I was updating my monthly finances when I realized that I have a lot of rewards points on my Chase credit card. I use rewards cards to earn cash back on purchases, and since it takes a while to accumulate enough points for something meaningful I don't usually think about them, but the balance caught my eye and I was taken aback.
I prefer cash back, as opposed to miles or gift cards or some other reward, because cash is useful for every transaction and it's usually clear what you're getting for your points. My Chase card is a 100 points to 1 dollar conversion, so it's very simple. My USAA card is a bit trickier because if you convert a small point balance, you don't get as much. For small balances it's a 100:0.83 ratio. You need 20000pts for it to be a 100:1 conversion. I'm not quite to 20000pts at USAA yet, which is another reason I've been ignoring the point balance for so long. When I went to convert my Chase points to cash I checked out the other deals on their rewards site as well, but all the rewards were the same point to dollar value, so I'm taking the cash.
If you're not using a rewards type credit card I highly recommend it. It's like finding several hundred dollar bills in your pocket you didn't know you had.
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