No Annual Fee American Express Cards - Extra Promotions

Disclaimer: I receive a referral commission for the following link(s) and I greatly appreciate supporting the site:  Travelocity American Express, USAA Rewards American Express

American Express runs a lot of promotions throughout the year that apply to every American Express card you have and many times to Authorized users as well.

Authorized Users

As with every American Express promotion, if your card has a unique account number on the front of the card it is eligible for a separate promotion, even if it is an Authorized User on someone else's account.

Authorized users of American Express cards that are processed and issued by American Express will have unique account numbers.

Authorized users of American Express cards that are processed, but not issued by American Express will not have unique account numbers and you are therefore only eligible for one promotion per account.


An example using Visa is easier to understand.  Chase Freedom is issued by Chase and processed by Visa or Mastercard.  American Express can be either just the processor or also the issuer.  It would be the same as if you had a Visa Freedom card instead of a Chase Freedom.

No Annual Fee Cards

The best way to take advantage of promotions is to have many American Express cards and your best bet are cards without annual fees.

Here is a list of American Express cards that are both issued and processed by American Express and therefore are eligible for multiple bonuses per account.  For example, I am an authorized user on my wife's cards and she is an authorized user on my cards.

American Express Blue Everyday
Blue Sky
Hilton HHonors
American Express Blue
Old AMEX Blue


American Express limits you to 4 credit cards at a time so if you have no specific reason why you want a card with an annual fee you can limit yourself to these four.

Other Issuers Besides American Express

There is no limit to the number of cards you can have that are processed by American Express but issued by another bank.  However, you will only get one bonus per account.

These are all the examples I could find.  Please comment if you find any others.

The Travelocity® Rewards American Express® Card - The one exception - authorized users have separate account numbers so they will qualify for their own bonuses
Fidelity American Express x3 - There are 3 cards at that link.  Regular, 529 and Retirement
NBA American Express
USAA Rewards™ American Express®
Macy's American Express
Bank of America Accelerated Rewards American Express
Bloomingdales - must apply in store only
PenFed Travel
PenFed Defender
First National Bank of Omaha American Express Card

My next App-O-Rama will include many of these cards.  One day I hope to have the full set both in mine and my wife's name!

American Express and XBox Live = More Free Money

American Express and XBox Live = More Free Money

As many of my readers are aware, American Express cards can give you amazing value outside of their cashback rewards programs.  There are promotions running all the time that can literally get you plenty of free money and savings on merchandise.

Here is a new one.  Sync your American Express card with your XBox Live account.  You will get a free $10 statement credit to your American Express card.



Every AMEX card I have (and I now have 10 to be exact if you include authorized users - only three which I pay an annual fee for - still worth it) has been worth over $100 to me and that is before Small Business Saturday, which is coming up and will be worth $25 for each card!



Just in the last year, there has been $20 off a $200 purchase at Best Buy ($14 free), which happened twice (another $14), $25 off a $25 purchase in five different places (I was able to get $80 of gift cards for free - a little more difficult to get good free money there), shop small $10 credit ($10 towards a purchase for free in three cities), $20 off a $20 purchase (I got a very cheap game), $10 off a $10 purchase in lower manhattan (I got a $2 flashdrive, you could have gotten a free $10 gift card too) and $5 off spending $5 at redbox and $25 per card for Small Business Saturday from last November.


This doesn't include the $150 you could have gotten for free for signing up for prepaid cards or the $25 per person for free (still going) for signing up for a different amex prepaid cards and the $10 per person for free once you have the prepaid card, but those don't have to do with credit cards and are not eligible for promotions.


If you don't have any American Express cards, get some!  If you aren't planning on using them for rewards, get the cards that don't have an annual fee like Blue Cash everyday, Blue Sky, Blue, Hilton HHonors or Clear.

These promotions are available for any American Express cards you have, regardless of whether there is annual fee.  Also, you are often eligible for a second bonus for any authorized users you add to your account (no extra fees, even if the original card has an annual fee the authorized user will be free).

Target RED (Credit) Card - An Important Second Tier Card for Everyone

For other credit cards, take a look here

I just recently got a Target Card, although it doesn't have a Visa symbol so it can't be used outside of Target (you can get one with a Visa symbol).  I think EVERYONE should get a target card and here is why.

Benefits:

1) Free Shipping at Target.com with no minimums - I can't tell you how many times I  bought this pack of pencils at Amazon in order to qualify for Super Free Shipping.  With the Target Card, as long as the price is the same, you never have to think about that anymore.

2) Start your shopping at Ebates and get another 3% off online

3) 5% off at Target stores and Target.com - This is not 5% back in miles or points, you just spend 5% less to begin with.

4) An extra 5% off on Pharmacies (10% total) when you fill 5 prescriptions

5) 1% of your order (in addition to the 5%) goes to a school of your choice -  Please pick Jewish Heritage Day School, our local day school, if you don't care who gets it.  Once you connect your card to a school, there is nothing you need to do anymore.

6) No Annual Fee - of course, I wouldn't recommend the card if it had one.  (there are few exceptoins)

7) If you have bad credit, cards from Retailers are a good place to start

I Only Want One Credit Card, Help!

I get this question frequently.  It usually goes something like this, "There are too many cards to choose from and I don't want to have too many cards in my wallet , so which card should I get?"

People usually only want one card because of one or all of the following reasons: They don't want their credit score affected by opening too many cards, don't want a bulky wallet, others don't want to keep track of so many cards both in terms of bills and when to use what card.

The answer to this question is a little complicated.  Different cards are right for every person depending on their spending habits.


When some ask this question, often they mean that they don't want many cards but if they have 2, or maybe even 3 cards, that's okay.  Someone who falls into this category should continue towards the end.  The first section will be dedicated to someone who wants one card only.  I highly recommend more than one card because of the great rewards available if you are willing to have an American Express card, but here are the best non AE cards that I know of:


I would like to start by saying that only one of these cards has an annual fee (American Express Blue Cash Preferred) but if you spend a lot of money on groceries or gas this fee is worth it.

If anyone has a credit card that they like to use please leave a comment and if it is superior I will update the blog.

One Card Only:

If you are only going to have one card, the best card depends upon how you usually spend your money.  However, I would suggest a visa or mastercard, not an american express so that your card is accepted everywhere (unless you carry plenty of cash with you anyway)

I don't have any specific categories that I spend money in:
There are probably three cards to choose from for this person.

1) Fidelity Visa Card/Capital One Cash Rewards - both give you 1.5% back for every purchase.  The capital one card gives you 1% back and then gives you another .5% at the end of the year but there is a sign up bonus of $100 after you spend $500 in the first 3 months.  The Fidelity card gives you 1.5% back once you reach a certain threshold of rewards (I don't have their Visa - I have the Fidelity American Express which gives you $50 after you spend $2,500).  The annoying thing with the Fidelity card is that you need a Fidelity account, which requires a one time $2,500 deposit, which can be transferred out once the account has been opened.

2) Chase Freedom - 1% back on every purchase but 5% back in rotating categories, which last a few months (currently Gas and travel purchases) - up to $75 back for each category.  For a calender of what gets you 5% back, go to chase.com/freedom.   Plus you can get a $100 sign up bonus when you spend $500 in the first 3 months.

I spend a lot of money on gas and groceries

There is really only one visa or mastercard that I know of that is right for you.

Bank of America Cash Rewards - this card gets you the regular 1% back on every purchase but gives you an additional 3% back on gas and 2% back on groceries.

I spend a whole lot of money on gas

Penfed credit card - 1% back on everything and 5% back on all gas purchases.  Beware of this card.  I tried to get it and you have to go through a whole bunch of hoops to qualify.  I was unable to get it (mostly because of a lack of income) even though I have qualified for every other credit card.


I am willing to have two cards:

If you are willing to have more than one card I would suggest an American Express credit card as your standard card and a visa or mastercard as your second card for when your AE is not accepted.


I don't have any specific categories that I spend money in:

Best overall card is the Fidelity American Express - this card gives you 2% back on everything.  There are drawbacks.  Read this link for more information on advantages and disadvantages of this card.

I spend a lot of money on gas and groceries:

American Express Blue, American Express Blue Preferred and Bank of America Cash Rewards - The regular American Express Blue gives you 1% back on everything, 3% on groceries and 2% on gas.  The Bank of America card gives you 1% back on everything, 2% on groceries and 3% on gas.  You have to see whether you spend more more on groceries or more money on gas to decide between the two.
The American Express Blue Preferred gives you 1% back on everything, 6% back on groceries and 3% back on gas.  Unfortunately, it has an annual fee of $75.  However, if you spend $500 in the first 60 days you get $100 so the first year the annual fee can be a non issue.
If you spend just $2,500 a year on groceries you would get $75 back for the 3% card and $150 for the 6% card.  
For more reading on these cards take a look at this link.