accrue450

Went to a BoA branch yesterday and was told that they launched this card just last week. See here:

https://www.bankofamerica.com/credit...credit-card.go

Highlights:

No FTF
No annual fee
1.5% back via travel credits (can purchase through vendor directly)
Has chip

The rewards itself is unremarkable of course, but the combination of no FTF and having a chip (I don't see a reference to this on the website, but the banker said it had it, so perhaps someone could confirm/refute?) with no annual fee makes this seemingly quite the attractive card.

Thoughts?

dw

There is also an annual fee version of this card:

- $75 annual fee (waived for BofA customers with more than $50k of combined deposits and investments)
- 2% back in the form of travel credits
- no foreign exchange fees

These two new cards basically sound like BofA's version of CapitalOne's Venture and Venture One cards.

For people who already have too many hotel or airline points (sometimes I feel that way as I never end up burning through my miles and points because I always feel the need to accrue elite qualifying miles with airlines and night or stay credit with hotels), these cards may be attractive as you can just charge any travel expenses to the cards and request a statement credit back. This is in contrast to, for example, the Thank you network where to get the max value (for Premier and Prestige cardholders), you have to book flights through their booking engine.

dw

Just want to add that the sign-up bonus for both cards is a paltry 10,000 points ($100 in travel credits).

sunk818

Bank of America is not known for big sign up bonuses. $100 or 10,000 points is the most I've seen with many of their cards that have no annual fee. I have a Sallie Mae 2% cash back card and I received a $100 sign-up bonus a few months ago. I don't see this card beating that.

Since I don't have the card, I should assume that based on the merchant category code (MCC) of the business, Bank of America will know the business is a travel, leisure, or hotel category and let me redeem my points as a statement credit?

I primarily use Starwood SPG for hotel, but in what circumstances, would you use these points when a loyalty card of some sort would typically offer the better perks?

accrue450

yep, based on merchant's reported categories.

i'd use my amex spg card for spg. if you don't have one, i'd probably charge it to chase sapphire preferred.

my interest in this boa card, though, is its international usage. for something with no annual fee, it has no FTF AND (allegedly) has a metal chip. can any other cards beat that?

mia

The qualifying merchant codes are stated explicitly in the terms:

: https://www.bankofamerica.com/credit...avel%20Rewards

Note also that there is an annual 10% rewards bonus if you have a Bank of America or Merrill Lynch account. This raises the rebate to 1.65% .

There is also a double points feature on travel booked through their online agency, capped at 9000 bonus points per year.

I believe it is this card called BankAmericard Priveleges with Travel Rewards:

https://www.bankofamerica.com/credit...credit-card.go

The 10% bonus for Bank of America and Merrill Lynch account holders makes this a 2.2% program.

accrue450

no one has any feedback on this? and based on the fact that this isn't getting too many replies, it would appear that this boa card is nothing special?

it'd be great if anyone could point me to a card that offers similar functions (no fee, no FTF, has chip) and perhaps is even better. thanks.

trikotret

I have been long term Bofa customer. But I never used their CC since their rewards are not that exciting. However this new card got my attention. I might take advantage of the 2 points per dollar card. I need to check their reward choices first

americanindian

found this BoA new card, some of you may be already aware...

https://www.bankofamerica.com/credit...credit-card.go

the clincher for me are the no annual fee and no foreign transaction fees, there is none in the market (agreed, you can get the value of annual fee with some hotel night cert with chase cards)

question- is anyone familiar with BoA travel points system, their worth, redemption etc...how much is 10000 points worth?

emptiness

can you tell me what BOA points are good for and their value?

centrifuge41

Looks like you can get statement credit for already-posted travel, such as airfare, hotel, car rental, cruises, tours, rail, metro, timeshare, campgrounds, tourist attractions, theme parks, carnivals, zoo/aquarium, and boating. Sounds like these points apply to more categories than do Venture miles.

ffI

This is simply the new version of the MBNA worldpoints card.
The tickets are nonrefundable (and cant be deposited back)
The simple cash back rebate from Amex Blue Cash or the Fidelity Amex card are better.

mia

This is not accurate description of this program. The points can be redeemed for a credit to offset a travel purchase made elsewhere:

https://www.bankofamerica.com/credit...avel%20Rewards

elbombo

I'm also interested in this card strictly because it seems to be the only card out there that has the chip, no annual fee and no FTF. Can anyone confirm that this card does indeed have the chip?

MrPink

This sounds like it might be a bit better than the amex blue sky as well, as that's only 1.33% redemption credit I believe?