CREDIT CARD REBATE COMPARISON

Ever wondered how much buck for the charge you are getting from your credit card? There are many different cards out there, with many weird cash-back plans that it can get downright confusing figuring out which one is best for you. That's why I've created this page (which includes a handy graph) to help you figure it out. With it you can determine the net rebate (rebate minus annual fee) you would get from a card at particular spending levels

To be clear, I'm talking about credit cards which give you CASH back, not airline miles or car discounts or who knows what else. Those sort of plans may be advantageous to you at a particular time but, in general, I think cash in the hand is better (and certainly easier to compare).

Further, as it should be obvious, these types of cards make sense only if you pay your entire bill each month. If you are carrying a balance on your cards then look for one with the lowest APR (and pay it off, credit card debt is for suckers).

Anyway, these are the offers I know about:

G.E. Rewards MasterCard -

$0 to $2000, 0.5%
$2000 to $4000. 1%
$4000 to $6000, 1.5%
$6000 and above , 2%
$25 annual fee. Max. reward is $140.
Note: GE waives its annual fee in the first year, and in subsequent years it calls it the "minimum annual finance charge" or some such

American Express Cash Rebate Card Amex -

$0 to $2000 , 0.25%
$2000 to $5000, 0.5%
$5000 and above, 1.5%.
Also available in Platinum

Private Issue Novus -

$0 to $1000, 0.25%
$1000 to $2000 , 0.5%
$2000 to $4000, 0.75%
$4000 and up, 1%

Discover Novus-

$0 to $1000, 0.25%
$1000 to $2000 , 0.5%
$2000 to $3000, 0.75%
$3000 and above, 1%

BofA Rewards Visa- 1.800.352.4035

$0 to $4000, 0.5%
$4000 to $8000, .75%
$8000 to $12000, 1%
$12000 to $15000, 2%
Max. reward is $150

Recent Changes:

6/1/99: Chevy Chase has discontiued its rebate card. Added American Express's Cash Rebate card.

5/6/99: Private Issue has revamped its program. They removed the annual fee and the cashback cap, but lowered the percent back rate. All in all, bummer.

And here's an interactive graph showing the rebates for different levels of spending. You should be able to drag out a rectangular region to zoom in. Click Redraw to restore to the normal zoom level.

If you are more interested in frequent flier mile deals, SmartFlier.com has a good listing of such deals (as well as hotel and other such).

Other good sites include:

Credit Card Goodies

Finally, while I've done my best to make the following data accurate, please don't hold me responsible if it has error or becomes out of date. Instead, if you know about other rebate credit cards,or if you have any comments or questions about the above send me mail.

Last Modified 9/23/1999