Penfed credit card - why doesn't everyone have it

[KellyJef]

A friend just told me about a Visa card she has through Pentagon Federal Credit Union.

She says she gets 5% back on gas, 3% back on groceries, and 1.25% on the rest of her purchases.

That sounds too good to be true. Is it?

I have a Citi card right now, but am not really impressed with the cashback reward on it.

[sofocused978]

Discover does something similar. Every 3 months they do 5% on certain items. I just started taking advantage of it. Its been nice getting a 5% rebate on gas lately.

[savingmama]

A friend just told me about a Visa card she has through Pentagon Federal Credit Union.

She says she gets 5% back on gas, 3% back on groceries, and 1.25% on the rest of her purchases.

That sounds too good to be true. Is it?

I have a Citi card right now, but am not really impressed with the cashback reward on it.

It probably is true, but my guess is there are some strings attached such as you have to have a checking account and/ or savings account with the Credit Union. Also it may be something that they only have for a year and then they cut down on what you get. I have a citi card that originally was 5% back on groceries and gas and 1% on everything else; now it is only 2% back on groceries and gas and 1% on everything else.

If you are interested in the Penford card, find out more details. For me I am happy with the rewards I get and it is not worth opening another credit card, which can temporarily hurt your credit score.

[buzz]

A friend just told me about a Visa card she has through Pentagon Federal Credit Union.

She says she gets 5% back on gas, 3% back on groceries, and 1.25% on the rest of her purchases.

That sounds too good to be true. Is it?

I have a Citi card right now, but am not really impressed with the cashback reward on it.

Yep, it's too good to be true. Groceries only make 2% cashback.

[Ima saver]

I get 3% back on home improvement purchases and restaurants. That is where we spend a lot of money. (dh is a builder)

[dmontngrey]

More people are moving towards this card than you think. What's so great about it is that you don't have to wait to cash out your rewards. They are automatically credited each month. 5% gas, 2% grocery, 1.25% everything else.

I got this card a couple months ago and I find I am using it for more and more things. I'm still one of the lucky few that has the Chase 5% grocery, gas, pharmacy cards though. Once the Chase card goes, I think I'll switch to the PENFED card. I really like what I've seen from it so far.

You do just have to have a $5.00 share account with them if you qualify for membership. My brother is in the Army so I qualify - thanks bro!!
If not, you can join their association. Info on eligibility is here: https://www.penfed.org/howToJoin/overview.asp

[mladyd]

It's my favorite card. My whole family uses this as our primary gas card and I also use it for grocery shopping (pay it off in full each month of course) but I'll be switching my groceries over to Discover starting in October because of the 5% cashback.

[LivingAlmostLarge]

I have that with my citibank simplicity. 5% gas and pharmacy and groceries, 1% on everything else. Oh an no late fees. And it's cash back.

The card no longer exists because it was so great. Instead I got grandfathered in.

[KatieNK]

Discover does something similar. Every 3 months they do 5% on certain items. I just started taking advantage of it. Its been nice getting a 5% rebate on gas lately.

I have a Discover Card too but most of the time the 5% rewards are for purchases I hardly ever make like for home goods, clothes, etc. I only like it when they do gas and groceries. And in August they have hotels so I always put my vacay on that card (and pay off when we get back).

[kork13]

...........wow. shoot, that has nearly all the perks of all 3 of my cards in 1.... hmmmm..... i think i'm gonna have to look at changing over to this one. Would sure make things easier...

[Slug]

I've had the PenFed card since the begining of the year. It is all that it promises and the customer service is top notch. I will say that it is basically impossible to tell if you are getting the right rewards due to the way they are listed on your bill so if you really want to see it itemized, you're out of luck. Also, setting up autopayment took a bit of work beyond what I'm used to, but the autopay actually lets you pay the card after the due date with no penalty so you're always getting a little more free interest. Additionally, the reward is applied to that month's payment so you are never waiting to get the reward and you never have to pay attention to redeem it. This is a very good card. I did have to open the checking account which currently has $5.02 in it.

[loulou]

Thanks for the info about this card. And, oh, the timing! I logged in to PenFed today to check my mortgage balance and low and behold, a preapproval offer for their cc greeted me. I never would have looked at it without your heads up. Thanks again!

[disgruntable]

Looks like a pretty good deal. I ended up with the chase freedom card though. 3% back on your 3 highest spending categories. Gas and groceries are probably 2 of the 3 for me, but it changes month to month. I think rewards would have been fairly close. What sold me on the chase card was that I didn't have to join the credit union.

[vsjhoc]

Looks like a pretty good deal. I ended up with the chase freedom card though. 3% back on your 3 highest spending categories. Gas and groceries are probably 2 of the 3 for me, but it changes month to month. I think rewards would have been fairly close. What sold me on the chase card was that I didn't have to join the credit union.

Even better: once you have accumulated $200 in cash back (doesn't take that long if you charge everything during the month and pay in full), they give you $250. You can't beat getting an additional $50 cash back for free!

[vsjhoc]

I have a Discover Card too but most of the time the 5% rewards are for purchases I hardly ever make like for home goods, clothes, etc. I only like it when they do gas and groceries. And in August they have hotels so I always put my vacay on that card (and pay off when we get back).

You can ask Discover to switch you to a gas only rewards card. I did that a few years ago. Although they only pay 5% on the first $100 of gas per month.