Mediahound

Disagree.

A fee would be if they somehow take money from you. Even before reaching the $$6,500 threshold, you still make money. Further, after reaching it you earn a higher cash back than a lot of other cards so there is no way one could even consider that it has a fee.

mia

They are. If you were to use the Fidelity American Express card you would earn 2% from the first dollar. If I recall correctly, Blue Cash pays 0.5% on the first $6,500 (1% if you use it in the targeted categories) which means you have given up as much as $97.50. I cannot say if this is a worthwhile tradeoff for the opportunity to earn a higher rebate later, but it is straightforward to calculate if you know the total spend on the card, and the proportion in the targeted categories.

Mediahound

I've calculated it out and I get more cash back with the blue cash annually since it gives 5% on gas and groceries.. Plus the fidelity one goes into a retirement account, not as useful especially since I don't use fidelity.

That Fidelty card is also not a real Amex so you dont get the great Amex customer service for disputes, etc. It's administered by FIA card services who I've learned from experience, has quite poor customer service and are going down hill.

Again, this Amex Blue cash has no annually fee so don't try to twist things to mislead people.

leonard016

The old Blue Cash's 5% is the one of most misleading marketing practices since you will never achieve 5% due to that $6,500 threshold. You are losing money to cross that threshold thus you will have to reduce your effective cashback OR you just treat it as an hidden annual fee like mia suggested.

The new Blue Cash Preferred, on the other hand, is very straightforward and have the $75 annual fee up front with 6% cashback on groceries. Of course, your effective cashback is less than 6%, but if your spending on groceries is big then it could beat the old Blue Cash.

Also you could link your Fidelity Amex to your brokerage account so even if you don't use Fidelity at all, you can always just transfer money out easily.

Mediahound

How is it misleading? It seems very straightforward to me.

I like the 1.25% on everything else (after the $6,500.) though. A large portion of my spending ends up in that category and I get beyond the $6,500. pretty fast too.

It's easy to calculate how this card does in comparison to other cards using this spreadsheet:

http://dl.dropbox.com/u/1994521/8618...omparison.xlsx

The old Blue Cash Amex definitely comes out on top for me. Better than the new Blue Cash cards and better than a 2% on everything card.

leonard016

For us who read fine prints and do math ourselves, yes, it is not hard to figure out. BTW that spreadsheet is useful to compare the three.

However, many people don't read fine prints very well and don't even know the $6.5K threshold. They only find out when they start doing math. And Amex always markets that 5% to get new customers. Just like Discover markets 5% cash back on its Discover More. That is what i call misleading.

For your situation, the old Blue Cash wins. But for many others, especially if they use the card for bonus categories only and have big grocery spending, the new BCP could be more valuable. Back in the days when Blue Cash offers 1.5% on general spending after $6.5K, it was a great card for people who like cashback and carry just one card (well you need a VIsa/MC backup for places that don't take Amex). People apply tier burning strategies to get into the sweet zone sooner. But it was never easy and not for everyone. After Amex reduced it to 1.25% it became much less attractive, especially when Charles Schwab and Fidelity came out with 2% cards.

Mediahound

And the new Amex Blue Cash cards are even worse in that they only give 1% on 'everything else' so aren't worth using except in the bonus categories only.

The old version can be used for all shopping and you still get max cash back in the end (at least for me, based upon my spending). So it's the best of both worlds in a way; 5% CB on grocery with no annual fee versus 6% CB and a $75. annual fee.

Also the 1.25% on 'everything else' with the old Blue Cash is pretty good considering I prefer to use a real Amex for the customer service so am willing to forfeit a bit of a higher 'everything else' cash back in some other card that has worse service like the Fidelity Amex.

mia

Indeed, there are three versions of the Fidelity card:

http://personal.fidelity.com/product...rds_card.shtml

Mediahound

I still rather not deal with FIA Card Services (just my personal opinion based on past experience.)

Plus, the Capital One 1.5% cash back card allows you to redeem your cashback at any time, there is apparently no threshold you have to save up first, which is nice.

The Fidelity one makes you save up 5000 points before you can redeem. They will end up getting you on the back end when they change or discontinue the program; if you are not near 5000 points, you could lose 'em.

I like the simplicity and flexibility of this new card.

kayjay

I thought this was a discussion of the new capital one cards.

kayjay

I was intrigued so I went to the CapOne sight and looked into the card. To me the only benefit it offers over the current Cap One Venture card (the card that we all got for the 110K point bonus) is that the 2 for 1 is redeemable for all expenses and not just limited to travel expenses.

OK I nearly forgot the $100 + $50 bonus, but that is really an insignifant bonus compared to the general $250 cash bonus available from many other cards.

For me I have enough travel expenses that I can easely redeem everything I earn at 2 for 1.

Conclusion, not worth the effort.

jmastron

Looking to replace the old Schwab 2% cash back card, and I have 2 Capital One questions:

1) Does Cap One have a way to set up automatic ACH payment of the full statement balance each month? FIA (who admininstered the Schwab cards) does; it's not an online option but a separate form you send in once. Not interested in anything that requires me to remember to log in and set up each payment.

Edit: I see their FAQ says "our online system does not currently offer a recurring payment function, but some Capital One accounts are eligible to participate in a program called Capital One AutoPay". Who is "eligible"?

2) Does the online site show pending transactions (not posted yet) transactions? I find this invaluable to see who's putting holds, spotting fraudulent charges quickly, etc.

Mediahound

I don't know the answer as I haven't received my card yet but with regards to item 2, this is not something you need to concern yourself with. You are not responsible for any fraudulent charges on any consumer credit card at all.

2tall4economy

I'd argue you're not responsible for fraudulent charges on any credit card ever; consumer or otherwise. That'd be a pretty tough case for a bank to fight in court.

mia

Nonetheless you can be subject to substantial inconvenience because it is your responsibility to detect and dispute such charges. It would be more helpful if someone would answer jmastrom's question, rather than dismissing its importance.