jan_believes

Have a "worthless" BOA credit card sitting around that you keep for aging your credit score? No points, no smiles?

Well, consider this. Take that card and call in to upgrade to a Better Balance Rewards Visa card. Why? Because just ONE charge of your choice of financial instrument ($10 store GC ) will qualify you for a $25 bonus back when you pay it off on time! If you are a banking customer, you receive an additional $5 bucks. And, you don't lose your card seniority, either (per BOA). No hard inquiry.

Here's why it's helpful. Do you fret over those $3-5.95 fees you pay to obtain 500 miles or rewards points? Well, this is one way to offset those. Use your rewards card(s) for all the other $500 GCs/VRs you need to buy.

So, at least 2000 miles or points are "gratis" when you redeem at the end of the quarter for this bonus. And, if you bank with BOA and take the bonus to your checking, buy another GC/VR with your rewards card and now you have 2500 miles free. Just cover it until your bonus is redeemable. If you buy only VRs, you can cover fees for 3000 miles/points ($26) and you can also decrease your MO costs, if you use those.

Aside from using your other rewards cards in the normal manner to collect miles/points, this has very little investment time. Just use your BOA card somewhere, once a month.

There are variations to suit comfort zones. Buy on your BOA BRR Visa, buy your instruments for miles/points, load your debit, pay off your charges, and wait for your BOA bonus. It is paid quarterly. HTH!