MBNA's Smart Cash Card - BEST CASHBACK CREDIT CARD EVER!!! | Page 15 | Credit card reward programs | Discussion forum

djino said
What vehicle you buying?

BMW i3: http://www.bmw-i.com/en_ww/bmw-i3/
Great fan of German ingeneering. Having 3 top of the line triathlon/road bike of Swiss-german ingeneering, couldn't be more consistent with myself other than buying this 0 emission, sustainabilty based car.

djino said
Costco does accept American Express. I use it to pump gas for 2% at Costco Gas stations and up to 1% in the stores.

Interesting, I thought they only accept their own Amex but now other Amex. I think this is a great plus for Amex since I had some crazy expanditures at Costco with all the summer sports bar I was buying for the triathlon club. Could go for $500 per 2 weeks.

djino said
You should take a look at Scotiabank's Amex product. Yes it has an annual fee, but it may work out to your advantage still.

A friend of mine has been using some travel reward card for a while and suggested me the CIBC Aéro Or: http://www3.aeroplan.com/promo.....980ae_CIBC
or the AMEX with aeroplan: http://www3.aeroplan.com/promo.....p2906_Amex

I really have to get into optimisations and calculate how much I expect spending for the next year because I'm not used into paying an annual fee for a credit card and wanna get the most of it.

I'm going to Whistler in February but the flights are already limited so I don't think I will be able to use my bonus points for this year but we're planning to go ski in Colorado next season. Far more advantgeous the flights for North America at 25 000 points since it's about 60 000 points for Europe when I go for a bike trip every summer.

Wow, this card should be listed in the Hall of Shame

I will never do business with TD. They just destroyed the best credit card on the market and made it the crappiest piece of shit you can have in your wallet.

Little cissors will have a great meating with my card on the 1st of December.

djino said

http://img141.imageshack.us/im.....g0196l.jpg

It is true. You are limited on the 1% as well. You will not receive any cash back on purchases once you have spent over $1,250 within a statement period (this is including Gas/Grocery purchases).

Though if you are able to upgrade to the World version of this card, there is no limit on the 1%.

djino
"This card is getting crappier the more info I get from it"

siujanji said

hi all,

so i applied to the smart cash card on oct 26/12 and received my card today, except i got the travel award card instead!
i phoned them and the rep tried to convince me this is a better card than the smart cash card because their gas/grocery's 3% is coming down to 2% (like it was mentioned on this board) and also they now have a cap of $400. the travel award card has no cap and it's 2% across the board.
i am trying to decide whether to keep this card.
would anyone who is using this tell me what they think? initially i wanted the smart cash card not only cos of the really awesome 3% cb, but also cos they offer waiver for car rental insurance. does anyone know if the MBNA travel card offers that?

thanks so much!
janice

Wow! Yes. The Rewards Travel Card is one of the best cards to have. I recently obtained it about a month ago. It gives you a straight 2% Cash back on EVERYTHING no limit no annual fee. You also do not have to wait for a cheque in the mail as you can simply go online to redeem cashback for a statement credit.

Most people (on another forum) have been trying to obtain this card, but no one has been able too since October 6th. You are the first I've heard of being able to get it since this date.

Yes, the card comes with all the platinum benefits just the Smart Cash card does including Car Rental Insurance. And Yes this card is way better than the Smart Cash card which now only gives you 2% back on Gas/Groceries (up to $400 spending) and a 1% on everything else (up to $1250 spending).

You should feel lucky that they changed it for you.

djino
"Congrats!"

copperbeech said

djino said

siujanji said
so i applied to the smart cash card on oct 26/12 and received my card today, except i got the travel award card instead!
janice

Wow! Yes. The Rewards Travel Card is one of the best cards to have. I recently obtained it about a month ago. It gives you a straight 2% Cash back on EVERYTHING no limit no annual fee. You also do not have to wait for a cheque in the mail as you can simply go online to redeem cashback for a statement credit.

You should feel lucky that they changed it for you.

djino
"Congrats!"

I have been out of the loop for too long. We have had the great MBNA card for several years...the result of reading this thread..thanks djino and of course we are now looking for a successor.

This "The Rewards Travel Card" is also an MBNA card of some sort?

Without sounding too dopey.....so on a $5000 monthly statement one gets back $100 which one applies against this bill?

Yes the Rewards Travel Card is an MBNA 2% Card. 2% Cachback on everything and anything no limit. Which actually for most people works out to be a better card then the 3% Gas/Grocery Smart Cash Card before the changes.

As mentioned a few pages back. MBNA allowed conversions to this card between August and October of this year as they do not allow people to directly sign up for this card. Since October 6th, this card was no longer available at all not even to convert too.

This is why I am surprised that MBNA sent siujanji this card after he requested the MBNA Smart Cash. I'm not sure what to make of that. Perhaps people should start calling MBNA and seeing if they can convert to this card again.

And yes, after spending $5000 on this card, you would receive 10000 points. You can then log into your account and redeem 10,000 points for a $100 statement credit (to redeem for statement credit, you need a minimum 5000 points ($50)). This is better than the Smart Cash card as MBNA has to mail you a cheque which takes 3-4 weeks. I've actually supposed to receive a cheque from my Smart Cash account from my September 26th statement and I still have not received it. The only thing MBNA can do on this product is cancel the cheque and reissue another and you wait again.

So yeah, The 2% Rewards Travel Card is the best card (if its available to get..YMMV). Though if I didn't have it, I would probably get the new Scotia 4% Amex that gives you 4% back on Gas/Groceries/Dinning/Entertainment. Though it has a $99 annual fee, but scotia apparently is waiving the first year and also giving a 20,000 welcome points bonus (=$200). Another product you may want to consider if you have no luck with getting the 2% Travel rewards card.

If you have no luck with getting the TRavel Rewards card and do not want to like paying annual fees like you will with the Scotia card, then the next best alternative is the Capital One Aspire world card. It gives you 1.5% Cashback on everything no limit no annual fee plus $100 start up bonus.

djino
"Goodluck!"

copperbeech said

djino said

As mentioned a few pages back. MBNA allowed conversions to this card between August and October of this year as they do not allow people to directly sign up for this card. Since October 6th, this card was no longer available at all not even to convert too.

This is why I am surprised that MBNA sent siujanji this card after he requested the MBNA Smart Cash. I'm not sure what to make of that. Perhaps people should start calling MBNA and seeing if they can convert to this card again.

I just got off the phone after being transferred to the "retention department" and the representative made it quite clear that this "Travel Rewards" no longer exists and of course tried to sell me on the "World card". It seems that I just missed the window of opportunity by about a month .

I figured as much. And its not clear if they will bring it back again for others to sign up for/convert too. If you need good Cashback card(s) now. These are the best alternatives:

- Scotia American Express Gold - 4% on Gas/Groceries/Dinning/Entertainment (up to $50,000 spending / year) with $99 annual fee (scotia I believe is waiving first year and giving 20,000 points after first purchase = $200)
- Capital One Aspire World - 1.5% on everything, no annual fee ($100 bonus after first purchase)
- RBC Cashback card - 2% on Groceries (up to $5000 annual), no annual fee
- MBNA Smart Cash - 2% on Gas/Groceries (up to $400 monthly) 1% on everything else (up to $1250 monthly), no annual fee

djino

Max said

I asked for an upgrade to the World version 2 weeks ago.

I just checked on my online account and saw they accepted the upgrade.

There's a little link in my account page which says: Your credit card is ready for activation. Activate your credit card now.
I can click on it. However I have not received any new cards yet. If I click on this link and got put some gas will I be able to use the SmartCash credit card I currently have in my wallet or am I screwing me up and won't be able to use it and instead of having 5%, will fall down to my 1% visa card?

Your current Smart Cash card will be used for the 5% cash back until you receive the new card in the mail. So go ahead and continue to use it as if its the World card.

djino

Max said

Just received my brand new MBNA SmartCash World credit card yesterday.

Exactly the same card but with a little World in white imprint on the card.

New account number too so I have to call my internet service provider, electricity provider and water heater and finnally my insurance company to change all the credit card info for 6 months of payments becuase I will switch to the Capital One Aspire as soon as the 5% bonnus period finishes.

Good stuff. I'm waiting until the end of the month to upgrade mine to the World version, just so I can maximize the last month at 3%. Then I will take advantage of 6 months at 5%, then move onto the Scotia Amex 4%.

djino

LAST DAY TO GET YOUR GAS/GROCERIES TRANSACTIONS FOR 3%

Remember, your purchases need to post on or before November 30th for your Gas/Groceries transactions to qualify for the 3% before it reduces to 2% and $600 cap reduces to $400 cap (and unlimited cap reduces to $1250 on 1%) on December 1st. Transactions normally take 2-3 days to post, so go buy your gift cards to maximize your November cashback return if you haven't done so already.

djino

The cashback points is based off of Calendar month and not your statement date.

So you will have all the way until Dec 31st to get 5% back on your Gas/Grocery Purchases. But what came into affect Dec 1st, is the cap on Gas/Groceries being reduced to $400 (from $600).

So if you purchased $1000 in Gas/Groceries so far since Dec 1st, you would receive 5% on the $400 and 1% on $600 = $26 Cashback.

Since December is your final month on the 6 month bonus, starting Jan 1st, you will only get 2% on the first $400 in gas/grocery purchases and 1% on everything else.

djino

Max said

Hey just a fast question.

My account statement is closing on the 24th of every months.

I have just enetered the 6 months MBNA SMartcash World last month.

I spent 1000$ on my credit card this Thursday.

If I got to the grocery store or the gas station, do I get the full 5% from the promo of the MBNA World or do I get the 1% from their new policies?

No agent is answering me on this question when I'm calling. The ones working tonight seems careless

Since you have upgraded to the Smart Cash World, that $3000 would get 1% Cashback (=$30). Assuming you have NOT YET spent anything on gas/groceries, then you would continue to get 5% on the first $400 in Gas/Grocery purchases (until Dec 31st).

If you were still on the regular Smart Cash and spent $3000 on furniture, you only get 1% Cashback on the first $1250. So spending $3000 would only get you $12.50 cashback. But you would continue to receive 5% on the first $400 in Gas/Grocery purchases until December 31st.

djino
"The regular Smart Cash card has a cap on the 1% at $1250 spending. The Smart Cash World does not have a cap on 1%, but both cards still have the $400 cap on Gas/Groceries"

Max said

So if on the 5th of December I spend 3000$ for furnitures, It doesn't cut my 5% cashback on my grocery stores and gas purchases for the rest of the month?