Last Updated: 1/14/2012
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Southwest Airlines has been busy as a beaver revamping their Rapid Rewards Frequenty Flyer Loyalty Program. With this rework, it’s worth taking a fresh look at the two Southwest credit cards offered by Chase–the Southwest Airlines Rapid Rewards Plus Credit Card and the Rapid Rewards Premier Card.
Last Reviewed: 7/3/2011
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Southwest Airlines has completely revamped their loyalty program (dubbed “Rapid Rewards”) with the goal of making it simpler to use. Here are some of the key selling points of the program:
Last Reviewed: 6/17/2011
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On March 1st of 2011 Southwest Airlines introduced its newly revamped Rapid Rewards loyalty program–replacing the older, more complex program, with something that doesn’t require so much deep thought to understand. This required PlasticIQ to revist its previous estimate of the value of Southwest Airlines points.
Last Reviewed: 6/10/2011
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Recently Amex scrapped the Blue Cash Card, and replaced it with 2 variants: Blue Cash Everyday and Blue Cash Preferred. Generally speaking, Blue Cash Everyday performs similarly to the Preferred version at relatively low levels of monthly spend (around $700 per month) when used on all types of purchases, and can outperform Blue Cash Preferred at spend levels of $500 or less.
Last Updated: 1/5/2012
The folks at PlasticIQ have scoured the web, including competing blogs, in a thorough effort to identify the best balance transfer offers in the marketplace. Note that this post changes often as new offers come online and other offers end, so bookmark this page.
Currently, Citi has a nice 18-month promotional balance transfer rate, so all in all we think we’ve identified some of the best balance transfer credit cards around.
Cards with no balance transfer fees and 0% APR are the equivalent of free loans, assuming you play it smart by always paying at least the minimum monthly payment.
Both Chase and Discover recently canceled their respective offers (Chase Slate, Discover More (canceled on 3/1/12), so you’ll have to be patient for the next offer to emerge.
While sometimes it makes sense to get a 12 month loan for free, there are other situations where you may want a longer-term 18-month balance transfer, and are OK paying the 3% balance transfer fee. Remember, a 3% fee spread out over 18 months amounts to a very low annual interest rate.
Citi Diamond Preferred 18-Month Balance Transfer Offer. While there’s a 3% balance transfer fee on the Citi Diamond Preferred Credit Card, bear in mind that you’ll pay no interest on balances you transfer for a whopping 21 months. That’s some serious piece of mind. You’ll also pay no interest on any purchases you make during the first 18 months–really nice! After the promotional period, your APR will range from 11.99% to 21.99%, depending on your credit level. There’s also no annual fee on this card.
Citi Platinum Select 18-Month Balance Transfer Offer. This balance transfer offer is basically identical to the Citi Diamond Preferred offer. They both offer a 18-month promotional balance transfer and purchase APR of 0%, followed by an APR ranging from 11.99% o 21.99%. Maybe there’s a difference between them, but it’s hard to spot.
Discover More 18-Month Balance Transfer Offer. The Discover More offer provides you with an 18-month 0% APR rate balance transfers and 0% APR on purchases for 6 months. Balance transfers must post to your account by 7/12/2012. There’s no annual fee, but there is the 3% balance transfer fee. After the promotional period ends, your APR will range from 10.99% to 20.99%.
Frankly, in the field of long-duration balance transfers, we like either the Citi Diamond Preferred or Citi Platinum Select the most. The 18-month Discover More balance transfer offer should be treated as a fallback (unless you want to grab both offers!).
