Store card marketing offers have been respectable lately–see here and here. Today I got this in my inbox:
So $500 of spending outside of Best Buy gets me $50. Hopefully the rest of you got one of these as well?
Former blog
By pfdigest
By pfdigest
I’ve had a flurry of offers from my various retail credit cards in both my inbox and my mailbox the last few weeks so I thought I’d share. Let’s start with the more interesting ones first: Banana Republic is back with a 5X! It’s for gas, groceries, and dining:
Oh, and Costco too. Everybody’s going after the warehouse club spend these days and Synchrony wants to get on that bandwagon. Speaking of which, Discover is already offering 5% back on gas station and warehouse clubs for the first quarter, and of course Chase Freedom has gas stations covered this quarter as well, but I don’t think anybody’s doing groceries or dining, so this offer will be useful, especially after that 10% Brooks Brothers credit card dining deal ends in a few days.
And speaking of the Brooks Brothers card, they just sent me another one of those $20 promos:
That will stack nicely with the dining offer! It’s especially nice since the $20 gift cards Brooks Brothers sends out are only good for a few months, so I’d rather get all the promos done at once, do one shopping trip, and be done with it.
Remember how last time I wrote about retail cards I said I never get anything for my Dillard’s card? Literally five minutes after I published that I received this offer:Sure, double points on dining is a lame offer, but at least Dillard’s is finally trying!
Best Buy had an unusual but ho-hum offer:
Does anybody spend enough on fitness and sporting goods to make 3% rewards enticing? Especially given that 2% on everything is the standard and 5% on quarterly rewards is the other standard?
Here’s a better Best Buy offer I received in November and then completely forgot about:
That’s not too shabby. One point is worth two cents, so this is one dollar for every day that you use your card, capped at $45.
Meanwhile I got this for my Upromise card:
The 2% is above and beyond the usual 1%, so that’s 3% back on gas stations, utilities, and grocery stores, with a spending cap of $1,250. An emphatic meh! More interesting was this other promo from Upromise:
Keep in mind that you’d also get 5% if you used your Upromise card on this, so that’s 8% back for some decent Amazon categories. That’s not too shabby, though of course you can always buy Amazon gift cards at bonused retailers.
Finally, on a sort of related note: if you live near a Simon Mall you might want to check to see if they have a rewards program. They told me (this was a month or two ago) that the programs are being done on a mall-by-mall basis, but I don’t know if that’s still the case. Anyway, I’ve started receiving $20 promos from the rewards program:
I’ve also received $20 cash back offers for Kate Spade and Movado. So nothing I’d actually use just yet, but I suppose it could happen. You also get some sort of reward on mall spending, though I almost never buy stuff at the mall so I can’t really speak to that. (No, gift cards don’t count and yes, I’ve tried.)
That’s all I’ve got. Anybody else getting any interesting offers like these lately? I’m looking at you, Banana Republic cardholders.
By pfdigest
It’s no longer the source of one of the more profitable deals in the history of manufactured spending, but at least the Best Buy card is still throwing us a bone every now and then. I just received a respectable offer for $50 in rewards after $500 in spend–did anybody else get anything good? Does anybody else even still have this card?
By pfdigest
This showed up in my inbox a few days ago:
10% back! Not too shabby. Keep in mind, though, that you won’t get 10% back on gift card purchases. If you recall, it was a 10% promotion that got that loophole shut down last year when too many people signed up for the Best Buy card and jumped on that deal.
I actually tested this a few months ago to see if anything had changed and yes, bonus points are still not being awarded on either Visas or retail gift cards. However: you do get base points, which work are 2% of your purchase. The fees on Visa cards are 3%, so that’s a money-loser, but if you have a Citi card with a 5% bonus on electronics, this would be a good way to max out your deal.
Best Buy also periodically runs other point multiplier promos, such as this one which is still going on:
5X points is the equivalent of 10% back since each Best Buy point is worth 2%. So you’d be getting 10% back on your stove, plus an additional 8% back if you use a Best Buy credit card. That’s not too bad if it’s a purchase you were going to make anyway. If you have the credit card and you’re into reselling, I’d keep an eye on Best Buy promos through the end of the month in case anything pops up.
In other retail news, Toys R Us is running an October promotion for their cardholders as well:
That’s a 3-4% bonus. The TRU card only pays 1% for purchases outside the store (vs. 8% for store purchases), so that makes this a 4-5% card for spending up to that $350 cap. If you have a Toys R Us near you and some toys to buy this year, then it’s a decent deal. Otherwise, you’re not missing out on much.
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