appl3

I was checking creditboards and it says it pulls Experian. I'm not sure for NY. If it pulls Equifax I'll be ok with it. Im trying to figure out whether I should get both the SPG and this one...

althes

Penfed pulls equifax 99% of the time.

Spiffster

PenFed pulled equifax for me. And they pulled my wife twice without authorization... <grrrrr>. But, it'll get fixed, I'm sure. They're good people...

I'm in PA.

pWei

I recently used the card in Canada, and they list the actual amount of the purchase in CAD as well as the exchange rate applied for each currency in the statement. Based on a historical chart, the exchange rates used were overall just a bit more than 1% more than the average exchange rate for their entire day. That's good, right about where I would have expected it. (Remember amex network uses the worst rate of the day, or perhaps the day before and after too)

dspolaris

Does anyone know if the 5X points work on travel websites such as Expedia, Priceline, Travelocity, Orbit etc. or is it explicitly Airline websites?

Can someone who currently has the card please verify?

thiseye

Pretty sure the answer to this question is 'yes', but just thought I'd ask. I recently got the Penfed Visa Platinum Rewards card (a few months ago). If I got this Travel Rewards card through them, would they do a hard pull on my credit? Just curious because I want this card, but I'm also looking to buy a house so I don't want anything affecting my credit negatively right now. So I figured I'd wait for the card until after my house stuff is squared away, but then I thought maybe I'd be safe since they have a recent pull on me anyway. TIA!

SuperG03

Usually a PenFed INQ (hard pull) is good for 60 days. So, if you apply for the Amex card and it has been 60 days, expect another hard pull. However, PenFed is great about allowing you to use any available credit limit to "create" the new CC without any hard pulls. So, if on your PenFed Visa Plat Rewards you have a $10K limit, then you can ask PenFed to take say $5K of the limit and "create" a new PenFed Amex CC for you. There is no approval process, it is pretty much just done as soon as you ask them to. Now keep in mind the new Amex CC WOULD show up as a NEW ACCT on your credit report. So, if your mtg lender has issue with new revolving accts, then it still may not be the best idea to get until after your house stuff is squared away. Hope that helps.

SuperG03

thiseye

Thanks! That's actually really helpful. I'll ask if it's been 60 days, and if it has, I'll try asking to transfer some of my credit to the new card. A new revolving account would actually help my credit score according to Credit Karma. But I might still just wait to be safe.

iahphx

I just redeemed my first free PenFed airline tickets. It went pretty well. I got about 1.5 cents in value for my points -- which makes the current 5% earnings promo VERY sweet, as it amounts to a 7.5% rebate.

I didn't realize that PenFed pays all the taxes on award travel, leaving me with a completely zero payment. A really good deal. Even after the restaurant/hotel deal ends at the end of August, I will continue to charge my airline tickets to my PenFed card for the 7.5% rebate.

The only major glitch I encountered was that one flight I wanted to take wasn't showing up at the "correct" point level on the PenFed site. Otherwise, it was tracking the fare levels perfectly. It wasn't a big enough deal for me to make an inquiry to them, so I just booked at different flight.

sargenet

[QUOTE=iahphx;16680653]I just redeemed my first free PenFed airline tickets. It went pretty well. I got about 1.5 cents in value for my points -- which makes the current 5% earnings promo VERY sweet, as it amounts to a 7.5% rebate.

QUOTE]

Glad that worked out for you! I have about $500 worth of points however I was totally disappointed when I looked at using them towards hotels. The redemption value is pretty terrible! I saw hotels that are running $180 a night costing close to 40000 points per night! Not a good return.

I will have to check at a later date when I need flights to see how it compares!

iahphx

I think airline tickets are the best use of the points because, 9 times out of 10, the price of an airline ticket is fixed. It's not common to be able to get a lower airfare on the airline's own website or with a code.

Hotel pricing, however, tends to be more elastic. Occasionally, the big online travel agents have the same price, but not always. So I would stick to airline redemptions.

opus919

I am a long time AMEX supporter with multiple cards Starwood / Costco / Gold Premium Rewards and others over the years.

Someone told me about a Pentagon Federal (PenFed) Amex which is I guess one of their affinity programs - saw in the web at https://www.penfed.org/productsandra...cards/amex.asp

Does anyone currently have a card with? Was told me they offer 5 points for travel, dining and other things. Also claimed for the purchasing of items (TV's / sporting goods / camera) their redemption is much lower than the normal Amex rewards program. He also claimed anyone could join the credit union, become a member and then apply for the card?!?!?

Any additional knowledge or insight is appreciated here. Seems almost too good to be true?!?

mia

Moved opus919's post into the established thread about this card. Many questions answered in preceding discussions.

iahphx

This is a very good card to have if you buy airfare. It works out to about a 7% rebate (when you use the points for other air travel).

They also have some good promos, like this summer's hotel and restaurant bonus, which also worked out to about a 7% rebate (I'm going to miss the restaurant deal).

With a 20,000 point sign on bonus (worth more than $250), it's worth having the card.

BTW, I also have one of their Visa cards, which I use only for gas. A straight 5% direct refund on gas purchases, which makes me strangely happy (I guess because I think gas is overpriced).

frank_10b

i like the card and use as much as i can as an amex when the old schwab is still around, however i must ask
is the penfed churnable?