Bank Reward Programs

M

Megazell

Guest
Hey,

New to the forum but I have been getting free games for years.

One of the easiest methods for those of you with bank accounts is using your reward programs.

I use Citibank and they have the ThankYou reward system - Google it - Since I am unable to post links.

Games like L4D2 are 5,800 pts which is about 2 months of debt shopping (food, travel...etc).

Sometimes banks have promotions where they are giving away items for new accounts. Well sometimes they have games for various systems you can get those too even if you already have an account but using your reward system @ the customer service desk.

Hope this helps,
Megazell
 
Left4Dead GotY Edition for PC (not its sequel) is available for 5,800 points. Left4Dead2 for PC runs 8,200 points.

On Amazon, those games run for $30 and $45, respectfully.

Many CAGs have found that the best use of the "ThankYou" program is purchasing Student Loan Rebates to get a check mailed to them (which they can use for anything).

Getting $8,200 in debt doesn't seem like much of a deal for L4D2. Unless you're actually paying off the balance each month, you're better off budgeting a little money for games instead.

This is bringing back bitter memories of the "TY" network offering XBLA games at a price that was too good to be true, and then of course, it was, when all orders were supposedly canceled by the people that placed them, and offered no adequate apology or compensation. I'm sure many CAGs are still sour about that "deal." Nice try though.
 
I have the thank you network on one my citicards, but I don't use it and don't recommend it.

For signed debit transactions, you only get 1 point for every 2 dollars in purchases.
To earn L4D2, you'll have to spend $11,600.
Most people here are not going to spend that much on food and travel
.... at least not in 2 months. (I feel poor now :cry: )
The math is even worse if you enter in a pin number instead of signing for the debit transaction.
1 point for every 3 dollars spend, so $17,400 in purchases just to get a free game.
https://online.citibank.com/US/JRS/pands/detail.do?ID=CBNATYRNRewards

To put this into perspective, I get 2% back in cash from my credit card and only have to spend $3000 to buy L4D2 at MSRP
(I'm pretty sure I can find most games below MSRP).

Lets see....what else do I want to say?

I don't recommend people using their debit cards to buy stuff.
I the guess the one exception would be people that have a high yield checking account.
Most high yield checking accounts require at least 10 debit transactions per month in order to get the high yield
(otherwise, you get like .0001% per month)

As to why you shouldn't be using your debit cards for everyday purchases?
If someone steals your debit card, you're in deep S***
I know.. I know..
After reporting the fraud to your bank, there is a good chance that most (if not all) of the money will be recovered.
However...
In the mean time, all of your other transactions will be declined
(mortgage, rent, auto insurance, credit card payments, etc.)
It is not going to be fun calling all the companies/people you do business with and explaining to them why they're not getting any $$$ this month.
While not carrying/using a debit certainly doesn't eliminate fraud, it does help minimize the risk of getting your checking account wiped out.

Another awesome perk with credit cards is that most credit cards automatically add an extra year of warranty to electronics FREE of charge.

fine print:

  1. I have a 2% Cashback Card from Household Bank (HSBC).
    Sadly, they don't offer this anymore.
    Fidelity and Schwab still have a 2% rewards card BUT the money goes into an investment account (NOT a cash reward)
  2. People that are bad with money management should not be getting credit cards.
    Only get a CC if you can pay on time, pay off the balance every month, and spend less than you earned.
 
Thanks for the break down.

I actually don't spend that much but I always seem to have a lot of points.

Personally, I actually just play the Free PC games (legally) that I find online. I also post them on some other forums where we talk about free gaming.

The local branch had L4D 2 as part of the promotion for new accounts the customer service rep deducted 5,800 pts from my account and gave me a copy for the PC.

When my post count is up, I will post official links to the free games I play.
 
The only credit card I have I use for gas, and get a $50 gift card to Best Buy about once every 6 months. I'll take free gift cards for driving places.
 
i don't think this falls under the "deals" section of our site. I think this should be put in the freebie/giveaway section with the other "points for product" setups.

Even then, this one isn't so good. it's about 1/2% cashback. My visa's rewards program gives me about a 1% return, and other cards do better than that.
 
If you eat out a lot and buy stuff off Amazon, Citi Forward is the best reward credit card. Gives you 5 ThankYou Points for $1 spent. I've only had it for half a year and have already gotten back a few hundred dollars in gift cards (not including the 11,000 points they give you to sign up). With that said, you're better off getting gift cards. 3,500 points for $25 Citi gift card comes out to only $700 in charges (i.e. restaurants, book stores, purchases for music/dvd, etc.) -- so $1 spent equals 3.57 cents back.
 
No credit card is a good credit card. According to financial researchers, CC users habitually overspend by 18%, which means these ridiculous cashback programs that only net 1% or 2% are actually creating a net loss of 16% or 17% for the consumer.

Only 3% of CC users pay their balance off in full each month, which means 97% of people with credit cards are pissing away their hard-earned cash so some bank exec can get a fat bonus.

A true CAG doesn't go into debt for the sake of entertainment. We're all about saving money, not wasting it. :)
 
I have gotten thousands of dollars back from credit cards and have never paid a cent of interest in my life.
 
[quote name='Stele']I have gotten thousands of dollars back from credit cards and have never paid a cent of interest in my life.[/QUOTE]


This
 
[quote name='Stele']I have gotten thousands of dollars back from credit cards and have never paid a cent of interest in my life.[/QUOTE]

same with me, guess we fall in the 3% mentioned by the other poster. My average monthly expenses are $3500 and its been that way for at least 6 or 7 years... not a dime of interest or fees to the credit card bank. I do however earn a small amount of interest with my money market account while I let that money sit waiting on the CC bill to arrive. It isn't much but between the rewards and interest I average $60 a month.
 
[quote name='Stele']If you eat out a lot and buy stuff off Amazon, Citi Forward is the best reward credit card. Gives you 5 ThankYou Points for $1 spent. I've only had it for half a year and have already gotten back a few hundred dollars in gift cards (not including the 11,000 points they give you to sign up). With that said, you're better off getting gift cards. 3,500 points for $25 Citi gift card comes out to only $700 in charges (i.e. restaurants, book stores, purchases for music/dvd, etc.) -- so $1 spent equals 3.57 cents back.[/QUOTE]
With the Chase Amazon Rewards card, you get 3 points for every dollar spent on Amazon and you only need 2500 points for $25 which you can receive as a check or Amazon GC. Seems better than Citi Forward.
 
[quote name='Sylin']No credit card is a good credit card. According to financial researchers, CC users habitually overspend by 18%, which means these ridiculous cashback programs that only net 1% or 2% are actually creating a net loss of 16% or 17% for the consumer.

Only 3% of CC users pay their balance off in full each month, which means 97% of people with credit cards are pissing away their hard-earned cash so some bank exec can get a fat bonus.

A true CAG doesn't go into debt for the sake of entertainment. We're all about saving money, not wasting it. :)[/QUOTE]

A true CAG pays off his credit card each month while reaping the rewards of it's rewards/cashback program. I've gotten about $500 in Amazon gift certs from my credit card Rewards program in the last 18 months or so.
 
[quote name='mxpowar']With the Chase Amazon Rewards card, you get 3 points for every dollar spent on Amazon and you only need 2500 points for $25 which you can receive as a check or Amazon GC. Seems better than Citi Forward.[/QUOTE]
You're not very good at math then or reading comprehension for that matter...since I already laid it out for you in the quoted post. You essentially get Citi Visa gift cards for 3.57 cents on the dollar. This is better because those debit cards are as good as cash and the 5 points for every dollar spent applies to restaurants and other book/music/movie store retailers and not exclusively to Amazon purchases. You can also get Macy's and few other retailers $100 gift cards for 10,000 points, which essentially is a 5% rebate if you shop at those stores.
 
[quote name='munkapotamus']i don't think this falls under the "deals" section of our site. I think this should be put in the freebie/giveaway section with the other "points for product" setups.[/QUOTE]It doesn't, which is why I moved it to the Free stuff forum.
 
[quote name='Josef']A true CAG pays off his credit card each month while reaping the rewards of it's rewards/cashback program.[/QUOTE]

Exactly. It seems like every credit card thread now has "that guy" who has to point out how evil credit cards are. Sorry, but not everyone is a raving lunatic who foams at the mouth while buying everything under the sun, just because he now has a credit card.
 
[quote name='wirechild']same with me, guess we fall in the 3% mentioned by the other poster. My average monthly expenses are $3500 and its been that way for at least 6 or 7 years... not a dime of interest or fees to the credit card bank. I do however earn a small amount of interest with my money market account while I let that money sit waiting on the CC bill to arrive. It isn't much but between the rewards and interest I average $60 a month.[/QUOTE]

I'm in the 3% as well. Interest = stupid tax.
 
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