Thread: Best VISA to supplement an Amex

I'm looking for a VISA to supplement my USAA Amex. Just on purchases where Amex isn't accepted. I want one with a good rewards program. I'm not interested in airline rewards. Just straight cash rewards, gift cards, etc.. Any suggestions?

You can't go wrong with Chase Freedom. 1% cash back on everything all the time with quarterly 5% bonus offers up to $1,500 spend (meaning you earn 5% up to $1,500 on your spend). Search the web to see if you can find some of their sign up bonuses which at one point was up to $200 after the first purchase. Citibank also offers a cash back card called Dividend which works exactly like the Chase Freedom (but usually with slightly different 5% offers for instance, right now Freedom is offering 5% on gas and Dividend is offering 5% on health clubs and utilities) and there is also the new BofA BankAmericard Cash Rewards Visa that gives 1% on everything, 2% on groceries and 3% on gas. No sign up required and no rotating bonus catagories. The best overall is the Chase Freedom-another benefit is if you have Chase checking, you earn more on your Freedom. I should also mention that Freedom actually earns what they call Ultimate Rewards points. You can redeem the Ultimate Rewards points for cash or gift cards etc. If you have good credit you will likely be approved for the Signature or World version of each card. Chase and Citibank report the credit lines whereas BofA reports only the high balance as the credit line. Not sure if that is important to you but a lot of people here get their panties in a bunch over cards that don't report the credit lines. In reality, cards that don't report credit lines don't really impact your utilization.

Of course, if you are only using it as backup, you probably will not reap the benefits from any of these cards as you would be using your Amex most often. All of these cards only allow you to redeem the cash in intervals of $50. The only place I find that Amex isn't accepted is fast food restaurants and the hair cut place-so a Visa Debit or Debit MasterCard may be a better choice for you.

I eat lunch at those fast food restaurants while I'm working so that's where most of my VISA usage would be. I was hoping to maybe let the points accumulate over two or three year periods before cashing in since it really wouldn't be that much.

Have you looked at the Citi Forward?

5pts/$1 spent on Restaurants (Fast Food Included). It is points and not cash but if you are willing to wait until 10,000 points ($2000) you can get $100 gift cards. I happen to have picked one up and with the promotional bonuses I have accumulated over 34k in points in the past few months

Originally Posted by sticf

Have you looked at the Citi Forward?

5pts/$1 spent on Restaurants (Fast Food Included). It is points and not cash but if you are willing to wait until 10,000 points ($2000) you can get $100 gift cards. I happen to have picked one up and with the promotional bonuses I have accumulated over 34k in points in the past few months

Are the points worth the same as other cards? On many cards 10000 points is worth $100 in gift cards. Or 30000 is $300. And so on.

There are plenty of Visa out there but Chase Freedom gets my #1 vote for their rewards and signup bonus.

Originally Posted by UPS Gregg

Are the points worth the same as other cards? On many cards 10000 points is worth $100 in gift cards. Or 30000 is $300. And so on.

Depends on the store. I recently ordered 2 LL Bean cards. They were $100 each for 10,000 each. I have not seen a more favorable rate than $100/10,000. There are several stores that never get to that rate from what I can see.

I did some looking before applying for the card and found several of the stores that I spend money with anyway have a decent exchange rate for points. After I knew I would "OK" with spending the points in places I liked then I applied. I think they site for rewards is thankyou.com. You should be able to browse around before making the call.

Hope it helps.

Originally Posted by sticf

Depends on the store. I recently ordered 2 LL Bean cards. They were $100 each for 10,000 each. I have not seen a more favorable rate than $100/10,000. There are several stores that never get to that rate from what I can see.

I did some looking before applying for the card and found several of the stores that I spend money with anyway have a decent exchange rate for points. After I knew I would "OK" with spending the points in places I liked then I applied. I think they site for rewards is thankyou.com. You should be able to browse around before making the call.

Hope it helps.

I just wish there was a VISA or MasterCard that's on par with the Amex Platinum. And with a less expensive annual fee.