Best Credit Cards

Should You Consider Chase Amazon Visa?

/ December 16, 2015

The short answer is No. Here is the long answer. First, the details on the offer:

  • You can start using your card today at Amazon.com after approval†
  • Get a $80 Amazon.com Gift Card* instantly upon credit card approval
  • Earn 3% Back at Amazon.com†
  • Earn 2% Back at gas stations, restaurants and drugstores†
  • Earn 1% Back on all other purchases†
  • No annual fee‡

 

Ok, it’s definitely not the worst card since there are a few decent bonus categories. Plus, it has no annual fee. It’s just that you can probably do much, much better  with other offers on the market. If you are looking for a decent long-term card, check out my list here Sign-up bonuses is what you are after? Head on over there  Still confused? Check out my Free Consulting Service page and shoot me an email.

What prompted this post is a question I recently got from my friend:

“Here is my predicament. I’m considering buying  a tablet that is currently cheapest on Amazon, list price is $315. Chase Freedom will give  us 10% back, so $31.50 off in a sense. Citi Thank You card will give us $100 Amazon gift card (my notes: there is  a better offer of $200 in cash), but we have to wait for approval and till it comes in the mail, and by then the tablet price could change. It already has since yesterday if we wanted it in black.

Amazon Visa is instant if we get approved and $80 gift card is immediately loaded into our account. Also it gives 3% back on all Amazon purchases, which would be nice for the months the Freedom card doesn’t offer anything extra. We shop on Amazon for almost everything. I’m leaning toward the Amazon Visa. Any reasons I should go another route? Thank you!”
My (edited) response:

“Hey! Well, it’s up to you, of course. Personally, I would never sign up for a card that gave me only $80 Amazon.com credit. I do realize I’m different from most people, though. While 3% on Amazon purchases is OK, I believe you can do much better by sticking with Freedom. First of all, as you pointed out, you will get 10% cash back right now, so the sign-up bonus is already worth less by that logic. Also, Freedom has rotating categories throughout the year which give 5% cash back.

For example, drug stores and gas stations are frequently on the list (side note: 2016 bonus categories for Freedom have just been announced). You can buy Amazon gift card at CVS (or other place that happens to sell it) and save 5% instead of 3% with Amazon Visa. The only reason to stick to using credit cards is if you buy expensive electronics or if a purchase  might be disputed down the road. For everyday stuff, gift cards will do just fine.

 If you can afford it, I recommend you buy Amazon gift card with your Chase Freedom right now to lock in 10% savings for future usage. That’s what I’m planning on doing. You can load it into your Amazon account and each time you purchase anything, it will be deducted from your balance automatically.
If you are looking for a good long-term no-fee cash back card right now, I would use my credit pull on Amex Blue Cash Everyday that comes with $250 sign-up bonus. I wrote  about it before, but you can email me with further questions. This offer doesn’t pay me commission, but it’s a good card to have in the long run. And you only have to spend $1,000 in 3 months in order to get the bonus.  Personally, I would skip Amazon Visa.  Let me know if you have any other questions.
P.S. Consider using my Amazon affiliate link http://www.amazon.com/?tag=milesforfamil-20  for your tablet purchase. It won’t cost you anything extra. Do check www.evreward.com to see if this department is listed so you can get cash yourself. If not, consider supporting the site.”
Don’t judge me for the last bit, folks! I view everyone as a potential customer, even my friends. Plus, today is a national “Pimp your Amazon link” day. And I’m planning to rock it.
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Author: Leana

Leana is the owner and founder of Miles For Family. She enjoys beach vacations and visiting her family in Europe. Originally from Belarus, Leana resides in central Florida with her husband and two children.

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