Many credit cards offer reward points. For example, I have a Mastercard credit card. I earn points for every dollar I spend on my credit card. I think I receive 4 points for every $1 spent on the card. I can then use those points to redeems them for gifts, gift cards, or cash. The list is endless of the rewards you could redeem your points for. You can use them for appliances, books, office supplies, tools, pets and even give them as a donation. What do you use your credit card rewards for? What do you think are the best value to spend them on? I usually redeem my credit card points for gift cards to resturaunts. I then save them and use them for date nights or for when my family is traveling. It is roughly 11,500 points to redeem a $25 resturaunt gift card. I wondered if it would be worth it to save my points up and redeem them for an appliance. Currently, you can redeem 265,000 points for a Dyson vacuum. Is it a better deal to save up your points for a big purchase like the vacuum or use the points for smaller purchases like gift cards? What do you use your credit card rewards for?
Wow, I can't believe you haven't gotten any responses! For my cards I calculate each card's per point value. So for instance, while your car is 11,500 for a $25 restaurant gift card, my card is 2,500 points for a $25 gift card. However, you get 4 points per dollar where as I get 1 point per dollar (on regular purchases). So actually, your card takes $2,875 to get to a $25 gift card whereas mine takes $2,500 to get to the same gift card. (I have a Wells Fargo Visa Platinum incase you're wondering). So long story short - it totally depends on the reward program for the card you have! The biggest thing to remember though is the same thing with coupons - don't buy anything you wouldn't buy in the first place. You always lose in the long run that way. Stay frugal and use your points towards lessening the cost of your current lifestyle and you'll get maximum benefit from the rewards.
I am good when it comes to collecting points, but hopeless when it comes to using them. I now stick to cash back cards wherever possible. When my bill comes at the end of December the cash earned is automatically applied to the balance. This way it is no hassle, and I get a bit of a reprieve on my Christmas bill.
If I can, I always translate them into paying down debt on my card. It's hardly the most fun thing one can do with reward points, but for me it's the choice that makes the most sense. I have one credit card that is tricky about this, however---they give out a higher masked percentage to those who select gift cards rather than cash back onto the card. So, that's how I pay for random gifts or gas when the opportunity arises!
With my only CC being aligned with gasoline, I always redeem points for gas cards. Gasoline is one of those things that I find a nuisance to buy but it is also a requirement, so having the gift cards that I earn by buying something I will need to anyways makes sense to me.
I always calculate the worth of each one, too. So I would look it up online to see how much the appliances are worth. And then compare which one is technically worth more. Take note that you can get things like appliances on sale or with discounts, whereas gift card have a flat value they can be used for.
I travel a lot so I always get credit card with good rewards. That's why I'm trying to get the chase sapphire preferred. I usually spend my points on flights and hotels.
I use my Amazon card points for Amazon purchase. My other main card either goes to account credit or a gift card - like Walmart or Target, so I can get groceries or other essentials that we need. I need to re-look at cards and see if I can find one with better points!!
I usually get the points credited back to my card so that I owe less on the card. I agree with CSomm that's it's not fun or exciting but it's something that has to be done. I could use the points on Amazon if I wanted to, but I think putting the money back on the card is better for my long term good than the temporary fun of buying stuff.
We started with cash-back rewards from our credit card, so we just got a check at the end of every year. (It was either 1 or 2% of spending depending on what it was.) Generally speaking, it was a pretty good little end of year bonus. But once we had kids, we knew we'd be flying a lot more to visit family (grandparents live several states away). Southwest happens to fly from our closest airport here to the closest airport where grandparents are, so we knew that would be a reward we'd use. The overall "reward" percentage is also much higher than we were getting with cash back. So we now have the Southwest Visa card. There is an annual fee, but in the last 2 or 3 years we've received a minimum of 2 free plane tickets each year (sometimes 3 or 4), which makes the $60 fee totally worth it. We always use them and it makes traveling one of those things that doesn't have to be a financial stress on us.
