Author Topic: credit card experts -- what's your guess?  (Read 4430 times)

Eilonwy

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credit card experts -- what's your guess?
« on: September 20, 2016, 09:31:12 PM »
I'm going to be paying a large chunk of change for a summer camp session on a credit card. (To be paid off immediately, of course.) I can put it on a card that will give 1.5% cashback, or I can take a gamble and put it on a card that will give me 3% cashback *if* it counts as travel, but just 1% if it doesn't.

What's your best guess?

Primm

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Re: credit card experts -- what's your guess?
« Reply #1 on: September 20, 2016, 10:40:07 PM »
Husband has a work CC that he can use on accommodation and restaurant meals (not takeaway). The CC company classifies transactions according to how the business is registered, so sometimes when he stays in out-of-the-way locations he has to pay and then get reimbursed, because the family that owns the hotel (for example) originally ran a fuel stop so the classification is "fuel" in their system.

I'd imagine those cash back deals work the same way. And I'd also imagine that summer camp for kids would come under "educational facilities", not accommodation.

Which is my long-winded way of saying take the 1.5%.

Disclaimer: not evidence based, JMO, not in the US.

Rubic

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Re: credit card experts -- what's your guess?
« Reply #2 on: September 21, 2016, 08:48:54 AM »
Is it possible you could look up the merchant category code before
making the charge?

https://www.nerdwallet.com/blog/credit-cards/merchant-category-codes-credit-card-rewards/

GuitarStv

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Re: credit card experts -- what's your guess?
« Reply #3 on: September 21, 2016, 09:06:04 AM »
A bird in the hand is worth three in the woods.

mskyle

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Re: credit card experts -- what's your guess?
« Reply #4 on: September 21, 2016, 09:26:37 AM »
Can you put down a deposit and see how that gets coded?

TheAnonOne

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Re: credit card experts -- what's your guess?
« Reply #5 on: September 21, 2016, 09:29:19 AM »
FYI you can beat that 1.5% cashback with Citi Doublecash card.  2% cashback and no annual fee.

Also the Cap1 Venture and Barclay Arrival are 2% everything cards as well. They have annual fees though...

frugaliknowit

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Re: credit card experts -- what's your guess?
« Reply #6 on: September 21, 2016, 09:36:15 AM »
My guess is, it will not be categorized as travel.

catccc

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Re: credit card experts -- what's your guess?
« Reply #7 on: September 21, 2016, 10:58:41 AM »
Can you put down a deposit and see how that gets coded?

this is a good idea!

bacchi

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Re: credit card experts -- what's your guess?
« Reply #8 on: September 21, 2016, 11:10:42 AM »
Call them up and ask them.

Eilonwy

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Re: credit card experts -- what's your guess?
« Reply #9 on: September 21, 2016, 11:30:56 AM »
The deposit idea doesn't work, because there's an early bird discount of 10% if you pay upfront. And the person I talked to didn't know the code. So I went with a bird in the hand.

Eilonwy

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Re: credit card experts -- what's your guess?
« Reply #10 on: September 21, 2016, 11:33:58 AM »
I've looked at discussion of the double cash card and found it confusing. No one seems to really know how it works. Is it more straightforward than it seems?

Cwadda

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Re: credit card experts -- what's your guess?
« Reply #11 on: September 21, 2016, 11:34:43 AM »
Call them up and ask them.

+1
They should be able to tell you.

Eilonwy

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Re: credit card experts -- what's your guess?
« Reply #12 on: September 21, 2016, 12:43:19 PM »
The link above to search on VISA merchants worked! It is listed as recreation, so I made the right call. Thanks for the info! I will keep it bookmarked for the future.