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Three credit cards with unusual benefits

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I’ve previously mentioned that you’ll occasionally find interesting financial products at local banks and credit unions. Today, I present three obscure credit cards to make that point.

BENEFIT: 0% financing any time you want for the life of the card

The Coastal Federal Credit Union, based in Raleigh, NC, offers a card called the Big Ticket Card. The selling point of this card is that you can get 0% financing on big purchases, hence the name of the card. According to the fine print:

A special rate of 0% APR applies for 6 months on individual purchases (single –receipt purchases) or balance transfers of $600 or more during the life of the account.  After 6 months any remaining unpaid balance will convert to the standard rate of 18.00% APR.  For purchase and balance transfer under $600 the standard rate of 18.00% APR applies.

Wouldn’t it be nice to have a 0% APR ready to go any time the mood strikes you? If you’re interested, here are the credit union’s joining guidelines as per the credit card’s Amazon page:

You may be eligible for membership through an immediate family member or one of our more than 1,000 companies and associations we serve. If you are not eligible through one of these methods, you will be required to establish a membership with the North Carolina Consumers Council (NCCC) or the North Carolina Sustainable Energy Association (NCSEA). The NCCC or NCSEA require a low, one-time fee of $18.00.

BENEFIT: Rewards points for balance transfers

For obvious reasons, major credit card issuers won’t give you points for balance transfers onto their credit card. I did find one credit union that will, however: the Congressional Federal Credit Union. From their website:

Visa® Platinum with CURewards®  offers measurable value because you earn points for your purchases – points you can redeem for travel (on any airline) and name brand merchandise.  Plus, you’ll receive a:

  • Special introductory 4.90% APR* for the first six months on new purchases.
  • New Account Bonus.  During the first 30 days your account is open, earn 1 point for every $2 you transfer from other financial institutions

Membership in this credit union is open to employees of the House of Representatives, a number of lobbying groups, and their family members.

BENEFIT: Free term life insurance

Okay, it’s only for 60 days–but still, how often do you see this? The United Nations FCU offers $1,000,000 in life insurance free of charge for the first 60 days when you enroll in their insurance program. The rates are not good–you’re looking at $2,500 per year for $1,000,000 of coverage–but hey, it’s free, right?

I can see you concocting diabolical schemes right now, so let me cut you off right there and point out a few things from the fine print:

After enrollment in the program, there is a 6-month waiting period for coverage to begin for death caused by illness. If a claim due to illness arises within the 6-month waiting period, premiums will be refunded. After the 6-month waiting period, death as a result of illness will be covered.

So no registering for the terminally ill.

Enrollment is only open to UNFCU credit and debit cardholders between the ages of 18-65 who are in good standing; however, enrolled members may maintain their coverage until age 70. Policy will expire upon insured’s 71st birthday.

If you want some life insurance coverage between ages 65 and 71, this might be a good way to do it.

This program does not cover the following: i.) Nuclear, Chemical, or Biological Terrorism. ii.) Commission or attempted commission of any illegal act including but not limited to felony by the insured. iii.) Death resulting directly or indirectly as a result of suicide, attempted suicide, intentionally self-inflicted injuries or deliberate exposure to exceptional danger (except in the attempt to save human life). iv.) Death caused in any way or contributed to by the Assured Person being under the influence of alcohol, or drugs, except as prescribed by a registered qualified practitioner. v.) Death as a result of participation or involvement in acts of war and/ or terrorism. vi.) Death as a result of war, declared or undeclared between any of the following countries, China, France, the United Kingdom, the Russian Federation, and the United States of America, war in Europe, whether declared or not, other than: (i) civil war, (ii) any enforcement action by or on behalf of the United Nations, in which any of the countries stated above or any armed forces thereof are engaged.

Wow.

As per the website, membership in this credit union is restricted to the following:

    • An employee or retiree of the United Nations and affiliated agencies
    • An employee of the United Nations International School
    • An employee of the US Fund for UNICEF
    • An employee of the United Nations Child Care Center
    • An employee of the United Nations Foundation
    • Employees of the United Nations Association
    • Employees of USA for UNHCR
    • Family to a UNFCU member (includes spouses, parents, children, grandchildren, grandparents, brothers and sisters)
    • An individual who resides in and shares financial responsibility of a household with a UNFCU member

Adios to the 2% Priceline Visa, a 50,000-point offer from PNC, and a heavenly eBay auction

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NO MORE 2% PRICELINE VISA :  Bad news on the credit card front as one of the two remaining 2%-on-everything cards is no more. Thanks to commenter Wedding Spend for the reminder, and we’ll point out he runs a very nice blog for any you who happen to have a wedding coming soon and want to do it without breaking the bank.

With the demise of the Priceline Visa, there is only one remaining no-fee 2% card, the Fidelity Amex, and you might want to think about getting one if you don’t already have it, because who knows how long that deal will stick around. Very often when these deals go away existing cardholders will be grandfathered in for a long time afterwards.

If you’re a big spender and a prepare-for-the-worst type, you could also think about opening a NASA Federal Credit Union Platinum Cash Rewards Credit Card. It’s got no annual fee, and you get 2% back on monthly purchases beyond $2,000. You’ll need to join the American Consumer Council in order to join the NASA FCU.

PNC IS TESTING A SLIGHTLY LESS TERRIBLE OFFER: Mrs. PFD and I both received offers for a PNC credit card today. My wife got the better offer:

PNC marketing
I should probably get a nicer cellphone camera

PNC’s 50,000-point offer sounds good until you realize that their points are worth approximately a quarter-cent each. If you assume an average credit card point is worth a penny, then my wife and I are essentially looking at offers for 6,250 points and 12,500 points. I covered PNC’s weird and intentionally confusing program a while back if you’re curious.

EBAY CANCELS AUCTION FOR SLOT IN HEAVEN: eBay continues to make it difficult for people to make a living from its website:

Hundreds flocked to eBay when a Jewish man named Ari Mandel, from Teaneck, N.J., put a spot in Habaah, or heaven, up for auction.

The price flew from 99 cents to $100,000 before eBay could take the posting down, citing rules that require items to be tangible.

According to Mandel, the winning bidder would have received a signed contract guaranteeing Mandel’s spot in Habaah, and another contract guaranteeing that Mandel would live free of sin in order to secure that spot. He also promised never to return to religious life and steal the spot back for himself.

Apparently you’re not allowed to sell your soul on eBay either:

eBay does not allow the auctioning of human souls for the following reasons: If the soul does not exist, eBay could not allow the auctioning of the soul because there would be nothing to sell. However, if the soul does exist then, in accordance with eBay’s policy on human parts and remains, we would not allow the auctioning of human souls.

So you can’t sell souls or brains on eBay. Of course, if you’re a Citibank credit card executive, the issue is purely theoretical.

The Chase Disney credit card: pretty much worthless

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I talked about Disney a bit recently and wanted to talk about my experience with the Disney credit card so I could warn you away from it, but the topic really deserves a column of its own. Disney has a lot of brand loyalists, and I’m sure a decent number of them get this card thinking they’re getting a good deal, but in most cases they’re not.

There are technically two Disney credit cards. There is the regular version, which has no fee, and the Premier version, which has a $49 annual fee. Unless you’re a hard core Disney fan who’s going to drop a few grand on Disney merchandise, neither one is worth getting for three reasons:

  1. The rewards earning rate on both is weak compared to the many alternatives out there and does not stand out in any way.
  2. The rewards points are limited in their usefulness.
  3. The “all sorts of amazing Disney perks” are weak.

Let’s dig deeper into those three items, starting with the rewards structure. With the no-frills, no annual fee version, you get 1% back in the form of “Disney Dollars”… and that’s it. There are about a hundred no-annual-fee credit cards I could list off the top of my head with better rewards than that.

With the Premier version, you get 2% back at gas stations, grocery stores, restaurants, and Disney properties, and 1% everywhere else. Again, you have to pay $49 for this privilege, whereas if you have the Fidelity Amex or the Priceline Visa you can get 2% back everywhere with no annual fee.

And of course, you’re limited with what you can do with the 1-2% that you earn, which is our second point. The “Disney Dream Reward Dollars” are nightmarish from a consumer perspective in that once you’ve earned them, you’re pretty much obligated to spend them on Disney products–theme park tickets, theme park meals, merchandise, etc. The one slightly redeeming feature is that you can redeem the dollars toward airfare as well (fortunately, Disney doesn’t check to make sure the ticket has “ORLANDO” marked on it).

I can’t help but be reminded of “The Simpsons” here, specifically of the Itchy & Scratchy Land episode:

Homer: One adult and four children.

Woman: Would you like to buy some Itchy and Scratchy Money?

Homer: What’s that?

Woman: Well it’s money that’s made just for the park. It works just like regular money, but it’s, er…”fun”.

Bart: Do it, Dad.

Homer: Well, OK, if it’s fun…let’s see, uh…I’ll take $1,100 worth. [he walks in, sees all the signs: “No I&S Money”, “We Don’t Take Itchy and Scratchy Money”, etc.] Aw!

Disney dollars are like real dollars, but more… “fun”

But at least you get some great perks with the cards, right?

No. I’ll list all the perks given on the card website and go through them one by one.

  • 10% off at Disney Store and DisneyStore.com. Not bad–but then, unless you’re going to drop a few grand on Disney merchandise, it doesn’t make up for the card’s many weaknesses.
  • 0% APR Vacation Financing. If you have to finance a vacation, you shouldn’t be taking it. And if you just want 0% funds, there are many cards out there that offer an introductory 0% APR on all purchases, not just vacations.
  • Theme Park Perks. There’s a character meet-and-greet for cardholders at Epcot. We tried to get in during a late September visit last fall and the line was ridiculously long, so we passed. And mind you, this is during one of the less crowded times of the year. You can also get 10% off meals at some of the Disney lodges and 20% off some of the guided tours.
  • $50 Onboard Credit on a Disney Cruise. Not bad, if you’re going on a Disney cruise. Though note that you have to book the cruise with the Disney card to get this benefit and forsake potentially lucrative earnings from other credit cards with better rewards.
  • Disney Vacation Club® Financing. “Disney Vacation Club” is another way of saying “timeshares”, which, as you know, are a terrible investment.
  • Unique Card Designs. That’s not even a perk, it’s a feature.

In conclusion: Poor rewards, poor redemption options, lame perks.

If you want to use credit cards to offset a trip to Disney, you could do a lot worse than to use the Fidelity Amex or Priceline Visa to get 2% back on everything and fund your theme park ticket purchase. If you don’t live within driving distance of Orlando or L.A., you could rack up some frequent flyer miles using any one (or more than one) of a number of generous credit card sign-up bonuses. You could use the Starwood Amex sign-up bonus if you want to stay in a Disney property, or maybe the Club Carlson card if you want to save money and stay offsite. We stayed at the conveniently located Radisson resort for only 9,000 points per night on our family trip.

But whatever you do, don’t get this card. Disney has some great products, but they are also known for separating people from their money, and that’s really what this card is all about.

“The money. Hand it over.”

 

What are the worst credit cards and the worst issuers?

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Commenter sjepps left the following comment:

I will strongly disagree with you and insist that Capital One is the worst. The fact that no one talks about or uses them confirms. They just don’t have anything at all to offer. At least Citi has the AA card and this (If you get to keep your points). I’ve been with Capital One for 10 years, I had to send a letter to the CEO to get my card upgraded from $500 to $5000.

I can’t disagree with badmouthing Capital One from a consumer standpoint–my wife and I have about 30 credit cards between us and only one is a Capital One card. We got it to take advantage of a balance transfer offer a while back and we haven’t used it in years. Capital One doesn’t have much to offer to those who seek the best deals in credit cards.

Whether that qualifies them as the “worst”, is, of course, highly subjective, as is any other definition of worst. You could mean worst deal for consumers, worst for people who frequent Flyertalk, Fatwallet, and Dansdeals, worst from a shareholder perspective, worst customer service, or something else.

By contrast, American Express’s Blue Cash Preferred offered unlimited 6% cash back on groceries, until Amex found out that too many people were getting too much unlimited cash back. And what did Amex do? They put a $6,000 cap on the 6% cash back.

What did Amex not do? They did not take money back from consumers, and they did not continue to offer the unlimited 6% cash back. This is one example of why I (and probably a lot of others) respect Amex’s management.

But I’d definitely rate Capital One as the worst from a standpoint of a credit card aficionado like myself. They have absolutely nothing remarkable about either their sign-up bonuses, their spending bonuses, or their partners (aside from the Best Buy card, which they’re selling to Citibank). I think their management is certainly better than Citi’s, and I would guess that the fact that they don’t have any great deals is a deliberate strategy on their part.

Of course, if you want to wade into the subprime world, things can get much worse. Consider, for example, the Continental Finance MasterCard:

This might be the worst credit card, ever. First, the $200 account processing fee, which is classified as a finance fee, should immediately scare you off. However, if you’re OK with that atrocity, note that you will be paying a 19.9% interest rate, which starts to immediately accrue on your finance charges. You do have a 25-day grace period on purchases, as long as the balance was paid in full the previous month. However, that’s about where the positives end with this horrible credit card. You’ll see a $12-per-month account maintenance fee, a $50 annual fee and a $25 credit increase fee each time your limit is raised; even if you didn’t ask for the increase.

A $25 credit increase fee! Talk about chutapah…

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Saverocity is Journalistic in Nature, please obtain Professional Representation prior to attempting anything discussed herein. Opinions expressed here are author's alone, not those of any bank, credit card issuer, airlines or hotel chain, and have not been reviewed, approved or otherwise endorsed by any of these entities.