Comments on: 5% Cash Back at Supermarkets & Gas Stations

By: AB

AB — Sun, 31 Aug 2008 00:12:49 +0000

I second the Pentagon Federal Card and will add the Orchard Bank Premium Platinum that offers 2% cash back on all purchases.

http://www.landing.orchardbank.com/media/disclosure?cmd_lpage=&indicator=OB057&media=O1AG030BA_210e224c2008db08db301923019e39

By: JB

JB — Sun, 24 Aug 2008 00:10:15 +0000

Don’t forget the Pentagon Federal Visa Rewards Card. It’s offered through the Pentagon Federal Credit Union (one of the largest in the US) and quite frankly it’s the best cash-back card out there:

- 5% back on gasoline
- 2% back on supermarkets
- 1.25% back on everything else

Best of all, there’s no limits, and it gets paid back to you monthly directly from your balance (none of that waiting til you hit $20 in rewards stuff).

https://www.penfed.org/productsAndRates/creditCards/rewardCards.asp

For anyone that happens to be a member of PenFed, there isn’t a better card out there.

By: Jackson

Jackson — Sat, 23 Aug 2008 21:43:40 +0000

I’ve been using the Chase Freedom card for awhile now. It does seem to be the best overall.

And like others have mentioned, wait until you accumulate $200 and you get an extra $50!

By: Jon

Jon — Wed, 20 Aug 2008 20:51:30 +0000

Dave – My mistake, it doesn’t retro, but it’s still a good deal.

By: Jon

Jon — Wed, 20 Aug 2008 20:47:28 +0000

Dave – The 5% retros to your spending before you reach $6500.

By: Patrick

Patrick — Wed, 20 Aug 2008 20:42:06 +0000

I have the Chase Freedom, and it has been great since I got it. I love that you can get a $250 check as Kevin said. I was thinking about getting the Blue Cash card, but I don’t ever spend close to that amount for it to be worth it.

By: Dave

Dave — Wed, 20 Aug 2008 16:10:29 +0000

I wanted to point out something that is buried in the Amex Blue Cash application. You only get 1% back on the first $6500 each year, and that is only for the specified categories (supermarkets, gas stations, and drugstores). For everything else you get 0.5% back until you reach that $6500 mark for the year. After you spend $6500 you start getting 5% back on purchases from supermarkets, gas stations, and drugstores (excluding superstores or warehouse clubs). Other purchases get 1.5% back.

For high spenders this may not be a deal breaker, but it definitely reduces the value of the 5% significantly.

By: Kevin

Kevin — Wed, 20 Aug 2008 13:38:09 +0000

I dumped my old Citi card that used to have 5% when they dropped to 2%. I even threatened to leave if they didn’t restore the rewards, but it didn’t work. I now use the Chase Freedom Signature card for everything. It has more categories and I get 3% plus a $50 bonus if I let the rewards accrue to $200.

By: Cheapo

Cheapo — Wed, 20 Aug 2008 00:58:05 +0000

I used to love Citi since they had a Dividends card that offered the same 5% cash back deal but did not expire after a year. Like you mentioned the good times came to an end and Citi made some changes to that card. I ended up going for the PenFed Visa Platinum Rewards card (https://www.penfed.org/productsAndRates/creditCards/rewardCards.asp) which offers 5% cash back at gas stations, 2% cash back at super markets, and 1.5% cash back for all other purchases. I think you need to be a PenFed member to apply for the card, but it is only a $5 donation to join. Those interested may want to recheck this since it has been a while since I applied for the PenFed card. People seem to also like the Chase Freedom card as well, which offers 3% cash back in 4 various categories. Like you said you can’t go wrong with the card you mentioned.