We Made a Major Finincial Decision

[Trainman-2]

For years, as long as they have been available, we have been using our debit card in stead of carrying around a bunch of cash. It has been very convenient.

 

We are not "rich" but our income is enough to pay our bills and save for the future. I am retired and TrainMom is about to retire.

 

Yesterday I checked and we have only 56,011 points on our RCI Visa Card.

 

So yesterday we put our debit cards away and now we will use our RCI Visa card for everything!

 

I still have to figure out how to use the RCI Visa for our regular monthly payments such as Mortgage, car, utilities, etc. It can be done!

 

Each month we will pay of the RCI Visa the day the bill arrives so we don't rack up interest costs.

 

It is time to start racking up points for future cruises and upgrades! :D

[Toddcan]

I've been doing this for a few years now, but not with an RCI card. You *might* want to look around to see of an RCI card is giving you your most bang for your spending buck.

 

What I mean is this...

What does $10,000 spending get you? There are tons of reward cards out there wanting your business.

 

Example (these are far from accurate, I am just making a point)

IF $10,00 spent on your RCI card earns you $100 in OBC

But, $10,000 spent on an airline frequent flyer card, might be worth $200 towards a flight.

 

It's not an easy exercise to do, since airline points rewards vary from card to card.

 

For me, I spend $15,000 and it earns me a free return flight on a short haul North American route. Depending on the time of year, etc, that is worth between $250-$500. How much does $15,000 spent on your RCI get you?

 

There are many many other rewards cards out there. Just do a little homework.

 

BUT... a word of warning: If you tend to carry a credit card balance (most Americans do), then do yourself a favour - get out of CC debt before tempting yourself further!!!

[margord]

I've been doing this for a few years now, but not with an RCI card. You *might* want to look around to see of an RCI card is giving you your most bang for your spending buck.

 

What I mean is this...

What does $10,000 spending get you? There are tons of reward cards out there wanting your business.

 

Example (these are far from accurate, I am just making a point)

IF $10,00 spent on your RCI card earns you $100 in OBC

But, $10,000 spent on an airline frequent flyer card, might be worth $200 towards a flight.

 

It's not an easy exercise to do, since airline points rewards vary from card to card.

 

For me, I spend $15,000 and it earns me a free return flight on a short haul North American route. Depending on the time of year, etc, that is worth between $250-$500. How much does $15,000 spent on your RCI get you?

 

There are many many other rewards cards out there. Just do a little homework.

 

BUT... a word of warning: If you tend to carry a credit card balance (most Americans do), then do yourself a favour - get out of CC debt before tempting yourself further!!!

 

Good advise and some things to think about. Thanks

[Lightsluvr]

I've been doing this for a few years now, but not with an RCI card. You *might* want to look around to see of an RCI card is giving you your most bang for your spending buck.

 

What I mean is this...

What does $10,000 spending get you? There are tons of reward cards out there wanting your business.

 

Example (these are far from accurate, I am just making a point)

IF $10,00 spent on your RCI card earns you $100 in OBC

But, $10,000 spent on an airline frequent flyer card, might be worth $200 towards a flight.

 

It's not an easy exercise to do, since airline points rewards vary from card to card.

 

For me, I spend $15,000 and it earns me a free return flight on a short haul North American route. Depending on the time of year, etc, that is worth between $250-$500. How much does $15,000 spent on your RCI get you?

 

There are many many other rewards cards out there. Just do a little homework.

 

BUT... a word of warning: If you tend to carry a credit card balance (most Americans do), then do yourself a favour - get out of CC debt before tempting yourself further!!!

 

All good advice. Plus, now that the RCI Visa has done away with the 2 for 1 value for a free cruise reward, the card is even less attractive. We just cashed in 125K points for a free cruise worth $2500, but that benefit will no longer exist after September 1.

 

LL

[Spurs Fans]

You would not be popular with Dave Ramsey!

[Janice M]

Sounds like a good idea. We just got the RCI Visa card. For years we have been using the GM master card and got some real goodd deals on cars. We will see how the RCI card works for us now.

 

Jan

[Don Pedro]

Certainly there are lots of choices when it comes to credit cards and you need to pick the one that best suits you. We had an air miles card for several years but found that a major drawback was that we could rarely fly on the dates and times we wanted.

 

Even no blackout date cards can be deceiving as some cards require double miles to fly on certain dates. So, if you have to spend double miles or more cash for an extra night or two in a hotel the card losses some of its appeal.

 

On the other hand if you have very a flexible travel schedule the an air miles card could be the right fit for you.

[cruislovin]

All good advice. Plus, now that the RCI Visa has done away with the 2 for 1 value for a free cruise reward, the card is even less attractive. We just cashed in 125K points for a free cruise worth $2500, but that benefit will no longer exist after September 1.

 

LL

 

Wow, this is news to me. We are close to getting our 2nd free cruise for 2! Some changes were just made. Where can I get information on changes planned for September 1?

 

If we get the free cruise coupon before September 1 how long will we have to take the cruise?

[The Viking]

You did a good thing getting rid of your debit cards, especially if you travel.

 

I work in the hospitality business with various activities/dining so when we make an atuorization on a card we add $ 100 on to the room charges per day. Many guests claims it can be used as a credit card which it can,- but they do not realize the authorization amout is putting a hold on their available balance. Then when they come home, they check their bank account on the web and freaks out when they see 2 charges from us of which one is the "hold" which the banks never release right away but often wait a week to release it.

 

Debit Cards are freightening and I will advise aganist using them unless you have a high balance on your account.

[teajak]

We also have been doing this for years. We carry very little cash,get our tip money on cruises from the casino so it goes on our card, buy everything, groceries included on one credit card and pay it in full each month. Yes most of your monthly bills can be put on a credit card, ours are. I think one secret is paying in full and never having interest. We use our banks credit card as they pay us in cash if we so choose as a reward,if you do that once or twice a year it adds up. There is a web site, I am sorry I don't have the address, that lists all of the credit cards and the different rewards so you can go to one site and compare all of them and which rewards program is best for you.

[BigUofKFan]

We use a card that pays cash back, 1% for everything, 2% for travel and dining, 5% for certain gas stations. We can spend the checks they send on anything.

 

To a previous posters point, if you cannot control spending and live "below your means", CCs are a bad idea.

[maggieworkman]

I don't think many mortgage companies let you use credit cards to pay them. We tried to start paying our mortgage with our rewards card and they won't accept it. (We would pay off the card each month. Only tried to do that to get the points.)

 

Maggie

[Chorts]

You would not be popular with Dave Ramsey!

 

Ain't that the truth! We do use our credit card for most things but WE DON'T carry a balance. Carrying a balance can really get you in trouble.

[newbeestl]

We use a card that pays cash back, 1% for everything, 2% for travel and dining, 5% for certain gas stations. We can spend the checks they send on anything.

 

Ditto here. Is anyone really doing better then 1% or 2%? Just wondering, I might have to upgrade. :D

[LINDAE3213]

my personal favorite is American Express BLUE CASH..........................

assuming you pay in full every month

 

I even put part of my new car down payment on it

 

last year my cash back was $384 - tax free money just for putting my groceries, gas etc on the card

 

no annual fee

 

Linda

[teajak]

I don't think many mortgage companies let you use credit cards to pay them. We tried to start paying our mortgage with our rewards card and they won't accept it. (We would pay off the card each month. Only tried to do that to get the points.)

 

Maggie

I think ours works because our mortgage is the same bank as our CC.

[DPurcell58]

Wow, this is news to me. We are close to getting our 2nd free cruise for 2! Some changes were just made. Where can I get information on changes planned for September 1?

 

If we get the free cruise coupon before September 1 how long will we have to take the cruise?

 

 

Search this board, there's a whole thread about it, it's still on here. I believe after Sept. 1 you would need 250,000 points for a free cruise. You have 6 months to use the coupons once you redeem them.

[boilermom]

My sister is a real pro on this - she even put her kids college tuition on!!!

[BecciBoo]

We feel AMEX is best because of their $1 for 1 point. 1 point = 1 mile with Continental Airlines. They have flown us to Vegas and Miami for free several times, once to Bonaire and next year to Spain to catch Voyager. We do business and home exp. on it so they add up quickly. Of course, you MUST pay it off within 30 days, no choice there, but that's our strategy, ala Dave Ramsey. Dave its a good deal you can't turn down. All in all, we must've racked up at least $6k in airfair for free with it. That's 100% return on your money!

[cardfans]

We use a Hilton Honors card for everything including fast food. We cannot, as most of you said, use it for our mortgage, but we do pay for car insurance, cable, phone, cell phone, and anything else that we can. When we go on a cruise or a short trip, we can stay in any Hilton brand hotel using our points. It works great for us, but as you all have said, we do pay it off every month.

[Puffinater]

Wow, this is news to me. We are close to getting our 2nd free cruise for 2! Some changes were just made. Where can I get information on changes planned for September 1?

 

If we get the free cruise coupon before September 1 how long will we have to take the cruise?

 

Here is a link to the new point rewards.

 

http://www.royalcaribbean.com/dealsandmore/offer/visa.do;jsessionid=0000EMNhjB4UvJDLzqBt0Bi3k1V:10ktmerri?cS=NAVBAR

[pickynicci]

Bankrate dot com is a great website for checking out the various credit cards available and their corresponding "perks".

[teajak]

I don't think many mortgage companies let you use credit cards to pay them. We tried to start paying our mortgage with our rewards card and they won't accept it. (We would pay off the card each month. Only tried to do that to get the points.)

 

Maggie

You are correct and I was mistaken, our mortgage payment is deducted from our checking account not put on CC. Sorry about that mis-information. I called to double check, oh well, the nice man I talked to said it was a good idea but can't do it. I tried, LOL.

[karena1]

Certainly there are lots of choices when it comes to credit cards and you need to pick the one that best suits you. We had an air miles card for several years but found that a major drawback was that we could rarely fly on the dates and times we wanted.

 

Even no blackout date cards can be deceiving as some cards require double miles to fly on certain dates. So, if you have to spend double miles or more cash for an extra night or two in a hotel the card losses some of its appeal.

 

On the other hand if you have very a flexible travel schedule the an air miles card could be the right fit for you.

 

 

I am with you. After 10 years of using our airmile card, we figured it out and we will get more from our RCCI card. Reason - we mostly used our free miles to fly to San Juan. Tickets to San Juan are dirt cheap from Orlando - and it cost me 35k points for each ticket. Flights from Orlando to Wisc are much more expensive, but because of restrictions - could never use them for that (no blackouts - but at Thanksgiving we need to fly into one airport and out of another) and you cannot use them for that. Also can't use them for a split ticket - like fly to St Maarten, back to San Juan, go on a cruise and then back to Orlando a week later. Can't use miles for that. So this year we used up our miles for a flight to the Dominican Republic for next year (45K points for $500 tickets so did alright for a change) and now cancelled and got the RCCI card. I think it will work for what we want to do. Change is Good - so looking forward to racking up those RCCI points!!!

[karena1]

We also have been doing this for years. We carry very little cash,get our tip money on cruises from the casino so it goes on our card, buy everything, groceries included on one credit card and pay it in full each month. Yes most of your monthly bills can be put on a credit card, ours are. I think one secret is paying in full and never having interest. We use our banks credit card as they pay us in cash if we so choose as a reward,if you do that once or twice a year it adds up. There is a web site, I am sorry I don't have the address, that lists all of the credit cards and the different rewards so you can go to one site and compare all of them and which rewards program is best for you.

 

We put as many of our utilities on the card as possible - Direct TV, Cell, but some of the utilities don't allow it or charge a fee to charge. Wish I could put my mortgage on it!! Pay it off every month so we never see an interest charge.