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Today I got a mail offer from Chase for my Chase Freedom Card. This seems to be a targeted offer to select Chase Freedom Card members. I have a post about earning 5X Sony Rewards Points from July to September and this offer seems to be related to the the previously mentioned offer.

Details about the offer:

Your Chase Freedom credit card purchases just got a lot more rewarding. And all you have to do is use your card! Simply spend $100 each month in the travel and entertainment category between July 1, 2008 and September 30, 2008, and we will give you a $25 gas gift card!

Turn your purchases into free gas. Simply call 1-888-828-2104 or log on to www.chaserewards.com/rewards3 by August 31, 2008 to enroll. Then all you have to do is spend $100 each month on eligible airline, hotel, auto rental and fine dining purchases between July 1, 2008 and September 30, 2008.

If you travel a lot, it seems a good offer. Because you can easily spend more than $100 on travel and entertainment category. As I pointed out in my previous post, Chase is offer bonus points for many Chase branded credit cards. As you may find there, the Chase Amazon.com Rewards Visa Card, Chase AARP Visa Card, Chase Disney Rewards Visa Card, Chase Freedom Card are offering bonus points for using the card during July, August and September.

The Chase Freedom Card is a really good credit card for everyday use. You can get 3% cash back from 3 categories. If you have a Chase checking account, you can actually get 3% cash back from 5 categories. If you accumulate $200 cash rewards in your account, you can actually get a $250 cash rewards check!

My post “2008 Chase Check Card Promotion” was very popular in the past several months. Enroll your Chase debit card before 06/15/08, you can get $25 for every $250 in qualifying purchases made with your Chase Visa Check Card—up to $75. This promotion has ended on June 15, 2008. If you spent more than $250 before June 15, you should expect to receive your $25 (up to $75) bonus before July 1, 2008.Today I noticed that Chase just launched a new debit card promotion: Make 10 blink purchases by using your Chase debit card and you can get $10 bonus.

How to get the $10 bonus?

1. Enroll your Chase visa check card or visa check business card before August 31, 2008 at www.chasemake10blink.com.

2.  Make 10 blink purchases with minimum $5 each time in the next following 30 days of registration. (In order to be considered as blink purchase, you can’t use your PIN at checkout. You should use your debit card as a credit card.)

3. Get $10 directly deposited to your Chase checking account.

It looks like that this $10 is easy money to take if you receive the invitation from Chase bank. If your Chase debit card is not a blink card, you can’t participate in this promotion. A blink card should have a ‘blink” sign on the face of the debit card. (Note: Chase first applied the blink technique on their credit cards.) Of course, you should use your blink card at the stores where you can blink at the checkout. To find where you can use your blink card, you can go to www.chaseblink.com and locate the places that allows you to blink. Usually you can find a blink card reader at quick service restautants (McDonald’s), convenience stores (7-Eleven) and drug stores (CVS Pharmacy).

Chase first launched the blink cards in 2005. The difference between a regular card and a blink card is the blink card contains a tiny RFID chip. This allows you to pay for something using a contact-less terminal (no swiping). The card will communicate with the reader via radio frequency technology and transmits to the reader approximately the same data that’s stored on its magnetic stripe. Once the transaction is successful, the reader will emit a signal to acknowledge payment is done. Chase brands the technology Blink, American Express calls it ExpressPay, MasterCard calls it PayPass. They are all pretty much the same thing.

RFID doesn’t have a great reputation and is not so popular among thousands of cardholders right now. There are some privacy
and security concerns. If you don’t want the contactless feature of your debit card or credit card, you can call Chase to issue you a new card without blink capability.

As I mentioned in this post, Chase Freedom Card members can have 5 categories to get 3% cashback if they have a Chase checking account. My Chase Freedom Card actually gives me 5 categories to have 3% cashback this month. Following is from my monthly statement.

You have one more reason to open a checking account at Chase now. In addition to the $100/$125 checking account bonus you can get from Chase Bank, you can now enjoy the Chase Exclusives benefits. Chase Exclusives is dedicated to offer “Better Rates”, “More Rewards” and “Bigger Discounts”. One of the most notable benefits we can get from this new program is Chase offers extra rewards for Chase Freedom Credit Card members with a checking account at Chase.

As we all know that the Chase Freedom Credit Card rewards 3% cash back or 3 points per $1 on the first $600 in purchases in the top 3 of 15 Everyday categories where you spend the most each month. However, if you have a Chase checking account, you can have 5 categories instead of 3 categories to be eligible for 3% cash back on the first $600 in purchases per month. That’s 2 additional Everyday categories. If you are an existing Chase Freedom Card member and have a Chase checking account, your Chase Freedom Card account will be upgraded to this new benefit in June 2008. A confirmation letter will mailed to you once your account has been upgraded.

The 15 categories are:

grocery stores (that are not affiliated with or departments of superstores, warehouse clubs or discount stores), gas & convenience stores, quick service payment/fast food restaurants, telecommunications, cable/satellite TV/Internet Service Providers, video rentals, department stores, dry cleaners, drug stores, movie theaters, local and suburban commuter passenger transportation (including ferries, bridges, tolls, parking garages, taxis/limos), pet supply stores and veterinary services, utilities, beauty shops (salons and spas), or gym/recreation memberships.

Of course, Chase is also offering other benefits to their checking account customers including better loan rates, higher CD rates, discount on home equity line of credit rates. You can also get 1 point for every $1 spent on your Chase debit card via Visa Extras Rewards Program.

If you are already a Chase banking customer but don’t have a Chase Freedom Card now, you’d better grab one. The offer can be found here.

If you’d like daily tips, thoughts, and suggestions on how to maximum your rewards and how to catch sign-up opportunities, subscribe to MyCardBlog for free by clicking this link.

This is a follow-up post of my previous “5 Grocery Rewards Cards That Can Save Money for You“. I personally like and use my Chase Freedom Card, as most of you know. (My Favorite Rewards Cards) I have already cahed $50 check from Chase Freedom Card in about 4 moths. I have looked at a lot of rewards cards in an effort to find one that gives my more cash rewards. As I only spend about $800 per month, the only one that best fits my spending profile is the Chase Freedom Card. Considering there is another great rewards card (Blue Cash from American Express) as I mentioned in my previous post, I simply did a math and made a comprison between Chase Freedom Card and Blue Cash from American Express. I hope this post will be of some help to you. Here is what I did:

Rewards Programs of These Two Cards:

Chase Freedom Card offers “dynamic rewards” program. You can get 3% cash back on 3 most spending categories from 15 preset rewards categories. These include grocery stores, drug stores, gas stations, TV/Cable service providers and so on. You can earn 1% cash back on everything else. Although there is no overall maximum on the amount you can earn , there is a maximum of $600 per month which can earn 3% cash back. Another feature of this card is once you accumulate $200 in your account, you can get $250! Yes, Chase will throw in another $50 bonus which makes the rewards up to 3.75% and 1.25% respectively.

Blue Cash from American Express offers a tiered rebate level, based on your total spending in a year. For the first $6,500 you charged on this card, you can only get 1.0% cash back on “everyday purchase” including grocery stores, drug stores and gas stations and 0.5% on everything else. Once you have spent more than $6,500 for the year, you can get 5% cash back on purchases at grocery stores, drug stores and gas stations and 1.5% on everything else. Obviously, this card is for the big spenders.

Assumptions about Your Spendings:

In order to make a simple comparison between these two cards, I have to make a few assumptions about your monthly spendings.

1. Charges are spread out consistently over the year. (This is an importatn factor when we talk about Blue Cash from American Express. The sooner you can get the $6,500 threshold, the more you can earn you cash back.)
2. You charge all your spendings on a single card. Yes, my suggested spending method is somewhat “combinationly”. But in this case, you charge all of the expenditure in a single card. For Chase Freedom Card, I assume that Gas, Grocery and Drug will be your 3 essential categories.

Results:

• For a total spending level of $1,000 per month, of which $500 is grocery, gas, and drug, the Chase Freedom Card will earn $240+$50=$290, while the Blue Cash from American Express will earn you $227.5. The winner is Chase Freedom!
• For a total spending level of $2,000 per month, of which $800 is grocery, gas and frug, the Chase Freedom card will earn $384+$50=$434, while the Blue Cash from American Express will earn you $653.75! The winner is Blue Cash for sure!

Through a simple comparison, you can see that for a relatively low level of spending, the Chase Freedom Card is a better choice for you. But if you charge a huge amout on a same card monthly, the Blue Cash Card is the best choice for you.

However, there’re more on this topic.

1. If you spend less than $1,000 per month, like me, I suggest you use Chase Freedom Card for 3 specific categories and get a Household/Orchard Bank Card with 2% cash back. In this way, your minimum rewards is 2%.
2. If you spend more than $1,000 per month, you can use Blue Cash Card for “everyday purchases” and use Chase Freedom Card to pay Cable/TV/Internet services and Wireless bills. In this combinationally spending method, you can really maximum you rewards.

In a word, Chase Freedom and Blue Cash from American Express are both very great rewards cards. You should find out which one best fit your spending profile.

One of my readers scanned a mail from Chase and sent it to me yesterday about this promotion. I haven’t received any information about this promotion and it seems this is a targeted offer. Make 3 purchases with your Chase Freedom Card using “blink” by June 6, 2008 and you will receive either $10 or 1,000 bonus points depending on your rewards program. (card earning cash back will get $10 and cards earning points will get 1,000 points) This is a new promotion targeted to all Chase Freedom Visa Card Members (MasterCard version doesn’t have blink feature.). Actually, all Chase Freedom Cards come with “blink” technique which will render your checkout in a more convenient way.

Here is detailed procedures:

1. Shop at participating merchants. You can use blink at thousands of places. Visit chaseblink.com for a complete list of merchants that accept Visa payWave. Just look for this symbol on the reader at checkout.

2. Wave your card in front of the secure reader to complete your purchases. You don’t need to swipe your card, and there’s no signature required for most purchases under $25. (It seems Chase Freedom Card doesn’t require signature for orders under $25 now even you don’t use blink.)

3. Get a $10 statement credit. Your account will be credited on a future statement once you complete 3 blink transactions between now and June 6, 2008. (Only transactions made with the Visa payWave feature during the promotional time frame are eligible for this offer. Visa payWave transactions occur when the card is waved in front of the secure reader at checkout. The reader will indicate that the Visa payWave transaction has been processed. Transactions not eligible for the offer include swiped transactions, online transactions, PIN, ATM and other transactions not processed over the Visa network.)

Chase ran the similar promotion about blink in last September. For this new promotion, there is no signing up necessary and the blink feature is built in and this promo is for all Chase Visa Freedom cardholders. (MasterCard doesn’t have blink feature.) Since I haven’t received the email, I called Chase Freedom Card customer service and was told that I should receive an mail if I am eligible for this offer.

For locations that accept “blink” payment, you can click here.

Chase is also promoting their “check credit card” which will give you $25 cash back for spending over $250.

From low fees to frequent-flyer miles: 7 credit card will give you something back.

1. Household/Orcahrd Bank Platinum Card with 2% Cash Back

Both cards can give you 2% cash back for everything! Yes, it’s true. They are much better than those cards with only 1% cash back. If you have one of these card, your minimum cash back is 2%. You can selectively use this card and other cash back cards to achieve better cash back rate. Actually, both Household Bank and Orchard Bank are owned and operated by HSBC Bank. HSBC is new in the credit card market. Their targeted consumers are those with low credit scores but have the ability to pay their debits. Previously, this card can is by invitation only. If you receive an mail invitation to apply for this credit card, you are guaranteed to get approved. But you have to make sure that there’s a “2% cash back” in your invitation letter. Recently, Household Bank is promoting the visa version. You are allowed to have one master card and one visa card. Online application site is www.hbaccept.com (for those received the invitations).

2. Blue Cash from American Express

Once you’ve charged $6,500 in a year, you can get 5% back on grocery, drugstore and gas purchases and 1.5% on everything else vs. 1% for the average cash-back card. (Below $6,500 you earn 0.5% to 1%). Blue credits the cash to your account automatically, so you don’t risk leaving rewards on the table. As stated at the very beginning, the power of the Blue Cash Card appears when you spend more than $6,500 in this card in a year. In a word, this is a for those big spenders. Another feature worths mention is this card offers 4.99% APR for balance transfer for life! if you are short of cash, you can borrow money from this card. The 4.99$ APR is much lower than those payday loans.

3. Discover More Card

The most attractive part of this card is it offers 5% cash back on selected categories which are changing every quarter. plus Discover is working to offer better cash back rewards program for its newly launched ShopDiscover Rewards Program. You can also get about 5%~15% for shopping through ShopDiscover. The other feature is the low fee balance transfer offer. Not many issuers still offer 0% interest for 12 months on balance transfers. Discover does. Plus, it caps its balance-transfer fee at $75 vs. $99 or more at other banks. You’d better pay off all your balance before the introductory period expires, but even if you can’t or don’t, the interest rate is not that terrible: It starts at a respectable 10.99%.

4. Starwood Preferred Guest Card from American Express

This is a great hotel rewards card for those who want to get rewarded for free hotel stays. The minimum points you need to redeem for a free night stay at Starwood Hotels is 2,000 points. The sign-up bonus for this card is 10,000 points. You can redeem for an Amazon.Com gift certificate for only 9,000 starpoints. The gift certificate will be shipped to you via UPS next day air. (super quick!!!) You can also transfer those starpoints to other rewards programs like AAdvantage miles.

5. Citi PremierPass Card-Elite Level

You earn one point for every dollar charged, plus a point for every mile you fly. (Note: miles can not be redeemed as ThankYou points before your spending match the miles.) You can double your points at supermarkets, drugstores, gas stations, commuter transportation and parking merchants. Redeem points for plane tickets on any airline; you won’t face blackout dates and restricted seats. If your spending can match your fly miles. You can redeem those fly miles to thankyou points. That’s why this card is best is best to buy flight tickets. The rate starts at 10.24%. Recently this card is offering 20,000 sign-up bonus after 4600 in purchases are made with 3 months of account opening.

My post—”my favorite rewards credit cards” has already told you guys how I use my credit cards in a combination manner. Yes, in this way, I can get myself rewarded for using my credit cards to a maximum degree. These days I notice another useful information for National City Everyday Rewards Cardholders. If you use your National City Everyday Rewards Card at Wal-Mart or other supermarkets, the spending will be counted as “Groceries”. Yes, it’s true! The expense category is “Groceries” and it will give you 2% cash back for using this card at Wal-Mart or other supermarkets. If you don’t have a Household Bank or Orchard Bank 2% cash back card, this maybe a good choice for you. National City is accepting online application now.

OK, let’s go to today’s topic—how to manage your credit cards?

My rule for credit card usage is:

• Use a credit card for every expense whenever or wherever you can.
• Only charge as much as you can pay off every month—never carry a balance on your credit cards.
• Try your best to get a rewards credit card—I know sometimes it’s hard to get a perfect one but keep trying.
• Take the every opportunities as you can to get some free money—get yourself rewarded for having a good credit history!

Many people indicate that you can easily go crazy spending money by using credit cards. Because when you are using that piece of plastic, you are not feeling that you’re using your money. Yes, it won’t touch your money at your checking or savings account right away. But, finally, you have to write a check to credit card company otherwise you will be charged for a high interest rate. So, when you use it, you can tell yourself that you have to pay the money back to the credit card company. If you can’t pay off the balance every month, you have to pay the interest which is typically around 18% APR. Actually, credit card companies try to intrigue you to charge everything on your credit cards and hope you will not be able to pay off all the balance. In this way, they can get more profits other than some transaction fees. Don’t carry balance on your credit cards is always the top 1 tip for every debit management expert.

Get rewarded for using your credit cards is a sweet thing. If you pay your bills using check or money orders, you get nothing back. But, if you use you Chase Freedom Card to pay your cell phone bills or cable bills, you can get 3% cash back. Or if you use the SimplyCash Card from American Express, you can get 5% cash back. So why not get a plastic to pay for the bills online? You can also save the money for stamps.

When you’re using a credit card, you have to remember that use your plastics wisely can bring some profits for you. If you have a very high FICO credit score, you chance to get a new credit card is very high. When there’s a sign-up bonus opportunity, you can’t let it go. Because it’s the reward for maintaining a good credit score. You can always check “MyCardBlog” for updated sign-up opportunities. Warn: If you’re gonna purchase a mortgage in two years, please forget about this. A hard pull on your credit report might give you a 0.5% difference on your mortgage rate which will cost your hundreds of dollars. If you don’t have such a plan, then just go ahead. Hard pulls mean nothing to you! (Of course, there’s a trick to bump all of your hard pulls from your TransUnion and Equifax credit report.)

Today I received 2 emails concerning the year end summary (credit card usage) from Chase. It’s a great tool to track your yearly spending and prepare your household budget for the next year. I have a Chase Freedom Card and a Amazon.Com card, both of which will provide year end summary.

To review your year end summary:

1.You can login to your account at www.chase.com/yearend.

2. On the Statements page, click the “Year End Summary” link at the bottom of the page.

The year end summery will give you month by month list of your spending at Travel & Entertainment, Restaurant, Automotive, Merchandise, Services, and Miscellaneous. It will also give you detailed list of your transactions—a good time to find out wrong transactions and file dispute. Hereby, I strongly recommend you all to look through your year end summary. One of my friends found out that he has been charging by the Reservation

Rewards Program all the time in the past 11 months with a $11 monthly fees. And he doesn’t know what it is!

The Starwood Preferred Guest Card from American Express also provided year end summary for its cardmembers. the Starwood Preferred Guest Card from American Express features:

• Earn 10,000 Starpoints® with your first purchase — enough for up to 3 free nights at a category 1 or 2 hotel.
• Earn 15,000 bonus Starpoints after you spend $15,000 in 6 months
• Use Starpoints® for free nights and upgrades at over 825 participating Starwood hotels and resorts in 95 countries
• Transfer Starpoints® — almost always on a 1:1 basis — to the frequent flyer programs of over 30 major airlines
• Earn one Starpoint® for every dollar you spend and double Starpoints® at participating Starwood properties and retail partners
• No annual fee for the first year and $45 thereafter
• Express Approval. Get a decision in less than 60 seconds.

Apply Now!