TravelinSperry

5% cash back on gas and groceries with no annual fee? Wow. I might just have to get that card. Do these categories change? Or are these 2 locked?

EDIT: I just read the details on the Sallie Mae card. They cap the spend at $250 per month (I thought it was the cashback that was capped at this amount). I spend well more than this in groceries... making this card worthwhile for about a weeks worth of groceries. Might be too annoying than its worth to have to keep track.

I also found this card https://www.usbank.com/credit-cards/...rect=cashapply Offers 5% off restaurants (or other category you choose) and 2% off groceries. Might be worthwhile just for eating out.

cowboyguy

Do you get additional 5% on Staples as well? So 5% usual and 5% for the card, a total of 10%?

Kpoxa

You should add that the category bonus is only for the first $1,500 in combined grocery store and gas purchases each quarter

WheelsFirst

Good point, thank you. Also, should point out that you need $25 in pre-50% boost reward dollars to cash out, more than Chase.

I think the card is underrated for some but not universally a great card. Frankly with the Internet there aren't any big secrets out there. The Chase Freedom is still better for most people. The Travel Rewards card is possibly a better candidate simply because no AF and no FTF plus 1.5% is competitive (yes the cash back can only be redeemed by applying against travel charges).

jmj8778

This has been posted on at least 4 separate forums

WheelsFirst

We probably should have ignored the thread, oh well.

ethanwa

I am going to say the Barclays Travelocity Amex is somewhat underrated.

Essentially each mile/point you earn is worth $0.02, or 2%, on travel through Travelocity (sure, it's not ANY travel site like Arrival, but it works for most people with plane tickets, hotels, etc). 20,000 = $400 redemption. Note that you have to do it in 20k increments to get the full 2% reward value.

The current no annual fee signup is for 1 point on everything and 3 points on Travelocity. And you get to redeem after the fact and have 90 days, like the Arrival, so you earn your 3x points on bookings BEFORE you redeem the cost.

So it works out like this:

Everything (1x) = 2%
Travelocity (3x) = 6%

The sign-up bonus for this no fee card is 5000 bonus points, a $100 value.

The $39 annual fee card gets you:

Everything (1x) = 2%
Gas, grocery or restaurant (2x) = 4%
Travelocity (5x) = 10%

The sign-up bonus for this $39 card is 12,500 bonus points, a $250 value.

BUT, right now on their RewardsBoost website, you can buy Amex Gift Cards for 2 points per dollar spent bonus, so if you buy a ton of those and use them on everything:

Everything = 4%

Who knows how long that will last though. But I read that before Valentines Day you could get them for an even better value, which is awesome, so maybe at some point the point value for them could go up again.

The biggest downside is that the rewards are strictly Travelocity only. But if you're like me and are just a casual flyer, it's great for plane ticket or hotel redemption.

Not the best card in the world... but not bad either! I use mine all of time because I don't qualify for some of the higher-end cards out there currently.

nall

I was interested in this card, but it seems like a lot of dining establishments don't take Amex?

ANC RED-EYE

just gathering info for this blog

flyertalkingallday

I would say the US Bank Flexperks rewards card is somewhat underrated aside from the Olympics promos they put up. Each Flexperks point is worth up to 2 cents of air travel and you get 2x points on grocery spend. Therefore, you're effectively getting up to a 4% return. Granted, it may be hard to get a great deal out of Flexperks points due to their tiered redemption chart.

drminn

Their tiered redemption chart is a PITA, in particular the gap at 60K points. Not to speak of their horrendous CSAs who are uninformed at best, rude, and devious and lying at their worst.

freyj6

I second Sallie Mae. 5% on gas, 5% on Groceries (if you spend a ton, you can just combine it with another card like BCP) and 5% up to $750 on bookstores including Amazon.

Also USbank Cash+. Essentially 6.25% on your first $2000 spent at restaurants (or one of many other categories).

aeneas3

us bank flexperks

MDtR-Chicago

I would say also the US Bank Cash+ card. It gives 5% on two categories you choose per quarter, up to $2000 spend. A lot of them overlap with other popular cards but usually these rare categories are available:

Charities
Car Rental
Furniture Stores
Electronics Stores
Cell Phones
Sporting Goods Stores
Gyms (new this quarter)

No annual fee and the first $100 redeemed gets a bonus $25. So figure it's more like 6.25% back on your first $2000 in spend in your two categories.

Depending on your spending patterns, it might be a useful little side card to have. It's available in-branch or as a downgrade from a Flexperks card.

CuddlyFlyer

Oh wow, never knew this card existed. Actually really solid.