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.
ABC says
I got the same 5x from BR for this quarter. I can’t feel excited anymore. Got 5X on everything Sep-Oct. and then 5X again Nov-Dec last year. I don’t know what to do with all my BR point. I’m saturated. May get a few of those fancy travel pants Milesperday blogs about.
Miguel says
My wife has the BR card but has never received any of the offers. Any thoughts on how to change that?
pfdigest says
It’s hit or miss with these things, it’s just that BR tends to do more promos than just about anybody else (although based on what I’ve read Sears seems to do a decent number of promos as well.) I’ve never done anything to induce a promo, they just happen.
pfdigest says
One thing I’ve learned from using these points is that Old Navy clothing falls apart pretty easily and I shouldn’t redeem points there.
ABC says
Make sure you have the VISA card.
Tim says
What is the email subject line for the BR promos? Wife has card and she gets like 1000s of emails from them, but I’ve never noticed any of these promos. She has had the Luxe card for years now. Would love to get in on this. Thanks!
pfdigest says
I was notified of the promotion via snail mail. I don’t think they sent an email (or if they didn’t I’m not seeing it in my inbox).
Tim says
Thank you. We’ve been out of town so I look forward to checking the mail tomorrow. Cheers
T says
do you only get the bonus if you got the offer? I have the Luxe Visa card but never received any snail mail or email regarding this kind of offer.
pfdigest says
Yes, you have to be targeted for the offer.