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<p>My dad has one. It’s awesome.</p>
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<p>Thanks! I’ll keep an eye out for that one.</p>
<p>I’ve got a Capital One, such as above, and I charge EVERYTHING. They pay 1.25% back in cash, and I use that to buy…whatever. I prefer cash, and they just sent me a check for over $400! Yikes. I must charge a lot!</p>
<p>I have over 3k in cash available (I own a small store and pay almost all of my vendors with their cards) but we are waiting to see where S2 chooses to go for college next spring since the airfare points work out to being worth twice the cash. But the cash sure is tempting…hopeflly S2 will stay on the east coast. I believe you can log onto <a href=“http://www.capitalone.com%5B/url%5D”>www.capitalone.com</a> to apply for a card.</p>
<p>We also use Captial One but pay no fee. We are saving our miles to visit our daughter in China! Too bad we can’t charge the mortgage monthly…</p>
<p>WashDad,</p>
<p>I had always thrown away offers; but I got interested in AmEx this time because their offer was the best I’ve seen and I just learned last week that all the flights (including the trip to Argentina!) my roomate took this past year or so were all on mileages from various offers; he’s very good at playing the system and have the discipline to track all of them and avoid any fee! I think he checked bunch of things online just so he can get tons of junk mails of various offers (I guess some aren’t junks after all).</p>
<p>Sam-
We got the gold card offer, but it didnt come with that special extra deal for paying $500 by the end of August. Is it in the micetype somewhere?? I can’t find that!</p>
<p>It’s supposed to be VERY clear and it’s the only string attached. Not a big deal for me as I use credit card for just about anything. Maybe they are even nicer to you?!</p>
<p>NICER to me?? Hahahaha! The are offering double points for travel purchases the first year. Was that part of your deal?</p>
<p>Poetsheart- I also have both the AmEx and Discover cards and find that most places take them. The only place I seem to have to use my Visa is at the hair salon and pet store. The gas stations and markets all seem to take both. We intially got the AmEx to use at Costco when they switched over from Discover. Even Trader Joe’s now takes AmEx.</p>
<p>oreganianmom, if you haven’t already created a Rapid Rewards account for your son, PLEASE check out this link: <a href=“https://www.southwest.com/rapid_rewards/enroll/college_enroll.html[/url]”>https://www.southwest.com/rapid_rewards/enroll/college_enroll.html</a></p>
<p>I would have done it, but we already have Rapid Rewards accounts for both our college students, but it’s a great deal. Fly three round trips, get one free.</p>
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<p>Well that should pretty much take care of the $500 for me, right there! I love TJ’s!</p>
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<p>Yes, I did set him up with one, just yesterday. He’s not 18 yet so it’s not the college program. Ironically enough, he is trying to get home from a summer program, but is stuck in an airport right now because of weather. On Southwest. Poor guy.</p>
<p>oregonianmom-
My s is sitting at Bush airport as I type, delayed on an outbound flight due to weather. It must be bad in a lot of places.</p>
<p>I think I figured out why I didn’t get the offer you did, Sam. We currently have 2 AmEx cards, and we spend a PAINFUL amount of money each month. I am sure they know I can put $500 on the card without blinking an eye, so why would they offer us such a sweet deal? I might consider calling them to ask if they’d offer your deal, but I am not srure. I have too many cr cards as it is.</p>
<p>MY s doesnt fly enough on SW to make it worth getting that rewards card, bus we usually rack up free flights on AirTran pretty quickly. Plus, students can fly for $79 on standby with them on many flights, so it is a good deal for us.</p>
<p>oregonianmom I chose the Southwest Airlines Visa card about 6 months before D moved 3000 miles away to college. The first purchase I received 4 points (16 = 1 free r/t ticket). Every $1200 = 1 point; and yes, you get 1 point for each 1 way (r/t = 2 points). I shifted all my automatic payments to this card (health insurance premium, gym membership, etc.), and keep a zero balance. Within the first year I rec’d my first r/t. </p>
<p>It’s a great card, and D uses the tickets.</p>
<p>The SW Airline card allows you to have your first ticket very fast. Basically I got the first free ticket and then I dumped them. They don’t fly to a lot of places and that’s a real turn-off. But the first ticket is a easy to get.</p>
<p>jym626,</p>
<p>I was confused. I thought you meant you got those points by just signing up. I guess what you were really saying is you wouldn’t have the 50,000 reward points after spending $500.</p>
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<p>Yabbut, they are the only airline that flies non-stop from Seattle to Albuquerque!</p>
<p>I worship Southwest Airlines! Ticket prices here are about half what they were before SW showed up four years ago. We have never paid more than $200 (and often paid less) for a round trip ticket to Chicago, where our kids go to college. Before SW, it would have been thrilling to find a supersaver fare for under $400 with a month’s advance booking. And the airport SW uses there (Midway) is far more convenient to the University of Chicago than O’Hare. So win-win-win all around. It’s completely worth the cattle-car atmosphere.</p>
<p>jym626–</p>
<p>Did your son get home OK? Mine had to spend the night in the airport and fly home this morning!</p>