What is the upromise give-back percentage? Is it 3% for special items only (that you may or may not really want/need) and 1% for everything else? Do the special items vary?
You might be a whole lot better just using a series of "rewards" cards that pay cash back to you, then putting that money aside for better purposes like college expenses. It's not automatic but you can manage this yourself to good advantage. I have one rewards card that pays 5% on groceries, gas, and Rxs and 1% on everything else up to $300 per year total reward. Then I have another card that pays 3% on everything up to $500 per year. Obviously I use the former for all groceries, gas, and Rx purchases and the latter for eveything else. (The 3% card only pays me in coupons good for Subaru-related expenses at a dealer, but since I own one that works to my advantage to largely cover the cost of routine maintenance, freeing-up that cash for other needs.) The 5%/1% card will either send me a check or direct deposit the money in an account. I could designate a "special purpose" account like for college and keep my hands off it. I started with these cards in late 2004, along with a 1% Discover card, and in aggregate have spent over $170K on all 3. My rewards have exceeded $2,000! I have reached that level by charging everything I possibly can on the cards, including some big expenses like insurance premium payments, tuition, car repairs, some utility bills, etc.
Of course the only way this makes any sense is if I pay all cards 100% when due so I incur $0 in interest and fees, and paying cash in all cases where there is a premium for using credit, but YMMV...
