Most of my adult life I always said “no” to anything asked of me at stores that didn’t involve me paying for what I was buying. I like going into a store, getting what I want with as little hassle as possible. Later I realized that it’s stupid for me to not get some of these reward cards if I’m always shopping at the same places. The reward cards are just designed so that you’ll come back to those stores so you can rack up points, but if I go back there anyway I might as well benefit from their meager awards.
I’ve had a Duane Reade card for a while now, but I recently got a Best Buy rewards card. One difference between Best Buy and Duane Reade is that the employees aren’t trained to be pushy about the cards, I’ve never once been asked if I wanted to sign up, so I had to ask on my own.
Then it got me thinking to my credit card. I have a plain normal card which earns me no points on anything, so I realized it’s stupid to not be earning anything extra with it. I had considered the Best Buy and Amazon cards, but then I found this other card which gives extra points for books, movie theaters, restaurants and a couple other things. The trick is that Amazon is counted as a bookseller, so with this card you earn more points than you would on an Amazon card. I haven’t received it in the mail yet, but it’ll be cool to earn stuff periodically with regular credit card use.
Now I’m picturing myself being the guy asking his friends to give him cash at restaurants so he can earn points on his card. I’m sure someone out there is crazy enough to try to calculate the most efficient way to use all these cards for maximum points and minimum cash, but I don’t think I care enough to try to figure that out. I just wish I had taken the time to do something like this sooner. Oh well, better late than never.
Hey Derek,
always keep in mind that almost nothing in this world is really “for free”. At least here in Germany every single “reward card” collects data from you (have a look at the small print on this sheet of paper you needed to sign in order to get this card) which could lead to unwanted advertisment. If you don’t care about your personal data, nevermind. I guess these reward cards match the “manly urge” to collect stuff or something like that
Some TV stations here in Germany yearly calculate how much – for example – a basket ball really costs at a gas station when you buy it from your reward card points (you get a basket ball for about 300 liters of gas). Then they compare what you would have paid for 300 liters at another cheaper gas station. The difference is always high enough that you would have spared money when you had refueled at a cheaper gas station without bonus card AND regularly bought a basket ball at some store
Hope you understand what I am talking about.
Greets,
Martin
Hi Martin, yeah I see what you’re saying. I’m sure they collect a lot of data for these things, but I think it varies card to card. Duane Reade (a New York pharmacy/convenience store) doesn’t require any personal information in order to sign up. Best Buy I know has my information because I’ve ordered stuff online from them so it’s possible I’ll get more junk mail.
I’ll keep what you said in mind though, maybe I WILL do some calculations after all
Hi Derek,
Which card did you end up getting?
It sounds good
It’s called the Citi forward card which is by citibank. I read a lot of forums and opinions and it sounds pretty good. I didn’t want to put it in the main body of my comic because I didn’t want to look like some Citibank sell out