How I'm getting 5% cash back thanks to the Apple Card (sort of)

[chino-rican]

I recently called one of my credit cards to cancel. When they asked me why I was cancelling I told them that their 1% cash back (all purchases) wasn't cutting it anymore and I was going to apply for the Apple Card. They looked at my history and saw that I was an active user and longtime cardholder.
They ended up offering 5% cash back on all purchases. Additional 4% cash back on car rentals and airline ticket purchase, but not planning on spending on those for now. Of course, it is temporary for only 3 months, and the yearly total is capped at $300 back. But still, not bad while it lasts. I'll call back in 3 months and see if they'll extend it.

 

[MacDaddyPanda]

Apple Card will provide you cash back for ever. What's the point of the them handing you 3 months of 5%? That' seems like a silly incentive to retain you as a customer if it's not a long term retort to Apples offering or whomever else you might use a credit card with.

 

[chino-rican]

Apple Card will provide you cash back for ever. What's the point of the them handing you 3 months of 5%? That' seems like a silly incentive to retain you as a customer if it's not a long term retort to Apples offering or whomever else you might use a credit card with.

I know, pretty weak incentive. But they are probably hoping I forget in 3 months and just go back to earning 1%, which most customers will do.

 

[MacDaddyPanda]

I know, pretty weak incentive. But they are probably hoping I forget in 3 months and just go back to earning 1%, which most customers will do.

Yeah that makes sense. I guess you can just call them again in 3 months.

 

[danpass]

might as well

but ultimately the "up to x" part is where it goes sideways

 

[yanksfan114]

I recently called one of my credit cards to cancel. When they asked me why I was cancelling I told them that their 1% cash back (all purchases) wasn't cutting it anymore and I was going to apply for the Apple Card. They looked at my history and saw that I was an active user and longtime cardholder.
They ended up offering 5% cash back on all purchases. Additional 4% cash back on car rentals and airline ticket purchase, but not planning on spending on those for now. Of course, it is temporary for only 3 months, and the yearly total is capped at $300 back. But still, not bad while it lasts. I'll call back in 3 months and see if they'll extend it.

They just gave you, at most, $15 to stay a cardholder? Hardly an incentive really.

 

[JBGoode]

Why do you even need to cancel it? Just stop using it.

 

[Corsig]

Why do you even need to cancel it? Just stop using it.

Yeah. If you care about your credit score do not cancel the card simple put it in a drawer and not use it

 

[levander]

The Rewards on the Apple Card aren’t that great.

Currently Barclay’s has the Uber card that give you:
4% on restaurants
3% on hotels and airlines
2% on online purchases (including the online Apple Store - which is only 1% less than you get with Apple’s own card)
1% on everything else
$50 statement credit towards streaming services if you spend $5,000 in one year on the card.
$600 cell phone insurance (insures cellphone against damage & theft if you pay your cell phone bill with your Uber card)

But head to a site that reviews credit cards for a card that may be even better for you.

What the Apple Card seemed really good for to me is people who carry a balance in their credit card and don’t pay it off every month, the Apple Card supposedly has lower interest rates. Which is an interesting market niche. I’m surprised other companies haven’t tried to exploit it. Or maybe they have, and it didn’t work out for them... I don’t know.

But the Apple Card rewards seemed kind of nonsensical to me. Like even the 3% on buying from Apple Stores. Tht’s the biggest perk of this card and all it is is basically waiving the credit fees they would have collected if they weren’t offering the reward. It’s like if you use a different card, Apple has to pay ~3%. If you use their card they basically end up just not paying that 3%. They’re not reallly giving you anything.

 

[C DM]

The Rewards on the Apple Card aren’t that great.

Currently Barclay’s has the Uber card that give you:
4% on restaurants
3% on hotels and airlines
2% on online purchases (including the online Apple Store - which is only 1% less than you get with Apple’s own card)
1% on everything else
$50 statement credit towards streaming services if you spend $5,000 in one year on the card.
$600 cell phone insurance (insures cellphone against damage & theft if you pay your cell phone bill with your Uber card)

But head to a site that reviews credit cards for a card that may be even better for you.

What the Apple Card seemed really good for to me is people who carry a balance in their credit card and don’t pay it off every month, the Apple Card supposedly has lower interest rates. Which is an interesting market niche. I’m surprised other companies haven’t tried to exploit it. Or maybe they have, and it didn’t work out for them... I don’t know.

But the Apple Card rewards seemed kind of nonsensical to me. Like even the 3% on buying from Apple Stores. Tht’s the biggest perk of this card and all it is is basically waiving the credit fees they would have collected if they weren’t offering the reward. It’s like if you use a different card, Apple has to pay ~3%. If you use their card they basically end up just not paying that 3%. They’re not reallly giving you anything.

They are finding you 3% that you otherwise wouldn’t get. It doesn’t really matter what they might be saving or not saving, what matters to you as the consumer is what you are getting or not.

 

[levander]

They are finding you 3% that you otherwise wouldn’t get. It doesn’t really matter what they might be saving or not saving, what matters to you as the consumer is what you are getting or not.

The point was there are a lot of better deals as far as rewards go than the Apple Card. That’s why they’re not really giving you anything. Because if you look, it’s easy to find better deals for rewards.

And if you look t it from their perspective of what they’re giving up for the rewards, it really becomes clear they weren’t even trying to give you much of a deal.