In order to enroll in these promotions, you must install or upgrade to the latest version of the iPhone App (version 3.0.1) available at http://aexp.co/QyW. Cardmembers redeem an offer by clicking a button to sync it to their card account and then using their card at the participating merchant. Statement credits will generally be issued within 3-5 business days after purchase, but may take up to 2 billing periods to post.

While no date has been announced, American Express expects to add this feature to its Android app in the future as well.

This post is from Credit Card Watcher, where you'll always find the best credit card deals.

American Express Introduces Targeted Deals to Its iPhone App

• No foreign transaction fees
• Complimentary annual membership to Lounge Club plus two complimentary lounge visits each year, for access to over 350 airport lounges in more than 200 cities worldwide
• Automatic upgrade to Fairmont President’s Club Premier status, which entitles you to such benefits as a room upgrade certificate, a suite upgrade certificate, a third night free on a three-night stay certificate and $50 dining certificates
• Earn Platinum status more quickly — when a cardmember spends $7,500 on the Card, they will receive a stay credit toward the next status level, up to a maximum of 2 credits per calendar year
• Earn a free night stay on each Card anniversary, provided you have spent $12,000 or more in the prior year
• 5 Fairmont Rewards for every $1 spent on Fairmont stays
• 2 Fairmont Rewards for every $1 spent on airline tickets purchased directly with the airline, at car rental agencies, and on transit and commuting
• 1 Fairmont Reward for every $1 spent on all other purchases

Fairmont Rewards can be used toward future Fairmont stays, gift cards or charitable donations.

Existing Presidents Club Premier and Platinum members who are approved for the Fairmont Visa Signature Card will enjoy additional and exclusive benefits throughout the year. In addition, existing Premier and Platinum members who become Charter Members by being approved by July 31, 2012 will receive an additional two Fairmont Gold Floor upgrade certificates and an extra $150 in Fairmont dining certificates.

The card does carry a $95 annual fee that will be waived for the first year for applications received by July 31, 2012.

In summary, this is a nice new card with features very similar to those offered by Hyatt and Ritz-Carlton. For those who stay regularly stay at Fairmont properties, it seems like an obvious choice.

For more information or to apply for the card, see www.chase.com/fairmont.

This post is from Credit Card Watcher, where you'll always find the best credit card deals.

Fairmont Visa Signature Card: Get 2 Free Nights At Any Fairmont Hotel and Earn Status Faster

*Annual fee will also be waived if: (1) you have a combined balance of $50,000 or more of average daily balances for the month, or month-end balances in deposit accounts and/or eligible investment balances (excluding 401(k) or other employer sponsored plans, and 529 plans) with Bank of America or its affiliates; or, (2) you are a U.S. Trust® client

In addition, BankAmericard Travel Reward and BankAmericard Privileges with Travel Rewards customers who have another eligible account with Bank of America will automatically receive a 10% point bonus each year on their total purchases. An eligible account includes a checking, savings or retirement account with Bank of America, a Cash Management Account, Merrill Edge or any other account with Merrill Lynch, Pierce, Fenner & Smith or U.S. Trust.

Points can be redeemed for the usual assortment of merchandise, gift cards and charitable contributions. Your points can also be used to reimburse yourself for previously purchased travel. 100 points is equivalent to $1 in travel credit, and points must be redeemed in 2,500 point increments. You can apply your credit towards any travel-related expense, including airfare, hotels, car rentals, baggage fees, cruises, amusement parks and more. You also have the option of covering all or just part of your trip. If you don’t have enough points to cover an entire purchase, you can choose to use points to pay for just part of it. After redeeming your points, you’ll receive a credit on your next statement.

For more info or to apply, see the following links:

• BankAmericard Travel Rewards
• BankAmericard Privileges
• WorldPoints Travel Rewards for Business

This post is from Credit Card Watcher, where you'll always find the best credit card deals.

Bank of America Introduces Three New Travel Credit Cards

Offer valid in the U.S. only. This promotion is not transferable. The offer is only applicable to the account number referenced above. A $10 statement credit will be applied for making at least one qualifying “Card Not Present” Visa® bill payment transaction with a U.S. merchant at any time during the Offer Period between May 1, 2012 and June 30, 2012 using the PenFed Visa “Card” referenced above. One-time and recurring Visa bill payment transactions qualify for the Offer. Maximum statement credit award is $30. To qualify, the Visa bill payment transactions must: (i) be completed a using the full PenFed Visa 16-digit Card number referenced above during the Offer period; (ii) be identified to Visa by the biller as a one-time or recurring bill payment based on the information available on Visa’s proprietary network (VisaNet); and (iii) post to the Visa PenFed Card accoun t referenced above by June 30, 2012. Note: “Card Not Present” transactions are transactions in which the Card is not physically present at the time of the transaction because the cardholder is not physically present or the card itself is not presented. Such transactions can be carried out through ecommerce, MOTO (mail/telephone order) or recurring payments/installments transactions.

Please allow up to 60 days after the end of the Offer Period to receive your statement credit. Account must be open and in good standing at the time the credit is applied.

So, based on the terms, even one-time payments made online should qualify for the statement credit, making this offer an easy way to earn $30.

Note: If you were targeted for this promotion, you should have received an email from PenFed.

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PenFed Visa: Get $30 After 3 Online Purchases

• Ann Taylor
• Gap brands (including Gap, babyGap, GapBody, GapMaternity, Old Navy, Banana Republic, Piperlime and Athleta)
• Foot Locker
• Macy’s
• Sunglass Hut

This discount is valid on both $50 and $100 gift card denominations, so $50 gift cards are available for 4,000 ThankYou points and $100 gift cards are available for just 8,000 ThankYou points. To redeem your points, you can either visit thankyou.com or call 1-800-THANKYOU (1-800-842-6596).

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Citi ThankYou Rewards: 20% Off Select Gift Cards

For frequent LivingSocial users, then, the card essentially returns a 5% rebate on LivingSocial purchases, 3% on dining (including restaurants and bars), and 1% anywhere else. Given the current dearth of cards that offer greater than a 2% rebate at restaurants, this could be a good option for those who dine out frequently.

For more info on the LivingSocial Visa Card, see www.chase.com/livingsocial.

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Chase Launches LivingSocial Credit Card

If you don’t already have a Twitter account, is it really worth setting one up just for these types of offers? That’s for you to decide, but to make things easier for those on the fence, I’ve created a step-by-step guide on how to sync your American Express card with Twitter. After following these steps, it should be relatively simple to participate in future Amex/Twitter deals. (Note: This guide is meant for less tech-savvy people.)

Step 1. Create a Twitter account
The first thing you’ll need to do is to create a Twitter account by visiting twitter.com/signup.

On this page, you’ll need to enter your name and email and then select a password and username. If you’re using this account just for Amex deals, the name you enter doesn’t need to be your real name or match your Amex account. For instance, I just used my initials. You will need to enter a valid email address, however, as you will receive a confirmation email from Twitter after you’ve signed up. Once you’ve completed the required information on this page, you can click the “Create my account” button to continue.

You’ll be brought next to a Welcome page:

You can just click the “Next” button to continue.

This brings you to the “Build your timeline” page.

On this page, click the “Skip this step” link near the bottom. (If you want to ‘follow’ the tweets of various public figures, you can instead click the “Follow” button next to their names. This, however, is optional.)

The next several pages (“See who’s here,” “Find people you know,” and “Add character”) can also be similarly skipped by clicking the “Skip this step” link.

Finally, you’ll be asked to confirm your email address. Log into the email account that you supplied at the beginning of the signup process and click on the link in the email. You’ll be prompted for your Twitter username and password. Once you enter that info, that’s it! You now have a fresh, new Twitter account.

Step 2. Sync your Twitter account with your American Express card
To sync your Twitter account with your American Express card, visit sync.americanexpress.com/twitter.

Click the “Sign in with Twitter” button.

Next you’ll need to authorize the American Express sync app. To begin, click the “Sign In” button which will bring you to the “Sync Your Card” page.

This is the page where you’ll need to supply your credit card information. You’re also asked to supply an email address where updates about the offers you sign up for will be sent. After you’ve filled out the required information, click the “I Agree, Sync” button which completes linking your Twitter and American Express accounts.

Step 3. Sign up for Amex / Twitter deals that interest you
Now comes the fun part where we get to sign up for all the good deals. American Express keeps a list of many of its current Twitter deals on this page. You should also check back here at creditcardwatcher.com since Amex doesn’t always list them all.

Once you’ve identified offers that you want to sign up for, find out the associated hashtag of each deal. Hashtags are words or phrases prefixed with the symbol #. The way that we sign up for these Amex/Twitter deals is by writing a “tweet” that contains the hashtag of the deal. For instance, for the “Macaroni Grill $10 back after spending $50″ deal, the hashtag is #AmexMacGrill. So, to sign up for this particular deal, this is what we would do:

Log into your Twitter account and compose a new tweet by clicking in the box that says “Compose new tweet…”

In that box, type in the hashtag #AmexMacGrill. Then click the “Tweet” button.

After you click the “Tweet” button, that’s it!

You can confirm that you’ve successfully signed up for the offer by clicking the “@ Connect” link at the top of the page:

It should show a sync notification from @AmexSync (though sometimes there may be a slight delay until this notification appears):

You can then repeat step 3 for each offer that interests you.

Now, all that’s left to do is to complete your eligible purchase(s) using your registered American Express card, per each offer’s terms. After you’ve completed each eligible purchase, you should receive a notification via email. While statement credits are usually posted within 3-5 business days of purchase, they may take up to 2 billing cycles to post to your account.

This post is from Credit Card Watcher, where you'll always find the best credit card deals.

How to Sign Up for American Express and Twitter Deals: A Step-By-Step Guide

Through this deal, Visa Signature cardholders who purchase two movie tickets through Fandango on Fridays will only pay for the price of one. Currently, this promotion is set to run each Friday from May 4, 2012 through August 17, 2012.

Under the terms of this offer, Visa requires that B1G1 tickets can only be purchased on a Friday and used the same day. In addition, you are limited to 1 complimentary movie ticket, worth up to $19.50 (which includes the convenience fee), per Visa Signature card, per period of 30 days following the date of a purchase.

To participate in this offer, you can visit this link.

How can you tell if you have a Visa Signature card?
If you have a Visa Signature card, it should have the words “VISA SIGNATURE” printed somewhere on the front of your card. It may be located, for instance, either below your credit card number or below the Visa logo.

Alternatively, you can visit the link above (fandango.com/visasignature) and enter your 16 digit credit card number to validate whether you are eligible.

This post is from Credit Card Watcher, where you'll always find the best credit card deals.

Visa Signature: Buy One Movie Ticket, Get One Free on Fridays

1. If you don’t already have a Twitter account, create one at twitter.com/signup.
2. Sync your Twitter account with your American Express card by visiting sync.americanexpress.com/twitter. This link will prompt you to sign into your Twitter account and then enter your American Express card number.
3. Log into your twitter account at twitter.com. In the field which says “Compose new Tweet…” enter “#AmexTFF10″ without the quotes. This will enroll your card for this $10 offer.
4. You can confirm that you’ve successfully enrolled in the offer by clicking the “@ Connect” link at the top of the page (next to the Home link). It should show a sync notification from @AmexSync, though there may be a slight delay of a few minutes after you have tweeted until the notification appears.
5. Complete your eligible purchase using your registered American Express card, per the offer’s terms.
6. You should receive a notification after you’ve completed your eligible purchase. While statement credits are usually posted within 3-5 business days of purchase, they may take up to 2 billing cycles to post to your account.

The specific terms of this offer, which can be found here, are:

To be eligible to receive a $10 statement credit you must Tweet using #AmexTFF10 then use your synced Card to make a single purchase of $10 or more in-store at accepting merchants by 4/29/12. Offer is valid only at accepting merchants in Manhattan below 23rd street in the following zipcodes: 10011, 10014, 10012, 10013, 10008, 10006, 10004, 10005, 10038, 10002, 10009, 10003, 10010. Limit 1 per Card. Registration is limited. You will be sent a message from @amexsync once offer has been loaded to your Card. Your Card must be synced with Twitter to take advantage of this offer. Payments using Express Pay are not eligible for this offer. Statement credits are generally issued within 3-5 business days after your qualifying purchase, but may take up to 2 billing periods to post to your account.

Note: Although this promo was designed for visitors to the Tribeca Film Festival, it appears that enterprising individuals have discovered that purchases of $10 gift cards at the online camera store, adorama.com (which happens to be located in an eligible zip code), have also qualified for the statement credit.

This post is from Credit Card Watcher, where you'll always find the best credit card deals.

Free $10 for NYC Amex Cardholders

There is a $69 annual fee which is not waived. For more info on the card’s features, you can see my previous write-up on it here. To apply for this offer, see this link.

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Southwest Airlines Rapid Rewards Plus Card: 2 Free Flights is Back Again

You’ll need to sign up for the promo first before you can start earning your bonus 5% cashback. You can sign up now at this link.

This update is now also reflected on our cash back bonus calendar, where you’ll notice that the Chase Freedom is also offering 5% back this quarter on groceries (on up to $1500 in spending).

This post is from Credit Card Watcher, where you'll always find the best credit card deals.

Discover Card: Earn 5% on up to $300 in Groceries in May

To take full advantage of this offer, you’ll want to spend at least $5,000 during the intro period. Otherwise, you would be better off with the ThankYou Preferred card’s $250 promo which requires only $2,000 of spending within 4 months.

Update 5/15: The 5 point per dollar for 6 months offer has expired. To see the current deal, see this link.

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Citi ThankYou Preferred Card: 5 Points Per Dollar for 6 Months

• Earn 1.25 Avios per dollar on every purchase and 2.5 Avios per dollar spent on BA purchases
• No foreign transaction fees
• Earn a “travel together ticket” when you spend at least $30,000 on your BA Visa. This companion ticket allows you to bring a companion along on your next reward flight for free (though you do pay taxes). Each companion ticket you earn is good for two years.
• Smart chip technology — especially useful for trips to Europe where merchants may require a chip-based card

Even if you don’t fly BA, you can still use your Avios to redeem for awards through British Airways’ Oneworld alliance partners, which include airberlin, American Airlines, Cathay Pacific, Finnair, Iberia, JAL, LAN, Malev Hungarian Airlines, Mexicana, Qantas, Royal Jordanian, and S7.

Because of the high taxes and fees that BA charges on international flights, one of the better values redemption-wise for your miles will be domestic flights on American Airlines. You can check award availability by going to AA.com and searching for Milesaver awards, as those are the flights that you will be able to book with your Avios. Milesaver awards cost roughly 25k miles or even less for some short-haul trips, meaning it’s possible to get up to 4 round-trip domestic award flights with your 100,000 miles. Alternatively, 100,000 miles is also enough for one round-trip business class ticket.

The card does carry a $95 annual fee.

For more info or to apply, see the following link:

British Airways Visa Signature application.

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Chase British Airways Visa Signature Card: 100,000 Points Bonus is Back

Link (via FT)

Update 4/5: As of 10am EST today, the $350 offer seems to be down. Chase must have noticed a flood of applications coming in and pulled the plug.

To view the current Freedom offer, see this link.

Note: As is often the case with Chase, if you recently applied for a Freedom card with a less lucrative bonus, you can ask Chase to match this offer. The best way to do this is to log into your account online and send a secure message to customer service. Tell them that you saw an offer with a $350 bonus and ask politely if it can be matched. Usually if you have applied for the same card within 90 days, Chase will credit you the difference.

This post is from Credit Card Watcher, where you'll always find the best credit card deals.

Chase Freedom – $350 Signup Bonus

For example, the American Express Blue Cash Preferred card pays a juicy 6% cash back at supermarkets. Chances are that your local grocery store stocks a wide variety of retail branded gift cards (such as Amazon.com gift cards). Ordinarily, you might only earn a 1% rebate on Amazon.com purchases, but if you buy an Amazon.com gift card at your supermarket with the Blue Cash Preferred card, you’ll earn 6% cash back on that gift card purchase. With one extra step, you’ve turned a 1% transaction into one that nets 6%.

Purchasing gift cards can also have a potential side benefit of pulling your spending forward, which can be useful if you have a limited time to meet a minimum spend requirement on a card.

Purchasing Prepaid cards
A more flexible option than purchasing retail branded gift cards that can only be used at specific merchants is to buy prepaid Visa, MasterCard or Amex gift cards. These cards can typically be used anywhere that debit cards are accepted. You do pay a fee for that flexibility, but if your cash back rebate is high enough, it can be enough to more than offset that cost.

For instance, if you can find a supermarket that sells variable load cards (cards that can be loaded with amounts ranging from $25 to $500) with a loading fee of $6-7, it can be profitable to buy those cards with a card such as the Blue Cash Preferred (6% rebate) or the Blue Cash Everyday (3% supermarket rebate). On a $500 gift card with a $6 fee, you would net $24 ($500 * 0.06 = $30 – $6 fee = $24), which is $19 more than you would have received if you made the purchase in a 1% category.

Since supermarkets aren’t the only places that sell these types of prepaid cards, there are other credit cards that can take advantage of this as well. The Chase Ink Bold for Business card earns 5 points per dollar at office supply stores, as well as on cable, cell and internet. Any office superstore such as Staples, OfficeMax or Office Depot sells $200 Visa gift cards with a $6.95 service fee. Even with the service fee, however, this turns out to be a nice value.

Breaking down the numbers: Your ordinary $200 purchase would earn 200 Ultimate Rewards points, while buying a $200 prepaid Visa card with the Ink Bold would cost you $206.95 and yield 206.95 * 5 = 1034.75 UR points, a difference of 834.75 points. In this scenario, you’re essentially buying an extra 834.75 points for $6.95 (or 0.83 cents per point), which is a darn good deal.

The drawbacks
This method is not without its risks. For one thing, you are forfeiting the normal consumer protections that you get for using a credit card when you make a purchase with a gift card. For instance, if you’re buying major electronics, it’s still probably smarter to use your credit card directly so you can take advantage of the built-in warranty extension.

Also, when you have a physical gift card, you stand to lose the entire amount of your card if you happen to misplace it–losing your card is like losing cash. This can be mitigated somewhat if you are purchasing Amazon gift cards, which can be immediately credited to your account after you buy them.

Another pitfall of this strategy is that some credit card issuers don’t like to see too many obvious gift card purchases. If such activity catches their attention, it can potentially lead to adverse action, including denial of rewards or even freezing of your credit.

To a lesser extent, there’s also the “time value of money” to consider. If it will take you a long time to actually spend the money that you put on the gift card, you’re essentially giving the store merchant an interest-free loan for that period of time. You’ve also committed to spending money with that particular merchant, so it only makes sense to purchase store cards that you are certain you will be able to use.

Purchasing gift cards for later use certainly increases the hassle factor, so it’s definitely not for everyone. For those willing to put in the effort, however, it can be a useful way to boost your rewards point balance when used in moderation.

This post is from Credit Card Watcher, where you'll always find the best credit card deals.

How to Earn More Credit Card Rewards Without Spending More: Gift Card Arbitrage

Under the new partnership, Chase Sapphire Preferred, Ink Plus and Ink Bold cardmembers can now instantly transfer Ultimate Rewards points to The Ritz-Carlton Rewards at a 1:1 point ratio and then redeem those points towards free nights at Ritz-Carlton hotels and resorts as well as at 3,400 partner hotels around the world.

There are no restrictions or limits to the number of points that cardmembers can transfer to The Ritz-Carlton Rewards.

Given that Marriott was already part of the Ultimate Rewards program and Ritz-Carlton points are essentially equivalent to Marriott points, this isn’t a dramatic change, but it does make it more convenient for travelers who already have Ritz-Carlton Rewards accounts.

The number of transfer partners for the Ultimate Rewards program continues to grow, making the program much more flexible and competitive. Ritz-Carlton joins a growing list of Ultimate Rewards partners that includes Priority Club, Hyatt, United MileagePlus, British Airways, Korean Air, Marriott and Southwest Airlines.

This post is from Credit Card Watcher, where you'll always find the best credit card deals.

Chase Adds Ritz-Carlton as Ultimate Rewards Partner

As readers report, Chase is now advertising a sign up bonus of only 40,000 points for the card. Also, if you navigate through Chase’s website, in several places they now promote the 40,000 point bonus.

Could this be a sign of things to come? Time will tell, but if I were a betting man, I would wager that this is a change that will eventually (and probably soon) come to pass. For now, though, you can still get in on the 50,000 point bonus through these links.

Update 3/30: I’ve just received word that Chase will be updating the Chase Sapphire Preferred card offer next Tuesday, April 3. It seems highly likely that the current 50,000 point offer will only last until then.

This post is from Credit Card Watcher, where you'll always find the best credit card deals.

Chase Sapphire Preferred Sign-Up Bonus: Soon to be 40,000 Points?

Note: If you participated in the 2011 “Match My Miles Challenge,” you are not eligible for this Double Miles Challenge program.

Assuming you are eligible, to take advantage of the promo, you’ll need to do the following:

1. Apply and be approved for a Venture card before the promo ends. (This promo ends on May 1, 2012 or when one billion miles have been given away, whichever comes first.)
2. Submit proof of last year’s spend on your travel credit card with a 2011 year-end summary of the account
3. Spend at least $1,000 within 3 months

Your bonus miles will be rewarded once you successfully register for the promotion and are earned once you provide the requested documentation and reach your minimum purchase requirement. Miles will then be awarded within 2 billing cycles of when they are earned.

Venture miles can be redeemed for any flight and just as importantly, you will earn miles on flights booked with Venture miles. Each Venture mile can be redeemed towards 1 cent in travel, so 100,000 Venture miles is equivalent to $1,000 towards travel.

The card carries a $59 annual fee, which is waived for the first year. For more info on this year’s promo, see www.capitaloneventure.com.

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Cap One Venture Double Miles Challenge: Possible 100,000 Point Bonus

Even if you normally wouldn’t purchase tickets through TicketMaster either for yourself or as a gift, there is a way to make a bit of cash off of this offer. One idea is to register for this promotion and purchase a $100 TicketMaster gift card. There is a $2.50 order processing charge, so your total cost would be $102.50. After your $50 statement credit, your real cost for the gift card would be $52.50. Your $100 TicketMaster gift card could then be sold at PlasticJungle.com for up to $87.15 in Amazon credit (or slightly less in cash). That would net you roughly $34 ($87.15 – $52.50) for your trouble.

Note: This offer wasn’t publicized at the time the original list of Amex / Twitter deals was posted, but has since been added.

This post is from Credit Card Watcher, where you'll always find the best credit card deals.

Another Twitter / Amex Deal: Get $50 Back After Spending $100 at TicketMaster.com

1. If you don’t already have a Twitter account, create one at twitter.com/signup.
2. Sync your Twitter account with your American Express card at sync.americanexpress.com/twitter (You’ll need to sign into your Twitter account and then enter your American Express card number)
3. Tweet the specified hashtag (see table below) of the promo you wish to enroll in. You may include as many hashtags as you want in a single tweet.
4. You can confirm that you’ve enrolled in the offer by clicking the “@ Connect” link at the top of the page (next to the Home link). It should show sync notifications from @AmexSync.
5. Complete your eligible purchase using your registered American Express card, per the individual offer’s terms.
6. You should receive a notification after you’ve completed your eligible purchase. While statement credits are usually posted within 2-3 business days of purchase, they may take up to 2 billing cycles to post to your account.

List of participating merchants

Be sure to read the specific offer’s terms which can be found at this link. Some promos require an in-store purchase while others may be online only. On certain offers, quantities are limited, so read carefully.

Edit 3/9/12: As part of South by Southwest, Amex is now also offering a $10 statement credit after you make any purchase using your Amex in Austin, Texas. Tweet #AmexAustin10 to register. For details, see aexp.co/Cmw.

This post is from Credit Card Watcher, where you'll always find the best credit card deals.

Amex Cardholders: Tweet Your Way to Discounts

In short, the Barclaycard Ring will initially have an 8% variable interest rate with no balance transfer fees and no annual fee. The foreign transaction fee will be 1%.

Its profit-sharing program, known as Giveback, will be a “transparent calculation” based on the card’s actual revenue and expenses. There will be no other form of rewards associated with the card. And this is precisely the reason why I believe this card will ultimately not be the best deal for most consumers. It’s simply unreasonable to expect that the card will be able to rebate a large cash back percentage, for instance, given the card’s low rate and fee structure. Paul Wilmore, managing director of consumer markets for Barclaycard US, basically admits as much: “A rewards junkie would probably not be attracted to this card.”

Ultimately, Barclaycard is targeting the consumers who want a low-frills, low fees credit card and also want to feel like they have a voice in their card’s features and terms. If you regularly carry a balance–in general, a practice I would recommended against–and are in need of a low interest rate credit card, it’s an option to consider. Otherwise, it probably isn’t worth your time.

The Barclaycard Ring is expected to be available later this spring. To request an invitation, visit www.barclaycardring.com.

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Barclaycard Ring MasterCard Review: The First Social, Crowd-Sourced Credit Card

In theory, this could be a decent deal if you are able to put your smaller purchases onto the card and are at least an occasional LivingSocial customer.

In addition to attracting repeat business, LivingSocial has some other very good reasons for introducing its own credit card. According to recent research, the typical LivingSocial/Groupon shopper represents an attractive demographic. Compared to the average U.S. credit card holder, they are more affluent, have higher credit scores and make three times as many credit card purchases. In addition, they are very receptive to the idea of a co-branded card, with 27% indicating they would be interested in a LivingSocial credit card.

While it’s expected that the card will be out in a few months, no specific date for the card’s availability has yet been announced.

This post is from Credit Card Watcher, where you'll always find the best credit card deals.

LivingSocial to Offer Its Own Credit Card

• Gold and New members – earn 2 award nights after first purchase
• Platinum members – earn 2 award nights and 2 suite upgrades after first purchase
• Diamond members – earn 2 award nights in a suite after first purchase

Chase also added EMV chip technology to the Hyatt Card, in addition to the traditional magnetic strip, so that the card can be used both at home and abroad. The embedded and encrypted microchip makes the card more secure and enables safer processing and storage of data. The card can be used anywhere traditional magnetic strip cards are accepted in the U.S. and in more than 130 countries abroad where chip technology is implemented.

In addition to the 2 free award nights after first purchase, the Hyatt Credit Card’s benefits include the following:

• No foreign transaction fees
• Earn 3 Hyatt Gold Passport Points for every $1 spent at Hyatt
• Earn 1 Hyatt Gold Passport Point for every $1 spent elsewhere
• Automatic Hyatt Gold Passport Platinum status as long as you have the card. Platinum benefits include:
  • 15% point bonus on each stay
  • The best room available within the category booked
  • Complimentary Internet service
  • Expedited check-in at a dedicated area for members
  • Guaranteed 72-hour room availability
• Receive 1 award night in a category 1-4 property every year on your card’s anniversary

There is an annual fee of $75. For more info or to apply, see this link.

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Chase Enhances Hyatt Card Benefits, Adds EMV Chip Technology

The card earns 3x points on airfare, 2x points on advertising, gas and shipping and 1x points on everything else. There is an annual fee of $175, which is waived for the first year.

For more info or to apply, see this link.

This post is from Credit Card Watcher, where you'll always find the best credit card deals.

The Business Gold Rewards Card from Amex: 75,000 MR Points Today Only

Looking to find the best cash back credit cards on the market today? You’ve come to the right place.

This is the most complete, unbiased review of cards that you’ll find anywhere. While the list remains largely similar to last year’s, there are some changes. A few cards have changed their terms, resulting in their being cut from the list, while a few new offers have popped onto the scene. One thing you’ll find in common for all of the cards that made the list–none of them have an annual fee. Read on to get all the details.

Note: This list only includes personal cash back credit cards. As I mention in this post, small businesses should strongly favor a rewards credit card over a cash back card.

Fidelity Investment Rewards American Express Card

Pros: Untiered, uncapped 2% rebate on all purchases, low 1% forex fee Cons: Requires Fidelity brokerage account, Amex not universally accepted

The Fidelity Amex continues to deliver among the best untiered, uncapped rate of cash back on purchases available on the market today. The card earns a 2% rebate on all purchases deposited into a Fidelity account of your choice. The Fidelity account may be a non-retirement account, an IRA or 529 college savings plan.

Cardholders earn 2 points for each dollar in net retail purchases. Points can be redeemed in 5,000 point increments into your eligible Fidelity account, at a rate of 1 cent per point. You may also choose to automatically have your points swept as a cash deposit into your Fidelity account.

One often-overlooked benefit of the Fidelity Amex is that it only carries a 1% fee for purchases made in foreign currencies, compared to the 2-3% fee that most other credit cards usually assess.

One of the drawbacks of the card is that it is an Amex, meaning that you’ll need to still carry a Visa and/or MasterCard in your wallet for those places that don’t accept American Express.

If you already have an existing relationship with Fidelity or are strongly considering one, then this is a great card to consider.

Fidelity Investment Rewards Visa Signature Card

Pros: Up to 2% rebate on all purchases Cons: Requires Fidelity brokerage account

The Fidelity Visa is very similar to the Fidelity Amex, though it offers a slightly lower rebate than its sibling. While the Amex offers a flat 2% cash back, the Visa card has a tiered rebate structure. For the first $15,000 in purchases of the year, you’ll earn 1.5 points for each $1. After you’ve reached $15,000 in spending, you’ll receive 2 points per $1 in purchases. As with the Amex, your points can be automatically converted into a deposit into your eligible Fidelity account in $50 increments.

Unfortunately, the Fidelity Visa also charges a 3% forex fee, compared to the 1% charged by its Amex sibling.

The upside to the Visa is that it does have more universal acceptance, so if you’re looking to have just a single credit card in your wallet, it may be the card you’re looking for.

Capital One Cash Rewards card

Pros: Effectively a 1.5% rebate on all purchases, doesn’t require having a relationship with a specific financial institution Cons: Entire rebate is not received immediately

One of the new card offers to appear in the past year was the Capital One Cash credit card. It offers an essentially flat 1.5% cash back on all purchases. Customers receive their rebate in two steps: 1) 1% cash back on all purchases is earned immediately. 2) On their anniversary, customers receive an additional 50% bonus on the rebates that they earned in the previous year. Rewards can be redeemed at any time with no minimum and can come in the form of a check, statement credit or gift cards.

Like all Capital One cards, it does not charge foreign transaction fees, making it an excellent choice for travelers.

Overall, the Capital One Cash card offers a relatively straightforward 1.5% rebate that doesn’t require a relationship with any specific financial institution.

Priceline Rewards Visa

Pros: Effectively at least a 2% rebate on all purchases Cons: Rewards system can be confusing to understand

The Priceline Rewards Visa is a points-based credit card that offers 5 points per dollar spent on “Name Your Own Price” Priceline purchases and 2 points per dollar on all other purchases. The card’s rewards system can be confusing at first, but the bottom line is that points can be redeemed for at least 1 cent per point, making this card earn at least a 2% rebate on all purchases.

In addition, the card is a Visa, meaning you’ll enjoy near universal acceptance. On the downside, there is a 3% foreign currency transaction fee. You also stand to have your account closed and/or points forfeited due to inactivity if you don’t use the card at least once every 6 months or keep a balance.

For a more complete explanation of the rewards system and a full review of the Priceline Visa, see this review.

Honorable Mention

Blue Cash Everyday Card from Amex

• 3% cash back at supermarkets
• 2% cash back at gas stations and department stores
• 1% cash back on all other purchases
• No minimum spending requirement

Amex revamped its Blue Cash card, making its reward structure more straight-forward and attractive to lower and moderate spenders. It did come at a cost, however, as bigger spenders will not find the new versions of the card as attractive.

Gone is the tiered reward structure. From the first dollar you spend, you’ll earn 3% cash back at grocery stores, 2% at gas stations and department stores and 1% on all other purchases.

Rebates are earned in the form of Reward Dollars, which may be redeemed for statement credits, or additional items like merchandise and gift cards, whenever your available Reward Dollar balance is 25 or more.

The Blue Cash Everyday card also has a sibling dubbed the Blue Cash Preferred card. The Blue Cash Preferred card carries a $75 annual fee and earns a 6% rebate at supermarkets, 3% at gas stations and department stores and 1% everywhere else.

For those who make a lot of purchases at the grocery store (or those who are more creative and buy store gift cards there), the Blue Cash Preferred card can be an attractive option. If you’re trying to decide between the Blue Cash Everyday card and the Blue Cash Preferred, you can use this handy calculator which examines your spending habits to determine the better card for you.

Penfed Visa Platinum Cashback Rewards Card

• 5% rebate on gas paid at the pump
• 1% rebate on all other purchases (soon to be 0.25%)
• Rebate applied automatically every month as a statement credit
• Must be a PenFed Credit Union member

Penfed’s cash back credit card has seen a number of changes over the past year. It still, however, arguably remains the best credit card for gas purchases. It earns an excellent 5% rebate on gas paid at the pump, but a pedestrian 1% rebate on all other purchases. Your cash back is automatically applied monthly as a statement credit.

The rebate on non-gas purchases is expected to dive to an unacceptably low 0.25% very soon, however, as PenFed begins promoting a new points-based card. Existing cardholders are currently in a transitional period, where they either keep the downgraded version of the old cash back card or switch to the new points-based rewards card.

The new points-based Penfed Platinum Rewards card appears to be a worthy successor to the cash back card, earning 5 points per dollar spent on gas, 3 points per dollar spent at supermarkets and 1 point per dollar on everything else. Points can be redeemed for rewards such as Visa prepaid cards at a value of 1 cent per point. Unlike the existing PenFed cash back card, however, redemption is not automatic every month.

In order to get a card, you must be a member of the credit union. You’re automatically eligible if you’re a member of the military or related to someone who is, work at a qualified business or at the Red Cross. Otherwise, you can become eligible by joining the Voices for America’s Troops for a one-time $15 fee.

Fort Knox Visa Platinum Card

• 5% rebate on gas paid at the pump
• 1.25% rebate on all other purchases
• Rebate applied automatically every month as a statement credit
• Must be a Fort Knox Credit Union member

A lesser known but richer cousin of the PenFed Visa is the Fort Knox Visa. It pays 5% cash back on gas and 1.25% on all other purchases. Its membership requirement is also easy to satisfy, as there is a consumer’s organization, the American Consumer Council, that you can join for free as part of your application process. Membership to the credit union does require a payment of $15 upfront, $5 of which represents a share in the credit union and $10 of which covers the one-time membership fee.

Be careful that you continue to use the card if you get it, as there is a $26 inactivity fee if you leave it dormant for a year.

PNC CashBuilder Visa Credit Card

• Flat 1.75% rebate possible
• Requires extensive banking relationship with PNC Bank
• Cash back rewards credited to checking, savings or CashBuilder account

By default, the PNC CashBuilder Visa Credit Card earns a flat 1.25% cash back rebate. However, your rebate can be boosted depending upon either your level of spending or the extent of your relationship with PNC, up to a possible flat 1.75% cash back.

Sallie Mae Visa Signature Card

• Up to 2% cash back on all purchases
• Spotty customer service

Sallie Mae is most well known as a student loan provider, but also has a couple of interesting credit card options that are open to anyone. The Sallie Mae Visa Signature card is a points-based credit card that offers 2 points for every dollar spent with no limit to the number of points you can earn. Points can be redeemed towards merchandise, travel, gift cards or cash back. You will earn a higher effective cash back percentage when you accumulate more points to redeem. For instance, while 2,500 points can be redeemed for a $16.25 rebate (effectively 1.3% cash back), if you save up 25,000 points, they can be redeemed for a $250 rebate (effectively earning you 2.0% cash back).

Alternatively, Sallie Mae offers another credit card which earns 5% on gas and groceries (on up to $500 in spending per month), 5% on books (on up to $1000 in spending per month) and 1% on everything else. Depending upon your spending habits, this could be an attractive option. It’s important to note, however, that these spending categories do overlap with other credit cards that don’t have any such spending caps. For instance, the PenFed card offers an unlimited 5% rebate on gas, the Citi Forward offers 5 points per dollar on books, movies and music with no cap and the Amex Blue Cash Preferred Card offers a 6% rebate at supermarkets (with $75 annual fee) and no cap.

When considering either Sallie Mae credit card, it’s also important to consider that Sallie Mae is not as experienced in dealing with their credit card business as the larger credit card issuers. There have been many issues reported with Sallie Mae’s program. Multiple people have reported having long delays with receiving their card, problems with the online application process and spotty customer service.

Discover More Card

• 5% cash back in quarterly rotating categories
• Up to 1% cash back on all other purchases
• Redeem in $20 increments

The Discover More card makes a very poor general use credit card because of its tiered cash back structure. Your first $3,000 in purchases earns only a 0.25% rebate. In addition, purchases made at warehouse clubs and discount stores also earn only 0.25%. Otherwise, you’ll earn 1% cash back on purchases after you’ve spent $3,000 in a year.

However, it often features promotions that can make it a worthwhile card to have. If you are a dedicated deal chaser, it often pays to have at least one credit card on each of the four major networks (Amex, Mastercard, Visa and Discover), as there will occasionally be excellent network-specific promotions.

Discover also pioneered the concept of rotating bonus spending categories that other issuers now copy. Currently, Discover is offering a 5% cashback bonus on up to $1,500 in purchases on airlines, car rentals, hotels, cruises and restaurants and 5% on up to $200 in purchases at gas stations, museums and movies. From April through June, the 5% bonus categories (on up to $1,500 in spending) will be restaurants and movies.

In addition, you can get bonus cash back at select merchants when you use ShopDiscover, often much higher than similar shopping portal sites. Discover also features redemption options that increase the value of your rewards when redeemed at select merchants for gift cards or instant eCertificates. For instance, you can turn $20 in rewards into a $25 gift card.

Chase Freedom Card

Citi Dividend Card

• 5% cash back in quarterly rotating categories
• 1% cash back on all other purchases

I’m grouping the Chase Freedom and the Citi Dividend card together because they are quite similar. They both earn a base 1% cash back with the opportunity to earn 5% in rotating categories that change every quarter, like the Discover card. While the Chase Freedom allows you to earn 5% on up to $1,500 in bonus category purchases each quarter, the Citi Dividend limits your total cash rebate to $300 per year, unless you received an offer stating otherwise.

If you can remember to sign up for the rotating bonuses every quarter and match your spending to the bonus categories, these cards can deliver a good rebate percentage. If you are looking for less hassle, however, you may want to look elsewhere. For the current quarter, the Chase Freedom card is offering a 5% rebate at gas stations and Amazon.com, while the Citi Dividend is offering a 5% rebate on health care, fitness clubs and utilities. See the cash back bonus calendar for more details.

A final word
It’s good to remember that cash back cards are only valuable for consumers who pay their balance in full every month. If you carry a balance, you are better off finding a low-interest rate card, since the interest you are paying will more than offset any cash back you might receive.

Editor’s note: For historical versions of this list, see:

• Best Cash Back Credit Cards – 2011
• Best Cash Back Credit Cards – 2010

This post is from Credit Card Watcher, where you'll always find the best credit card deals.

The Best Cash Back Credit Cards – 2012