Penfed 5% gas cash back card - ending?

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boggler
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Penfed 5% gas cash back card - ending?

Post by boggler »

I have the Penfed 5% cash back card for gas purchases. I checked my most recent statement and am still getting the benefit, but everyone says the program has ended and the show is over. Does anyone know what the true status is or when this might come to an end?

Thanks.
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runner9
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Re: Penfed 5% gas cash back card - ending?

Post by runner9 »

As far as I know the 0.25% on everything else ended, but 5% stayed if you have a mortgage or at least 1K in savings/cd there.
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boggler
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Re: Penfed 5% gas cash back card - ending?

Post by boggler »

runner9 wrote:As far as I know the 0.25% on everything else ended, but 5% stayed if you have a mortgage or at least 1K in savings/cd there.
I have neither but it still seems to be working as of the most recent statement. Anyone else with a similar experience or any idea what's going on?
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runner9
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Re: Penfed 5% gas cash back card - ending?

Post by runner9 »

You could try reading through this thread:

http://www.bogleheads.org/forum/viewtop ... 2&t=122628

Or this chart from PenFed:

https://www.penfed.org/Platinum-Cash-Rewards/

The chart makes no mention of the 0.25% back
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mickeyd
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Re: Penfed 5% gas cash back card - ending?

Post by mickeyd »

My USAA MC is granting a 5% bonus for gas purchases in 2014 so I have designated that as my CC of choice for the year for those purchases. I notice that my DC is also passing out 5% rebates for the first quarter of the year also. I don't use that much gasoline anyway.
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G-Force
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Re: Penfed 5% gas cash back card - ending?

Post by G-Force »

I think the "show being over" is a dramatic interpretation of the reduction in rewards over time and the current reduced rewards compared to what the card was a few years ago. As far as I know, the 5% gas will still remain as long as you have a qualifying product at Penfed.
Radman
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Re: Penfed 5% gas cash back card - ending?

Post by Radman »

Keep in mind a 25 dollar minimum deposit in a money market account is a qualifying product. I opened one and am still earning 5%.
takeshi
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Re: Penfed 5% gas cash back card - ending?

Post by takeshi »

boggler wrote:Does anyone know what the true status is or when this might come to an end?
Best available info that we have is on PenFed's site. Link was posted in a prior reply.
guitarguy
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Re: Penfed 5% gas cash back card - ending?

Post by guitarguy »

Radman wrote:Keep in mind a 25 dollar minimum deposit in a money market account is a qualifying product. I opened one and am still earning 5%.
I thought I read somewhere in the fine print that you needed a $1k minimum in a CD to keep the 5% rolling in...if this is true...I must've missed it. I coughed up $1k and threw it in a 2-yr CD to keep the 5%. Well worth it.

Regardless...the 5% may be still in the final stages of being removed for those that will no longer qualify...
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Re: Penfed 5% gas cash back card - ending?

Post by Radman »

guitarguy wrote:
Radman wrote:Keep in mind a 25 dollar minimum deposit in a money market account is a qualifying product. I opened one and am still earning 5%.
I thought I read somewhere in the fine print that you needed a $1k minimum in a CD to keep the 5% rolling in...if this is true...I must've missed it. I coughed up $1k and threw it in a 2-yr CD to keep the 5%. Well worth it.

Regardless...the 5% may be still in the final stages of being removed for those that will no longer qualify...
Initially it was mortgage, car loan, or other banking product like cd. I think after some negative feedback they expanded the qualifying products to include money market accounts, no matter what the balance.
Geist
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Re: Penfed 5% gas cash back card - ending?

Post by Geist »

mickeyd wrote:My USAA MC is granting a 5% bonus for gas purchases in 2014 so I have designated that as my CC of choice for the year for those purchases. I notice that my DC is also passing out 5% rebates for the first quarter of the year also. I don't use that much gasoline anyway.
Say-wha-huh??? :?:

I haven't seen/heard anything about this -- any detail or additional info/links?

Disappointing about the direction PenFed is going with their reward cards... I may finally have to move & find something else.
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mickeyd
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Re: Penfed 5% gas cash back card - ending?

Post by mickeyd »

Say-wha-huh???

I haven't seen/heard anything about this -- any detail or additional info/links?

Which are you refering to MC or DC? USAA (MC) sent me a letter in Nov 2013, said I had to agree by 12/15. I was directed to the USAA web site and had to click "my offers". In small print it said "Offer good for account number ending in XXXX." DC probably sent me an email, but I don't recall. Could have been part of their regular cash-back program.
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maroon
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Re: Penfed 5% gas cash back card - ending?

Post by maroon »

Right now on my Penfed card I'm earning 5% cash back on gas, 0% cash back on everything else. I do *not* have a "qualifying product" unless the ~ $5 in my regular account counts. Not sure what the deal is.
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Re: Penfed 5% gas cash back card - ending?

Post by THY4373 »

maroon wrote:Right now on my Penfed card I'm earning 5% cash back on gas, 0% cash back on everything else. I do *not* have a "qualifying product" unless the ~ $5 in my regular account counts. Not sure what the deal is.
PenFed has two similar but different products which causes no end of confusion in these discussions. There is PenFed Platinum Rewards which gives you rewards in the form of points that can be used to redeem for gift cards (including Visa giftcards). The points were devalued in August or September of 2013 and since that time their rewards have effectively been less than advertised. There is also the PenFed Cash Rewards Visa which gives you cashback on your statement and this card I believe is cashback only on gas. The conversation in this thread is about the first card and you appear to have the second card. That said the second card, the one you have, is also subject to some changes (I suggest you check it out).

Personally I have sock drawered my PenFed card (if I hadn't had it so long I would probably cancel) they handled the point devaluation so badly that just on principle alone I wasn't going to give them anymore credit card business and in any case I got better cards for my various purchases.
Last edited by THY4373 on Wed Jan 15, 2014 7:53 am, edited 1 time in total.
guitarguy
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Re: Penfed 5% gas cash back card - ending?

Post by guitarguy »

THY4373 wrote:
maroon wrote:Right now on my Penfed card I'm earning 5% cash back on gas, 0% cash back on everything else. I do *not* have a "qualifying product" unless the ~ $5 in my regular account counts. Not sure what the deal is.
PenFed has two similar but different products which causes no end of confusion in this discussions. There is PenFed Platinum Rewards which gives you rewards in the form of points that can be used to redeem for gift cards (including Visa giftcards). The points were devalued in August or September of 2013 and since that time their rewards have effectively been less than advertised. There is also the PenFed Cash Rewards Visa which gives you cashback on your statement and this card I believe is cashback only on gas. The conversation in this thread is about the first card and you appear to have the second card. That said the second card, the one you have, is also subject to some changes (I suggest you check it out).

Personally I have sock drawered my PenFed card (if I hadn't had it so long I would probably cancel) they handled the point devaluation so badly that just on principle alone I wasn't going to give them anymore credit card business and in any case I got better cards for my various purchases.
Is it?

I suspect PenFed just hasn't fully pulled the trigger on slashing the rewards for those that don't have qualifying products yet...
THY4373
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Re: Penfed 5% gas cash back card - ending?

Post by THY4373 »

guitarguy wrote: Is it?

I suspect PenFed just hasn't fully pulled the trigger on slashing the rewards for those that don't have qualifying products yet...
You are right this did start about the Cash Rewards card (aka the second one I mentioned--one of the links went to the points reward card discussion which confused me). And yes I agree the days of both of these cards appear to be numbered perhaps eventually even for those with qualifying products, that is why I quit using mine last fall. I just changed to other cards which offered me similar rewards.
snapwa
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Re: Penfed 5% gas cash back card - ending?

Post by snapwa »

Geist wrote:
mickeyd wrote:My USAA MC is granting a 5% bonus for gas purchases in 2014 so I have designated that as my CC of choice for the year for those purchases. I notice that my DC is also passing out 5% rebates for the first quarter of the year also. I don't use that much gasoline anyway.
Say-wha-huh??? :?:

I haven't seen/heard anything about this -- any detail or additional info/links?

Disappointing about the direction PenFed is going with their reward cards... I may finally have to move & find something else.

I can confirm this USAA deal as well - it was an opt-in type deal on the website for me. 5% cash back on gas purchases for an entire year on my USAA Cash Rewards World Mastercard!
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SteelyEyed
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Re: Penfed 5% gas cash back card - ending?

Post by SteelyEyed »

snapwa wrote:
Geist wrote:
mickeyd wrote:My USAA MC is granting a 5% bonus for gas purchases in 2014 so I have designated that as my CC of choice for the year for those purchases. I notice that my DC is also passing out 5% rebates for the first quarter of the year also. I don't use that much gasoline anyway.
Say-wha-huh??? :?:

I haven't seen/heard anything about this -- any detail or additional info/links?

Disappointing about the direction PenFed is going with their reward cards... I may finally have to move & find something else.
I can confirm this USAA deal as well - it was an opt-in type deal on the website for me. 5% cash back on gas purchases for an entire year on my USAA Cash Rewards World Mastercard!
The USAA MC offer that I got was for 5% off on the first $150 of gas purchases each month for a year. I guess it depends on your commute. This will cover my first week of each month, but I'm not sure that I want to keep track.
Geist
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Re: Penfed 5% gas cash back card - ending?

Post by Geist »

snapwa wrote:
Geist wrote:
mickeyd wrote:My USAA MC is granting a 5% bonus for gas purchases in 2014 so I have designated that as my CC of choice for the year for those purchases. I notice that my DC is also passing out 5% rebates for the first quarter of the year also. I don't use that much gasoline anyway.
Say-wha-huh??? :?:

I haven't seen/heard anything about this -- any detail or additional info/links?

Disappointing about the direction PenFed is going with their reward cards... I may finally have to move & find something else.

I can confirm this USAA deal as well - it was an opt-in type deal on the website for me. 5% cash back on gas purchases for an entire year on my USAA Cash Rewards World Mastercard!
Darn... I guess I must have missed the "opt-in" period, I don't see it available there for me. That would have been clutch! oh well... back to exploring my options... lol
snapwa
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Re: Penfed 5% gas cash back card - ending?

Post by snapwa »

I can confirm this USAA deal as well - it was an opt-in type deal on the website for me. 5% cash back on gas purchases for an entire year on my USAA Cash Rewards World Mastercard![/quote]
Darn... I guess I must have missed the "opt-in" period, I don't see it available there for me. That would have been clutch! oh well... back to exploring my options... lol[/quote]

Bummer, yeah I've found USAA has some nice perks every so often, but you've definitely got to search around a little bit on your account to find them. And SteelyEyed is correct, it's 5% on the first $150.00 of gas per month.
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modal
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Re: Penfed 5% gas cash back card - ending?

Post by modal »

If you don't intend on meeting the requirements to keep getting the 5%, you may want to look at the Sallie Mae Mastercard, which gives 5% every month on gas purchases up to $250. Once you reach the monthly limit, the cashback rate drops to 1%.

https://www.salliemae.com/credit-cards/sallie-mae-card/
5% at Gas Stations, Grocery Stores, and Bookstores (monthly limts of $250, $250, and $750)
1% Everything Else
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