Am I Insane or Is This Offer Insane? – Earning 325,000 Bonus Points with Shop Your Way Mastercard

A Reddit poster just received a credit card offer that he thinks is pretty amazing.  The offer allows him to earn 325,000 bonus points for signing up for the Shop Your Way Mastercard. This amounts to a $325 value, and the only thing the poster has to do is to spend $1,000 on the card to get it. 

So, is the offer a great deal that he should take advantage of?

Credit card offers can be awesome — if you use your cards wisely

Earning $325 for $1,000 in spending is a pretty great deal, and those who got this targeted offer may want to consider taking advantage of it. However, there are some caveats when it comes to credit cards. 

First, you typically don’t want to spend a ton of money just to earn a cardmember bonus offer. If you were already planning to spend $1,000 and you can do it on this card and get $325 of it back, then it’s an offer you may want to consider taking advantage of. If you don’t have $1,000 of items to buy, though, then it makes very little sense to spend a ton of money just to get part of it back. 

You also need to watch and make sure you aren’t charging more than you can repay. If you wind up carrying a credit card balance and paying a fortune in interest, then you could spend much more than $325 over time. So, be sure you have the funds to pay your bill in full before you start charging. 

Finally, if you’re opening a new card to take advantage of the offer, this can cause a short-term hit to your credit score because you’ll reduce your average credit age by adding a new account. An application for credit can also mean an inquiry on your credit report, and too many inquiries will also ding your score. So, be sure you aren’t applying for a big loan like a mortgage or car loan right around the time you’re opening a new card to take advantage of a bonus offer. 

Always shop around and compare credit card reward offers

It’s also worth noting that when you get a credit card offer sent to you, you should always shop around and compare that card to others out there.

Numerous other Reddit posters advised that the original poster (OP) look carefully at this card’s rewards and perks and compare them to what else is out there. While some had a good experience with the card, others said there were hidden fees and that there were better options available.

This advice is good because it’s important that the OP not get swept away by the offer without considering the big picture. The reality is, there are tons of great cashback credit cards and rewards cards, and taking the time to look at the signup bonus, overall value of the rewards, and all the perks the card offers can be crucial to finding the best card to keep in your wallet.