Fidelity 2% cashback Amex vs other rewards cards
Jul 2, 2013, 12:41 pm
#31
Join Date: Nov 2006
Location: ORD & CMH
Programs: UA, SPG, Hyatt, Club Carlson, Avis
Posts: 32
Not sure if it was mentioned, but the World Points program associated with the FIA Amex is pretty good for redeeming paid/mileage earning travel for tickets under $400 with fixed point redemption of 25,000 W.P.s. I have booked several ORD to SEA and they commonly are $392 - just shy the $400 maximum. Making the FIA points worth 3% (2x/$1... therefore 12,500 spent into that $400 maximum = 0.032 return [0.016/point]).
Also have the Freedom and the U.R. travel partners transfers, 20% bonus on Hotels, Flights & Car (with SPF or Ink Bold/Plus) is a pretty good combo for $0 annual fee cards.
Just yesterday I transferred 10,000 U.R. to United for a flight which was 35,000 miles priced out at $856 suggesting a value of 0.0245 per point. (Assembled an international award with an extra $200 1-way segment tacked on to the end of it). Part of the mileage used was a retention offer for my United Club visa card of 15,000 which means the sponsored 15,000 miles were worth $366; therefore, the $395 annual fee was pretty much waived, especially since they, for some reason also gave me the $100 statement credit :-P!
Both programs have great value! Probably U.R.s worth the most - T.Y. the next and W.P.s best for cashing out/fixed point redemption's. It's interesting how W.P.s, T.Y. & U.R. all use the same Flight/Hotel/Car booking systems.
Also have the Freedom and the U.R. travel partners transfers, 20% bonus on Hotels, Flights & Car (with SPF or Ink Bold/Plus) is a pretty good combo for $0 annual fee cards.
Just yesterday I transferred 10,000 U.R. to United for a flight which was 35,000 miles priced out at $856 suggesting a value of 0.0245 per point. (Assembled an international award with an extra $200 1-way segment tacked on to the end of it). Part of the mileage used was a retention offer for my United Club visa card of 15,000 which means the sponsored 15,000 miles were worth $366; therefore, the $395 annual fee was pretty much waived, especially since they, for some reason also gave me the $100 statement credit :-P!
Both programs have great value! Probably U.R.s worth the most - T.Y. the next and W.P.s best for cashing out/fixed point redemption's. It's interesting how W.P.s, T.Y. & U.R. all use the same Flight/Hotel/Car booking systems.
Last edited by djc205; Jul 2, 2013 at 1:13 pm
Jul 2, 2013, 1:26 pm
#32
Join Date: Jan 2013
Programs: Hilton Diamond, working on OZ Diamond, previously AA EXP, UA 1K, AS MVP75
Posts: 255
Jul 2, 2013, 4:30 pm
#33
Join Date: Jul 2012
Posts: 116
Not sure if it was mentioned, but the World Points program associated with the FIA Amex is pretty good for redeeming paid/mileage earning travel for tickets under $400 with fixed point redemption of 25,000 W.P.s. I have booked several ORD to SEA and they commonly are $392 - just shy the $400 maximum. Making the FIA points worth 3% (2x/$1... therefore 12,500 spent into that $400 maximum = 0.032 return [0.016/point]).
Jul 3, 2013, 9:30 am
#34
Join Date: May 2010
Programs: United 1K, Hilton Diamond, Starwood Platinum, Hertz Presidents Circle
Posts: 180
Redemption of Thank You Cards is kind of hard (redemption value) when all you have is just the Forward card. If I have the preferred, premier, or fancy one the points are worth more.
Have CSP, pay for CSP, just put food there.
Have CSP, pay for CSP, just put food there.
Jul 3, 2013, 5:00 pm
#35
Join Date: May 2011
Location: CMH
Programs: w/+1: AS MVPG; IHG/Marriott Plat; Hilton/BW Diamond; Hertz Prez; SG Silver
Posts: 1,188
I think I have the FIA Amex you are discussing. It is labelled "Investment Rewards". I only use it for international ATM access as it adds no foreign fee and credits all ATM fees. I know of no other card with that claim.
Jul 4, 2013, 1:39 am
#36
Join Date: Jul 2012
Posts: 116
@cotr - what you could do, if you wanted to, is acquire a nice stack of Thank You Points and then later get a Thank Premier or Prestige to redeem them at higher values. But maybe what you're saying is you don't want to mess with it.
@rxgeek - you have the Fidelity AMEX credit card. It has a 1% foreign transaction fee. It's the Fidelity Visa AMEX card that reimburses ATM machine owner fees at ATM's with the Visa, Star, or Plus logos. The debit card claims to have a 1% foreign transaction fee, but in practice people say it's highly rarely, if ever charged. Some people report seeing a 0.2% foreign transaction fee included in the currency exchange. But some people say they see the same 0.2% on the Schwab debit card that claims zero foreign transaction fees....
@rxgeek - you have the Fidelity AMEX credit card. It has a 1% foreign transaction fee. It's the Fidelity Visa AMEX card that reimburses ATM machine owner fees at ATM's with the Visa, Star, or Plus logos. The debit card claims to have a 1% foreign transaction fee, but in practice people say it's highly rarely, if ever charged. Some people report seeing a 0.2% foreign transaction fee included in the currency exchange. But some people say they see the same 0.2% on the Schwab debit card that claims zero foreign transaction fees....
Sep 4, 2013, 11:09 am
#38
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Jul 2003
Location: Florida
Posts: 29,762
@cotr - what you could do, if you wanted to, is acquire a nice stack of Thank You Points and then later get a Thank Premier or Prestige to redeem them at higher values. But maybe what you're saying is you don't want to mess with it.
@rxgeek - you have the Fidelity AMEX credit card. It has a 1% foreign transaction fee. It's the Fidelity Visa AMEX card that reimburses ATM machine owner fees at ATM's with the Visa, Star, or Plus logos. The debit card claims to have a 1% foreign transaction fee, but in practice people say it's highly rarely, if ever charged. Some people report seeing a 0.2% foreign transaction fee included in the currency exchange. But some people say they see the same 0.2% on the Schwab debit card that claims zero foreign transaction fees....
@rxgeek - you have the Fidelity AMEX credit card. It has a 1% foreign transaction fee. It's the Fidelity Visa AMEX card that reimburses ATM machine owner fees at ATM's with the Visa, Star, or Plus logos. The debit card claims to have a 1% foreign transaction fee, but in practice people say it's highly rarely, if ever charged. Some people report seeing a 0.2% foreign transaction fee included in the currency exchange. But some people say they see the same 0.2% on the Schwab debit card that claims zero foreign transaction fees....
On a recent trip when I took money out from both Schwab and Fido, in Russia - both 3000 - Schwab converted it to $92.25 while Fido's was $91.78 so Fido actually had a slightly better rate on these particular withdrawals. Overall, they came pretty close.
In one single occasion last Fall, the bank charged a 1% fee as a separate line item labeled as "purchase" on my Fidelity Visa debit card (tied to the Cash Management account). The bank in question is BNP at Aix-en-Provence. OTOH, I have not experienced this additional line item on BNP locations in Paris in the past. This so far remains the single incident that the bank actually charges 1% as a separate item and Fido would not reimburse it.
Sep 27, 2013, 7:50 pm
#39
Join Date: May 2010
Location: MSP
Programs: AA Exec Plat, DL plat
Posts: 70
I also have over 25K WP on my FIA Amex account. I tried to find to redeem like "redeeming paid/mileage earning travel for tickets under $400 with fixed point redemption of 25,000 W.P.s. ".
But all the flight I search through WP redeem link gives me the redeem rate at $0.01 per WP point. I cannot any flight under $400 with fix point of 25K WP.
is there any trick I miss here? Thanks.
But all the flight I search through WP redeem link gives me the redeem rate at $0.01 per WP point. I cannot any flight under $400 with fix point of 25K WP.
is there any trick I miss here? Thanks.
Not sure if it was mentioned, but the World Points program associated with the FIA Amex is pretty good for redeeming paid/mileage earning travel for tickets under $400 with fixed point redemption of 25,000 W.P.s. I have booked several ORD to SEA and they commonly are $392 - just shy the $400 maximum. Making the FIA points worth 3% (2x/$1... therefore 12,500 spent into that $400 maximum = 0.032 return [0.016/point]).
Also have the Freedom and the U.R. travel partners transfers, 20% bonus on Hotels, Flights & Car (with SPF or Ink Bold/Plus) is a pretty good combo for $0 annual fee cards.
Just yesterday I transferred 10,000 U.R. to United for a flight which was 35,000 miles priced out at $856 suggesting a value of 0.0245 per point. (Assembled an international award with an extra $200 1-way segment tacked on to the end of it). Part of the mileage used was a retention offer for my United Club visa card of 15,000 which means the sponsored 15,000 miles were worth $366; therefore, the $395 annual fee was pretty much waived, especially since they, for some reason also gave me the $100 statement credit :-P!
Both programs have great value! Probably U.R.s worth the most - T.Y. the next and W.P.s best for cashing out/fixed point redemption's. It's interesting how W.P.s, T.Y. & U.R. all use the same Flight/Hotel/Car booking systems.
Also have the Freedom and the U.R. travel partners transfers, 20% bonus on Hotels, Flights & Car (with SPF or Ink Bold/Plus) is a pretty good combo for $0 annual fee cards.
Just yesterday I transferred 10,000 U.R. to United for a flight which was 35,000 miles priced out at $856 suggesting a value of 0.0245 per point. (Assembled an international award with an extra $200 1-way segment tacked on to the end of it). Part of the mileage used was a retention offer for my United Club visa card of 15,000 which means the sponsored 15,000 miles were worth $366; therefore, the $395 annual fee was pretty much waived, especially since they, for some reason also gave me the $100 statement credit :-P!
Both programs have great value! Probably U.R.s worth the most - T.Y. the next and W.P.s best for cashing out/fixed point redemption's. It's interesting how W.P.s, T.Y. & U.R. all use the same Flight/Hotel/Car booking systems.