Today we discovered we had a ton of points via our credit card reward program. We automatically thought, "OMG! We can go shopping!!!" We've been holding off on purchases for a while now, what with the economy in the pooper and all, so we were elated to get some shopping done without really having to spend any "real" money. Since our toaster oven crapped out we thought we'd look for a good replacement via CapitalOne's Rewards Store. We found a Krups that looked interesting and only ate up 20,000 of our 57,000 points, but then we got the bright idea of getting something a little less practical. A new iPod nano!
Yes, we are iDiots, but...we can always warm up our bread and leftovers in the oven. We got a $250 gift card to Best Buy, which we will soon be using to pick up an orange iPod nano. Or should we get a yellow one? Decisions, decisions... I'll have to ponder that over a warm piece of toast--damnit!
And what's the coolest thing you've scored from a rewards program? I thought my Sephora gift card was cool, but this is way better!
Tina Wilson's Striking Style 
30 DIY Projects for the 3-Day Weekend
Good Food to Share 
The Big Book of Small, Cool Spaces 
Apartment Therapy Presents 
The Eight-Step Home Cure 
Hose Jockey Wall Mount
20 Scrumptious Brunch Recipes 
Magic One-Ingredient Ice Cream 5 Ways: Peanut Butter, Nutella, and More
Comments (9)
How about neither? It's a gimmick to get you to spend more money. With most of them you're better of having them credit it back against your bill rather than getting more "stuff".
I think anymore their are few credit extras that are actually a good deal. Seems like even the frequent flier mile programs are only mediocre.
I have a Chase card that gives me $25 for every $2500 that I spend. I only use the card out of convenience (rather than out of need for credit), and I pay off whatever I buy within 1-2 weeks, so I never carry a balance or pay interest. Works well for me, and I end up with a few extra bucks here and there.
I get 1% cash back on all purchases. It's essentially free money since I never carry a balance on my card, and I'd take free money over another thing to buy any day. :)
or ou can just set up a debit card with your bank account. don't have to worry about the whole "credit" card aspect. and if you find a good one still get points. Got Target cards from my Old National City one, and building them up on 5/3 now.
I end up getting gift cards mostly, and I use those cards as gifts themselves or to buy gifts for others during the holiday season. Spending money for the sake of racking up points, IMHO, is nonsensical. 10,000 pts. for a $100 giftcard? At $1 a point, that's a 1% return. Better then nuttin' - yes. Worth the effort - hardly.
using the points for airline freq. flyer miles is usually the best deal. for 20,000 points you can usually get a roundtrip, domestic, coach ticket. i'd much rather fly to visit a friend or take a vacation than drop 20,000 points on a $40 toaster oven...
we charge everything to our card, and then pay it in full at the end of the month. We get so many points that way (and its a good way to really keep tabs on our spending). we just cashed in points and got a new fridge!
I do the same as lsk. but i only take cash as the reward and i cash it out at $350 which is the first point it hits the best cash for points ratio.
I use the reward credit cards to pay for my household expenses and other spending rather than a debit card - and just pay off the cards before the end of the month.
I used the points to get a new upright HEPA vacuum cleaner earlier this year and am getting a free overnight stay in a hotel on the beach in Fort Lauderdale on my next vacation.