MisterBill

Thanks.. that could be easier than redeeming for travel.

I figure I'll use this card for purchases while traveling outside of the US, since 1.65% and no FTF because anything else that I have. Although do I get the 10% bonus if I do not redeem to a BofA account? Confused there.

dim3

Hi FT!

I’ve been trying to compare the BankAmericard Travel Rewards card to my current credit cards to see if it makes sense to switch/add to the lineup. I have a Merrill Edge account, and am eligible for the Platinum Honors tier which adds a 75% rewards bonus to the card.

These are my current cards:

Chase Sapphire Preferred: 2% all restaurants and travel, 1% everything else ($85 grandfathered annual fee)
American Express Blue Cash Preferred : 6% groceries for up to $6,000, then 1%. 3% gas. 1% everything else (Annual fee $75)
Chase Freedom
Discover It

I use the Sapphire for restaurants/travel, AMEX for groceries and Costco, and switch to Freedom and Discover when appropriate for their 5% rotating categories (any purchases that fall outside of these go on the Sapphire). I’m a fan of Ultimate Rewards, and typically transfer my Chase points out to United or British Airways for award travel — so I can potentially get a $1,200 flight for 60,000 points, for example.

Would it make sense to switch to BankAmericard and Platinum Honors. which has no annual fee, and would give 2.625 points per dollar for every transaction? Additionally, for travel booked through BOA’s Travel Center, I believe you earn 4.125% at the platinum honor level (for up to $6,000 spent through the Travel Center per calendar year.)

I don’t have a great breakdown of my family’s expenses on the cards, but I’ll go with this for the sake of comparison:

$10,000 restaurants
$8,000 grocery store
$5,000 costco
$10,000 travel
$30,000 - $50,000 misc, usually at 1% on sapphire unless 5% category

Thanks so much!

jmanEB04

It makes sense for Costco and Misc. I think the rest I would maximize as you are.

lotrbfme

My recommendations to maximixe:

IT ALL DEPENDS ON: if you are under 5/24

Product change Chase Sapphire to Freedom Unlimited.
Apply for Chase Sapphire Reserve.

Use Sapphire Reserve on:

$10,000 Restaurants
$10,000 Travel

You will earn 60,000 UR points a year (20,000 more than CSP) Annual fee is $450 but with $300 travel credits (that according to your spend you are gonna use) it comes to $150. So for $65 you are gaining 20,000 UR points ($200 cash $350 travel or $400+ on partners).

For grocery store keep using the Amex blue cash which is the best up to $6,000 and then use the Chase freedom when it is 5x at supermarkets

For costco you may use the Chase freedom if it comes to 5x again or if not use the Freedom unlimited.

Assuming $40,000 in misc. use the freedom unlimited.

You will earn:

60,000 UR points from CSR

$360 from amex blue cash P. Using $6,000.

7,500 UR points from Chase Freedom for using $1,500 Super markets.

68,250 UR points from Freedom unlimited for misc and costco.

For a total of: 135,750 UR points and $360 cash.

In comparison using only the BofA credit card would give you:


$1,916.25 in travel credits.

It is almost the same... but the benefits and insurance from the CSR wins vs the BofA travel rewards for travel by A LOT.

trikotret

anyone notice that there is a budget section in app? I use my card for business expenses and it's telling me I'm over spending more than i earn. Should I be concerned about this new feature and get shut down for business purchases. I do have a business though.

hi-guy

Only because you mentioned it, I poked around in the app and found it. In my case, since Income (what they know) is $0, I'm overspending my total spend!

ed765

This card advertising a 3% rebate on travel purchases made through their travel center, which with Platinum Honor status come to a good 5.25%. A phone representative confirmed this rate.

However, it is very hard to find their Travel Center and I eventually called in (clueless representative who did eventually find a way).

One is to go to the BOA site, then search for Travel Center in the search box. This apparently is a obscure request so the most prominent answer to notify them of travel, but in smaller print there is a link to where you can make reservations for plane and hotel. You then log in, and it ask about your credit card ending numbers (but does not us this to prefill anything).

The site turns out to be run by Orbitz and I found it reasonable to use.
I was able to reserve a hotel room at the hotel I wanted, and got a price that was slightly lower than the hotel site advertised.

After reentering my credit card data I made the reservation.

The only surprise was "Cancellation of your hotel booking at any time is subject to a Travel Center $10 cancellation fee which will be billed at the time of cancellation. Additional fees may be charged by the hotel."

The site did not offer me a choice of rooms and prices. I may share with a friend and I prefer the two bed rooms, but there was no way to designate that, nor did there appear to be a way to choose the more expensive suites which I knew the hotel had.

Since the hotel site (La Quinta) advertises the lowest rates, I suspect Orbitz put me in their cheapest room, without asking.

The Travel Center can also be reached by going to your card on the BOA site, then to Rewards, then to Redeem, and then on top there is a obscure link that says Earn Bonus points, and then clicking on that is a link to the Travel center and "Use your Travel Rewards credit card when you book travel through the Bank of America Travel Center and earn 3 points per $1 spent on qualifying purchases. "

As stated, after the process it does how an Orbitz logo, so I presume you could expect it to offer whatever Orbitz offers, and could take me to the budge chain La Quinta, rather than merely to chains that might have offered higher premiums.

ed765

The is an AAA VOA card issued by BOA which advertises 3 points per dollar spent on AAA and travel. It apparently is not in the Preferred Rewards program (judging from the notice not appearing when I log on to my account).

However, for those who are not in the Preferred Rewards program this might be competitive, and for those who cannot make reservations on line (walk in to hotel, or those phoning from somewhere), 3% would be higher than the best you could get using a BOA Travel card.

You can also transfer points to this card from the Travel cards to redeem for cash without having had travel to redeem against.

ed765

Update
The BOA site had given me a king bed handicaped room (I have no need for this). After calling the hotel, the clerk gave me an "upgrade" and shifted me to a two double bed room. He was also able to put my membership number in.

Obviously, having to call the hotel is an extra step, and some clerks may not be able to give you what you wanted. The BOA Travel Center does have a space for entering in special requests, but it warns you the hotel need not grant your request, and that you should call the hotel.

It looks like cancellations should be handled on line, and it is easy to imagine problems. Perhaps you are unable to log i, and you miss the cancellation deadline (plane delayed, weather problems, etc.) and cannot get to computer (but could make a phone call).

If you go back to the BOA Travel Center there is a tab for trips. If you click on the tab for making changes, you learn the procedure is to make a new reservation, and then cancel the older one. This implies the $10 cancellation fee.

I can not tell whether the failure of BOA to make how to access their travel center obvious reflects simple incompetence, or an awareness that their rebate is very generous, and having offered it, they do not want it used.

jedinkel

Any data points on shutdowns with this card? Currently cycling 2x the credit line and want to do 4-5x. All gift cards, not prepaid cards

bodiddely

Can anyone else confirm the transferability? I think I read somewhere (perhaps at the now-defunct Travel Codex forums which is why I can't find it now) that you can also transfer points from this card to a Worldpoints earning card (at a 1:1 ratio) and cash out 25k Worldpoints for $250? Is that true?

ACVid

I have both AAA and Travel rewards card from BOFA. I have plat honors status and both cards give me bonus rewards and I can exchange points b/w the two cards without any problem.

kdm31091

You can, as of now, transfer points from a Travel Rewards card to an AAA card to cash them out.

My guess is with enough people doing it they will put a stop to it/close the loophole as it defeats their intent of the Travel Rewards card. But for now, yes, it works.

trikotret

I don't think there are enough people doing it to close the loop hole. BofA travel card not the popular compared to chase cards and others

flyou10

I have the BOA Travel Rewards Card. In July I am traveling to London. I understand that the card works fine overseas at places that is manned and you can sign for your purchase. However, when I called and asked the customer service rep about the Chip & Pin. She said if I use the pin an an unattended machine, like a train station and I enter my pin it will be a cash advanced (which is NOT ok because it is expensive).

Does anyone have personal experience with this card? If you use it at a machine and enter the pin, do they actually charge a cash advance??

Thanks!