Gift cards to use towards payment when amex not allowed?

[RocketMan275]

But it really isn't the same. And this is what bothers me about 3% back cards: 3% on $5,000 is only $150. Not much. If you can't do better than $150 in OBC's, one should try another TA.

 

The cash back is in addition to the OBC which btw would be around $400. If you use this BB and use their credit card, then your total savings would be around $550 or about 11% which is pretty good. BTW, you can get the 3% cash back on all travel and restaurant purchases, ie, hotels, dining, airfare, cruise lines, etc., regardless of whether you use their travel site or not.

 

OTOH, a purchase with, for instance, a FF card, of $5,000 is $5,000 in points or miles. That 5,000 miles could make the difference between someone who only needs that amount more to get a business class ticket and being forced to go economy class. Or, between shelling out money for economy class and using miles.

 

The cash value of those miles is somewhere between $50 and perhaps $100.

 

 

I guess it depends on what kind of points card one has and whether the measly 3% is worth the costs of a hotel room, a plane ticket, or whatever. I am facing a similar decision re a lengthy cruise, and I just am not convinced how much of the cost I want to pay with my 3% cash back card. Maybe just the deposit.

 

The best thing about cash back is this: cash can be combined with all promotions, sales, etc. and cash can be used at almost all locations.

 

We tend to cruise at about the time both our cash back cards (we belong to both big box stores) send us their rebate checks. We figure out how much cash we intend to take, cash our cash back checks, and go to the bank for the rest.

[Fruggers]

You can also take the cash card to the membership desk and walk out with actual cash - you don't need to spend it on store merchandise. This is what I do with all my cash cards that come from cruise bookings.

 

If I shopped there a lot then the cash card would be of benefit because I could draw down against it. Because I don't, I switched over to a place where I can get hotel points that I can use for a cruise or hotel. I realize that everyone has different priorities --- just wanted to make others aware that the OBC is not always an option like it was in the past.