Anyone else get a Chase Freedom credit card offer promising a $300 bonus?

[NickB79]

I'm trying to figure out what the catch is to this. Sign up for their Visa card and get 30,000 points on your account that is redeemable for $300. I already have a Visa, Discover and Mastercard that have similar deals, and since I have the financial discipline to stick to a budget and pay them off at the end of every month I can rack up hundreds of dollars a year on cash back.

Should I go for it or not? $300 would buy a lot of vegetable seeds and fruit tree seedlings for the garden next year!

[haele]

1. Is the $300 a "discount" on specific products rather than straight up cash?

I've seen a couple cards that have offered (sic) "... an initial 30,000 points to give you up to $300.00 cash back on purchases at authorized retailers, not to exceed 20% of any purchase..." As in, you will be able to get a discount on airline tickets and car rentals, or 20% off online purchase up to $300.00, etc....
Or the interest rate and annual fees are ridiculously high and they're betting you will go over your budget for emergencies enough times on those cards and then you get stuck with enough interest to have to pay at least twice of whatever it would cost them in cash back.

Just read all the fine print before you sign anything.

Haele

[Shagbark Hickory]

2. I don't quite understand what their offer is. Is it payable after you earn 30k points?

Is 30k points = $30k dollars?

The card I use for most purchases pays a 1% (2% for gas and grocery) and you can redeem it at any time for check or for a credit to your account. IF you only charge $1,000, then you've got $10 that you can redeem.

So if you charge 30k, then you have $300 waiting. But if you aren't going to rack up 30k in purchases anytime soon, you might as well pick a card that pays 1 pct or more as you rack it up.

Aside from what used to be more generous hotel and airfare related programs, I've not found a better offer when it comes to getting cash back for Visa/MC.

[sarge43]

3. If it's too good to be true, it probably isn't.

Banksters are not your friends.

[Frank Cannon]

4. A rule of thumb that applies 100% of the time when you can't figure the angle.

I don't know what the catch is, but you can bet it's buried in the tiny print somewhere.