Total Rewards Visa Card
Looks like a fantastic offer if I order the card but never use it.
I have 0 credit card debt and plan to keep it that way.
I read the fine print and everything looks good, no sign up cost and no annual fee.
Its a great deal because I get 2 buffet of buffet passes just for signing up.
Of course Rio and Bachanal buffets extra but those are always extra.
Also 10,000 reward points if I spend 750 bucks over 3 months but I doubt if I'll do it.
If I do, will pay it off immediately so I don't incur interest charges.
Is 10,000 reward points a lot?
I spoke to the rep, She said the buffet passes are just for signing up.
Maybe get the card, then get the passes, then cancel the card in a couple months.
Just doing this for the 2 free buffet passes,
Anybody else get this offer. Am I missing anything. Is this too good to be true.
Quote: terapinedJust got an offer in the mail for one of these.
Looks like a fantastic offer if I order the card but never use it.
I have 0 credit card debt and plan to keep it that way.
I read the fine print and everything looks good, no sign up cost and no annual fee.
Its a great deal because I get 2 buffet of buffet passes just for signing up.
Of course Rio and Bachanal buffets extra but those are always extra.
Also 10,000 reward points if I spend 750 bucks over 3 months but I doubt if I'll do it.
If I do, will pay it off immediately so I don't incur interest charges.
Is 10,000 reward points a lot?
I spoke to the rep, She said the buffet passes are just for signing up.
Maybe get the card, then get the passes, then cancel the card in a couple months.
Just doing this for the 2 free buffet passes,
Anybody else get this offer. Am I missing anything. Is this too good to be true.
10,000 Rewards Credits = $100 dollars to spend on food, rooms, etc. at any TR casino.
There is no downside other than the impact to your credit report, which will be small but extant. Basically anytime anyone runs a credit check on you, your credit score goes down slightly. Apparently applying for credit too often is a risk factor. This is a small component of your credit rating and is usually overshadowed by other behaviors good or bad.
As far as I can tell that's the only downside. I had the old TR Visa card but haven't bothered applying for the new one. The old one served me well but I found there were better reward programs out there since I can only "spend" those rewards at a TR casino (none very close to me). I may in fact apply for the new one just to get the buffet passes and maybe run the $750 to get the $100.
I am with you on credit cards. Useful tools that can be abused; not worth it if you risk carrying a balance and paying interest. I never run a balance but use the cards to get the cash back and for tracking my spending (via services like mint.com).
Quote: terapinedJust got an offer in the mail for one of these.
Looks like a fantastic offer if I order the card but never use it.
I have 0 credit card debt and plan to keep it that way.
I read the fine print and everything looks good, no sign up cost and no annual fee.
Its a great deal because I get 2 buffet of buffet passes just for signing up.
Of course Rio and Bachanal buffets extra but those are always extra.
Also 10,000 reward points if I spend 750 bucks over 3 months but I doubt if I'll do it.
If I do, will pay it off immediately so I don't incur interest charges.
Is 10,000 reward points a lot?
I spoke to the rep, She said the buffet passes are just for signing up.
Maybe get the card, then get the passes, then cancel the card in a couple months.
Just doing this for the 2 free buffet passes,
Anybody else get this offer. Am I missing anything. Is this too good to be true.
I also believe it gives you automatic upgrade to Platinum from Gold which eliminates resort fees for Caesar's properties. And I'm pretty sure you can eat at the giant buffet at the Rio, just not the smaller seafood buffet. And $100 for spending $750 is a free $100 for you.
Quote: AcesAndEights10,000 Rewards Credits = $100 dollars to spend on food, rooms, etc. at any TR casino.
There is no downside other than the impact to your credit report, which will be small but extant. Basically anytime anyone runs a credit check on you, your credit score goes down slightly. Apparently applying for credit too often is a risk factor. This is a small component of your credit rating and is usually overshadowed by other behaviors good or bad.
As far as I can tell that's the only downside. I had the old TR Visa card but haven't bothered applying for the new one. The old one served me well but I found there were better reward programs out there since I can only "spend" those rewards at a TR casino (none very close to me). I may in fact apply for the new one just to get the buffet passes and maybe run the $750 to get the $100.
I am with you on credit cards. Useful tools that can be abused; not worth it if you risk carrying a balance and paying interest. I never run a balance but use the cards to get the cash back and for tracking my spending (via services like mint.com).
There's a netting effect: the application results in an inquiry which has a small but negative effect, but the open and unused card should have a similarly positive effect. In addition to the inquiries, the amount of available unused credit is also a component of most scores.
I'm confused, why not use the card? Definitely don't carry a balance, but for $100 and 2% (or what ever the points-back rate is) why not take the free money?
The reason they give you these offers though is Visa is banking on you spending more than you should and they collecting the interest.
If you are responsible enough, collect the $100 in rewards and youor buffet's and off you go :)
Hopefully, this card has an automatic payment system (I always pay off my credit cards in full each month), so I don't have to jump through the hoops of logging in to an account and slicing my way through a jungle of pages just to pay the bill.
Quote: ThatDonGuyI went for it, mainly because I need another Visa card (I have a B&N Mastercard and a Discover as my two main "go to" cards), and the features plus no annual fee pretty much sold me. (United keeps sending me junk mail for its card, but the annual fee is, what, $75?)
Hopefully, this card has an automatic payment system (I always pay off my credit cards in full each month), so I don't have to jump through the hoops of logging in to an account and slicing my way through a jungle of pages just to pay the bill.
I don't think United, or maybe more accurately I don't think Chase, really understands what should be the market for that card. The annual fee is $95, I think. Holders get 1 free checked bag (for up to 2 people on the same reservation), 2 one-time-use club passes per year, and early boarding privileges. Except for the club passes, the card's benefits are worse than the frequent flier status benefits held by just about anyone who would ever want this card. I suppose the mileage plus miles accumulation has value, but nowhere near $95 worth...
They also offered a twenty dollar gift visa if you sign up for assure , it protects if you become unemployed and makes your minimum payments, I was led to believe if you carried no balance then no charge , which is wrong.When I got my second bill they charged my account a fee before I had a chance to pay off my balance so I called and they were nice and cancelled the assure and refunded the charges so all is good , and got to keep the gift card.
Their website is easy to use and pay your bill on , so no problem there. I would recommend it as long as you do not carry a balance .
Quote: rdw4potusI'm confused, why not use the card? Definitely don't carry a balance, but for $100 and 2% (or what ever the points-back rate is) why not take the free money?
The cash back rate is only 1% for normal purchases, and I have a Capital One that is 1.5% on all purchases, a Chase that is 2% on restaurants, and a Discover that has rolling 5% promotions. The TR card does have 2% on "airlines, gas and groceries," so if I were to sign up for it, I would use it for those things, as well as for the 5% at TR resorts.
Playing the CC rewards game can be a PITA if you really want to maximize your cash back and minimize/eliminate fees. Or you can just get one basic card that has reasonable rewards and stick to it.
I've decided that I'm going to hold off on signing up for this card, as I foresee a time in the future when I might lose my Platinum status. At that point I'll sign up and get the free upgrade.
Tell me about it. I signed for the AmEx Starwood card, and spent $5,000 on prepaid gift cards to get the 30,000 bonus points. I was able to cash out $2,500 of the gift cards before they locked my account. Now I'm screwed and can't get my money back. Flying too close to the sun...Quote: AcesAndEights
Playing the CC rewards game can be a PITA if you really want to maximize your cash back and minimize/eliminate fees. Or you can just get one basic card that has reasonable rewards and stick to it.
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From what I heard from other CET regulars and TR card holders is it is mainly used as a RC grind. 5x points per 1 dollar spent in a CET property. Also people have friends front them money and then use their card to buy their plane tickets, gas and groceries for 2x points. Stuff like that.
Doesn't seem bad for a card to pay off the balance every month. Also people like the instant Platinum. I think if they give Platinum and you already have it, they guarantee status for the following year. But like others have said in this thread better to know for sure when you are going to slip down to gold and then use that as an insurance policy.
I do have an offer from SW Air that involves a 95 annual fee, double miles on certain purchases and if you spend X amount in 1st 3 months, you get 50,000 miles which is good for 2 RT tickets to anywhere they fly. The APR is only 15% and slightly higher than my Capital One card. I went a little deeper and for those same 50,000 points, you can get 5 one way tickets, (to Vegas) through SW and airfare for 88 bucks at a different airlines. So for the same 50,000 miles + about 500 in cash, I could get 5 trips. I have until Christmas to decide. Of course once you set up your 2 RT tickets, or 5 one-way, you can pretty much cancel the card or transfer the balance to a different card.
My input is if you have cards with balances and know your credit score is good enough, get a card with 0% offer on balance transfers and new purchases. You'll likely save more money, like 20%, of what you owe on the interest if you generally have a monthly balance. Also, you're monthly payment will drop and you're be able to save a few more bucks.
Overall, I'd say keeping a good credit score is worth more than $120.00.
Quote: wrobersonThe interest rate is too high for me and I just got a new card.
I do have an offer from SW Air that involves a 95 annual fee, double miles on certain purchases and if you spend X amount in 1st 3 months, you get 50,000 miles which is good for 2 RT tickets to anywhere they fly. The APR is only 15% and slightly higher than my Capital One card. I went a little deeper and for those same 50,000 points, you can get 5 one way tickets, (to Vegas) through SW and airfare for 88 bucks at a different airlines. So for the same 50,000 miles + about 500 in cash, I could get 5 trips. I have until Christmas to decide. Of course once you set up your 2 RT tickets, or 5 one-way, you can pretty much cancel the card or transfer the balance to a different card.
My input is if you have cards with balances and know your credit score is good enough, get a card with 0% offer on balance transfers and new purchases. You'll likely save more money, like 20%, of what you owe on the interest if you generally have a monthly balance. Also, you're monthly payment will drop and you're be able to save a few more bucks.
Overall, I'd say keeping a good credit score is worth more than $120.00.
I hope you don't mind me asking but did you get the Southwest offer in the mail? My wife and I have a Jetblue card and because we live in Vegas we are thinking of getting a Southwest Card for the miles. I wonder if the offer is open to anyone who applies or would it be a mailer specific offer?
Thanks
I went to Vegas Caesars last Monday to check up on my rewards for signing up for the Visa.
The two 24 hr buffet of buffet passes were blacked out Christmas week. I was kind of disappointed but they are still redeemable. I just scheduled a late March Vegas trip so I will redeem them at that time.
Got upgraded from Gold to Platinum. Love it because I'm a low roller.
With Platinum status, I was able to decline the resort fee for my stay at Ballys. Of course no resort fee means no benefits of resort fee meaning no wifi. If I wanted Wi-Fi, which is included in the resort fee, I had to pay extra. So I simply used the free wifi at the poker room.
Platinum status at the Paris buffet, I was able to skip a real long long line and seated right away.
Platinum status at the Bachanal simply allows me to pay fast but I have to get in same line as the masses to be seated.
Total rewards will give me 10000 points, 100 dollars at Caesars, for spending 750 1st 3 months. Great deal, Where I normally spend cash such as at the grocery store, I used the Visa. It was easy to spend the 750 and I paid it right back so no interest charge.
In Vegas, the whole 750 I spent had not hit the credit card yet but a lot of it did. Caesars said I had 60 to spend on my Platinum. Cool, free money.
I spent the 60 on the Paris and Bachanal buffets paying the difference since both buffets total over 60, still a great deal.
I'll be in Vegas in March and I'm sure I'll have 40 more to spend at Caesars.
Overall, Extremely happy with this deal. I love the Paris buffet and it always has long lines. Now I can eat at this buffet anytime, no waiting.
I always keep a zero balance so spending 750, paying back 750 was so easy and I get a free 100 for doing this. Fantastic, free money. Aint this a great Country.
I highly recommend this card if you can keep a zero balance.
Bottom line is Caesars is gambling I will borrow and hold a balance that they can charge interest on.
Gamble lost baby. Love it. Don't you love it, the tables are turned, Caesars is gambling on me and losing :-)
Is it no annual fees if you spend a certain amount with the card annually, or just plain 0 fees?
Quote: teddysTell me about it. I signed for the AmEx Starwood card, and spent $5,000 on prepaid gift cards to get the 30,000 bonus points. I was able to cash out $2,500 of the gift cards before they locked my account. Now I'm screwed and can't get my money back. Flying too close to the sun...
I missed this when you posted, but what was the excuse given for the locking of the account?
Quote: rainyNice review. I'll probably grab the card, but I don't stay at Caesars properties all too much. Maybe my next Vegas trip.
Is it no annual fees if you spend a certain amount with the card annually, or just plain 0 fees?
No Fees.
Don't have to stay at Caesars, I'm staying downtown my next trip, simply use platinum status to jump the buffet line when I visit the strip
Can use the Caesars reward money for restaurants and Buffets at any Caesars property.
Who knows, maybe that big wheel will accept Caesars money. Don't see why not. All the establishments down that Linq alley should accept Caesars money.
Quote: Sabretom2Comenity Bank has an A+ rating with the BBB.
With all due respect, you can essentially buy and pay for an A+ rating with the BBB, it's meaningless.
Quote: Sabretom2I no longer use my Shell or Chevron cards. My TR card is now the only gas card for the wife and I (2x points). That's about 8000 points a year.
You must do a lot of driving.
If $1.00 spent = 1 reward credit then 8000 points would require you to spend $800,000.00 on gas!
Quote: FatGeezusYou must do a lot of driving.
If $1.00 spent = 1 reward credit then 8000 points would require you to spend $800,000.00 on gas!
Huh?
First of all, at one credit per $1 spent, that's only $8000 to get 8000 points.
Second, it's 2 credits per dollar for gasoline, so that's $4000 per year. Even if gas is only $3.20 a gallon, that's 1250 gallons; a car that gets 25 miles per gallon goes 31,250 miles, which is not unheard of - I used to put around 25,000 miles a year on my car, thanks to my 80-mile (round trip) daily commute.
Quote: FatGeezusYou must do a lot of driving.
If $1.00 spent = 1 reward credit then 8000 points would require you to spend $800,000.00 on gas!
Actually, I spend about $4000, 2x = about 8000 points.
OTOH, you've found the perfect "advice for the math challenged" site.
Quote: strictlyAPYou are one hundred percent right mission on one of my small business I have an a plus rating and it's 100 percent paid for
Any suggestions for a site to get an honest appraisal?
Quote: strictlyAPYou are one hundred percent right mission on one of my small business I have an a plus rating and it's 100 percent paid for
I don't, my rating with them sucks, and they can self-fornicate in a manner that is both rapid and forceful, as far as I am concerned.
Quote: Sabretom2Any suggestions for a site to get an honest appraisal?
That's amusing. Your only chance would be some site that is free for everyone, but even then, emotions will often dictate what people say, not objectively verifiable things. Furthermore, you can have plants, fake reviews that are people who worked there, also fake reviews (negative) from competitors.
It's worthless, the only opinions worth listening to are from people you actually know, or Internet forums, such as this, can give you a decent gauge.
Quote: strictlyAPYou are one hundred percent right mission on one of my small business I have an a plus rating and it's 100 percent paid for
On the same token I heard Yelp salesman are very aggressive to not only give stores a placement on the site but they also will promise to erase 1 star reviews or threaten to erase 5 star reviews for a hefty sum depending on the business they are dealing with.
Quote: Mission146That's amusing. Your only chance would be some site that is free for everyone, but even then, emotions will often dictate what people say, not objectively verifiable things. Furthermore, you can have plants, fake reviews that are people who worked there, also fake reviews (negative) from competitors.
It's worthless, the only opinions worth listening to are from people you actually know, or Internet forums, such as this, can give you a decent gauge.
All righty then, my personal experience with Comenity Bank has been nothing but positive.
Quote: Sabretom2All righty then, my personal experience with Comenity Bank has been nothing but positive.
so far, no problems. I bank online with BOA. I pay my bills online. When I went on my Visa total rewards website, I was hesitant to set up online payments giving Comenity Bank all my banking info. Instead I went thru my bank site, Unfortunetely Comenity bank was not listed in the multitude of credit card issueres. My BOA account allows to set up online payments to vendors not listed. So on my BOA account I set up a payment and hit send. I checked my Total Rewards Visa account couple of days later and Comenity got the payment.
one place I go to check out companies is ripoffreport.com
Quote: Sabretom2All righty then, my personal experience with Comenity Bank has been nothing but positive.
+1
they also service a ton of store credit cards.
I think most people complain about credit cards when they have been late.
Quote: Sabretom2Comenity Bank has an A+ rating with the BBB.
Here's the link with all the complaints about what poor service they give.
Quote: zippyboyHere's the link with all the complaints about what poor service they give.
A better trick would be to link us to a site with positive reviews for a credit card company.
It's like standing behind the guy at the ATM who is saying "MFers say I ain't got not money, bulls**t, I'm gonna go kick me some MFin a**"
I find their stubbornness very strange. All they had to do was lower the 27.99% to, say, 17.99%, and I never would have bothered to open the new account. They were unwilling to do that, but they were willing to give $200 and a competitive 13.99%. Huh? None of this makes any sense to me.
Despite this terrible customer service, I still got a good deal so I shouldn't be complaining. But the hoops I had to jump through were a silly waste of time, both for me and the bank employees who fielded my annoying phone calls.
No mention of "Platinum Tiered Status" and all its benefits.
No mention of double points earned on gasoline & groceries.
No mention of quintuple points earned at Total Rewards properties.
No mention of single points earned on all other purchases.
No mention of the 15% discount at gift shops.
No mention of 2 complimentary tickets on High Roller (or 1 free night in Atlantic City.)
They do acknowledge the free Buffet of Buffet pass, and the 10,000 bonus points upon spending $750, but it doesn't even attempt to explain what the 10,000 points can be redeemed for or why I'd want 10,000 points.
The executives at Caesars could benefit from taking a basic course in Marketing 101 at any community college in the United States.
These miles cashed out are worth up to $0.04 for US flights and $0.07 for international flights. So effectively 8-14% cash back.
Occasionally I sign up for a card just to get the perk, but usually end up finding it's wasn't worth the effort.
Now, I had earned my Platinum status in calendar year 2012, which I believe had me set for all of 2013. And I signed up for the TR Visa card in February 2014, so when I saw this line:
Quote:PLATINUM TIER STATUS - ASSURED
When you receive the Total Rewards Visa card, you will automatically receive an upgrade5 to Platinum Tier, or maintain your Platinum Tier status for the next year - providing you with an automatic 15% discount at casino gift shops, room discounts, and more!
I assumed that signing up for the card would get me Platinum status throughout 2014. Did I read it wrong, or am I being screwed over? Anyone else in the same boat? I know there is a reset on March 31, but if I got my "PLATINUM TIER STATUS - ASSURED" for literally 2 months (Feb - March, 2014), then I am going to be really pissed.
I do technically have a host with CET, so perhaps I will shoot her an email...something seems fishy here...especially with a trip coming up soon, I was looking forward to having my resort fees waived.
Quote: AcesAndEightsOkay, I just logged in to http://www.totalrewards.com/, and was disheartened to see that my tier is currently showing up as "GOLD"!
Now, I had earned my Platinum status in calendar year 2012, which I believe had me set for all of 2013. And I signed up for the TR Visa card in February, so when I saw this line:
I assumed that signing up for the card would get me Platinum status throughout 2014. Did I read it wrong, or am I being screwed over? Anyone else in the same boat? I know there is a reset on March 31, but if I got my "PLATINUM TIER STATUS - ASSURED" for literally 2 months (Feb - March, 2014), then I am going to be really pissed.
I do technically have a host with CET, so perhaps I will shoot her an email...something seems fishy here...especially with a trip coming up soon, I was looking forward to having my resort fees waived.
I'm guessing you had an overlap there, if you're talking Feb 2013 for signing up on the Visa. But definitely worth a call.
Quote: beachbumbabsI'm guessing you had an overlap there, if you're talking Feb 2013 for signing up on the Visa. But definitely worth a call.
When I got the Holiday Inn credit card (just so I could get their platinum elite status, or whatever it's called) it took several months before I got the status (which meant no bonus points on hotel stays between the time that I got the card and the automatic upgrade kicked in). I called them and was told, that's just how it works. I was not happy about it.
I'm not sure if this is something similar.
Quote: beachbumbabsI'm guessing you had an overlap there, if you're talking Feb 2013 for signing up on the Visa. But definitely worth a call.
No, I just signed up for the TR Visa February 2014 (a few months ago). Edited in my original post in case there was any confusion.
I did send an email to my host, so we'll see if she replies. It does say it can take "up to 30 days" to process your Platinum upgrade, but it's been well over that. If the 30 days was just way over-promising, and it's still in progress, that's fine as long as I get the damn status in time to waive the $90 in resort fees. More money to put toward my Love Cloud flight...
Quote: AcesAndEightsIt does say it can take "up to 30 days" to process your Platinum upgrade, but it's been well over that. If the 30 days was just way over-promising, and it's still in progress, that's fine as long as I get the damn status in time to waive the $90 in resort fees.
Let us know what happens. I'm curious to see how this story ends for you.
