal point issue was only a presentation item and they'd credit me for the $39 in rewards I had.

SpammersAreScum

Not just "presentation", I suspect. The page for transferring to a checking or savings account said I was limited to "transferring $500" at a time. So I went ahead and requested a $500 transfer, even though in reality I had much less than that available. The system did not object, which makes it look like a more involved problem than presentation (or maybe it silently turned that into a $5 transfer?).

Hours later, even after the call, I have gotten no email good or bad. I will be keeping an eye on my destination account for the next couple of days (they said it should only take 2 to 3).

CORRECTION: I did receive an email acknowledging the redemption request, but unfortunately it did not state the amount of the redemption.

UPDATE:

On Mar 02, my Redemption Activity claimed I had used 500 points to transfer $500 [sic!].
On Mar 04, that transaction had silently and without notice disappeared. Also, a grocery charge I made on Mar 02 only earned 2x.

So the earning change did occur. And since the cards have the same number, the phone agent's claim that the old card would stop working was incorrect. Neither is a surprise, of course.

deekay38

Update on my side, looks like they have cancelled my whole redemption transaction. The redemption of 3900 points for $3900 in cash back/stmt credit is still showing completed as of 3/1 but I now show I have earned more points and my current point balance is 40.00. No indication of a statement credit on the recent transactions either.

I called and the whole rewards program is messed up and they will send notification once it is fixed. No timeline.

I was hoping to get a credit on my final statement before I sock drawer this card but in all likelihood I will miss my statement cutoff and will end up doing the deposit to a bank account.

SpammersAreScum

As of my post 3 days ago, everything looked to be in order. I have just requested all my remaining points be used as Statement Credit, and that statement should close in 3 days, so we shall see fairly soon.

dangw20

Well the "Commence Mastercard by Sallie Mae" did not last long. Got a letter in the mail saying that in May 2018 the Commence Mastercard program will be ending. Cards will be converted to the Barclaycard Rewards Mastercard.

I called in to ask if I could product change to the Uber card instead and was told no.

Will just continue sock drawering this card. I'd rather close it but unfortunately it's one of my older accounts.