The new promotion from the Discover Business Card has some nice features… First, you can earn a $100 Cashback Bonus when you make $1000 in purchases within 3 months after your account is opened. You can get 5% back on office supplies, 2% on gas, up to 1% on all other purchases.

On top of that, it has 0% APR for 12 months for both purchases and balance transfers for 12 months. Since the purchases are also at 0%, there is no hurry to pay that initial $1,000 off. For balance transfers, there is 3% fee for each balance transfer, with a minimum of $5 and a maximum of $75. This is not bad in the current credit card environment. Even if you do not have a higher interest balance to transfer here, this might be worth making some free money off of, especially since the $100 incentive basically negates the balance transfer fee and then some.

Another interesting feature is the advertised “Fee-free Purchasechecks that earn Cashback Bonus®. to pay merchants who don’t accept credit cards”. I was excited by the prospect of earning rewards by simply writing a check, but then I saw this in the fine print: “APR for PurchaseCheck Purchases: 13.99%”. Ouch.

As with all these business cards, individuals can apply as sole proprietors by simply using their name as the business name. You just need to put your Social Security number as requested, and leave the Federal Tax ID blank for this application (it will use your SSN). More $100 bonuses listed here.

Discover Open Road
The Discover Open Road Card offers 5% cashback on gas from any station and auto maintenance purchases on your first $100 spent each billing period, and up to 1% tiered on all other purchases. No annual fee.

PenFed Platinum Rewards
The PenFed Platinum Rewards Card offers 5% back on gas purchases paid at the pump, 2% back at the supermarket, and 1% on all other purchases. No annual fee. To apply you must first join the Pentagon Federal credit union, where you must either have the appropriate military affiliation or join the National Military Family Association (NMFA) for a fee.

Chase Freedom Visa
The Chase Freedom Visa – $200 Bonus Cash Back offers a Rewards program includes 5% Bonus Cash Back in popular, rotating categories Like Gas, Home Improvement and Department Stores.

Business Cards
Here are some business cards with good cash back. Most individuals (sole proprietors) can simply use their Social Security number for the Business Tax ID number, and their name as the business name if asked.

American Express Costco TrueEarnings
The TrueEarnings Card from Costco and American Express offers 5% back on automobile gas bought anywhere, including at Costco gas stations. You also get 3% on all restaurants, 2% on travel, and 1% on everything else. No annual fee. (The regular (non-business) version of the card gets 3% back on automobile gas, 3% on restaurants, 2% on travel, and 1% on everything else.)

If you have a Citibank credit card and are collecting ThankYou points, you are probably familiar with the various gift cards available at approximately a 1 point to 1 cent ratio, or 10,000 points = $100 gift card. You may even be familiar with the Fixed Point redemption option for travel. This not-so-publicized option allows you to redeem 20,000 ThankYou points for any domestic coach flight up to $400 in value (per Expedia.com). That’s nearly twice the value, with no blackout dates, no seat availability issues, no 14-day advance booking requirement. You do have to pay the taxes and fees, however, which can be up to $50 if there are multiple stops. (For details see the FAQ, click on Travel Rewards.)

It’s actually quite nice, and I have booked a ticket before this way before. The problem is, they have been gradually restricting which credit cards are eligible to redeem this options. The list went from virtually all Citi cards to only a select few.

This only left me with either gift cards or the variable point flight option, which is not horrible but much worse in comparison. Essentially one point = 1 cent, so 20,000 ThankYou points would only cover a $200 ticket on Expedia.com. Double-checking, I see that one way to qualify for the fixed point redemption is to have or open up a bank account at Citibank, specifically the “Citibank Account” which has a minimum balance of $6,000 across your accounts.

However, there is another easier way. I missed the Expedia Account part! What did that mean? Surely this was some sort of special account, and not just that simple free account that tracks my itineraries at Expedia? Well, it was. But merging your Expedia account to your existing ThankYou account was very tricky, until I stumbled across this post at the FlyerTalk forums. Here is my simplified version, which worked great for me:

1. Create a new Expedia account. Unless you really use your Expedia account, this makes it easy. When you are signing up, do not enter your existing ThankYou account number. Have them generate a new one, and write it down.

2. Now log into your ThankYou Network account that you wish to redeem points from. From the menu bars at the top, click on My Account » My Sponsor Accounts » Add a Sponsor Account. Type in your new ThankYou account number from above, and confirm. You should now have merged the two accounts together, with this result:

Voila… now you have an Expedia Account as a sponsor account, and the fixed point redemption option is available to you. I just hope this window stays open long enough for me to use it again.

(Update: This option is set to go away at the end of February.)

Here’s another solid all-around rewards credit card that is much better than all those generic 1% back cards out there. The TrueEarnings® Card from Costco and American Express offers the following:

• 3% cash back at U.S. gas stations and on gasoline at Costco  (up to $4,000)
• 2% cash back at U.S. restaurants
• 2% cash back on eligible travel purchases (airline, lodging, car rental, cruise line, travel agency and tour operators)
• 1% cash back on other purchases, including Costco

I’m pretty sure this is also better than their previous offer, I don’t remember there being a gas rebate before (I might be wrong). If eating out and gas are your biggest expenses after housing (like us on many months), then this looks pretty good. There is also no limit on the cash back you can earn. Might go nicely with the 2% cash back from Executive memberships. Terms and restrictions apply.

There is no annual fee, but you must have a Costco membership to apply. (The TrueEarnings card can also replace your Costco Membership Card. ) Regarding getting the cash back:

“Rebate is awarded annually in the form of an in-store coupon redeemable for cash or merchandise at any U.S. Costco Warehouse.”

Why not cash in the coupon, and then charge your Costco purchase to get another 1% back? 😉