But in general I think "free" has lost all coherent meaning in modern English. It is used as a synonym of "included." When someone says "free" (at the cost of $100/year) I just roll my eyes in my head.
With the card however, it is a decent card with or without prime membership however since you get 3% without Prime which is still mucher higher cash back than competitive offers.
It's common for cards to have a roughly $99 yearly fee that gives you nothing other than the ability to have the card. It's a stretch, but I don't think it's dishonest to say the card is free* . *With an Amazon Prime membership.
Not really extremely common, it's extremely easy to find good cards without annual fees. The annual fees are usually for the more "prime" cards that give you more benefits and rewards.
Even so, the point was it's misleading at best to require something that has an annual fee as a condition to get the best rewards then claim the card has no annual fee.
It's not really an annual fee, though. You're paying for a product with Amazon prime -- besides free movies, photos, shipping, etc, you can now get a special card with no annual fee _just for having it_.
It also adds no foreign transaction fees which is common on Chase affinity cards with a fee but wasn't the case with the original non-Prime Amazon card. (Which is a fairly significant benefit if you travel internationally and don't already use a card with that benefit.)
No foreign transaction fees is always appreciated. I never travel without it these days.
I will add that typically this perk does NOT apply to foreign ATM cash withdrawals. Only to regular purchases made with the card. Taking out cash using a credit card is always an expensive proposition, doubly so abroad.
Right. And in many cases, it's considered doing a cash advance which turns on the interest fee machine. A few years ago, my dad got hit by this much to his surprise even though he's been a huge traveler forever.
I use my regular ATM card to get cash. There's still a (relatively high) fee but it's still probably better than the currency exchange places and, at least in Western Europe, I don't need cash that often any longer.
>I use my regular ATM card to get cash. There's still a (relatively high) fee
Are you in the US? If so there's no reason to pay any fees.
Get a Fidelity Cash Management Account and/or a Charles Schwab Investor Checking Account. Both are free without any minimum balance requirements. Neither charge a currency conversion fee and both reimburse all ATM fees.
Personally, I use Fidelity. I couldn't be happier with their products (I also have an IRA and credit card with them) and service. I'm not affiliated, just a happy customer.
They refund all ATM fees that the the ATM charges as well, which is really nice when you are stuck somewhere without cash, the place is cash only, and the only ATM is some no-name, no-brand ATM in the back that charges and arm and a leg.
I should mention that Fidelity does have a foreign transaction fee on DEBIT purchases, I don't know if Schwab does or not. But I don't use my debit card for debit purchases, just at ATMs, so that doesn't apply to me.
happy Charles Schwab High Yield Investor Checking and Chase Amazon Rewards Visa Signature customer chiming in, would recommend both to anyone.
Schwab: all my ATM fees paid, 200 commission free ETFs, and target date mutual funds with an expense ratio of .13% if you dont want to balance a portfolio once a year. https://www.csimfunds.com/secure/file/P-9430864
Chase: 3-5% cash back on Amazon, 1-2% elsewhere, can take it as a statement credit.
> Amazon says that it will upgrade current Rewards Visa Signature card members with eligible Prime memberships to the new card, but they’ll be able to take advantage of the benefits immediately — even before the card arrives
Ironically I signed up for the store card a few months ago because it seemed like a no brainer to save 5% and I shop often at Amazon.
Now this. I wish there was a way to upgrade (even forfeit $70 gift card promo bonus). Instead it seems difficult since the store card was Synchrony bank and the new Prime Rewards card uses Chase bank.
Now I have two Amazon cards. Looks like the store card will sit unused since the credit system we live in frowns upon closing credit lines, as I understand it.
My oldest cc is 6 years old (non-american), and I really want to close it. Do you have any idea of its effect ob my FICO? (You mentioned "age for 10 years", what does that mean?) :)
If its non American does it show up on your American credit report? If it doesn't it won't effect your American credit score at all, close it.
FICO 8 calculates "average age of accounts" as total months of all accounts on your credit report (both open and closed) from the open dates to the present, divided by the number of all accounts on your report. "Average age of accounts" is what they use in their scoring algorithm. They also factor in "age of oldest account" in their scoring algorithm which is why you shouldn't close your oldest account because it will drop off your credit report after 10 years. Closed accounts only stay on your credit report for 10 years.
Closing a card doesn't affect your average age of accounts, which is what everyone is talking about when they say "closing" a card hurts your credit.
FICO08 factors closed cards into your average account age, until they fall off 10 years from closing at which point they are obviously no longer included in the average.
Never close your oldest credit line if you can avoid it, because in 10 years that WILL hurt your credit history.
Yeah America has a totally irrational credit scoring. It makes no sense whatsoever. If I never needed credit, then I don't have a history thus I have a bad score... go figure.
FICO 8 calculates "average age of accounts" as total months of all accounts on your credit report (open or closed) from the open date of the account to the present and divides that by the number of accounts.
A closed credit line will drop off your report after 10 years after you closed it (or is it 10 years after open date? I don't know which!)
thats not at all what that link says. you can not convert the Synchrony card to the Chase card. If you previously had the Chase card, you now have the Chase card with the new benefits. this isnt a new rewards card, its the same card with new rewards. (one of which is eliminating foreign transaction fees.)
depends on how you use your credit card. You can get the 5% cash back and if pay everything in full on time you shouldn't even care about the interest rate.
This is hardly anything new. You get a card with usurious interest rates for not paying completely on time if you want cashback/etc. benefits. You get a card with slightly less usurious interest rates and very limited benefits if you want to carry a a balance.
To maintain 'perfect' (which I doubt is 100% perfect) you just have to make your payments on time. It is okay to carry a balance. In fact, I remember my credit went up higher after paying off a balance I was carrying when I typically paid in full every month...
From reading the reviews of the card it sounds like you get charged interest if you don't pay off the full balance each month. That is, it's not the statement bill you need to pay off, but the current balance. Which seems hard to track for a lot of people like me who use their credit card several times per day.
No. And I'm skeptical it's the case here. You get a CC statement and have to pay the amount on that statement after some number of days. The claim is that you have to pay the instantaneous current balance on the due date--which I doubt.
I have had one for a long time as well. As well as other Chase cards. Hence my skepticism that there's some very non-standard gotcha embedded in here--especially if they're transitioning current Prime members who are also cardholders.
They kinda are for people who pay their balances every month. Of course, they make money in many other ways to offset this and with current interest rates the float isn't a huge deal.
That's how all credit cards work, and how they exist as a business. You making minimum payments is how they can pay for everything they offer.
How exactly do you think they offer miles, cashback, etc? It all comes from somewhere. That somewhere being people who pay interest by making the minimum payment.
Learn how to use your credit cards properly. It's simple: Pay off your complete balance every month.
> That somewhere being people who pay interest by making the minimum payment.
Skeptical. I have done no research, but my instinct is that banks make more on the transaction fees than the interest. That somewhere is all of us paying higher prices to account for those transaction fees.
No, it's the statement balance. Most cards have a 20-25 day grace period where interest isn't charged on new transactions. As long as you pay the entire balance off once per month you'll pay $0 in interest.
There are several reviews that note similar things. I was just pointing out that it would be wise to actually read the terms since I don't think the grace period is a legal requirement.
Your due date will be a minimum of 21 days after the close of each billing cycle. We will not charge you interest on purchases if you pay your entire balance by the due date each month. We will begin charging interest on balance transfers and cash advances on the transaction date.
Don't think so. But it's 1:1 (well 1:100) to Amazon credit which most of the Ultimate Rewards aren't any longer. (Bizarrely, I have a card I can cash out at a higher value in cash than in Amazon credit these days.)
It would be a stupid good deal if they could -- because this coupled with the Sapphire Reserve means you'd effectively get back 7.5% from Amazon in the form of travel purchases (as CSR holders get 1.5x pointvalue when redeeming points for travel).
You could easily get the equivalent of more than 1.5 c/p if you used 1:1 mile transfers and booked flights carefully. Southwest values its points at around 1.7 if I recall correctly, and most that don't have fixed rates are higher.
Valuing mileage and hotel points is tough. The rule of thumb used to be 2 cents per mile but programs have been degraded sufficiently that it's probably lower now.
In practice, I find that the things that give me the most theoretical bang for the buck are things like first class international travel or room upgrades that I wouldn't have necessarily paid face cash value for. And travel rewards often require longer term planning than I find I can easily do.
I get a lot of miles and hotel points anyway so I usually end up taking the very fungible 1 cent per dollar spent when I have the choice.
5% is well outside the norm for what credit cards will give you back. So I think this is an interesting story about the economics of online payments, and how Amazon is positioning itself in the marketplace.
Awesome update for existing Visa Amazon Chase card holders. Their Store Card already offered 5% back, so it's nice that everybody gets the new rate now.
A bit weird that we have to verify the card to get the 5% back... you'd think the fact that I've been using it for years would be enough verification.
In any case, don't forget to verify!
Go to Your Account -> Manage Payment Options
Then type in your full credit card number and click on verify and rewards will change to 5%.
Nice! I already had the Amazon Prime Rewards Signature Visa card which I used exclusively for Amazon purchases and I just logged into my Amazon account and looked at my payment methods and it's already updated to say 5% instead of the previous 3%.
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[ 2.7 ms ] story [ 145 ms ] threadLooks like a neat deal to me, but it's a bit weird to say there's no annual fee when you need to have a Prime membership...
But in general I think "free" has lost all coherent meaning in modern English. It is used as a synonym of "included." When someone says "free" (at the cost of $100/year) I just roll my eyes in my head.
With the card however, it is a decent card with or without prime membership however since you get 3% without Prime which is still mucher higher cash back than competitive offers.
Even so, the point was it's misleading at best to require something that has an annual fee as a condition to get the best rewards then claim the card has no annual fee.
There's also the 'Amazon Rewards Visa Card' which offers 2% back at gas stations, drugstores and restaurants (all other purchases are 1% back).
So unless I'm mistaken, this just looks like it combines both benefits into one card.
I will add that typically this perk does NOT apply to foreign ATM cash withdrawals. Only to regular purchases made with the card. Taking out cash using a credit card is always an expensive proposition, doubly so abroad.
I use my regular ATM card to get cash. There's still a (relatively high) fee but it's still probably better than the currency exchange places and, at least in Western Europe, I don't need cash that often any longer.
Are you in the US? If so there's no reason to pay any fees.
Get a Fidelity Cash Management Account and/or a Charles Schwab Investor Checking Account. Both are free without any minimum balance requirements. Neither charge a currency conversion fee and both reimburse all ATM fees.
Personally, I use Fidelity. I couldn't be happier with their products (I also have an IRA and credit card with them) and service. I'm not affiliated, just a happy customer.
I should mention that Fidelity does have a foreign transaction fee on DEBIT purchases, I don't know if Schwab does or not. But I don't use my debit card for debit purchases, just at ATMs, so that doesn't apply to me.
Schwab: all my ATM fees paid, 200 commission free ETFs, and target date mutual funds with an expense ratio of .13% if you dont want to balance a portfolio once a year. https://www.csimfunds.com/secure/file/P-9430864
Chase: 3-5% cash back on Amazon, 1-2% elsewhere, can take it as a statement credit.
http://www.schwab.com/public/schwab/banking_lending/checking...
See footnote 6.
Been planning on trying it out the next time I go back to Canada as a way of transferring small amounts of money between Canada and the US for free.
> Amazon says that it will upgrade current Rewards Visa Signature card members with eligible Prime memberships to the new card, but they’ll be able to take advantage of the benefits immediately — even before the card arrives
Now this. I wish there was a way to upgrade (even forfeit $70 gift card promo bonus). Instead it seems difficult since the store card was Synchrony bank and the new Prime Rewards card uses Chase bank.
Now I have two Amazon cards. Looks like the store card will sit unused since the credit system we live in frowns upon closing credit lines, as I understand it.
Unless it's your oldest account it's not going to hurt your credit to close it. It will still age for 10 years under the FICO 8 algorithm.
I close cards right and left and my score isn't affected by it.
FICO 8 calculates "average age of accounts" as total months of all accounts on your credit report (both open and closed) from the open dates to the present, divided by the number of all accounts on your report. "Average age of accounts" is what they use in their scoring algorithm. They also factor in "age of oldest account" in their scoring algorithm which is why you shouldn't close your oldest account because it will drop off your credit report after 10 years. Closed accounts only stay on your credit report for 10 years.
FICO08 factors closed cards into your average account age, until they fall off 10 years from closing at which point they are obviously no longer included in the average.
Never close your oldest credit line if you can avoid it, because in 10 years that WILL hurt your credit history.
If you were loaning money to someone wouldn't you want them to have a history of paying back loans to others?
A closed credit line will drop off your report after 10 years after you closed it (or is it 10 years after open date? I don't know which!)
I'd do more research before using this card.
Personally, I pay off my 2 credit cards on every other Monday just to make sure I never carry a balance
You really should understand how credit cards work and stop using yours until you do.
My mom already taught me how credit cards work, but thanks anyway.
How exactly do you think they offer miles, cashback, etc? It all comes from somewhere. That somewhere being people who pay interest by making the minimum payment.
Learn how to use your credit cards properly. It's simple: Pay off your complete balance every month.
Skeptical. I have done no research, but my instinct is that banks make more on the transaction fees than the interest. That somewhere is all of us paying higher prices to account for those transaction fees.
There are several reviews that note similar things. I was just pointing out that it would be wise to actually read the terms since I don't think the grace period is a legal requirement.
10yrs ago and probably a different product.
How to Avoid Paying Interest on Purchases
Your due date will be a minimum of 21 days after the close of each billing cycle. We will not charge you interest on purchases if you pay your entire balance by the due date each month. We will begin charging interest on balance transfers and cash advances on the transaction date.
This is a standard credit card.
In practice, I find that the things that give me the most theoretical bang for the buck are things like first class international travel or room upgrades that I wouldn't have necessarily paid face cash value for. And travel rewards often require longer term planning than I find I can easily do.
I get a lot of miles and hotel points anyway so I usually end up taking the very fungible 1 cent per dollar spent when I have the choice.
This is interesting from a market standpoint, but it is directly advertising a paid product in the process.
A bit weird that we have to verify the card to get the 5% back... you'd think the fact that I've been using it for years would be enough verification.
In any case, don't forget to verify!
Go to Your Account -> Manage Payment Options
Then type in your full credit card number and click on verify and rewards will change to 5%.