mia

American Express Platinum cards issued in the USA do not include Priority Pass. Instead, American Express has negotiated access to lounges operated by four airlines: AA, CO, DL, and US. The CO access ends in September. You must be flying the same airline as operates the lounge to enter AA, CO or DL lounges. (There are slight differences in the way AA handles codeshare flights.) There is very little overlap between these lounges and the Priority Club lounge network. The programs complement one another.

The best use of Membership Rewards points is transfer to airline frequent flyer programs and redemption for otherwise expensive tickets.

There are many versions of the Worldpoints program. In most versions there is no option to transfer to any other program, but some offer transfers to Air Canada's Aeroplan. If you also have a Merrill+ VISA there is a two-step transfer option to British Airways. Otherwise, they should be worth $0.01 each.

shop7731

The service is horrible. I was on hold for 20 min with the "concierge" service - what a joke. I gave up. I'm going back to my Capital One card. At least they answer the phone.

Often1

For whatever crazy reason, the program description, Priority Pass enrollment and the like all come in a Welcome Kit which arrives a couple of weeks after the card. The benefits are great, but it's really hard to figure out. Means terrible customer service.

Not sure why BOA doesn't simplify all of this on a Website requiring a log-in.

mia

Is this card still issued under the Bank of America Accolades brand, or have all accounts been converted to Merrill Lynch Accolades? In other words, is there any reason we should not combine discussions?

althes

It is now under merrill.

greglvnv

It is under Merrill however it is in fact a Bank of America card. It shows on my Bofa profile with other accounts and I can make payments with a teller at BofA branches.

mia

Understood. Bank of America owns Merrill Lynch. I was asking about the branding, because I may merge several Accolades threads into one, and I wanted to be sure there were not two versions with different features.

SirWilliam

My card says Bank of America but my statements say Merrill Lynch at the top. Online banking refers to it as "AM Preferred Card." I imagine that once I get a replacement card it will have a bull on it.

MARS Frequent Flyer

We've spent a lot of time researching this card, and unless you're getting it for free it ranks towards the very bottom in terms of value. The free companion tickets they offer are severely restricted, so the only real value you get for $295 is limited use of the Priority Pass. You only get 10 free Priority Pass visits per year, and then every visit after that is $27 per. So if you travel with a companion, that will eat up all your free visits in just 5 trips. This isn't bad if it's free, but it's certainly not worth paying for when other cards offer unlimited lounge access for a slightly higher fee.

You also can't transfer the points into airlines, so you're stuck at 1 penny per point in terms in value.

greglvnv

There are no two versions Mia. Bank of America Accolades was rebranded into Merrill Accolades. Obviously some customers did not receive the replacements so they stick with Bofa.

mia

I have consolidated several threads discussing the Accolades card, including both the original Bank of America version and the current Merrill Lynch branded version.

Some of the posts may include circular links referencing threads which were originally separate. If you notice one please click the triangular Alert icon in the lower left corner of the post and I will remove it.

mbreuer

It's 10 visits per year including two guests.

mileshound

It is 10 visits, you and guests combined. If you enter with 2 guests you have used 3 visits.

The max of 10 stinks, but at least now you can bring a guest for free if you are under the 10 visit max.

Often1

It is now branded as "Merrill Accolades" as part of "Merrill Lynch Wealth Management"

achilles1

I got merrill accolades card at suggestion of my boker. It sounds good, but so far has given me nothing but problems. Does anyone know if it really has anything to do with AMEX. It certainly does not follow AMEX protocol and so far has ripped me off by not honoring an agreement their own consierge service made, (a bad agreement at that, so concierge service pretty usless or worse).
Interest rate high, says it has benefits that might be great, but after six months I haven’t been able to access them. One, (the only one my broker says is worth anything) is a pass for waiting at airports. Only you need a code to register for it, If I ever got that code it was thrown away, so I guess that benefit thrown away as well.

So far, I have only heard similar and worse regarding this product and it seems to me AMEX shouldn’t permit thier name on anything with different basic policies. Anyone have anything good to say about this card, if so, any hints on what I am doing wrong that is making it so worthless to have?