Paypal Credit Card
This credit card doesn’t get a lot of attention, but there’s a credit card from eBay and Paypal which offers 3 points on gas and restaurant purchases, 2 points on eBay and Paypal purchases, and one point on all other purchases. Each point is worth 5/6 of a penny, making it 2.5% on gas and restaurants, 1.66% on eBay and Paypal, and .83% on all other purchases.
This could be a decent card for gas and restaurant purchases, though there are lots of options which would be better, see Best Gas Credit Cards, and Best Credit Cards for Restaurant Spend.
Annual Cap
Anyway, I’m very active on my Paypal account, and I use this card for various reasons. The issue for me has been that there’s a cap of 50,000 points which can be earned per year, which would be only $13,333 of gas and restaurant spend, or $25,000 of Paypal/eBay spend.
The question arises: Is the cap based on the calendar year or the card-anniversary year?
The Terms and Conditions indicate that it’s dependent on the card-anniversary year:
The maximum amount of Reward Points Cardholders can accumulate in a Card Year is 50,000.
However, when I maxed out my 50,000 points, they indicated on my credit card statement that it’s dependent on the calendar year. Here’s a screenshot:
Since a new calendar year just started, I was able to verify that the reset is based on the calendar year. On my statement which cut on January 14, I began earning rewards again, despite having maxed out rewards in 2014.
Additionally, the purchase I made was actually made in December 2014, yet I earned rewards on it. This indicates that the annual cap on rewards is dependent on the post-date, not on the purchase date. Since the rewards posted in 2015, I was able to earn rewards as part of my 2015 year.
More Details
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Michael, I must be a noob. Can you please explain how you get 4% cashback at Grocery Stores, Gas Stations and Drug Stores using a paypal account? Thank you for your help.
Brad, I’m not sure if further explanation will not cause more uproar from those who are protective of deals like this. But I know I can’t stop anyone from giving explanation short of a circles and arrows technique, if they want to. What I’m sure though, is some groups reading will definitely throw a fit all because they consider this as their guarded secret that others are not suppose to know.
I have to agree with William, there must be that balance in just giving basic info and killing deals instantly. Paypal, it itself, is not MS friendly so I understand why many of those who know techniques to milk it want to keep it to themselves or their discussion board.
Barb,
I appreciate the thoughtful response and not attacking my ignorance. I figured Michael was referring to a MS technique…I just didn’t realize that Paypal sells reload cards at grocery stores. They aren’t available in my area and had never seen them before. Neat trick….and per your concern, I hope Paypal doesn’t shut Michael down.
With that said, it is a shame that there are people out there who abuse MS tactics well past getting a credit card bonus, etc. but actually try to make a living off of it. It is people like this who criticize bloggers like William for revealing too much when in reality he’s doing people like myself a favor who do not have the time to figure these things out myself. It is people like William who let me “earn”/”save” a few extra bucks a month and/or get a little bit closer to earning a free trip somewhere with no effort (i.e. use the right credit card)
Fellow readers can criticize me for being lazy and relying on blogs like this rather than trying to figure it out myself, but to me it’s just a hobby or a game, not a way to make a living. If one of these “tricks” get shut down or curtailed, then I just say “Oh well” and move on. More telling to me is that a financial institution or retailer feels the need to shut something down because a few bad/greedy apples ruin it for EVERYONE is sad in itself. Or that people think that these tricks should be kept a secret so their nefarious habits do not get over-exposed. (Really? You don’t think the banks have thought of these ideas already?)
William and Chuck, thanks for the excellent work and well-written articles…I will continue to support your site with clickthrus whenever I can.
Thanks
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Hater going to hate.
Where is the question of hate here? I was expressing my concern when it comes to paypal. I am not sure if you have dealt with them before. I was one of those who was awed by Chuck’s post on gift cards. That was an excellent user guide. I have witnessed the growth of this site from its start. This post has some issues which i am not prepared to discuss openly in a blog. That is all. Nothing more. Nothing less.
Hey Kumar,
Me & Chuck are both pretty open to how things can be improved on the site. I thought Chuck did a pretty good job on this post not outing anything too obvious, but as always we’re open to ways things could be improved. I know you don’t want to discuss things publicly in the comments, but you can always get in touch with me at [email protected]. We want to fine the right balance between providing value and not killing deals, we’re still trying to find that balance but I think we’re doing a pretty good job.
With all due respect, there doesn’t appear to be anything overly sensitive in this post. Anyone who isn’t already getting 4% back using Paypal via GGD is a noob.
Name calling doesn’t help anybody, let’s keep things respectful. Kumar is more than entitled to his opinions, as are you. Let’s make the comments section as open and welcoming as possible so people actually comment & contribute.
Unnecessary blog post which might call for unwarranted attention. Certain things are better not to be blogged about.
I don’t see why, but I respect your opinion.