Credit Card reward programs

It all depends. IIRC this is a good place to start.
http://www.styleforum.net/showthread.php?t=74649

An amex charge card would be nice if you travel a lot. I notice I get treated better at restaurants when I use my amex.

What are you looking for in terms of a rewards program?

This doesn't make a lot of sense. You get treated better in the 4 minutes between paying and leaving?

AmEx has the best cards for super alpha ballaz at the high end of the food chain. Centurions and such. If you think you'll be riding with such majestic company at some point in your life, might as well get started on an AmEx member history now by opening an account on a more plebian card in the AmEx stable.

I have the Costco Amex and it works pretty well. The business version gets me 4% on gas, 3% on dining, and an extra 1% inside Costco. Since I buy all my shit there anyways it works out pretty well.

Those cash back rewards seem pretty competitive.

As a consultant, I've spent a lot of time thinking about credit card rewards programs, since I get to spend someone else's dime quite a bit throughout the year but keep the rewards for myself.

The Costco card has been popular with those people that prefer cash back.

I've always stuck with the Starwood Preferred Guest Amex. This is for several reasons:

1) Each point earned (1 point per dollar) is worth about 2-3 cents (when you look at how much hotels usually cost). Given that this spending is largely limited to travel expenses, you could say the fungible dollar equivalent is 1% instead of 2-3%.

2) I enjoy racking up hotel points more than dollars (given roughly equal value) because it gives me something to look forward to...how to use my hoard of free hotel nights. Also as a platinum SPG member, I get suite upgrades in most hotels. This means that the 2-3 cents per dollar really becomes a lot more (but only for people who travel a lot).

3) You can convert Starwood points to most airlines at a 5:4 conversion rate. This is the best conversion in the business and makes the points VERY flexible if you like traveling.

4) I prefer Amex in general just for the purchase protection.

Honestly, you should visit flyertalk.com since it has tons of threads on this topic and is a better audience for the question.

All good points but it really depends on what type of rewards he's after. Since I don't travel or stay in hotels your Starwoods card would be relatively useless to me.

Cashback ftw on corp cards. Unfortunately, more and more companies are cracking down these days and issuing non-rewards cards.

Discover and Amex then

You pleb. If you were a jetsetting baller you would know the SPG card is where it's at.

Nah. I don't travel on overnight trips often enough to warrant a hotel rewards card.

Will have Centurion next year, so females and betas can start preemptively bowing down now.

love my amex blue card. 5% back on gas and groceries,1.5% everywhere else. Last year I had almost $400 in cold hard cash back in my hand. I always thought points were too arbitrary (100000 points buys a toaster?), expire and are restricted too much (tickets) and its just more crap I dont need. Id rather use those savings for rent or something I can use.

Plus theyre customer service is awesome. I lose my card at least once a year in blackout stupors - hell, I lost it twice in one month back in octboer - no questions asked. Overnighted a new one.

finally, ive had a number of people comment on how cool the card works. Yea,suck on that capital one card designer.