Most people use credit cards instead of cash for sheer convenience. Who wants to fumble for bills or change when you can just pull out a piece of plastic–or metal– from your wallet or purse? Even better, you can use your phone or smartwatch and ‘tap to pay.’ You can’t argue with how simple transactions have become. However, other than convenience there are so many reasons to use a credit card over cash when at the register. Strategically using credit cards can be beneficial in so many ways.
American Express and Chase are among the most popular credit card companies. I have a few card variations from both institutions, and both of them provide their cardholders with ‘offers.’
Here is an example of some typical offers from Amex:
Amex updates their offers regularly (a couple of times per week), and each card will have a couple of dozen offers available at any given time. Most of the offers involve cashback, and some offer bonus points. The bad news is that, depending on your personal spending habits, only a handful of them are really worthwhile. The good news is that those that are worthwhile can be extremely valuable. You can read about an example of a fantastic offer Amex released this week right here.
And, now a snapshot of some Chase offers:
Chase updates their offers regularly, and there are a couple of dozen available at any given time–just like Amex. Here’s where they differ. Chase offers are only cashback–never bonus points. The good news is that more of these offers are useful compared to Amex. They involve more everyday merchants like Dunkin’ Donuts, Starbucks, and Rite Aid. The bad news is that they aren’t nearly as valuable as the offers from Amex. Here’s an example of what I mean…
When you click on the offer it opens the terms and conditions. The 1-800-Flowers example above can only save you a maximum of $6. Don’t get me wrong–getting $6 back is great. But, these offers aren’t nearly as valuable as their Amex counterpart. Not even close.
Bottom Line
I’ve been using both Amex and Chase offers for many years now, and I appreciate both of them. Anytime you get some money back or bonus points for a purchase you were going to make anyway…awesome. But, there is no doubt that the Amex offers are far more valuable for the average cardholder. The annual fees for my Amex cards are pretty steep, so I depend on that value to help offset the fees. Amex doesn’t disappoint.
Do you prefer the offers from Amex or Chase?
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