The Discover Open Road credit card, as the name suggests, is for those credit cardholders who want to get cash back on gas. Who isn’t looking for a good gas rewards card with the high gas prices we’re seeing these days?

Unfortunately, as gas prices have risen, the cash back rates on gas cards have fallen across the industry and the Discover Open Road card was hit as well.  Even though it’s not as easy as it used to be to earn as much cash back on gas purchases - if used correctly the Open Road card rebates can still pay off.

Spending Rebates
The Open Road card gives you 2% back on gas and restaurant purchases, as well as 1% cash back on other purchases once you’ve met the annual spending tier.  However, there is a monthly cap on earnings, we’ll talk about the spending tier and monthly cap in a minute.

The upside to the Discover Open Road card is that you can begin earning double cash back immediately on gas and eating out so it works even if you’re a low spender.  There’s no yearly limit on rebates and your rebates do not expire. You can also trade in your rebates for double Cashback Bonus with Discover partner merchants, like you can with the Discover More and Discover Miles cards.

To qualify for the gas rebate your purchases must be made at merchants classified as gas stations.  You won’t get the gas rebate if you buy fuel at warehouse club.  In terms of eating out, it’s considered a restaurant purchase if it falls under the classification of fast food, cafeterias, cafes, and formal restaurants.

Downside to the Open Road
The drawbacks to the Open Road card are the two I mentioned above, the monthly cap and the annual spending tier.

Open Road pays you 2% cashback on the first $250 you spend on fuel and eating out each month.  Once you hit that monthly cap, your gas purchases earn anywhere from .25% to 1% cash rebate.  If you’re wondering where the .25% comes from, it’s based on the annual spending tier.  Purchases on your card that aren’t for gas or restaurants earn .25% cash back until you’ve spent $3,000 for the year. Once you crosss that tier, all non-gas/restaurant spending earns you 1% cashback.

Since there are other rewards cards where you can earn higher cash rebates than .25% on your spending, this doesn’t make the Open Road card ideal for purchases other than gas.  However, if you use this card just for gasoline then you can earn some decent cash rewards.

Open Road Fees and APR
For a rebate card, the Discover Open Road card has a realitively competitive APR, with a 0% introductory offer for both purchases and balance transfers. Pay attention to the table at the bottom of this article for exact information on current offers.  Another nice thing about the card is that it doesn’t charge you an annual fee – so you can earn rewards without paying.

Credit Card Balances
The Open Road card is most recommended to applicants with good credit or better who are most likely to secure the card’s lower rate. The card does use the two-cycle balance to calculate finance charges, which is more expensive than calculating based on average daily balance. Because of that it’s best for people who choose not to carry a balance on their cards.

How to Use the Open Road Card
The wisest way to use this card is purely for gas and restaurant expenses, because if you use the card for general purchases, your cash back rebates won’t be as high.  It’s probably easiest to use it just for gas, once you’ve spent your $250 for the month you can switch over to one of the other top gas rewards cards or cash back cards.

The Starwood Preferred Guest credit card from American Express offers one Starpoint for every dollar spent on the card, as well as 4–5 Starpoints for money spent at Starwood Properties. The Starwood credit card can also be used to accrue frequent flyer points, with cardholders receiving 10,000 bonus points after the first purchase, which can be used towards hotel stays or airline travel. Put more simply, this is a credit card that is great for people who want to use American Express to save money on travel.

The Starwood Rewards Program
The Starwood Preferred Guest program really does reward you for staying at the Starwood properties – places like Le Meridien hotels, the Sheraton, W Hotels, and St. Regis.  Every night you stay you earn rewards points, called Starpoints.  The number of points you earn depends on how often you stay with them.

Reward Tiers

Starwood has different tiers in their rewards program – Preferred Guest, Gold Preferred, and Platinum Preferred.  You enter the program as a Preferred Guest and after you’ve stayed 10 times (or 25 nights) you move up to the Gold Preferred tier.  Then, if you stay with Starwood 15 more times (or 50 nights) in that same year you’re moved up to Platinum Preferred.

Each higher tier has increasing benefits, one of those is that you earn more points for each Starwood stay.  At the base level you earn 2 Starpoints for every night stay and at the Gold and Platinum Preferred level you earn 3 points per night.

Extra Points & Hotel Credits

The cool thing about the Starwood card is that on top of the Starpoints you earn from staying at the hotel, you earn an extra 2 points if you put your stay on your card. In addition, if you are a Starwood cardholder you get a credit every year for 5 nights and 2 stays towards your next Preferred Guest level.

Frequent Travelers

Our old neighbor was in sales and covered an 8 state area so somtimes he’d be on the road for 2–3 weeks at a time.  He used to stay at mainly Marriott properties and used their rewards program but switched over to Starwood about 2 years ago.  In addition to the consumer card, there’s also a Starwood business card, which is what he was using.

He’d use all the Starpoints he earned in his travels to take his wife and little girl on trips around the country.  They’re also big shoppers – since you earn one point for each dollar you spend on the card it was a good card for them.

Starwood Hotel Deals

The best Starwood deals going on right now are the free nights you can get when you signup for the Starwood Preferred Guest card. 

You earn 10K Starpoints when you first use the card and 15K more when you use it for at least $5K of purchases in the first 6 months.  Depending on which category of hotel you redeem them with those points can be good for 3–4 free nights.

In addition to the credit card offer, Starwood’s pretty good about running promotions on their website for discounted hotel stays. Usually it requires you staying for at least one night and then getting discounted or free nights depending on how long you stay.

Some of these hotel promotions are more short-term and require a Starwood coupon code to take advantage of it.  There are some that are more long standing that don’t require a promotion code, for example

Better Tomorrow Promo – For every night you stay at a Starwood hotel and pay the full rate, you save 40% off the next night you stay.

3^rd Night Free Promo – If you book two nights in a row, ie Saturday/Sunday, then the third night is free.

No Blackout Dates
Unlike other hotel rewards programs, there are no blackout dates so you can redeem your Starpoints whenever fits into your travel schedule. Obviously, one of the big drawbacks to some hotel rewards programs is that they have blackout during times when you travel most: the summertime or during holidays. The ability to claim your free hotel room whenever you travel definitely helps set this program apart from others.

You do need to be familiar with how Starwood classifies their hotels, by Category levels – the higher the Category the nicer the hotel.  You don’t earn more rewards by staying at nicer hotels but when it comes to redeeming your Starpoints they go farther at the lower category hotels.  For example, you might use the same number of points to stay one night in a Category 6 hotel that you could use to stay for 3 nights in a Category 3 hotel.

So you can choose whether you want to use all your points in one or two nights at a really fancy place or stretch your free stay out for longer at a different hotel.  One thing to keep in mind, the Category 3 and 4 properties are nice hotels, it’s just the 5 and 6 category are far more luxurious.

Redeeming Your Free Room

The free rooms you can reserve with your Starpoints are standard rooms, be aware that a few destinations don’t have regular rooms so you won’t be able to use your StarPoints for free stays at those hotels or resorts.

Something else to keep in mind is that it often takes fewer points to get your free night over the weekend instead of during the week.  As you can see in the chart below, your points can go farther over the weekend.

Starwood Preferred Guest Airline Miles
Starwood has relationships with about 30 airline companies that allow you to transfer StarPoints into airline miles, most of them transfer one mile for each StarPoint.

They also have an airline bonus, if you transfer 20,000 points into airline miles, you’ll get back an extra 5,000 points. So let’s take a look at how many airline miles you could get in the first year of your card.

As mentioned above you’ll get 10,000 for signing up and an additional 15,000 bonus points if you spend $5,000 in the first six months. If you transfer those 25,000 points into airline miles to get the additional 5,000 bonus points, that’s 30,000 airline miles.  Of course, this assumes that you can exchange 1 point for 1 mile, but many of the major carriers, like United, Delta, Continental, and American Airlines, do give you 1 for 1.

APR and Annual Fee
Compared to other travel rewards cards of its type, the American Express Starwood Preferred Card has a relatively low fee of $65. The APR is also low with a low introductory APR for the first six months of the card (the period where you can earn an extra 15,000 bonus points). All of this means that you’ll be able to reap rewards as soon as you get card without having to spend a lot of money to get it. See the chart at the bottom for specific details about current rates and offers.

Customer Feedback
I asked readers about their favorite credit cards and one guy named Jason had some good things to say about the Starwood card.  He covers the credit card industry for another website so he really digs through all the rewards and term and conditions when comparing and using credit cards.  I thought the fact that he pointed out this card was a good sign, here’s what he had to say:

Jason’s Comments
For travel rewards, I have found no better card than the Starwood Preferred Guest card from American Express. The benefits at Starwood hotels are fantastic – I can book an award stay at any room within their brand, which includes Westins, Sheratons and others, with no blackouts or capacity controls. Awards start at 3,000 points with some Westins going for as little as 7,000.

Your fifth award night is also free, so you can easily save 20% off of those low rates. By comparison, Hilton and Intercontinental group also offer no blackouts and no capacity restrictions on their awards, but their award rates are much higher.

The benefits of the Starwood card goes well beyond hotels. The StarPoints are transferable to dozens of major airlines. They are the ultimate universal currency when you need to top off an airline account for a major award redemption. In fact, you can use the Starwood card to earn more airline miles than the airline’s cards themselves.

Starwood grants a 5,000 point bonus when you redeem 20,000 Starpoints for airline miles. This gives you 1.25 miles per dollar spent rather than the one to one ratio offered by most airline cards. The annual fee is $65, but this pays for itself when you are able to snag a pricey hotel for free or fly in business class after making a transfer of Starpoints to airline miles.

Conclusion
The Starwood Preferred Guest Credit Card has a tough to beat rewards program, which can then be used at over 30 different airlines or at most of the Starwood hotels around the world. This review didn’t talk much about international travel but Starwood recently announced it’s adding 50 new hotels across the Middle East, Africa, and Europe.

Starwood Preferred Guest is obviously best for people who travel frequently, such as business travelers, but anyone who is interested in staying at Starwood properties can get quality hotel stays for big discounts or for free. The relatively low annual fee you pay for access to their rewards program makes this one of the best hotel credit cards available today.

The Discover® More credit card is best known for it’s 5% cash back rebate from Discover’s Get More merchants, making it one of the best cash back credit cards on the market.

In addition to having no annual fee, the Discover More card also allows you to exchange your cash rebates for gift cards worth more than the value of your cash back bonus. You can also earn cash back when you shop online with partner merchants through the Shop Discover website – the amount of savings varies across retailers but can be as high as 20% in some cases.

Cash Back Rates
The 5% cashback bonus for Get More partners covers categories such as travel, home improvement stores, department stores, gas, groceries, and restaurants.  As you can see below, the bonus categories rotate during the year, so the purchases that you earn 5% back on change depending on the season.

There aren’t many cards that pay 5% cashback for anything so the bonus categories are a great feature of the Discover More card.  As we’ll cover again later in the review, these earning categories do require you to opt-in during the period to earn the rewards.

For all other purchases on the More card you earn cash back on a tiered rewards structure. Purchases that are part of your first $1,500 earn .25% and purchases that are part of your second $1,500 earn .50%. After your total annual purchases exceed $3,000, you’ll earn 1% cash back on money you spend outside of the Get More partner stores.

Gift Card Rewards
Discover has teamed up with a list of stores that allow you to trade your cash back rewards for gift cards to those retailers. In many cases the value of the gift certificate you get is higher than the dollar value of your cash rewards.

For example, the Discover rewards program lets you redeem your cash rebates in $20 increments. In some instances you can turn a $20 statement credit into a $30 gift card for home improvement, restaurants, entertainment, or travel.   They call it turning your “Cashback bonus into bigger rewards” and it’s a pretty slick benefit that includes some pretty big retailers:

Of course, if they don’t have gift cards available for places that you visit regularly then this benefit isn’t all that spectacular.  However, they do have over 100 partner stores in their program so if you shop at any of them the gift card redemption option can help you get more out of your rewards.

Balance Transfer Offers
On top of the cash back features, the Discover More card offers some of the best balance transfer rates available. There have been times when it was possible to get 0% balance transfers for an extended period or to get a balance transfer with no fees. A quick review of the chart at the end of the review will tell you all about the current APR and offers on this credit card.

Customizable Cards
Nowadays we’re used to being able to customize products and services to our own individual tastes and Discover is well aware of that.

You can choose from over 150 different card designs when you apply for the Discover More card.

While choosing your design is cool it is the least important feature of the card. I’ve had a slick looking card for years (Blue Cash) and I’ve gotten lots of comments from store clerks and shop owners on it’s uniqueness, but that does nothing for my bottom line. I agree that it’s nice to be able to choose the design, to make it a little more personalized – but hopefully this isn’t your primary decision point when choosing a card.

Discover More Reviews 

It always helps to hear the experiences of other peple who have used a credit card.  That’s why I like a feature on the Discover website where customers can post a review of their card for everyone else to see.

Consumers score their card based on three different criteria: 1) Rewards program 2) Customer service and 3) Online Account Center.  They they can rate each of those criteria from 1-5 stars, then the three scores average out to give the card review an overall score.

To get some good value out of the reviews you’ll have to go through pages of them, most aren’t very extensive and few offer much valuable feedback.  A lot of the comments say something like “great card” or “not my favorite card” but without any detail behind their opinion.

However, if you read through them all you’ll get an idea of the main things people like and don’t like about their Discover card.  I think it’s great that Discover posts these customer reviews on their site; it’s probably kind of scary for them to do because they know they’re going to get negative comments but I think it’s a wonderful way for potential customers to get a feel for the pros and cons of the card.

Discover More Complaints

I spent quite a bit of time going through all the pages of comments, so you don’t have to do the thing, here’s a summary of what I noticed.  The positive comments about the card covered a pretty wide range but the majority of the complaints centered around one topic, the rules on the 5% cashback bonus categories.  

As I mentioned earlier you have to opt-in for the bonus categories every quarter.  There’s also a quarterly cap for the dollar amount of rewards you can earn from the 5% cashback bonus.  What this means is that once you reach the quarterly cap, or if you don’t opt in, then you earn 1% cash back on those purchases instead of 5%.  So most of the critiquies of the card were people asking Discover to increase the caps and not require them to opt-in to the bonus categories.

Interestingly enough, most of the people that left those comments still rated Discover More at least 4 stars, like you see here.  Seems like they do like the cashback rewards they’re getting, they just wish Discover would update the cashback bonus policy so they could earn more. Some of these customers commented that once they hit their bonus cap with Discover they switch over to another cash back card like Chase Freedom.  Their main point was that Discover would get more of their business if they’d raise the bonus cap.

The other complaint that occassionally came up was that Discover isn’t accepted by all merchants. I guess there’s not a whole lot that Discover can do about that. I run into something similar as well with my American Express cards, which is why I also carry a rewards Visa card.

Discover More Rewards & Customer Service

Although the positive comments covered a much wider range of topics, there were still a few that stood out

• Customer Service
• Gift Card Rewards
• Cashback Rewards Partners

Customer Service 

Many people referred to the customer service from Discover as friendly and efficient but there seemed to be something consumers liked even better than just fast and friendly – Discover’s fraud protection. Apparently Discover is very vigilant about suspicious transactions or large purchases and will call you up right away if anything seems out of the ordinary.  I read comments from a lot of people who had Discover catch unauthorized card use for them and squash potential identit theft situations.

Another big compliment Discover recieved was the speed with which they redeem your rewards once you request them.   One commenter had requested his cashback before bed one night and then saw the money deposited when he got home from work the next day.

Gift Card Rewards

As I mentioned earlier the gift cards can be a good deal if you already shop at some of the partner stores.  For example, one person uses their Discover rewards gift cards at Staples and combines it with the cartridge recycling discount to save even more. Another customer that sends flowers out over the holidays uses the FTD gift cards to save on the flowers.  A third lady who buys from CVS regularly takes advantage of the $50 gift card for $45.

Rewards Partners

Since the rewards partners discounts can be pretty high, some of the commmentors said they do a lot of their online shopping through Discover.  One person did point out that sometimes they’re actually able to find a better deal at online rebate sites, so they compare the ShopDiscover prices to other sites online first.

Conclusion
If you can take advantage of the bonus cash back categories, the gift card deals, or the rewards partners the Discover More card is one of the best cash back rewards cards on the market.  If you put a lot of purchases on your card, you might want to keep another cash back card around to take advantage of other offers once you hit the quarterly spending cap.

Another thing to consider, if you’re looking for a cash back card that is also a good balance transfer card then the More card could work for you.  This card is great for people who want flexibility when cashing in their rewards.

The Miles by Discover® is a travel rewards card, as you can probably tell from the name. It allows you to earn double miles on purchases up to $3000 in travel-related purchases and one-point-per-dollar for general purchases. The miles you earn with Discover Miles don’t expire and there’s no cap on the number of miles that can be earned on the card.  The Miles card also has additional perks including the opportunity to amass numerous bonus rewards in the first year of card activation.

Flexible Travel Rewards

Similar to the Blue Sky card, Discover Miles lets you use your rewards across different airline carriers, hotel chains, and rental car companies.  Unless you always fly the same airline or stay in the same hotel, this is one of the top benefits of the card in my opinion.

There are other rewards programs that let you earn miles or points when booking travel but some of them require that you use a specific website to find and pay for your trip.  Of course the potential downside of being limited to a specific portal is that if you can find the ticket or hotel cheaper through some other site like Priceline or Kayak, then the rewards you earn don’t make up for the higher price of the ticket.

With the Discover Miles card you don’t have to worry about what airline you fly, which hotel you sleep in, or who you book your travel through – you still earn rewards regardless.

Discover Miles Rewards

You don’t get the most out of the Miles card by using it for everyday purchases.  You earn a mile for every dollar you put on the card, which isn’t anything out of the ordinary for a rewards card. The biggest benefits come from the double rewards categories and the card bonuses. 

The double rewards are in the travel and dining categories of purchases and earn you 2 miles for every dollar you spend in a year, up to $3000.  Although there is no limit on the amount of total annual rewards you can earn, after the first $3000 of purchases the double rewards categories go back to earning 1 mile per dollar.

There is one other way to earn double rewards on your spending, from purchases made through the ShopDiscover portal.  This may not mean a whole lot to you unless you regularly shop at one of the comapanies that’s part of their ShopDiscover program.  Members who login and shop online through this program earn 2 miles for each dollar put on the card.  Discover does have a big list of nationally know companies in their program, such as Sears, ACE Hardware, Apple, Gap, HP, Old Navy, Office Depot, Barnes & Noble, Best Buy, Home Depot, Kohls, JC Penney, and many others.

If you already shop at any of these stores then you could earn double miles on your purchases with the Miles card.

Card Bonus Offer

Unlike most other travel rewards cards, the Discover Miles Card offers 1,000 bonus miles a month if the card is used at least once a month, for the first year you have the card.  There are other Discover and Chase cards that will give you a cashback bonus just for using the card, but they usually require a minimum of $500–750 dollars of purchases in the first few months. 

With the Miles card you can get the bonus for a whole year, just by buying a pack of gum once a month. The only other card I know of with a bonus with such low requirements is the Discover Escape card, which actually makes a similar bonus offer but extends it for 2 years instead of 1.

Redeeming Discover Miles Rewards

For every 10,000 miles you earn Discover makes you eligible for a $100 travel credit on your Miles card.  So going back to the bonus I just mentioned, those 12,000 miles are worth $120 towards a flight or hotel.

Since you choose how to travel and how to buy your ticket, you don’t have to worry about blackout dates or other restrictions when you go to redeem your rewards.  If your purcase is travel related then it’s eligible to recieve the travel credit.  After you pay for the rental car, airline ticket, or hotel room you can call up Discover or go through their websiteto submit the purchase and have your travel credit applied to it. Make sure you redeem your miles within 3 months of making the purchase otherwise you’ll have to wait and use your rewards on the next travel you buy.

Discover does offer several other ways to redeem your rewards:

• Gift cards at over 90 merchants (minimum 1000) points
• $25 Discover Gift Card for every 5000 points earned
• Cash back starting at 5000 points
• Charitable donation starting at 5000 points

Although those options are avaibable to you, the best rewards for your money comes from using them on travel with this card.  If you’d like to get the cashback or gift cards instead then you’d probably be better off with a cash back card.

Discover Miles Benefits

In addition to rewards points, the Discover Miles Card offers $500,000 in travel accident insurance. This card also offers enhanced fraud protection with a $0 Fraud Liability Guarantee that promises you won’t be responsible for any unauthorized usage of your card. The fraud protection feature is on most cards these days but still something you should check for this era of frequent identity theft.

No Annual Fee

There is no annual fee on this credit card. The lack of an annual fee is significant, as most travel rewards cards do charge an annual fee – some of which can be very steep, offsetting the gains from a better rewards program. 

Discover Miles does offer an upgraded version of the card that charges an annual fee. What you get from the upgraded version is insurance coverage against:

• Rental car damage (no deductible)
• Lost or damaged luggage (Up to $2,500)
• Travel Delays ($150 daily lodging)
• Trip cancellation (Up to $2,500)

You’d have to compare the annual fee against the cost of buying travel insurance in a year to see if that version made sense for you.

Discover Miles APR

Like other Discover cards, the Miles Card typically has a lower APR than comparable cards and sometimes features a 0% introductory APR on purchases; see the chart below for details about current APR offers. Like many other credit cards the best rates will be available to the people with the best credit.

Conclusion

The Discover Miles Card is a good rewards credit card. The 1,000 a month bonus is only good for the first year of the card but it can kick into effect for very small purchases, which is definitely appealing.

You don’t need to spend $1000 to earn 1000 miles, so it is a good bet for frugal flyers. The card does have some unique travel rewards possibilities that frequent travelers will find attractive.

Finally, the fact that this card has no annual fee and is flexible about how you earn and redeem rewards adds to the appeal of the card. 

The SimplyCash may be one of the best business credit cards out there because of the fact that it combines a lot of rewards opportunities with reasonable rates and no annual fee. The card offers the highest cash back percentage on wireless phone services and office supplies, 5% back, and earns you 3% cash back on gas purchases.

Other business credit cards offer a flat 1% cash back on all purchases but the SimplyCash card combines a cash rebate card with a gas rebate card for business owners.  It kind of borrows from the model of the TruEarnings card, where you earn a fixed percent back on all your purchases, in the case of SimplyCash that’s 1%, and are paid a considerably higher rate for things like gas and office products. Having both of these available on one card is what makes it stand out the most for me.

Although there’s no annual limit on the total cash back you can earn with the card you only earn 5% back on the first $12,000 worth of purchases of wireless and office supplies you make in a year.  The same applies for gas purchases, after your first $12K annual gas spending, the remaining sales earn you 1% cash back.

Simply Cash Discounts
In addition to the cash rebates, the SimplyCash® Business Card from American Express OPEN offers discounts at all OPEN Savings merchant partners. This means that not only will you receive cash back on purchases, but you can also save additional money on a variety of office-related products and services.

The OPEN Savings program has a good selection of companies that businesses tend to work with for things like travel, technology, shipping, etc.  Here you can see some examples of the merchants in the program such as HP, Hyatt Hotels, FedEx, AirTran, Hertz, and Symantec.

The Open Savings program is pretty simple, if you use your Simply Cash card at one of the merchants, the discount is automatically applied when you pay.  For example, Symantec makes the popular Norton Anti-virus software, if you buy Norton for your business with your SimplyCash card you get a 10% discount.  You do have to read the terms of each merchant and product to make sure you get the discount.  In the case of Norton, the Symantec products are only eligible for the discount if you buy through their online store.  So be sure you know the terms of the merchant before you buy.

Rewards are Automatic
Another nice thing about this business rewards credit card is that redeeming your rewards requires absolutely zero effort on your part. Each month when you receive your credit card statement you will see that your cash back rewards have been automatically added to that statement. Many business owners have good rewards credit cards but are so busy that they forget to redeem those rewards. That will never be a problem with a card that offers automatic rewards!

Simply Cash APR and Fees
As is the case with many business credit cards, the Simply Cash from American Express card has a relatively low APR with an introductory 0% APR. The card also has a longer-than-average 25-day grace period, as well as no annual fee and no fee for additional cards, all of which enhance the appeal of this card. To get up-to-date information about the APR for this card scroll down to the chart at the bottom of this page.

American Express Benefits
American Express does make a serious effort to make their business credit cards more than just a credit card. Their OPEN network not only has the Savings program I discussed earlier, it also features the OPEN Forum and Connectodex.  These online business communities feature business resources to help fill the gaps in a business owner’s expertise, as well as networking tools for trading advice and collaboration.

The online account management and reporting you get with an American Express card like SimplyCash are pretty flexible when it comes to tracking and reporting on how you’re spending your money.

Conclusion
Of all the benefits of the Simply Cash from American Express, the 5% rebate on office purchases is the greatest selling point. For any business owner who logs a lot of miles in a car or other vehicle for deliveries or other purpose, the cash back on gas expenditures is also highly attractive especially as gas prices continue to climb. All in all, this card has no annual fee, low APR, and high rebates: all things you should look for in a business credit card.

The Hilton HHonors card is a travel rewards card with a generous points system: 5 points for every dollar spent at a Hilton, as well as money spent for gas, at supermarkets, drugstores, and other purchases. It’s not a Hilton-only rewards program by any means, making it one of the better hotel-affiliated credit cards available. Cardholders get 10,000 points after first purchase, as well as 10,000 additional points after the first stay at a Hilton Hotel.

Hilton Rewards In addition to 5 points rewarded at select merchants, the Hilton HHonors card gives cardholders a full three points for all other purchases. That’s pretty much unprecedented for a rewards card of this type. Most travel rewards card follow the point-per-dollar model. While points never expire, there is a limit of $100,000 in spending every year, which is more than enough for the vast majority of cardholders. Anyone spending more than that each year could combine this rewards card with a second rewards card to meet all of their spending needs and still get the great rewards offered by this card.

Hilton Bonus Points The Hilton HHonors card can be combined with the HHonors® reward program, which allows cardholders to earn points or frequent flyer miles towards a hotel stay. In addition to 10,000 points after first purchase, cardholders are eligible for 15,000 bonus points if $5000 is spent in five months of having the card. A cardholder could conceivably receive 35,000 bonus points within the first five months of using the card. That is a lot of bonus rewards points to cash in quickly when first getting the card.

Personalize your Rewards You are actually able to personalize how you earn rewards on this card. You can earn points or you can earn miles or you can earn a combination of both depending on what suits you but. You set your own earnings style through your online account.

Redeeming Rewards Most cardholders are travelers so they will want to redeem their points for travel. There are many different ways to do that; you can redeem for hotels, cruises, car rental, or vacation packages. You can also redeem your rewards for “experiences” such as motorcycle rentals or wine tasting. If for some reason you aren’t going to be traveling for a bit, though, and want to redeem your rewards in other ways then that option is available to you as well.

The rewards can be cashed in for shopping, dining and entertainment. You can even share or gift your rewards to others if you are feeling generous. Note that if you’re close to having enough points to redeem for something you want but you want to get it now then you do have the option of simply buying points to push yourself up to having the points you need to redeem rewards. Or you could get a friend to share their points with you!

The Hilton American Express Card The HHonors® reward program is an Amex card, so the card comes with all the built in protection of an American Express card – travel accident insurance, car rental insurance, fraud protection, and replacement protection. As this is a travel-related credit card, this is important. The card also has no annual fee and a low introductory rate. However, the card does have a relatively high long-term rate, so it’s not a great card for carrying a balance month to month.

Conclusion As mentioned, the Hilton HHonors Platinum Card has one of the best travel rewards points programs available and it offers these rewards with no annual fee. At the same time, this is offset a bit by the APR so it’s best for people who don’t typically carry a balance on their cards. If you do a lot of traveling and frequently stay at Hilton hotels then check it out. 

The Discover Student Card has one of the best cash back plans of any rewards card out there: 5% cash back at select merchants.  Most other rewards cards offer 2% cash back at most.  Cardholders can also double rebate points by trading them in for gift certificates or gift cards.  The card also has a lower APR than other credit cards for students.

Rebate Plan: In addition to 5% cash back for purchases at a number of different outlets, such as Office Depot, Lowes, the Gap, Marshall’s, Pier 1 Imports, and a host of other locations, the Discover Student Card has a tiered approach to cash rebates.  A 1% rebate on all purchases kicks in after the first $3000 in purchases.  Up until that point, cardholders will get .25% for the first $1500 spent on the card and .50% for the second $1500.  Cardholders can earn up to $500 in rebates a year.  To calculate that out: .25% of $1500 is $375, so the card would not be maxed out after the first $1500.

Double Cash Back Bonuses: One of the best features of the card is double cash back bonuses.  Cardholders can exchange rebates for gift cards at 60 different select merchants.  This averages out to 2% cash back for purchases – a very generous rate.  The best way to use the card is to cash in small amounts of rebates.  So, for example, if you have $20 in rebates built up after a small number of purchase, you can trade these in for a $40 gift card.  Select merchants include:

Shop Discover: The Discover Student Card is eligible for increased discounts at merchant partners that can be accessed from Discover’s website.  A number of these merchants are perfectly suited for student purchases: such as 7% cash back at Barnes and Noble or a 5% discount at Overstock.com.  Purchases at discount outlets earn an additional .25% cash back.

APR and Annual Fee: In addition to the above bonuses, the Discover Student Card has a lower APR than most other student cards – which usually have a steep APR.  There is also no annual fee for the card and a two-cycle average for determining balance.

Conclusion: Usually a card that has minimum payments before starting a cash rebate program is not all that positive.  The value of the Discover Student Card is not necessarily in the cash back percentages, but how each cardholder chooses to use the card.  If a cardholder never spends money at merchant partners, the cash back program is not all that impressive.  However, if the student adeptly makes purchases from affiliated merchants and trades in cash rewards for double rewards, the card is highly competitive when measured against other student cards.

HSBC Platinum MasterCard® with Cash Back Rewards is a generous cash back credit card that gives 1% cash back on all purchases with the potential for unlimited rebates.  This is a fairly standard cash back formula, but with a low APR on purchases and 0% for balance transfers for up to six months, the HSBC Platinum MasterCard saves as well as makes money.

Low Fees: Another way that the HSBC Platinum MasterCard with Cash Back Rewards saves money is with no annual or set-up fees.  Cardholders also have the ability to transfer three accounts to the card, saving money on other credit card accounts.  No annual fee means that cash back rebates will stretch farther than other cash back rewards cards that may have a better cash back percentage, but with higher fees.

Qualifying for the Card: As with other cards, cardholders may be offered a card with a different APR than the advertised rate.  Additionally, applicants who do not qualify for the 1% cash back program will be eligible for a 2% cash back program, which has a cap of $400 a year.  Applicants could also be offered a different type of HSBC card.  The card is generally a good choice for people with good or better credit.

Other Card Features: the HSBC Platinum MasterCard has a grace period of 20 days after purchase, insurance on purchases, internet account access, fraud protection, and MasterCard’s Global Service, which provides customer support anywhere in the world, such as card replacement and emergency cash advances.

Conclusion: Overall, the HSBC Platinum MasterCard® with Cash Back Rewards is a pretty standard credit card.  No unique cash back opportunities for certain types of purchases, but the card has unlimited rebates for qualified applicants, unlike some cards with fancier cash back programs.  In short, it’s a serviceable credit card with a good APR and decent cash back percentage for those who make fairly frequent purchases on credit.

The Discover Motiva credit card is a unique rewards-based credit card that combines a low introductory APR, rebate points, and a unique pay-on-time bonus if you pay your bills on time for six months straight. That can motivate you to avoid late payment fees while earning rewards. The card has other benefits as well, not the least of which is the fact that there is no annual fee for this card.

Rebate Percentages
The Motiva also has a unique formula for rebate percentages. Instead of a point-per-dollar for every dollar spent, as is common with nearly all rewards cards, the Motiva’s rebates are based on annual purchases. For the first $1500 in spending, you will earn .25% back. After $1500, you’ll receive .50% back and 1% back on all purchases over $3000. What this means is that you don’t have to be a huge spender to receive ample rewards. However it also means that you’ll see a boost in rewards as you begin to spend more on the card throughout the year. It’s a win-win bonus rewards situation.

Double Rebates
Along with general rebates, cardholders can double the amount of rebates by exchanging them for merchant-partner gift certificates. The Discover Motiva Card is teamed up with such partners as Bennigan’s, Chili’s, Red Lobster, Blockbuster, Bed Bath and Beyond, Staples, Pep Boys, and a long list of other outlets with names that you’ll recognize. Unlike some other rewards cards that have minimal partnerships, the Motiva card has partnerships at locations you’re more than likely to find in your town. In addition, Discover gives a 5%-25% cashback bonus at Discover’s own online shopping site. You save more when shopping with these places which is great if you already shop with such big brands.

The On Time Rewards
When you pay your Motiva credit card bill on time for six months in a row, you’ll receive an additional bonus of the card’s current finance charges. This benefit never goes away. Put simply, cardholders can expect to get back interest payments twice a year when bills are paid on time. Hopefully you are paying your bills on time anyway so you won’t have to do anything different to get these extra rewards. As many people carry a balance on their credit cards, this extra bonus twice a year makes the Motiva card very attractive to cardholders who don’t spend a huge amount on credit but carry a balance.

Other Discover Card Features
For a card with a unique rebate plan, you might think that the card makes up the difference with fees. You’d be wrong. The Discover Motiva card has no annual fee. You don’t have to pay anything to get something back with this card. Like other Discover cards, the Motiva has other benefits, such as travel insurance, car rental insurance, and the ability to change the bill due date to the same date as other bills or credit cards. It offers protection and convenience all in one rewards credit card. It is also important to note that this card often has a low introductory APR on both purchases and balance transfers; see the table below for additional information on current rates.

Conclusion

If you play your cards right, there are a lot of advantages with this card when compared to other cash back cards. You’ll be able to get discounts at the Discover store, along with rebates, which you can then trade in for merchant gift certificates. To top it off, you’ll receive interest payments back twice a year on the above payments – this can also help ensure timely payments, aiding a personal credit rating and guaranteeing that you won’t have to pay late fees. Since there is no annual fee on this credit card you’re getting a lot of bonuses without paying a price.