Best Credit Card Rewards?

[von Rothbart]

EBay Master Card rewards $1 towards any eBay purchase that accepts Paypal for every $100 you charge.  I have another cards that provide similar rewards but for gift certicates to stores that I seldom frequent.

Airline mileage points, gift cert., free hotel stays, cash rebate.....  Which credit cards provide the best rewards, in terms of % of amount you charge and quality of rewards?

How often does Neiman Marcus credit card give you 5% discount on purchases in NM & NM Last Call stores?

 

[drizzt3117]

Discover has the best cash rebate, but isn't accepted everywhere. I would imagine the best rewards are from American Express gold though, although there is an annual fee that offsets some of it. Certainly it would be my choice for a corporate card.

 

[Renault78law]

I've heard that the best free cash-back cards are American Express Blue Rewards and Citibank Dividends rewards.

I'm under the impression that if you use your Nieman's card at any Last Call outlet, you get an additional 5% off. Sometimes they have events where you get more.

 

[Oltmann]

I have the Chase Perfect Card. It comes in Visa or MasterCard.

1% of all purchases. 3% off of gas and auto related purchases. It gets credited against your bill every month.

 

[bigbadbuff]

the Starwood American Express is my choice...

 

[nightowl6261a]

MBNA just released the first bank backed American Express with redeemable points, it may not be available to all yet though...I would do it if I did not already have a Delta AMEX Plat. card, which if you spend a lot and travel a good bit, which it seems my wife assures me we must do, gives the very best benefits...we earn a free companion ticket on renewal every year, DBL miles almost on every purchase, they run triple mile promos, and if you spend $25,000 in a year, you earn an additional 10,000 base miles...we have earned 2 trips to Europe each of the last 3 years...that depending on the time of travel has been worth a return in ticket value of roughly $2800 each year...not bad huh?

 

[johnapril]

The best tomorrow tomorrow card award is the one where the balance reads $0. The payback? Your life is yours.

 

[AlanC]

Hear. Hear. Dave Ramsey, anyone?

 

[newtrane]

What about the Amex Centurion?

 

[Kaga]

Bah. Centurion, Titanium, Black, what next? The Uranium card? The Cesium card -- the card with a short half-life that burns a hole in your pocket?

Rewards cards are one thing. The escalating levels of elite cards is pure hype, a drive to get wannabes and nuvos to run up more consumer debt in their attempts to hit some kind of plastic elite. Does anyone use those credit card concierges much?  Departures is a nice magazine, but is it worth the $300/year Amex Platinum fee?  Remember when a Gold Card was a big deal?  The truly wealthy and entitled (and less status-insecure) don't give a damn what color their card is.

I once as a Diner's Club member (big in Japan, incidentally) visited one of their dozens of free members-only lounges across the globe, at the New Otani, where I was waited on hand and foot and could flip through the Neiman Marcus catalog. That was a card with only one level with superb service though accepted in very few places (surprisingly, Neimans takes it along with Amex and that's it).  I don't think any other credit card company would give me a free Coke.

johnapril: I was waiting for you to write, "... priceless."

 

[johnapril]

johnapril: I was waiting for you to write, "... priceless."

I guess I don't watch enough television.  But that's a good one.

 

[drizzt3117]

I have the new MBNA Platinum Plus AMEX, I just got it in the mail, not sure about the new features yet, but we'll see.

 

[ernest]

I have no card = too expensive, at least 25 euros per year.

How works paypal?