PenFed Platinum $100 Bonus + 5%/5x On Gas Purchases/3xOn Groceries

The Offer

Direct link to offer (cash rewards/points rewards)

• PenFed credit union has added a $100 statement credit sign up bonus on their Platinum Rewards Visa Signature and their Platinum Cash Rewards card when you spend $1,500 or more within the first three months of account opening. These cards do not usually come with a sign up bonus.

Card Details

There are two separate cards with this $100 bonus, so let’s look at each of them individually.

PenFed Platinum Rewards Visa Signature Card

• Card earns at the following rates:
  • Earn 5 points on gas purchases at the pump
  • Earn 3 points on supermarket Purchases
  • Earn 1 point on all other purchases
• No annual fee
• o% APR promotional balance transfer rate for twelve months on balance transfers made before August 31st, 2015. Balance transfer fee of 3% still applies.

1 point used to be worth 1¢, but they are now only worth 0.85¢ per point. This means this card actually gives you the following rates:

• Gas: 4.25x cash back
• Groceries: 2.55x cash back
• All other purchases: 0.85x cash back

To make matters slightly worse you have to redeem your points for visa gift cards (minimum of $50 or 5,900 points), rather than statement credit or cold hard cash. The redemption rates are even worse if you try to redeem for gift cards.

PenFed Platinum Cash Rewards Visa Card

• Annual fee of $25 is waived first year
• Card earns at the following rates:
  • Gas Purchases at the Pump: 3% cash back for standard cardholders and 5% for plus cardholders
  • All other purchases: 1% cash back

To receive the 5% cash back on gas this card offers you must have the Plus version of this card (otherwise you’ll only earn 3% cash back). This requires you to have one or more of the qualifying products from PenFed:

• Active checking account with direct deposit ($250 min.)
• Money Market Certificate or IRA Certificate
• Mortgage
• Installment loan
• Equity Loan or Equity Line of Credit with a balance
• Thrifty Credit Service
• Personal Line of Credit
• Education Line of Credit
• Money Market Savings Accounts

PenFed Joining Requirements

Anybody can become a member of PenFed by making a small one off donation to either to Voices for America’s Troops ($15) or the National Military Family Association ($20). You can also join for free if you’re military or work for the United States government, a full list of free options can be found here.

Our Verdict

It’s a shame that these cards no longer earn a true 5% cash back on gas stations, even worse is the fact that it’s now only at the pump and not for purchases made in store (like gift cards). Personally I think there are better credit cards for gas purchases out there, but with the $100 bonus these cards could be somewhat tempting for somebody who spends a lot on actual gas.

Hat tip to reddit.com/r/churning user shift_DAWG