What’s Your Reward?

Have you noticed that every credit card, bank card, gas card…is offering rewards points these days? And I’m reward tracker #1. Let’s see, I’ve garnered gift cards for Babies ‘R Us, Red Lobster, Chili’s, Starbucks, BP gas and a few others. Of course, they’ve only ranged from $10 to $25 in value on average, maybe $50 once or twice. I haven’t even tried for anything beyond the gift cards because you’ve got to spend about a million dollars to earn a decent prize. That’s why I haven’t made it past the $50 mark. Don’t have the time or the patience. “Ooh, I get a whole $25 for spending $2,500 over the past six months? I’ll take it!” Call me simple, but I’ll take mine now. I may not live to see the 50,000-point trip to Hawaii.

So, what’s the best thing you’ve ever traded in your points for to date? Maybe I’m missing out on something after all. Of course, it has dawned on me that it’s much cheaper just to go out and buy my own reward. It’s kind of like when you go to the amusement park or boardwalk and spend $40 trying to win a $10 stuffed animal or toy. Then again, I figure as long as I’m using the card(s) (which I haven’t been so much lately), I might as well get something else out of it. But maybe it’s time to renegotiate our rewards, America! How about an even lower annual fee, or elimination of surcharges? What, no go? Okay, I might even be willing to take a toaster for now. In the meantime, $10 gas card, here I come….