{"id":575,"date":"2011-10-08T16:07:03","date_gmt":"2011-10-08T16:07:03","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/fiveforks.com\/jeb\/2011\/10\/credit_card_tune-up_2011\/"},"modified":"2014-02-16T15:38:36","modified_gmt":"2014-02-16T20:38:36","slug":"credit_card_tune-up_2011","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.fiveforks.com\/jeb\/2011\/10\/credit_card_tune-up_2011\/","title":{"rendered":"Credit Card Tune-up 2011"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><script type=\"text\/javascript\" src=\"\/\/pagead2.googlesyndication.com\/pagead\/js\/adsbygoogle.js\" async=\"\"><\/script><!-- Mac5 468x60, created 12\/31\/07 --> <ins class=\"adsbygoogle\" style=\"display: inline-block; width: 468px; height: 60px;\" data-ad-client=\"ca-pub-4888423166274760\" data-ad-slot=\"8313221010\"><\/ins><script type=\"text\/javascript\">\/\/ <![CDATA[\n(adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({});\n\/\/ ]]><\/script><\/p>\n<p>Clark Howard recommended the website <a href=\"http:\/\/www.creditcardtuneup.com\/\">creditcardtuneup.com<\/a> where you can plug in your spending patterns, and the site will point you in the direction of the best rewards program. I did this almost <a title=\"Credit Card Tune-Up\" href=\"http:\/\/fiveforks.com\/jeb\/2008\/12\/credit_card_tune-up\/\">three years ago<\/a> and decided to switch our &#8220;first card out of wallet&#8221; from Discover Card to <a href=\"https:\/\/www304.americanexpress.com\/personal-card-application\/apply\/jsp\/includes\/blue-multicard-update.jsp?ccsgeep=28000&amp;openeep=30212&amp;psboth=CCSG_Google_LE_Blue\">American Express Blue<\/a>. At the time I did not realize I could only get cash back annually, unlike Discover who allows you to get cash back as you go. But, the estimated $1,000 cash back by the estimator has proven to pay off.<\/p>\n<p>I just ran our spending patterns (which are still largely grocery, department store, and gas) through the tune up again and got the results below. Where is American Express Blue? It didn&#8217;t even show up in the list. (I&#8217;m just showing above $500 payback below.) I wonder how much of this is driven by advertising campaigns paid to Credit Card Tune-up or referral fees? Perhaps Amex is not pushing Blue right now, because it has certainly continued to pay back. Hmmmm&#8230;..<\/p>\n<p><!--more--><\/p>\n<table width=\"100%\" cellspacing=\"1\" cellpadding=\"2\">\n<tbody>\n<tr style=\"background: #6078BF; color: white;\" valign=\"bottom\">\n<th align=\"left\">Credit Card Name<\/th>\n<th align=\"right\">First Year Reward<br \/>\nMinus Card Fee<\/th>\n<th align=\"right\">Best<br \/>\n2-Card Combo<\/th>\n<th align=\"right\">Best<br \/>\n3-Card Combo<\/th>\n<\/tr>\n<tr style=\"background: #E6ECFF;\">\n<td style=\"background: #99ff99;\">Capital One\u00ae Venture(SM) Rewards Card<\/td>\n<td style=\"background: #99ff99;\" align=\"right\">$1090.00<\/td>\n<td align=\"right\"><\/td>\n<td align=\"right\"><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr style=\"background: #E6ECFF;\">\n<td style=\"background: E6ECFF;\">Chase Sapphire(SM) Preferred Card<\/td>\n<td style=\"background: E6ECFF;\" align=\"right\">$932.00<\/td>\n<td style=\"background: #99ff99;\" align=\"right\">$716.00<\/td>\n<td style=\"background: #99ff99;\" align=\"right\">$692.00<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr style=\"background: #E6ECFF;\">\n<td style=\"background: E6ECFF;\">Escape by Discover\u00ae Card<\/td>\n<td style=\"background: E6ECFF;\" align=\"right\">$900.00<\/td>\n<td align=\"right\"><\/td>\n<td align=\"right\"><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr style=\"background: #E6ECFF;\">\n<td style=\"background: E6ECFF;\">Starwood Preferred Guest\u00ae Credit Card from American Express<\/td>\n<td style=\"background: E6ECFF;\" align=\"right\">$837.50<\/td>\n<td align=\"right\"><\/td>\n<td align=\"right\"><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr style=\"background: #E6ECFF;\">\n<td style=\"background: E6ECFF;\">PenFed VISA Platinum Gas \/ Cash Rewards Card<\/td>\n<td style=\"background: E6ECFF;\" align=\"right\">$744.00<\/td>\n<td style=\"background: #99ff99;\" align=\"right\">$540.00<\/td>\n<td style=\"background: #99ff99;\" align=\"right\">$540.00<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr style=\"background: #E6ECFF;\">\n<td style=\"background: E6ECFF;\">Chase Sapphire(SM)<\/td>\n<td style=\"background: E6ECFF;\" align=\"right\">$682.00<\/td>\n<td align=\"right\"><\/td>\n<td align=\"right\"><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr style=\"background: #E6ECFF;\">\n<td style=\"background: E6ECFF;\">American Express\u00ae Premier Rewards Gold Card<\/td>\n<td style=\"background: E6ECFF;\" align=\"right\">$636.00<\/td>\n<td align=\"right\"><\/td>\n<td align=\"right\"><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr style=\"background: #E6ECFF;\">\n<td style=\"background: E6ECFF;\">Capital One\u00ae Rewards No Hassle(SM) Cash Credit Card<\/td>\n<td style=\"background: E6ECFF;\" align=\"right\">$636.00<\/td>\n<td align=\"right\"><\/td>\n<td align=\"right\"><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr style=\"background: #E6ECFF;\">\n<td style=\"background: E6ECFF;\">Capital One\u00ae VentureOne(SM) Rewards Credit Card<\/td>\n<td style=\"background: E6ECFF;\" align=\"right\">$625.00<\/td>\n<td align=\"right\"><\/td>\n<td align=\"right\"><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr style=\"background: #E6ECFF;\">\n<td style=\"background: E6ECFF;\">Gold Delta SkyMiles\u00ae Credit Card from American Express<\/td>\n<td style=\"background: E6ECFF;\" align=\"right\">$620.00<\/td>\n<td align=\"right\"><\/td>\n<td align=\"right\"><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr style=\"background: #E6ECFF;\">\n<td style=\"background: E6ECFF;\">Blue Sky from American Express\u00ae Card<\/td>\n<td style=\"background: E6ECFF;\" align=\"right\">$558.60<\/td>\n<td align=\"right\"><\/td>\n<td align=\"right\"><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr style=\"background: #E6ECFF;\">\n<td style=\"background: E6ECFF;\">Discover\u00ae Open Road &#8211; $150 Restaurant.com Gift Certificate<\/td>\n<td style=\"background: E6ECFF;\" align=\"right\">$544.50<\/td>\n<td align=\"right\"><\/td>\n<td align=\"right\"><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr style=\"background: #E6ECFF;\">\n<td style=\"background: E6ECFF;\">Chase Freedom\u00ae Visa &#8211; $100 Bonus Cash Back + 0% Intro APR<\/td>\n<td style=\"background: E6ECFF;\" align=\"right\">$520.00<\/td>\n<td align=\"right\"><\/td>\n<td align=\"right\"><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr style=\"background: #E6ECFF;\">\n<td style=\"background: E6ECFF;\">Citi\u00ae Dividend World MasterCard\u00ae &#8211; $100 Cash Back<\/td>\n<td style=\"background: E6ECFF;\" align=\"right\">$520.00<\/td>\n<td align=\"right\"><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Clark Howard recommended the website creditcardtuneup.com where you can plug in your spending patterns, and the site will point you in the direction of the best rewards program. I did this almost three years ago and decided to switch our &hellip; <a href=\"https:\/\/www.fiveforks.com\/jeb\/2011\/10\/credit_card_tune-up_2011\/\">Continue reading <span class=\"meta-nav\">&rarr;<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-575","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-money"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.fiveforks.com\/jeb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/575","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.fiveforks.com\/jeb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.fiveforks.com\/jeb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.fiveforks.com\/jeb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.fiveforks.com\/jeb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=575"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/www.fiveforks.com\/jeb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/575\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":965,"href":"https:\/\/www.fiveforks.com\/jeb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/575\/revisions\/965"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.fiveforks.com\/jeb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=575"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.fiveforks.com\/jeb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=575"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.fiveforks.com\/jeb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=575"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}