I’m mourning my late, lamented Amazon Nextcard Visa. Nextcard went out of business last month, and this beautiful fountain of free stuff was shut off. I guess it was too good to last. 
I earned 2 cents of rewards on the dollar, 6 cents for every dollar spent on amazon. I used it for everything, so a $1000 credit card bill meant $20 of free stuff at amazon.
Now, I’ve fallen back on using my (heretofore neglected) Discover card, because it offers some rewards, however paltry in comparison to Nextcard. One drawback is: a lot of places don’t take Discover. So I’ll need to get myself either a Visa or Mastercard, one that offers rewards points. (I used to have a Netscape Mastercard, but it expired.)
What Visa or Mastercard offers the best deal with rewards points?
get low rates - buy whatever you want with the money you don’t pay in interest.
(did you really think stuff was free?)
If you have a Waldenbooks store near you, get a Waldenbooks Preferred Reader card ($20/year) and a First USA VISA (no annual fee). The Preferred Reader card gets you a 10% discount on all purchases at Waldenbooks, plus for every $100 you spend you get a $5 gift certificate. With the Waldenbooks VISA card you get the following rewards:
*Earn 1 point for each $1 spent at the Waldenbooks family of stores. (Waldenbooks®, Brentano’s® and Walden-by-Mail®)
*Earn 1 point for each $5 spent anywhere Visa is accepted.
*Each $5 in balance transfers to your Waldenbooks Preferred Reader Platinum Visa card earns 1 point.
*For every 100 points earned, receive a $5 Savings Certificate good at any of the Waldenbooks Family of stores. (Waldenbooks®, Brentano’s® and Walden-by-Mail®)
Note that when you charge a Waldenbooks purchase on your Waldenbooks VISA, in addition to the 10% discount you get the equivalent of another 10% back as gift certificates. Waldenbooks also periodically has “double point” days and other special promotions for its members. I once got a $10 “Preferred Reader President’s Award”, presumably just for spending so much money there. 
Oh, and happyheathen - I always pay the full balance so I don’t pay any interest. They don’t make any money off me.
$20/yr is 'making money off you"
if you would have bought all those books/whatever anyway, then it’s a deal - they are betting that folks will carry a balance, and not redeem the “points”.
ultimate? - it’s a toss-up - the GM vs. the airline milage deals
cc companies live and die on which card you use (they take 2% (visa & mc) to 5% (amex (used to be - they were taking flak on that, may have changed))) off the top - the interest is (very tasty) gravy
Considering that in exchange for that $20 I’ve gotten at least $30 in discounts so far this year, just cashed $30 in certificates and have another $50 waiting to be cashed, I’d say I’ve gotten my money’s worth.
Since I don’t drive and hardly ever fly anything but SouthWest, this is the best deal for me. Obviously, YMMV but I agree that the important thing with any credit card reward program is that you don’t pay a fee to belong (note that the $20 I pay is to Waldenbooks, not the cc company) and that you pay your balance in full every month. I consider my credit cards to be an extension of my checking account and budget accordingly.
I miss my Nextcard too. I used that thing everywhere. I have more Amazon gift certificate money than I know what to do with. Haven’t found a good replacement yet.
BTW, if you use the Discover card at bn.com, and you go through the Discover site, you get 6% back.
Outdoorsy types can get the REI Visa card. After paying an initial charge, there is no annual fee, and you earn towards REI purchases.
Thanks, everybody. I forgot to mention that I pay off my card in full every month, so APR doesn’t matter. What does matter is: zero annual fee. There are so many cards available out there with zero annual fee, you’d have to be an idiot to pay an annual fee for a card. That should go without saying, but now I’m saying it.
The Barnes & Noble Discover deal sounds good! I’m going to look into that Waldenbooks card. Can you order online? The Brentano’s that used to be near me is gone.
More, more! Tell me about more rewards deals that are out there. With no annual fee, please.
I just signed up for a Citigroup MC card. You get 1% back credited to you account. No signup fee.
I’d rather have the cash because you can spend it anywhere, not just Amazon, Walden, REI, etc.
I found the ad on an ad on Hotmail acct.
I have one from L.L. Bean. You get half a percent on everything you buy, and I think 6% on stuff you buy at L.L. Bean. Not only that, but if you use the card, you get free shipping from them.
Of course, it’s only a good deal if you buy a lot of stuff from L.L. Bean, but I do, so it’s great for me.
Dr. J
Cool. Anyone know any others?