Rebate, cash back and reward credit card advisor

The LendersRated.com Rebate Card Advisor
card (click link for website)	our rating*	hypothetical monthly rebate (HMR)	annual fee	intro APR for purchases	regular APR for purchases	balance transfer APR	grace period for purchases	maximum annual rebate	Rebate/cash reward details, simplified!*
Advanta Platinum Business Cash Reward	3	$19.25	$0	none	7.99% fixed	0% for 15 months	minimum 20 days	$300	5% cash back on business purchases of gasoline and diesel fuel, office supplies, electronics, utilities, computer equipment, cell phones and Internet services, and 1% on all other purchases. Max cash reward is $25 per billing cycle.
Advanta Platinum Business Points Reward	7	$7.19	$0	none	7.99% fixed	0% for 15 months	minimum 20 days	unlimited	1 point per $1 spent on business purchases good toward free travel, merchandise, gift cards, etc. "Redemption fee of $15 per ticket for airline travel rewards." "Free roundtrip coach and value capped airline tickets require a minimum 21-day advance purchase and Saturday night stay." No blackout dates.
Amex Business Green Rewards Card	10	$7.19	$95	n/a	n/a	n/a	none	unlimited	1 point per $1. Points are redeemable only for certain merchandise and hotels and 20 airlines. No annual fee for the first year and 5000 free rewards points.
Amex Rewards Green Card	7	$16.29	$65	n/a	n/a	n/a	none	unlimited	2 points per $1 at stand-alone supermarkets, gas stations, drugstores, the U.S. Postal Service (excluding bulk mail), or wireless phone bills. 1 point per $1 for others. "Transfer points into 11 frequent flyer programs -- 2 points for 1 airline mile with most programs." 5000 free rewards points when account is opened.
Amex Rewards Gold Card	9	$16.29	$90	n/a	n/a	n/a	none	unlimited	Reward is substantially the same as Amex Rewards Green Card above.
Amex Platinum Business Cash Rebate	9	$6.73	$0	0% for 6 months	variable with credit rating	7.99% for life of balance	25 days	unlimited	Rebate is 0.5% from $0 to $7500, 2.5% from $7500 to $15,000, and 1% for $15,000+. Double this scale on purchases from OPEN partners. OPEN partners are miscellaneous national brands. Incredibly, this information is not published on Amex's website, and the only way to get this exact payout breakdown is by calling Amex customer service and getting the information verbally or through snail mail. Rebate is credited once per year in Feb.
Amex Blue Cash for Business Rebate Card	9	$6.73	$0	0% for 6 months	variable with credit rating	7.99% for life of balance	25 days	unlimited	Reward is substantially the same as Amex Platinum Business Cash Rebate Card above.
Amex Blue Cash Rebate Card	10	$5.62	$0	0% for 6 months	variable with credit rating	7.99% for life of balance	20 days	$2925	1% cash reward up to $6500 per year in purchases from supermarkets, gas stations and drug stores. 0.5% cash reward up to $6500 per year in purchases elsewhere. 5% cash reward from $6500 to $50,000 per year in purchases from supermarkets, gas stations and drug stores. 1.5% cash reward from $6500 to $50,000 per year in purchases elsewhere.
AT&T Universal Cash Rewards (Discontinued as of June 30, 2006.)	2	$21.89	$0	none	11.24% variable	0% for 12 months	minimum 20 days	$300	5% cash back on purchases made at supermarkets, drugstores and gas stations, and eligible AT&T consumer products/services. 1% cash back on all other purchases.
Chase Business Card with Premier Cash Rebate	5	$13.39	$0	0% for 12 months	13.74% variable	0% for 12 months	minimum 20 days	see details -->	3% Cash Back for purchases at restaurants; gas stations; and office supply, building supply, hardware, and home improvement stores. 1% for other purchases. Redeem in increments of $50. Maximum monthly rebate from the 3% type of purchases is 4000 points (equal to $133,333 in purchases). No monthly limit for the 1% type of purchases.
Chase Home Improvement Rewards Card	10	$9.19	$0	0% for 12 months	13.74% variable	0% for 12 months	minimum 20 days	see details -->	3 points per $1 on "purchases made at retail establishments classified by the retailer to Visa and MasterCard as being a home supply warehouse store; a lumber/building supply store; a glass/paint/wallpaper store; or a hardware store." Get 1 point per $1 on other types of purchases. Points are redeemable only at miscellaneous, national stores. Max annual rebate is 30,000 points on home improvement purchases and 60,000 on other types of purchases.
Chase Flexible Rewards Visa	8	$7.69	$0	0% for 12 months	variable with credit rating	0% for 12 months	minimum 20 days	60,000 points	Get 1 point per $1 charged. We called Chase customer service on 5-2-2006 and verified that online terms do not specify that you can redeem 2500 points for $25 cash reward. For 25,000 points you can also choose a free round trip coach airline ticket on any major U.S. airline with no blackout dates, or redeem your points for hotel night stays or car rentals. They charge a fee of $14.95 to redeem miles for travel.
Chase Free Cash Rewards Platinum Visa	8	$7.69	$0	0% for 12 months	variable with credit rating	0% for 12 months	minimum 20 days	60,000 points	Get 1 point per $1 charged. Redeem in increments of $25. Get a credit of 1000 points ($10) after first purchase.
Chase Perfectcard Platinum MasterCard	7	$9.49	$0	0% for 12 months	13.24% variable	0% for 12 months	minimum 20 days	$180 for gas; unlimited otherwise	"Earn a 6% Rebate on all gas at any station for the first 90 days account is open; 3% Rebate on all gas after that; 1% Rebate on all other purchases." The Chase website had no information on max rewards, so on 5-2-2006 LendersRated.com called Chase customer service. Gas rebates are capped at $15 per month (equal to $500 of purchases at 3%). No caps on the 1% purchase rebate.
CitiBusiness Card with ThankYou Network	10	$1.50	$0	none	12.74% variable	0% for 12 months	minimum 20 days	100,000 points	Earn 3 points per $1 on business purchases and 1 point per $1 for other purchases. Business purchases "are defined as stand-alone merchants that primarily sell stationery and office supplies for business consumption. Professional services are defined as stand-alone tax preparation, accounting, bookkeeping, and legal services providers that provide their respective services to businesses." Points redeemable only within their ThankYou points network, which are miscellaneous, national stores and brands. Points have varying value depending on what buy with them. Receive 10,000 ThankYou Points after your first purchase, redeemable for a $100 Gift Card.
Citi Diamond Preferred Rewards	8	$21.89	$0	none	12.74% variable	0% for 12 months	minimum 20 days	75,000 points	5 ThankYou Points per $1 at supermarkets, drugstores and gas stations and one ThankYou Point per $1 on all other purchases. Points redeemable only within their ThankYou points network, which are miscellaneous, national stores and brands. Points have varying value depending on what buy with them. 5000 ThankYou points upon approval.
Citi Professional Cash Card	7	$10.39	$0	none	13.74% variable	0% for 9 months	minimum 20 days	$500	3% cash back on purchases for auto rentals, restaurants, gas stations and certain office supply merchants. Earn 1% cash back on other purchases.
Citi Dividend Platinum Select	6	$13.29	$0	none	17.74% variable	0% for 12 months	minimum 20 days	$300	5% cash back on purchases for auto rentals, at restaurants, gas stations and certain office supply merchants. Earn 1% cash back on other purchases.
Citi Driver's Edge Platinum Select	4	$14.79	$0	none	13.74% variable	0% for 12 months	minimum 20 days	$1,000	6% rebates on purchases at supermarkets, drugstores and gas stations for 12 months; 3% after that. Our HMR is calculated only on the permanent, 3% rebate. Earn 1% rebates on other purchases.
Citi Home Rebate Platinum Select	7	$7.69	$0	none	11.74% variable	0% for 12 months	minimum 20 days	unlimited	For first 12 months, 6% rebate per $1 spent on (1) Telecom Services (2) Computer Network/Information Services (3) Cable, Satellite and other Pay TV and Radio Services and (4) Utilities and a 1% rebate per $1 you spend on all other purchases. After 12 months, 1% rebate. Our HMR is calculated only on the permanent, 1% rebate. Rebate is applied directly to your mortgage principle.
Discover Small Business
Discover Platinum Card	4	$14.57	$0	0% for 12 months	11.24% to 18.24%	0% for 12 months	25 days	unlimited	1% of each purchase made after your total amount of purchases exceeds $3,000; your first $1,500 in purchases earn .25% and your second $1,500 in purchases earn .50%. Purchases made at select warehouse clubs, discount stores and their affiliates earn .25%. Some merchants don't accept Discover.
Discover Platinum Gas Card	2	$19.07	$0	0% for 12 months	11.24% to 18.24%	0% for 12 months	25 days	unlimited	5% on your first $1,200 in gas purchases. Gas purchases in excess of $1,200 earn Cashback at the same rate as other purchases. In addition, earn a full 1% on other purchases in excess of $3,000; your first $1,500 in other purchases earn .25% and your second $1,500 in other purchases earn .50%. Some merchants don't accept Discover.
Discover Platinum Miles Card	9	$7.69	$0	0% for 12 months	11.24% to 18.24%	0% for 12 months	25 days	60,000 miles	"Earn one Mile for each dollar in purchases, subject to a maximum of 60,000 Miles per account each year. Air travel rewards start at $100 travel credit for 10,000 Miles. Certain air travel rewards are subject to Maximum Values (“MV”), including: round trip airline ticket within 48 contiguous United States, 25,000 Miles/$500 MV; round trip international airline ticket to Canada, Caribbean, Mexico, 30,000 Miles/$650 MV. Maximum Values include all taxes and destination fees. Round trip coach tickets require a Saturday night stay and twenty-one days advance notice. Other restrictions apply." Some merchants don't accept Discover.
GM Card	7	$38.45	$0	0% for 12 months	12.74% variable	0% for 12 months	minimum 20 days	unlimited	5% on purchases toward the purchase or lease of a new GM car, truck or SUV.
GM FlexCard	9	$7.69	$0	0% for 12 months	12.74% variable	0% for 12 months	minimum 20 days	unlimited	1% on all purchases, redeemable in $100 increments. "When you redeem your Earnings toward the retail purchase or lease of an eligible, new GM car, truck or SUV, your available Earnings are valued at a rate of three times the 1% Base Earnings rate."
	* rating scale of 1 to 10; lower is better. We took into account several criteria, the most significant being, in order, the HMR (third column above), max. annual rebate, limitations on ways to spend the rewards (detailed in the last column on the right), and annual fee.								* Our usage of "quotes" in this column indicates we are directly quoting a card issuer's written statements from its website. However, such still may not be a part of the card's Terms and Conditions.

Hypothetical Monthly Purchases Below are the hypothetical monthly purchases (HMP) used in the calculation in the HMR column above. Your own numbers here probably will be different, and if so, the results in the HMR column may be radically different. You can order a copy of the source of this entire LendersRated.com Rebate Credit Card Advisor (a spreadsheet in Excel format) for $10. Email us at rebatecardadvisor (at) comforta dot net for payment instructions. This will allow you to input your own data, which will automatically update the results in the HMR column. This will show you which card is best for your types of purchases. Note that the HMP are only the items that you could charge with a credit card. Some merchants (such as some utilities and services) may not accept the rebate card or any credit card.
gasoline					$90
grocery					265
restaurants					50
supplies					50
computer equipment					0
airline, hotel and car rental (averaged per month)					25
car insurance (averaged per month)					115
electrical bill					44
wireless/cell phone					50
internet service					30
USPS purchases					50

Find an error? Tell us and we will send you the LendersRated.com Rebate Credit Card Advisor spreadsheet FREE. Email us at rebatecardadvisor (at) comforta dot net. You must include either the URL (web address) or a scan of the card company's correct information. We have made every effort to provide accurate information herein as of 8/1/2006. However, no warranty is made for this information regarding the accuracy, completeness, merchantability, nor fitness for a particular purpose. Many other card conditions apply in addition to those listed here, of course. Trademarks are property of their respective owners. Look what happened now...studying all this financial mumbo-jumbo-speak really got to us!

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