New 1st Quarter 2011 5% Rotating Cash Rewards Credit Cards

It’s time for the 1st quarter 2011 cash rewards credit cards bonuses. My favorite credit cards now offer cash back on a rotating quarterly schedule, so each quarter I’ll remind you which ones we should be using!

Today is the day to switch out the old 4th Quarter 5% Rewards and maximize your cash rewards for 1st quarter 2011 to make sure you have the right cards, you are signed up for the 5% promotions, and you know where to use them.

1st Quarter 2011 5% Cash Rewards Credit Cards

Chase Freedom. My Chase Freedom card was my favorite card at the end of the year with the grocery store and department store bonuses. I can’t tell you how happy I am that the Chase Freedom 2011 reward kept the groceries! The 1st quarter 2011 Chase Freedom 5% categories are:

• Grocery Stores
• Drugstores

Discover More. The Discover 5% cash back on restaurants will continue for the 1st quarter 2011 rewards. Discover has two different bonuses this quarter; bonuses that last all quarter, and special bonuses good for one month only. The 1st quarter 2011 Discover More 5% categories are:

• Restaurants
• Travel
• Grocery and Drugstores (March only)

Gas Purchases. None of the rotating cards are offering 5% on gas during the 1st quarter, so I will continue to use the TrueEarnings Card from Costco and American Express for gas at 3% (4% for businesses) or the Pen Fed Platinum VISA with 5% for pay at the pump gas purchases.

Target Purchases. Target purchases will keep going on the Target 5% discount credit card, which I love!

Everything Else. All other purchases will continue to go on the Schwab credit card or Fidelity Credit Card for 2% cash back.

How to Get Your 5% Cash Back

As a reminder, here’s my checklist for rotating cash back programs:

1. Sign up for all of the new quarterly cash back programs, even if you don’t know if you’ll use that card. To sign up, just log in to your account online and select the 1st quarter 2011 5% cash back information. In order to earn the 5%, you have to enroll in each program quarterly.
2. Write which categories to use each card for using a marker on the front of the card. It works really well to keep the cards straight!

Sign Up Bonus Offers

If you don’t have the 5% cash rewards cards I’m using, you can sign up for them and get the $100 sign up bonus offers too:

• Chase Freedom $100 Sign Up Bonus
• Discover $100 Sign Up Bonus

If you're looking for a new credit card, be sure to check out our credit card directory!

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