I’m thinking of getting an REI (Recreational Equipment Inc.) Visa card. No annual fee. The interest rate is a little high, but I never carry a balance, so that is no big deal. 5% dividend on all REI purchases INCLUDING sale and clearance items, and 1% on any other purchases. Because they are one of very few stores that stock size 14 shoes, I spend a bit of money there…never got much in the way a dividend, because I look for bargains in the way of sale and clearance prices.
I’ve had a MasterCard for years that is my “main” credit card. It was with MBNA, which recently was aquired by Bank of America. While I was not too thrilled with MBNA, BofA makes them look good by comparison:
-BofA’s site does not work correctly with Opera.
-When paying on-line, the “schedual payment” date field defaults to a date that
will incur a late fee.
-They move my billing due date around.
-Apparently they need to send me a new cardholder agreement every 3-4 months, about 4 pages of fine print to go through.
Reading through the REI card offer, I can’t find what bank this is through. BofA would be a dealbreaker.
So are Dopers aware of any “gotchas” with the REI Visa card?
Never had them move my billing date, but then again, I got my card from BofA, they did not buy out an existing card. They do send out new card agreements with great regularity.
I’ve had one for about 10 years. Currently they’re using USBank. About the only problem I had with them occurred when I first started using online bill payment through my credit union. The first two months they seemed to take just long enough to process the check to incur a hefty $39 late fee. Both times I called to complain and they reversed the charges. The second time I told them to knock it off or I’d cancel and haven’t had a problem since. I also schedule my payment for a week in advance instead of the recommended 3 days (supposed maximum amount of time needed for an electronic payment) just to be safe.
But I love the 1% on all purchases, and getting 5% dividend on REI sales items, (usually there’s no dividend on stuff that’s on sale). Like you, I never carry a balance. Overall, I think it’s worth it.
Googling was interesting. Looks like lots of folks have had serious issues with U.S.Bank checking accounts. Several instances of them refusing to refund overdraft and other fees caused by bank errors.
On the REI Visa specifically, can anyone confirm the following:
-There is a $40 annual fee if you DON’T use the card.
-There is a $40 fee to close the account.
Those would put a damper on my idea of “I’ll try it out, if I don’t like it, I’ll just not use it, or close the account.”
I’ve had my REI credit card for… I don’t know how long. Over the years I’ve used the dividends to buy Christmas presents, birthday presents, a Yakima rack system for my Jeep, clothes, two pair of Vasque hiking boots, and gobs of other stuff.
Since I came to the same conclusion.