<p>Just got off the phone with them. They’re going to offer us “a special option” of switching to BofA cc and won’t be continuing the 2% cash return on CC purchases beyond October. Anyone with suggestions on where else to consider? Please advise.</p>
<p>Thanks! I have read that Vanguard and Fidelity have CCs that offer cash back. Welcoming suggestions on where to get the best cash return. Thanks!</p>
<p>Don’t think I’ll go for BofA. They have no branches in HI & I haven’t been impressed so far with them (S had an account & hates them–plans to close it soon). :(</p>
<p>Costco Amex if you are a Costco member. The check needs to be taken to an actual Costco store, but it is fully exchangeable for cash. We don’t mind that.</p>
<p>Yup, no BofA in HI - don’t deal with them. They are horrible.</p>
<p>Yea, I have a Costco AmEx (which I like), but it isn’t accepted as widely as Visa & MCard. Still searching. Will miss the 2%. Found a private blog, nerdwallet and another one, fatwallet, that discusses some of the options. Am still contemplating options. <sigh> I guess it was too good to last. </sigh></p>
<p>The Chase Freedom Visa card seems to be one of the better ones for cash back and cash incentives to sign up with. There’s 5% cash back in some quarterly rotating categories (travel, restaurants, gas, etc.) and 1% on everything else. I even used it over the Costco card for a trip since it paid back more due to the travel bonus during that time.</p>
<p>Google ‘chase freedon’ and click on the ‘up to 5% cash back’ image.</p>
<p>The best one I found is the Fidelity Signature Visa. If you put the rewards directly into your Fidelity account you get 1.5% cash back on everything, and there’s no fee.</p>
<p>I just immediately write myself a check whenever I cash in some rewards, the money does not have to stay in the Fidelity account, it just has to go through it.</p>
<p>I will never be a BofA customer if I can help it. I had Capital One for many years, every time I turned around they were watering down the rewards, so I finally gave it up.</p>
<p>Yea, we have one of the Chase Freedom Visa’s–it was switched w/o our choice because another card stopped issuing. D uses it when she is short on cash or things come up; she’s on my account. Am contemplating among the Capitol One & other options.</p>
<p>I currently have a CSchwab & Vanguard account. Don’t have a Fidelity account & am not sure I want to open one at this point. With my luck, shortly after I open whatever, they will announce some watered down change, again. <sigh></sigh></p>
<p>I’ve been very happy with the PenFed Platinum Cash Rewards Visa (5% back on gas, 1% back on everything else, with the occasional 2% back promotion) and like that the reward is taken off my bill at the end of each billing cycle. The customer service and other loan rates are excellent and customer-friendly, but they do have very high lending standards. Membership is open to anyone with a family member or housemate, including grandparents, who served in the US Military or is a US Government employee (there are also other ways to become a member). They do have two branches in Hawaii, though there is really no need to ever visit a branch.</p>
<p>The Costco Amex is a great all-around credit card and comes with a great extended warranty and other Amex benefits.</p>
<p>Yes, HIMom, sadface… the Schwab card not only had 2% back, but no international transaction fees! I am just going to not enable the B of A card when they send it to me. I have a couple of other cards (Choice Hotels Visa and a no-fee Wells Fargo Visa), I will just use the hotels one with the WF card as backup. Unless another sweet deal like the Schwab one comes along.</p>
<p>I will also miss the Schwab card as I am using it exclusively. But good things will end eventually. When I get the BOA card, I will call to cancel, its different from not activating. When you call to cancel, it will be removed from your credit report, increase your potential line of credit and will facilitate your credit rating.</p>
<p>I will also call to cancel the BofA as I am NOT a fan. They have treated S very poorly and prefer to have NO dealings with them. I believe we already have a BofA card and I’m not a fan of that one either, but since D is the person actually using it, I’ll leave it in effect.</p>
<p>Hmmm, have to check out what we already have & maybe get a Capitol One for international travel. Also am curious about what coverage is included in purchases made on the various credit cards, tho of course that keeps changing as well. Lately, have been giving my mechanic a break & not charging my car repair bills–he’s a small businessman & is being eaten alive by the fees ($10,000 last year). He appreciates it & sometimes does things for us w/o any charge. Am glad that we did get some cash rewards from tuition payments. ;)</p>
<p>H & I used the Schwab card, except for appliances/electronics, which we charged on AmEx Costco card, as well as Costco purchases & gas. Oh well, it was good while it lasted.</p>
<p>I am not sure that is right about cancelling the card (instead of just not activating it) increasing your credit rating. Was just listening to a guy on the Sound Money podcast on that very topic this week.</p>
<p>I think it depends on if you need to have a high credit rating for something or another. We have an untapped HELOC for $250K, as well as a ton of other credit cards. H’s credit rating is about the highest possible & mine is slightly lower (have applied for a few credit cards more than him & canceled one or two). Neither of us figure it will harm us as we don’t plan on taking out any mortgages or other loans in the foreseeable future.</p>
<p>HImom, Did you make partial tuition payments with a credit card?
My D’s school prohibits this, which I was so sad to hear, because I was hoping to accumulate enough miles for the plane trip it would take to visit her. What proportion of colleges do/don’t accept cc for tuition payments?</p>
<p>I made all my kids’ tuition payments with CC. Their U (USoCal) even allowed a installment plan that could be put on CC. When the kids lived in university housing, I put that on CC as well. We accumulated whatever we could to soften the expenses of the U. It made sense. I might see about pre-paying for her spring semester or just pay for it regularly on some other CC that will give me 1 or 1.5% cash or something. For a while, I got a lot of free plane tickets on the CC for charging tuition and flights I was taking.</p>
<p>My sister had 3 kids at different Us. None of them allowed her to use CC.</p>
<p>The apartment that D currently lives in only accepts checks. Fortunately, it has a more reasonable rent than campus housing. :)</p>
<p>I used my Marriott Visa card to charge tuition at USC. Got lots and lots and lots of points. That was probably the only thing about USC tuition that made me happy.</p>
<p>My kid’s U charges a 2.5% surcharge to use your CC to pay tuition, so it doesn’t make sense.</p>
<p>One of the factors in your credit score is what percentage of your available credit is being used, where a lower percentage gives you a higher score. If you close a credit card and don’t replace it, you lower your total available credit, and that can lower your credit score.</p>
<p>The same thing can happen if the CC company decides to lower your credit limit.</p>
<p>There are a number of websites out there comparing credit cards and bank accounts and such and these days it is really important to keep on top of things, and banks and other financial services providers are looking for more and more ways to squeeze blood out of a stone. For example, the major banks (except for Citi, interestingly enough) are looking to slam account holders, B of A leads the pack. Most are considering or have implemented a monthly fee for using debit cards (after promoting them heavily), usually 4-5 bucks. They also now are considering charging for online banking (and meanwhile, in a no win situation, also starting once again to charge for the privilege of writing checks) and for paper statements, basically they are going to nickel and dime account holders for everything they can. Chase just dropped their rewards program on debit cards, and likewise are planning to start charging for what once was part of their service. The big commercial banks are not happy about regulations capping the fees they can charge businesses for debit card transaction, plus they are also still trying to recover from self inflicted wounds (B of A is particularly in trouble because they were a major player in CDO’s, those wonderful securitized mortgage instruments, which among things, they are under indictment for massive fraud in selling these)…plus thanks to the fact that banks still are very, very reluctant to loan money,s they are looking for more and more ways to raise revenue.</p>
<p>I have heard good things about Capitol 1, but I would be careful about that, places like that often offer what seem like great deals and then get you in the fine print, plus as others banks scum and slime their way down, there will be a lot of incentive for them to follow suit,maybe not as badly…</p>
<p>More importantly, check your account statements! A lot of these fees are being done sotto voce, they remind me of “The Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy” where the Vogons (whose description reminds me a lot of bankers in general), who are ready to destroy the earth, responds to pleas and cries from radio messages that it is too late, and besides, they had 30 years to comment on the destruction in the local planning office in Alpha Centauri, only 7 light years from earth…</p>
<p>My advice would be to check out credit unions and smaller regional banks, they often offer no fee credit cards and no fee acounts and are a little more customer focused then the big banks, who have never been up there in my books in the pantheon of respect and these days remind me even more of 3 card monte players.</p>
Found a private blog, nerdwallet and another one, fatwallet, that discusses some of the options. Am still contemplating options. <sigh> I guess it was too good to last. 
Am contemplating among the Capitol One & other options.</p>
Am glad that we did get some cash rewards from tuition payments. ;)</p>