World of Warcraft Visa Card

Should I Sign Up for the WoW Visa Card?

  • Do it!

    Votes: 10 14.9%

  • Don't do it!

    Votes: 57 85.1%
  • Total voters
    67
  • Poll closed .
0

014

Limp Gawd
Joined
Nov 6, 2010
Messages
193
Do any of you have this? I am tempted. I don't use my credit much. The only thing I use it for is for business trips that I expense. I'd say I'm pretty good at avoiding interest.

My daughter and I started playing WoW trial accounts. I already have a different account with a couple 50+ characters, but this way we could play for free. Well, we like it! But I don't want to subscribe because there are a lot of other PC games I play, and I don't ever want to feel like I wasted $15 one month... or feel obligated to play, if you know what I mean.

This sounds sort of risky, but I know my boss does the same thing with a rewards card and he makes it work well. With his, he gets a check every year that's hundreds of dollars. Anyway, I have the idea that I could pay my mortgage and a vehicle payment with the WoW card, and that would give me free WoW play every month. A second, less risky option, is I could use it to expense my business trips. I wouldn't get every month free, but every business trip I go on, I'd get a free month to play WoW -- kinda cool. I'd only get 2-3 months free that way though.

Have any of you done what I put in bold above with reward type credit cards? I am looking for advice like, "Stay away from that. It's too troublesome." Or, "I've been using it without issue and have been able to avoid interest charges by paying off the balance every month on time."

If it all worked as planned, it would be a pretty sweet gig. Right?
 
wouldnt u get enough moneyback from normal cc to pay for wow anyways?
 
Fair question. I haven't looked at other rewards cards. I will do that.
 
I checked the reward cards my banks have. I'd have to spend $3K-$4K per month on the card in order to get enough reward cash/credit to cover a month of WoW. That would be hard for me to do just for the $15/mo. The WoW Visa is a better deal since I'd only have to charge $1,500/mo to it.
 
I might be missing something but it appears as though you get a maximum of one free month of WoW.
 
First of all, nothing you get from the credit card companies is free. You eventually pay for it one way or another.

Having said that, there are many other and substantially better reward programs out there (depending on your credit score, of course). For example, if you apply for a Hawaiian Airlines card from BOTH Bank of America and Bank of Hawaii you get 35,000 miles on Hawaiian Airlines for each card (only have to charge $1000 on each card within the first 4 months). That's 70k miles on Hawaiian which doesn't really do much for most people, but those can be transferred to Hilton Honors points at 1:2 so you end up with 140,000 Hilton Honors points which will pay for close to 4 nights at one of the top Hilton hotels and essentially for a whole week of free stay at a lower rated property (chain).

So yeah, you can get $15/mo, or you can stay for free at a nice hotel for a week. Your choice of course.

If you go to CitiBank you can rack up 150,000 American Airlines miles by being approved for their cards, which is enough for a First Class round trip to Europe/Asia ..., or you can get free World of Warcraft through the WoW Visa, again, your choice.
 
Take it from someone with credit card debt , it may seem like a good idea but it always bites you in the ass. Pay the $15 a month for playing WoW and keep your credit history clean. Even if you think you can afford it you never know what's around the corner and in this day and age its best to not risk being stuck with horrible credit.
 
get it, max it out, then miss all the payments is my advice;)
 
I'm not new to credit cards. I'm responsible with them and have good credit. I was just wondering if there was a negative thing about this card that wasn't so obvious that someone who has one could tell me about.
 
014 said:
Do any of you have this? I am tempted. I don't use my credit much. The only thing I use it for is for business trips that I expense. I'd say I'm pretty good at avoiding interest.

My daughter and I started playing WoW trial accounts. I already have a different account with a couple 50+ characters, but this way we could play for free. Well, we like it! But I don't want to subscribe because there are a lot of other PC games I play, and I don't ever want to feel like I wasted $15 one month... or feel obligated to play, if you know what I mean.

This sounds sort of risky, but I know my boss does the same thing with a rewards card and he makes it work well. With his, he gets a check every year that's hundreds of dollars. Anyway, I have the idea that I could pay my mortgage and a vehicle payment with the WoW card, and that would give me free WoW play every month. A second, less risky option, is I could use it to expense my business trips. I wouldn't get every month free, but every business trip I go on, I'd get a free month to play WoW -- kinda cool. I'd only get 2-3 months free that way though.

Have any of you done what I put in bold above with reward type credit cards? I am looking for advice like, "Stay away from that. It's too troublesome." Or, "I've been using it without issue and have been able to avoid interest charges by paying off the balance every month on time."

If it all worked as planned, it would be a pretty sweet gig. Right?
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I got the WoW VISA card around September 2009. Overall the rewards points structure is straightforward: 1 dollar charged and paid for on your bill equals 1 rewards point. 1500 points = one 30-day code redeemable for a WoW subscription.

With your first option the biggest issue you will have is finding a way to pay for your mortgage and/or car using a credit card. I've yet to find a lender who was willing to accept a credit card for monthly recurring payments, and using the Amazon service as a work-around is shady at best, plus it has a maximum per month that's likely lower than your mortgage.

I did have my credit card info stolen in Los Angeles when I flew out there in October 2009 for my cousin's wedding. They caught it and reversed the charges within 48 hours, plus got me a new card shipped out that same week. Pretty painless overall.

I stopped using my WoW VISA card around September 2010. I went with the Chase Freedom card, which provides a far superior reward points structure, IMO. There's a pretty comprehensive thread over on FatWallet, and a less-comprehensive thread on SlickDeals forums, regarding credit card reward systems and which ones are better/worse and why.

Thuleman said:
First of all, nothing you get from the credit card companies is free. You eventually pay for it one way or another.
Click to expand...

I tend to disagree with this statement--it is entirely free for me as I've never paid credit card interest. :)

qwidmeyer said:
I might be missing something but it appears as though you get a maximum of one free month of WoW.
Click to expand...

It's 1500 points = one 30-day code, so if you spend at least $1500 / month using your credit card AND pay off the balance at the end of the month then you're good to go for a recurring subscription.

At one point I used my credit card to purchase my current computer. I also used that credit card to pay for a business trip that was fully reimbursed by my boss (plus the 1-day extension and all the fees associated with rescheduling non-refundable plane tickets). I ended up with like 5000 rewards points that month--it was kinda' nice! Even after I stopped using my WoW VISA card I played WoW for about 6 months just off the reward points!
 
I use the Penfed Platinum Rewards Visa. 5% rebate on gas, 2% groceries, 1% everything else. The rebate is automatically credited to your account every month. It's my favorite cash back card.
 
Use it to buy dollar coins from the US Mint - they even have free shipping. Deposit coins into bank account. Use to pay credit card bill. Instant free rewards points.
 
Chase Freedom is the way to go. 1% cashback on everything, 5% cash back on rotating things every quarter (gas, grocery stores, etc.). If you click through their online portal when shopping online, you can get bonus reward points on top of that (instead of 1 per $1 for 1%, I saw Newegg had 7 per $1, or 7%). They also have gift card sales every now and then where you can redeem points for gift cards at lower than face value, and they also have merchandise sales.

I put everything I can on that thing every month, and have about $400 coming back to me just for using it.
 
Amazon rewards card.

No annual fee and you earn 3 points per 1 dollar on amazon, 2 points per 1 dollar with restaurants, travel, gas, and 1 point per 1 dollar everything else.

1000 points = 10 dollars in straight up cash if you choose to go that route.
 
John Stamos said:
Amazon rewards card.

No annual fee and you earn 3 points per 1 dollar on amazon, 2 points per 1 dollar with restaurants, travel, gas, and 1 point per 1 dollar everything else.

1000 points = 10 dollars in straight up cash if you choose to go that route.
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^ this. 99% of the stuff I buy comes directly from amazon.
 
So you would rather use this than a real rewards card that pays more?

Chase Freedom: Currently offers $250 CB after spending $500 in 3 months. Then 5% CB on rotating categories (Flights, Hotels, Gas for the summer) and 1% on everything else.
Amex BlueCash Everyday: 3% Supermarkets, 2% Gas and Dept Stores, 1% everything else.

Something tells me that initial CB bonus is much more worth anything a WoW Card will give you. There are alot of good reward cards. WoW CC isn't one of them.

This isn't even mentioning cards with yearly fees that have sign up bonuses of up to $1,000 in cashback, flights or whatever.
 
Like people mentioned if you are only 1% back in terms of points, look for a cash back card. If you get a points based rewards card that gives more than 1% back in terms of points then look into those, but make sure the points you can actually redeem for something you need at good "prices." It isn't really a good deal if the only stuff you can redeem is something you'd never buy and/or they list hte value at higher than prices you'd normally pay. I have a 1% cash back card that has no fees. I don't really care about the interest rate since it never affects me (though maybe US and Canada CC policies might be different).

Honestly if you have good impulse control, I'd use a rewards based CC for literally everything. The reason is now almost everything has transaction costs built into the price (you won't pay less using cash), if you don't get the rewards from it and just use cash, you are just subsidizing the transaction cost for everyone else. I pretty much exclusively use my card, but I spend under my means and I've never missed a payment so it works fine for me. The other reason I guess would be privacy concerns by paying cash only.
 
RavenD said:
Use it to buy dollar coins from the US Mint - they even have free shipping. Deposit coins into bank account. Use to pay credit card bill. Instant free rewards points.
Click to expand...

Haha, smooth.

Of course, now the US Mint does not allow you to buy the $1 direct-ship coins with credit/debit cards. LOL.
 
Hmm. Good tips. My wife has an Amazon rewards card already, so I'll think about that one.
I'm pretty confident I can pay my vehicle with a credit card. I have to check on the mortgage, though, because it was just bought out by a new lender.

EDIT: An important thought crossed my mind. My wife would want to use the rewards from her card for other purposes.
 
Sp33dFr33k said:
Hmmm... it'd be nice if there was a easy way to do this I have over 200,000 gold on my account.
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I've done it a few times and never got banned for it. Then again I bought them from friends that I knew weren't farmers, had american ip's, etc. Your mileage may vary though.
 
Unless you are absolutely sure you'll be clearing the entire amount necessary to get free WoW time, every month, forget it. The interest rate on that thing last I checked was at least 18% variable. I've seen it as high as 23 before penalty rates.

If you're in the market for a credit card, I say skip any major bank. Go to a credit union and stop propping the financial industry that is ruining the worldwide economy. Chase, Bank of America, Citibank etc...all are complacent if not directly involved in financial crimes. It doesn't take much sorting through Wikileaks and whatnot to see the depths of this corruption.

Local credit unions can usually provide equal or better terms than major private banks, especially if they're the kind you need to be "someone" to join - like various state/federal employee credit unions, credit unions for certain professions etc... USAA is probably the best known of these and that's where I have my accounts.
 
Every year or so these credit card deals come around where you can get gift cards or statement credit for signing up for a new card.

Sign up for a chase card and get $200 statement credit after your first purchase. Pay for your game time, then cut up the card. Wait for the next one. Rinse, repeat.
 
Xaeos said:
Unless you are absolutely sure you'll be clearing the entire amount necessary to get free WoW time, every month, forget it. The interest rate on that thing last I checked was at least 18% variable. I've seen it as high as 23 before penalty rates.
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How do CC interest rates typically work in the US? Do you get charged interest from purchase or something?

I know for me here my CC doesn't charge interest at all (and yes I go through receipts, it isn't just their word) as long as I pay the bill before the due date on the statement I receive (normally a week to 2 after I receive it in the mail). So really I make interest (granted almost nothing), since the money stays in my account for an extra month versus, in addition to rewards.
 
qwertyaas said:
This isn't even mentioning cards with yearly fees that have sign up bonuses of up to $1,000 in cashback, flights or whatever.
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how long do you have to hold one of these cards? Boy would i love a free flight, but wouldn't everyone? so...
 
chockomonkey said:
how long do you have to hold one of these cards? Boy would i love a free flight, but wouldn't everyone? so...
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It's just a matter of educating yourself. Check milepoint.com and sites like it, it's pretty easy to earn a bunch of miles from cards, it's redeeming the miles for flights that's the issue if you want to fly coach. Often it's better to convert the miles to hotel chain points for free stays even if you have to pay for the flights.
 
limitedaccess said:
How do CC interest rates typically work in the US? Do you get charged interest from purchase or something?
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As long as you pay the full balance of the statement (not just the minimum due) by the due date, you are not charged interest on that balance. I've been using credit cards to pay for everything that I can use them for (can't usually pay for loans and such) for years, always paid on time and in full and I've never been charged interest.

Admittedly, I don't know if that's actually the law or just how they do things, so it's possible that there are cards that don't work like that.
 
I avoid interest for religious reasons, so I'm good at it most of the time. I am not new to credit cards and am not generally in the market for a new one. My goal was to play WoW for free. I can afford to play it and I have multiple payment options available. Time cards are not necessary, and referring to them is missing the point. Again, credit card shopping in general is missing the point. My goal is WoW time. Same thing goes for credit unions. What I read here regarding them is good advice and I agree with it. I am a credit union member already. But it's missing the point of this thread.

I think I have enough opinions. There was really only one that hit home -- the guy who had used a WoW credit card before.
 
The WoW Visa is ran through First National Bank of Omaha, which is one of the largest private banks in the country and located in Omaha. Most if not all their rewards cards are 1 percent. Frankly you would do better by getting a discover card that allows 1 percent, but 5 percent on most everything else.

The problem is Discover is not accepted everywhere as they charge higher point of sale fees to vendors.

Finally for those that like to hop credit cards, good luck with that. While it is possible to do so not having established credit will not only ping your credit score, but can also be an issue when you apply for a loan.
 
roaf85 said:
Finally for those that like to hop credit cards, good luck with that. While it is possible to do so not having established credit will not only ping your credit score, but can also be an issue when you apply for a loan.
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are you saying that hopping credit cards for the signup bonuses dings your credit score?
 
chockomonkey said:
are you saying that hopping credit cards for the signup bonuses dings your credit score?
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Yes. A portion of your credit score is determined by how many accounts you have opened in the last 12 months and the length of those credit terms. So opening and closing credit accounts will hurt your credit score.
 
roaf85 said:
Yes. A portion of your credit score is determined by how many accounts you have opened in the last 12 months and the length of those credit terms. So opening and closing credit accounts will hurt your credit score.
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The above statement is not entirely correct as written.

If you have otherwise excellent credit then churning sign-up bonus cards every 14 or so months (as you can't apply for the same bonus card more often than that) will not really hurt your score. I wouldn't suggest churning rewards cards for anyone who doesn't at least have a 690 and would definitely recommend it to people who have a 720+ and good fiscal management skills.
 
If you travel a lot, or just spend a lot every month, then you should look at doing something like what I do.

Pick the airline and hotel chain that you like, or use the most, get their rewards card, and watch your miles add up.

For instance the three cards I have in my wallet are My Delta Platinum Amex, HHoners Platinum Citi Visa, and AirTran A+ Signature Visa. (The levels are very important as even though they have yearly fees, the perks are better). I used to have a northwest platinum visa, but switched to the Amex when they merged with Delta. My Delta Amex is the card I use for just about everything. I put absolutely everything on this card (except bills) and just pay it off in total at the end of the month. Because of that I spend about $800 a month on this card which usually equals 1,000 miles every month depending on my purchases. I also earn double points for booking at delta.com, AND when I book with that card my first bag is checked for free. So right off the bat I am saving $50 a flight on bag checking fees, not to mention that the cost of my ticket = double points, and with the fact that I am usually flying business or first I get 1.75 miles for every "ass in seat" mile. I have yet to be on a trip that isn't worth at least 5,000 miles (and with the average award ticket being 30,000 miles, they come pretty quick). The HHonors card is what I put my hotel stays on, so that usually carries no balance and I don't rack up points that fast, however when I book I get 2 points per dollar spent to my HHonors membership + 1 frequent flier mile + normal HHonors points. That means that if I spend $510 on a room I am getting at minimum 1500 hilton points + 510 Delta sky miles for a single stay, for a card that I pull out of my wallet maybe once a month, I rack up points quickly on my two most used points memberships without spending a whole lot. The AirTran A+ visa works similar to the Delta visa for perks, and as I don't usually use my award tickets on AirTran my miles have been stacking up quickly (not to mention upgrades are never available so paying with miles for an upgrade doesn't happen like it does with delta).

Now I don't get a free month of WoW for having these cards, but with my spending and travel habits I normally take a 5 day vacation every year in which I don't pay for airfare or the hotel because I just put them on points. Think about how awesome it would be to know that every year you can take your family on vacation at a serious discount because of your rewards cards! It is also nice to look at my rewards balance on a particular airline and just say "hmm I think I want to go to the keys this weekend" and just book the flight paying only the $10 TSA fee.
 
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