Chase has revised the formula for how the Chase Freedom calculates cash back… and not for the better.

The Chase rep I talked to says she believes the changes in terms are only for new card holders.  Existing card holders would not be affected.  As an existing card holder, I haven’t received any notices from Chase about any changes in terms, but I will keep you posted should I get something in the mail.

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Popularity: 5% [?]

I was doing some reading over at MSN’s Money Central and I ran across this article by Liz Pulliam Weston.  Liz talks about some of the best rewards credit cards, but that’s not what prompted me to write this post.  Instead, it was this comment in particular that got my attention:

“Deadbeat” is the credit card industry’s code word for people who pay their balances in full every month.

As readers of my tutorial on free money know, I am a staunch supporter of paying off balances in full every month.  So as the saying goes, “if the shoe fits…”

In all seriousness though, Liz’s article is a great overview of the various rewards cards out there.  In the cash back credit card category, she recommends the Amex Blue Cash and the Chase Freedom credit cards. I agree completely.  In fact, I would go so far as to say these two cards are the best ones to use period.

What do you think?  What’s the rewards credit card you use and why?

Popularity: 45% [?]

When my Discover platinum card recently renewed, I received a bright, shiny replacement card for it. Something more had changed though… my card’s logo and terms were different. I had been switched to a Discover More card.

Intrigued by what “more” could mean, I journeyed over to their website to find out. After logging into my Discover account and poking around a bit, I got a feel for what my new Discover More card had to offer. In this post, I’ll explore the highlights of what I learned and how this card compares to the other cash back credit cards available. Without further ado, let’s dive in …

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Popularity: 58% [?]

I have noticed recently that people have been finding my site when looking to compare the American Express Blue and Blue Cash cards. If folks search long enough on my site, they’ll find out a decent amount about one of these cards, the Blue Cash; however not much in the way of a side-by-side comparison between the two. In this post, I’d like to close that gap so people interested in one of these cards can quickly see which one might work best for them.

Before diving into the differences between these two cards, let’s cover what they have in common. With either card, both will offer the following:

• No annual fee
• Ability to carry a balance (in addition to the option of paying off the balance in-full each month)
• 20-day grace period between a statement close date and its payment due date
• A rewards program (the details of which differ though)
• No limit or expiration on the rewards you earn
• Introductory 0% APR on purchases

Subscribers to my tutorial on getting free money know that I’m no fan of carrying a balance. The interest rates on credit cards are rarely low enough to justify carrying a balance. With both the Blue and Blue Cash cards however, it’s easy to make an exception to this rule. With the 0% APR on purchases, I myself carried a revolving balance on the Blue Cash card, then paid off the entire balance at the end of the introductory period.

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Popularity: 40% [?]

I have been noticing in my web server logs for a couple months now that quite a number of people have been searching for a head-to-head comparison of the Amex Blue Cash vs. Chase Freedom cards. As subscribers to my cash back tutorial already know, I consider these two credit cards to be the best ones available today.

Given the number of people searching for this kind of comparison, I thought it best to prepare a quick post to help people decide between the two. So if you’re one of those folks that stumbled onto this post through the search engines, welcome!

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Popularity: 100% [?]

Last year was a year of change for me. I overhauled my system in 2007, which resulted in $892.78 more cash back than 2006’s total of $1,329.97 (a 67% increase). The main catalysts behind this increase were two new cash back credit cards, a new online checking account and a new online savings account.

Starting in May of last year, I switched my primary credit card from the Chase Perfect Card to the Blue Cash from American Express. I continued to use my Chase Perfect Card to back up my Blue Cash card, until it dawned on me that I could do even better by backing it up with the Chase Freedom credit card. So in October, I began using the Chase Freedom as my new backup card.

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Popularity: 59% [?]

A few months back, Citi introduced a new cash back credit card, the Citi Cash Returns MasterCard. What caught my attention right away was that it offered a full 5% cash back on everything you buy, not just on select categories. Wow, I thought… how can Citi afford to offer a card like that? Well, after some digging, I discovered that the 5% cash back is an introductory rate only for the first three months. After that, the card earns you flat 1% cash back on every purchase made with the card. Ok, now that seemed more realistic.

Given that the teaser rate period was only 3 months long, I knew the Citi Cash Returns card wouldn’t be able to beat the Chase Freedom Cash Visa Signature or the American Express Blue Cash over the long haul. Nevertheless, I was still curious to see just how much cash back this card could generate. To put the card to the test, I wired it into my cash back credit card calculator. The results were enlightening.

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Popularity: 35% [?]

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Popularity: 25% [?]

UPDATE 09 NOV 2008: Chase has updated how the Freedom Card works since this post.  See the new terms here.

When I was designing my cash back calculator, I decided to include the Chase Freedom Cash Visa Signature card to see what kind of cash back it could generate. I was pleasantly surprised with its results. This card was consistently coming out on top for many spending scenarios, and no less than second place at any level of spend. With these kinds of results, the card earned a permanent spot on my calculator.

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Popularity: 44% [?]

A few years ago, I saw an ad for the Blue Cash card on TV. The commercial’s touting of its high 5% rebate got my attention. When I researched this card on American Express’ website, I saw that the big rebate didn’t actually start until I spent at least $6,500 on the card. Until I reached that magic $6,500 number, the card would earn me just 1% at gas stations, grocery stores and drug stores, and a measly 1/2% everywhere else. “My Chase PerfectCard gives me 3% at gas stations and 1% everywhere else”, I thought, “so I’ll just stick with what I have.”

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Popularity: 51% [?]