Credit Card News: Chase Freedom, Advanta And Statefarm Gift Cards

Chase Freedom Card:
It seems, that as of June 30th, Chase Freedom will no longer be offering $250 when you reach $200 in spending, in essence cutting the cashback down from 1.25% to just 1%. Also, they will no longer offer 3% on your top spending categories (actually 3.75%). I currently use the Chase Freedom card for most of my non-Amex purchases. Perhaps now I will get the Charles Schwabb Visa, which offers a flat 2% cashback on all purchases.

Advanta:
Advanta is closing down! You won't be able to use their credit card anymore as of June 10th.
Lots of my readers have benefited from their 0% APR offers, so I figured I'll let you know its over. If you already have the card, you shouldn't have a problem waiting to pay back the money till the 15 months are up though.

Statefarm Gift Cards:

Oh well. It looks like Statefarm no longer accepts Citi cards when purchasing Statefarm gift cards. I wrote about how it's an easy way to spend the required $750 on Citi AA cards, without actually spending it. Now it seems that Statefarm caught on. So, the US Mint seems like the best place to spend that $750 for now.

My latest gift card purchase was interesting. I bought two $500 Statefarm gift cards on a Citi AA card. The charge went through for $1,009.90, then I was refunded twice $500. So I ended up being charged $9.90. Once the statement closed I was pleasantly surprised to see that the 25,000 signup bonus still posted, even though I only got 10 AA miles for the $10 charge.

It would be nice to know if other refunded purchases qualify for the $750 you need to spend before receiving the sign up bonus...

And once we're talking about Citicards: Be careful when you use your Citi card overseas, you will be charged an extra 3%, even if the actual charge is in US dollars.