placeholder wrote: ↑Sat Oct 23, 2021 7:25 pm
Received a post card from boa
Post a photo?
I don't think there's enough there to warrant that amount of effort as I don't have any handy way to post an image so I'd have to go set something up there.
Thank you for sharing the info you already have. I personally trust that you have shared all the pertanent details and I do not need photographic proof.
As of November 12, 2021, or such later date as we may provide you notice of, the Preferred Rewards for Wealth Management program will be discontinued. If you are enrolled in the program on that day, your enrollment will be automatically transferred to the new Bank of America Preferred Rewards program. The new program will be expanded by adding two new tiers for clients with a qualifying balance of $1,000,000 or more. If your three month combined average daily balance is below $1,000,000 on the third business day of the month in which Preferred Rewards for Wealth Management discontinues, you will transition to the Preferred Rewards Platinum Honors tier.
placeholder wrote: ↑Sat Oct 23, 2021 7:25 pm
Received a post card from boa
Post a photo?
I don't think there's enough there to warrant that amount of effort as I don't have any handy way to post an image so I'd have to go set something up there.
Thank you for sharing the info you already have. I personally trust that you have shared all the pertanent details and I do not need photographic proof.
As of November 12, 2021, or such later date as we may provide you notice of, the Preferred Rewards for Wealth Management program will be discontinued. If you are enrolled in the program on that day, your enrollment will be automatically transferred to the new Bank of America Preferred Rewards program. The new program will be expanded by adding two new tiers for clients with a qualifying balance of $1,000,000 or more. If your three month combined average daily balance is below $1,000,000 on the third business day of the month in which Preferred Rewards for Wealth Management discontinues, you will transition to the Preferred Rewards Platinum Honors tier.
Thanks. I think the real question is what will happen to the Preferred Rewards Platinum Honors tier, at least that is what I care about. I am set to qualify for that shortly, the question is will BoA slash the 75% cash back booster to BoA credit cards, or increase the qualification amount. There is no solid information on this...
need403bhelp wrote: ↑Sun Oct 24, 2021 10:44 am
Post a photo?
I don't think there's enough there to warrant that amount of effort as I don't have any handy way to post an image so I'd have to go set something up there.
Thank you for sharing the info you already have. I personally trust that you have shared all the pertanent details and I do not need photographic proof.
As of November 12, 2021, or such later date as we may provide you notice of, the Preferred Rewards for Wealth Management program will be discontinued. If you are enrolled in the program on that day, your enrollment will be automatically transferred to the new Bank of America Preferred Rewards program. The new program will be expanded by adding two new tiers for clients with a qualifying balance of $1,000,000 or more. If your three month combined average daily balance is below $1,000,000 on the third business day of the month in which Preferred Rewards for Wealth Management discontinues, you will transition to the Preferred Rewards Platinum Honors tier.
Thanks. I think the real question is what will happen to the Preferred Rewards Platinum Honors tier, at least that is what I care about. I am set to qualify for that shortly, the question is will BoA slash the 75% cash back booster to BoA credit cards, or increase the qualification amount. There is no solid information on this...
From reading that text, it sounds like the new tiers will be $1M+ and anything below that will be PH. But yes, the question will be, does BOA slash cc boosters for those under $1M? I guess a 50% booster is still better than most cards can offer, but anything less and there is little reason to stick around. Even a 50% boost would put it on par with something like Chase's offerings through the travel portal.
As of November 12, 2021, or such later date as we may provide you notice of, the Preferred Rewards for Wealth Management program will be discontinued. If you are enrolled in the program on that day, your enrollment will be automatically transferred to the new Bank of America Preferred Rewards program. The new program will be expanded by adding two new tiers for clients with a qualifying balance of $1,000,000 or more. If your three month combined average daily balance is below $1,000,000 on the third business day of the month in which Preferred Rewards for Wealth Management discontinues, you will transition to the Preferred Rewards Platinum Honors tier.
Thanks. I think the real question is what will happen to the Preferred Rewards Platinum Honors tier, at least that is what I care about. I am set to qualify for that shortly, the question is will BoA slash the 75% cash back booster to BoA credit cards, or increase the qualification amount. There is no solid information on this...
Honestly, I am not stressing over it one way or the other. As you say, there isn't any solid information, so there is nothing actionable on my part at this time. If they announce something, then I can evaluate the changes and take action if necessary.
Worst case, I'll go back to using my Fidelity Rewards Visa card to get a baseline 2%, supplemented with other cards to get higher bonuses in specific categories. Not the end of the world.
placeholder wrote: ↑Sat Oct 23, 2021 7:25 pm
Received a post card from boa
Post a photo?
I don't think there's enough there to warrant that amount of effort as I don't have any handy way to post an image so I'd have to go set something up there.
Ok, my apologies. Maybe I got confused when reading your original post and somehow thought you had said that you were moving an additional $150k to ME because of postcard, but looks like that was someone replying to your post.
FWIW, I usually use imgur.com to upload photos and it works well & gives you public link that ?doesn't expire? at least for a while
As of November 12, 2021, or such later date as we may provide you notice of, the Preferred Rewards for Wealth Management program will be discontinued. If you are enrolled in the program on that day, your enrollment will be automatically transferred to the new Bank of America Preferred Rewards program. The new program will be expanded by adding two new tiers for clients with a qualifying balance of $1,000,000 or more. If your three month combined average daily balance is below $1,000,000 on the third business day of the month in which Preferred Rewards for Wealth Management discontinues, you will transition to the Preferred Rewards Platinum Honors tier.
Thanks. I think the real question is what will happen to the Preferred Rewards Platinum Honors tier, at least that is what I care about. I am set to qualify for that shortly, the question is will BoA slash the 75% cash back booster to BoA credit cards, or increase the qualification amount. There is no solid information on this...
Honestly, I am not stressing over it one way or the other. As you say, there isn't any solid information, so there is nothing actionable on my part at this time. If they announce something, then I can evaluate the changes and take action if necessary.
Worst case, I'll go back to using my Fidelity Rewards Visa card to get a baseline 2%, supplemented with other cards to get higher bonuses in specific categories. Not the end of the world.
This was my approach when these rumors started in early 2020 (yes, start of the pandemic) and thus far, reading and keeping up with this thread has taken more time than I’ve spent on worrying about something that may or may not happen. Sure, this year we got a date to look at (mid-to-late Nov), but still nothing to really be the basis of any decisions for now. So good job on not sweating the small things!
As of November 12, 2021, or such later date as we may provide you notice of, the Preferred Rewards for Wealth Management program will be discontinued. If you are enrolled in the program on that day, your enrollment will be automatically transferred to the new Bank of America Preferred Rewards program. The new program will be expanded by adding two new tiers for clients with a qualifying balance of $1,000,000 or more. If your three month combined average daily balance is below $1,000,000 on the third business day of the month in which Preferred Rewards for Wealth Management discontinues, you will transition to the Preferred Rewards Platinum Honors tier.
Thanks. I think the real question is what will happen to the Preferred Rewards Platinum Honors tier, at least that is what I care about. I am set to qualify for that shortly, the question is will BoA slash the 75% cash back booster to BoA credit cards, or increase the qualification amount. There is no solid information on this...
Honestly, I am not stressing over it one way or the other. As you say, there isn't any solid information, so there is nothing actionable on my part at this time. If they announce something, then I can evaluate the changes and take action if necessary.
Worst case, I'll go back to using my Fidelity Rewards Visa card to get a baseline 2%, supplemented with other cards to get higher bonuses in specific categories. Not the end of the world.
The world has changed in 2021, there are now many 2% cash back cards to choose from...
Citi Double Cash, Wells Fargo Active Cash, Alliant Cashback (now that they dropped the annual fee), the aforementioned Fidelity, Synchrony, PayPal, SoFi, FNBO, TD Bank, KeyBank, PenFed, Fifth Third all offer 2% cash back cards.
calwatch wrote: ↑Tue Oct 26, 2021 1:57 pm
Citi Double Cash, Wells Fargo Active Cash, Alliant Cashback (now that they dropped the annual fee), the aforementioned Fidelity, Synchrony, PayPal, SoFi, FNBO, TD Bank, KeyBank, PenFed, Fifth Third all offer 2% cash back cards.
Good info. I was not aware of a couple of them. Fifth Third has big strings attached ($100k investable asset).
calwatch wrote: ↑Tue Oct 26, 2021 1:57 pm
Citi Double Cash, Wells Fargo Active Cash, Alliant Cashback (now that they dropped the annual fee), the aforementioned Fidelity, Synchrony, PayPal, SoFi, FNBO, TD Bank, KeyBank, PenFed, Fifth Third all offer 2% cash back cards.
Good info. I was not aware of a couple of them. Fifth Third has big strings attached ($100k investable asset).
So many... I remember when there were only a couple. Fingers crossed that PH is not slashed. I can live with a higher balance requirement at ME, say $200k.
I’m a Preferred Rewards card holder and today received a mailer. It touts “New Preferred Rewards Diamond tiers with exclusive premier benefits and lifestyle experiences”.
Seems to suggest that whatever I have will get better, but that’s not totally clear.
calwatch wrote: ↑Tue Oct 26, 2021 1:57 pm
Citi Double Cash, Wells Fargo Active Cash, Alliant Cashback (now that they dropped the annual fee), the aforementioned Fidelity, Synchrony, PayPal, SoFi, FNBO, TD Bank, KeyBank, PenFed, Fifth Third all offer 2% cash back cards.
Remember like 10 years ago when Schwab killed its 2% card, apparently because it wasn't profitable? Given how many 2% cards there are out there now, I wonder what Schwab's problem was.
Marseille07 wrote: ↑Thu Oct 28, 2021 10:51 am
I'm already feeling the impact of PH and it's great. 2.62% minimum on every purchase and some categories receive 3.5% or even 5.25%
I've had no prior accounts with BOA.
I opened a Merrill Edge CMA in early October for the newer brokerage bonus of $600. Transferred over $200+k
I just opened a BoA checking account last week and enrolled in Preferred Rewards.
Today, I got an email welcoming me to the Platinum Honors tier of Preferred Rewards.
Did opening my Edge account before a checking account cause their system to calculate the last 3 months differently and qualify me early?
More rumors on Flyer Talk sound like PH won't change, just two new tiers added. It also sounds like there will be little differences between PH and the two new top tiers.
exarkun wrote: ↑Fri Oct 29, 2021 8:40 am
I've had no prior accounts with BOA.
I opened a Merrill Edge CMA in early October for the newer brokerage bonus of $600. Transferred over $200+k
I just opened a BoA checking account last week and enrolled in Preferred Rewards.
Today, I got an email welcoming me to the Platinum Honors tier of Preferred Rewards.
Did opening my Edge account before a checking account cause their system to calculate the last 3 months differently and qualify me early?
You wrote 200+k,which could mean $300k, and whichever day of the month they balance, you would have an average 90 day balance of $100k if you had $300k the day they balance. $100k is the threshold for PH.
The new tiers look uselessbut glad they are keeping the old ones. 2.625% on non categorical spend no cap is the best out there.
atdharris wrote: ↑Fri Oct 29, 2021 8:48 am
More rumors on Flyer Talk sound like PH won't change, just two new tiers added. It also sounds like there will be little differences between PH and the two new top tiers.
I sure hope so, I am supposed to qualify for PH next month.
exarkun wrote: ↑Fri Oct 29, 2021 8:40 am
I've had no prior accounts with BOA.
I opened a Merrill Edge CMA in early October for the newer brokerage bonus of $600. Transferred over $200+k
I just opened a BoA checking account last week and enrolled in Preferred Rewards.
Today, I got an email welcoming me to the Platinum Honors tier of Preferred Rewards.
Did opening my Edge account before a checking account cause their system to calculate the last 3 months differently and qualify me early?
The promo I was in said Merrill would early enroll me into Preferred Rewards. Perhaps by opening the Merrill account first, that let early enrollment fire off properly when the checking was opened? In my case, it didn’t happen early, but I did hit Platinum before 90s, though had $250k sitting there for that bonus tier.
tomsense76 wrote: ↑Fri Oct 29, 2021 1:09 pm
With the Travel Rewards card, is it possible to autoredeem points from it to the Premium Rewards card?
No.
However, it is quite possible to manually transfer accumulated points from Travel Rewards card to the Premium Rewards card.
(For weird reasons I can't discern, my credit limit on Premium Rewards was drastically lowered by BoA earlier this year in order to give me a ridiculously unnecessary large credit limit on a new BoA Amtrak card. Eventually, I will get around to getting those limits reallocated. Meanwhile, my working plan is to use my BoA Travel Rewards card, which retains a very large credit line, for any future large purchases and then simply transfer them over to Premium Rewards, where they can be flexibly cashed in.)
tomsense76 wrote: ↑Fri Oct 29, 2021 1:09 pm
With the Travel Rewards card, is it possible to autoredeem points from it to the Premium Rewards card?
No.
However, it is quite possible to manually transfer accumulated points from Travel Rewards card to the Premium Rewards card.
(For weird reasons I can't discern, my credit limit on Premium Rewards was drastically lowered by BoA earlier this year in order to give me a ridiculously unnecessary large credit limit on a new BoA Amtrak card. Eventually, I will get around to getting those limits reallocated. Meanwhile, my working plan is to use my BoA Travel Rewards card, which retains a very large credit line, for any future large purchases and then simply transfer them over to Premium Rewards, where they can be flexibly cashed in.)
This is typical.
BoA has apparently extended me as much credit as they are going to, which for me is 97k spread across my accounts. When I apply for a new card now, they take part of the credit limit from one of my existing cards and apply it to the new card. However, they have always been willing to reallocate my credit limits when I call, and it's a soft pull to do that.
dodecahedron wrote: ↑Fri Oct 29, 2021 1:20 pm(For weird reasons I can't discern, my credit limit on Premium Rewards was drastically lowered by BoA earlier this year in order to give me a ridiculously unnecessary large credit limit on a new BoA Amtrak card. Eventually, I will get around to getting those limits reallocated. Meanwhile, my working plan is to use my BoA Travel Rewards card, which retains a very large credit line, for any future large purchases and then simply transfer them over to Premium Rewards, where they can be flexibly cashed in.)
I'm curious, Dodecahedron (cool user name, by the way!): what's the benefit of having both Travel Rewards and an Amtrak card? I'm in the process of moving into the BoA ecosystem and plan to apply for a travel card eventually; I've considered both of these cards, but it didn't occur to me to pursue both.
tomsense76 wrote: ↑Fri Oct 29, 2021 1:09 pm
With the Travel Rewards card, is it possible to autoredeem points from it to the Premium Rewards card?
No.
However, it is quite possible to manually transfer accumulated points from Travel Rewards card to the Premium Rewards card.
(For weird reasons I can't discern, my credit limit on Premium Rewards was drastically lowered by BoA earlier this year in order to give me a ridiculously unnecessary large credit limit on a new BoA Amtrak card. Eventually, I will get around to getting those limits reallocated. Meanwhile, my working plan is to use my BoA Travel Rewards card, which retains a very large credit line, for any future large purchases and then simply transfer them over to Premium Rewards, where they can be flexibly cashed in.)
This is typical.
BoA has apparently extended me as much credit as they are going to, which for me is 97k spread across my accounts. When I apply for a new card now, they take part of the credit limit from one of my existing cards and apply it to the new card. However, they have always been willing to reallocate my credit limits when I call, and it's a soft pull to do that.
Makes sense. Thanks!
Was hoping they would make this easy, but wasn't expecting it
"Anyone who claims to understand quantum theory is either lying or crazy" -- Richard Feynman
tomsense76 wrote: ↑Fri Oct 29, 2021 1:09 pm
With the Travel Rewards card, is it possible to autoredeem points from it to the Premium Rewards card?
No.
However, it is quite possible to manually transfer accumulated points from Travel Rewards card to the Premium Rewards card.
(For weird reasons I can't discern, my credit limit on Premium Rewards was drastically lowered by BoA earlier this year in order to give me a ridiculously unnecessary large credit limit on a new BoA Amtrak card. Eventually, I will get around to getting those limits reallocated. Meanwhile, my working plan is to use my BoA Travel Rewards card, which retains a very large credit line, for any future large purchases and then simply transfer them over to Premium Rewards, where they can be flexibly cashed in.)
This is typical.
BoA has apparently extended me as much credit as they are going to, which for me is 97k spread across my accounts. When I apply for a new card now, they take part of the credit limit from one of my existing cards and apply it to the new card. However, they have always been willing to reallocate my credit limits when I call, and it's a soft pull to do that.
This is very good to know, especially the only soft pull part, do they do the soft pull while you are on the phone?
dodecahedron wrote: ↑Fri Oct 29, 2021 1:20 pm(For weird reasons I can't discern, my credit limit on Premium Rewards was drastically lowered by BoA earlier this year in order to give me a ridiculously unnecessary large credit limit on a new BoA Amtrak card. Eventually, I will get around to getting those limits reallocated. Meanwhile, my working plan is to use my BoA Travel Rewards card, which retains a very large credit line, for any future large purchases and then simply transfer them over to Premium Rewards, where they can be flexibly cashed in.)
I'm curious, Dodecahedron (cool user name, by the way!): what's the benefit of having both Travel Rewards and an Amtrak card? I'm in the process of moving into the BoA ecosystem and plan to apply for a travel card eventually; I've considered both of these cards, but it didn't occur to me to pursue both.
If you travel domestically, consider the Ultimate Rewards card as it isn't restricted to just travel for the bonus. However, it has a forex fee while the Travel Rewards card doesn't, so keep that in mind if you lots of international travel (or did/will again if you ignore 2020-2021).
dodecahedron wrote: ↑Fri Oct 29, 2021 1:20 pm(For weird reasons I can't discern, my credit limit on Premium Rewards was drastically lowered by BoA earlier this year in order to give me a ridiculously unnecessary large credit limit on a new BoA Amtrak card. Eventually, I will get around to getting those limits reallocated. Meanwhile, my working plan is to use my BoA Travel Rewards card, which retains a very large credit line, for any future large purchases and then simply transfer them over to Premium Rewards, where they can be flexibly cashed in.)
I'm curious, Dodecahedron (cool user name, by the way!): what's the benefit of having both Travel Rewards and an Amtrak card? I'm in the process of moving into the BoA ecosystem and plan to apply for a travel card eventually; I've considered both of these cards, but it didn't occur to me to pursue both.
If you travel domestically, consider the Ultimate Rewards card as it isn't restricted to just travel for the bonus. However, it has a forex fee while the Travel Rewards card doesn't, so keep that in mind if you lots of international travel (or did/will again if you ignore 2020-2021).
Does the Amtrak card even get a cash back boost with Preferred Rewards?
BrandonBogle wrote: ↑Fri Oct 29, 2021 4:08 pmIf you travel domestically, consider the Ultimate Rewards card as it isn't restricted to just travel for the bonus. However, it has a forex fee while the Travel Rewards card doesn't, so keep that in mind if you lots of international travel (or did/will again if you ignore 2020-2021).
Thanks, Brandon. I haven't traveled at all during the pandemic, but before the pandemic I took roughly five round-trips per year on Amtrak (family obligations). I haven't been overseas, or even on a plane, in years, but before the pandemic I was planning to start travelling more. I'm taking a wait-and-see approach for now.
I'm thinking of applying for the Premium Rewards card largely because I have a significant expense coming up and will be able to get the higher sign-up bonus for that card. I plan to use it as my default card for whenever I don't have a card that pays a higher bonus, and given how infrequently I travel that should make due as a travel card for a while, but I'm not sure it's a great long-term solution.
tomsense76 wrote: ↑Fri Oct 29, 2021 1:09 pm
With the Travel Rewards card, is it possible to autoredeem points from it to the Premium Rewards card?
No.
However, it is quite possible to manually transfer accumulated points from Travel Rewards card to the Premium Rewards card.
(For weird reasons I can't discern, my credit limit on Premium Rewards was drastically lowered by BoA earlier this year in order to give me a ridiculously unnecessary large credit limit on a new BoA Amtrak card. Eventually, I will get around to getting those limits reallocated. Meanwhile, my working plan is to use my BoA Travel Rewards card, which retains a very large credit line, for any future large purchases and then simply transfer them over to Premium Rewards, where they can be flexibly cashed in.)
This is typical.
BoA has apparently extended me as much credit as they are going to, which for me is 97k spread across my accounts. When I apply for a new card now, they take part of the credit limit from one of my existing cards and apply it to the new card. However, they have always been willing to reallocate my credit limits when I call, and it's a soft pull to do that.
This is very good to know, especially the only soft pull part, do they do the soft pull while you are on the phone?
Yep.
Each time they told me it was approved while I was on the phone, and it went into effect immediately. You might need to log off and log on again to see the change.
However, it is quite possible to manually transfer accumulated points from Travel Rewards card to the Premium Rewards card.
(For weird reasons I can't discern, my credit limit on Premium Rewards was drastically lowered by BoA earlier this year in order to give me a ridiculously unnecessary large credit limit on a new BoA Amtrak card. Eventually, I will get around to getting those limits reallocated. Meanwhile, my working plan is to use my BoA Travel Rewards card, which retains a very large credit line, for any future large purchases and then simply transfer them over to Premium Rewards, where they can be flexibly cashed in.)
This is typical.
BoA has apparently extended me as much credit as they are going to, which for me is 97k spread across my accounts. When I apply for a new card now, they take part of the credit limit from one of my existing cards and apply it to the new card. However, they have always been willing to reallocate my credit limits when I call, and it's a soft pull to do that.
This is very good to know, especially the only soft pull part, do they do the soft pull while you are on the phone?
Yep.
Each time they told me it was approved while I was on the phone, and it went into effect immediately. You might need to log off and log on again to see the change.
Awesome. Do you have to have the cards for a certain amount of time before doing this? Which number did you call? Thanks!
However, it is quite possible to manually transfer accumulated points from Travel Rewards card to the Premium Rewards card.
(For weird reasons I can't discern, my credit limit on Premium Rewards was drastically lowered by BoA earlier this year in order to give me a ridiculously unnecessary large credit limit on a new BoA Amtrak card. Eventually, I will get around to getting those limits reallocated. Meanwhile, my working plan is to use my BoA Travel Rewards card, which retains a very large credit line, for any future large purchases and then simply transfer them over to Premium Rewards, where they can be flexibly cashed in.)
This is typical.
BoA has apparently extended me as much credit as they are going to, which for me is 97k spread across my accounts. When I apply for a new card now, they take part of the credit limit from one of my existing cards and apply it to the new card. However, they have always been willing to reallocate my credit limits when I call, and it's a soft pull to do that.
This is very good to know, especially the only soft pull part, do they do the soft pull while you are on the phone?
Yep.
Each time they told me it was approved while I was on the phone, and it went into effect immediately. You might need to log off and log on again to see the change.
Awesome. Do you have to have the cards for a certain amount of time before doing this? Which number did you call? Thanks!
I've been able to do it a few days after activating a new account. Call the number on the back of the card or the preferred rewards line.
BoA has apparently extended me as much credit as they are going to, which for me is 97k spread across my accounts. When I apply for a new card now, they take part of the credit limit from one of my existing cards and apply it to the new card. However, they have always been willing to reallocate my credit limits when I call, and it's a soft pull to do that.
This is very good to know, especially the only soft pull part, do they do the soft pull while you are on the phone?
Yep.
Each time they told me it was approved while I was on the phone, and it went into effect immediately. You might need to log off and log on again to see the change.
Awesome. Do you have to have the cards for a certain amount of time before doing this? Which number did you call? Thanks!
I've been able to do it a few days after activating a new account. Call the number on the back of the card or the preferred rewards line.
dodecahedron wrote: ↑Fri Oct 29, 2021 1:20 pm(For weird reasons I can't discern, my credit limit on Premium Rewards was drastically lowered by BoA earlier this year in order to give me a ridiculously unnecessary large credit limit on a new BoA Amtrak card. Eventually, I will get around to getting those limits reallocated. Meanwhile, my working plan is to use my BoA Travel Rewards card, which retains a very large credit line, for any future large purchases and then simply transfer them over to Premium Rewards, where they can be flexibly cashed in.)
I'm curious, Dodecahedron (cool user name, by the way!): what's the benefit of having both Travel Rewards and an Amtrak card? I'm in the process of moving into the BoA ecosystem and plan to apply for a travel card eventually; I've considered both of these cards, but it didn't occur to me to pursue both.
I got the Travel Rewards card years ago (when I rarely took the train anyway) and before Premium Rewards existed. It is free so I figured why not keep it even after I decided to get a Preferred Rewards card.
Then in spring 2021, I decided that most of my travel (such as it is) for the foreseeable future will be on Amtrak (partly because the skies don't seem very "friendly" now due to passenger misbehavior, potential crowding at TSA, being physically stuck indoors in overcrowded gate waiting areas for long periods in case of plane/weather delays vs trains where you can just easily exit the station in case of extended delay) and the BoA Amtrak card was offering a great signup bonus.
Once I got the signup bonus ($1,000 dollars of purchases within 90 days), I then restricted further use of the card to Amtrak purchases, for which it is much more cost effective. I get about 8% effective rebate from award points on purchases of Amtrak tickets for using the card and I get an additional cash 20% rebate if I use the card for on-board purchases in the Amtrak cafe car. But I would not use the Amtrak card for anything else.
But for non-Amtrak purchases (including other types of travel), I would generally use some other card rather than Amtrak.
anon_investor wrote: ↑Fri Oct 29, 2021 4:14 pm
Does the Amtrak card even get a cash back boost with Preferred Rewards?
No. The BoA Amtrak card does not get any Preferred Rewards boost. However, for my particular types of Amtrak travel, I have calculated that the points value is about 8% of the value of my spending on Amtrak tickets and 28% of the value of my spending on Amtrak cafe car purchases. And I got a great initial signup bonus and free companion passes and free one-class upgrades and a free pass to the awesome new Acela Club lounge.
So, for Amtrak travel, using my BoA Amtrak card is a better deal than any other BoA card in my wallet, even though the others DO get the 75% Preferred Rewards boost.
I've recently hit the 100k+ milestone of funds that I could transfer to Merrill Edge. Given the news about the new tiers, would you advise I wait to initiate a 100k transfer for preferred rewards?
Cranberry44 wrote: ↑Sat Oct 30, 2021 8:49 am
Hi All,
I've recently hit the 100k+ milestone of funds that I could transfer to Merrill Edge. Given the news about the new tiers, would you advise I wait to initiate a 100k transfer for preferred rewards?
Thanks!
I'm already on Preferred Rewards but IMO the news of the new tiers doesn't make me think they'll be changing the existing tiers' terms & conditions. We shall see!
Cranberry44 wrote: ↑Sat Oct 30, 2021 8:49 amI've recently hit the 100k+ milestone of funds that I could transfer to Merrill Edge. Given the news about the new tiers, would you advise I wait to initiate a 100k transfer for preferred rewards?
At this point, I'd probably suggest waiting. I think we're supposed to know more around November 14, so I'd wait until then before complicating my financial life in case BoA surprises us with news that they're nerfing this program.
If this were a month or two ago, I would have suggested the opposite: aggressively shoveling money into BoA in an attempt to get status before they make changes, in the hopes that you'd be grandfathered against any negative changes. That's actually what I did--I should hit Platinum Rewards next week--but it's too late to do so now before the changes are announced.
Cranberry44 wrote: ↑Sat Oct 30, 2021 8:49 am
I've recently hit the 100k+ milestone of funds that I could transfer to Merrill Edge. Given the news about the new tiers, would you advise I wait to initiate a 100k transfer for preferred rewards?
No, I wouldn't wait. First of all, you can get a decent bonus for transferring those assets, so worst case you kick off the clock to get your next round of transfer bonuses. Second, the only actual news has been about adding higher tiers: everything about the lower tiers has been either non-credible rumors or FUD.
The only reason I would wait is to hold out for the 50% more bonus that Merrill has offered at least once a year.
A useful razor: anyone asking about speculative strategies on Bogleheads.org has no business using them.
Cranberry44 wrote: ↑Sat Oct 30, 2021 8:49 am
I've recently hit the 100k+ milestone of funds that I could transfer to Merrill Edge. Given the news about the new tiers, would you advise I wait to initiate a 100k transfer for preferred rewards?
No, I wouldn't wait. First of all, you can get a decent bonus for transferring those assets, so worst case you kick off the clock to get your next round of transfer bonuses. Second, the only actual news has been about adding higher tiers: everything about the lower tiers has been either non-credible rumors or FUD.
The only reason I would wait is to hold out for the 50% more bonus that Merrill has offered at least once a year.
Cranberry44 wrote: ↑Sat Oct 30, 2021 8:49 am
I've recently hit the 100k+ milestone of funds that I could transfer to Merrill Edge. Given the news about the new tiers, would you advise I wait to initiate a 100k transfer for preferred rewards?
No, I wouldn't wait. First of all, you can get a decent bonus for transferring those assets, so worst case you kick off the clock to get your next round of transfer bonuses. Second, the only actual news has been about adding higher tiers: everything about the lower tiers has been either non-credible rumors or FUD.
The only reason I would wait is to hold out for the 50% more bonus that Merrill has offered at least once a year.
JackoC wrote: ↑Thu Oct 21, 2021 11:25 am
That's why we buy $500 ones generally, with BOA CCR at 5.25% CB, for pretty much all our in store spending at Costco except big items where Citi/Costco Visa gets you a free extended warranty rather than highest cash back. Or I might order a big item not eligible for the extended warranty at Costco.com directly with BOA CCR and pick it up.
Curious how that goes? Do you do online shopping category and purchase cash cards online from costco.com or is there another way. I currently settle for the 3.5% at Costco (one of my highest spends generally monthly) but getting that up to 5.25% would be amazing!
Right, set a CCR card to online shopping as 5.25% category at PH level, buy the cards online at Costco.com, get them in the mail.
So far - I found that online shopping is the best category that most should be using to get the maximum rewards. If you are OK with paying using a phone app you can easily make in store purchases with apps like Sams Club Scan and Go, Walmart Pay, and Kroger App that are all considered "online" purchases. Wish I switched to this category a year ago. Hope that B of A doesn't change the rules for this - as it seems too easy to get 5% back on what should be a 3% grocery category. Thanks for your thread on helping me learn this.
JackoC wrote: ↑Thu Oct 21, 2021 11:25 am
That's why we buy $500 ones generally, with BOA CCR at 5.25% CB, for pretty much all our in store spending at Costco except big items where Citi/Costco Visa gets you a free extended warranty rather than highest cash back. Or I might order a big item not eligible for the extended warranty at Costco.com directly with BOA CCR and pick it up.
Curious how that goes? Do you do online shopping category and purchase cash cards online from costco.com or is there another way. I currently settle for the 3.5% at Costco (one of my highest spends generally monthly) but getting that up to 5.25% would be amazing!
Right, set a CCR card to online shopping as 5.25% category at PH level, buy the cards online at Costco.com, get them in the mail.
So far - I found that online shopping is the best category that most should be using to get the maximum rewards. If you are OK with paying using a phone app you can easily make in store purchases with apps like Sams Club Scan and Go, Walmart Pay, and Kroger App that are all considered "online" purchases. Wish I switched to this category a year ago. Hope that B of A doesn't change the rules for this - as it seems too easy to get 5% back on what should be a 3% grocery category. Thanks for your thread on helping me learn this.
danaht wrote: ↑Sat Oct 30, 2021 10:32 pm
So far - I found that online shopping is the best category that most should be using to get the maximum rewards. If you are OK with paying using a phone app you can easily make in store purchases with apps like Sams Club Scan and Go, Walmart Pay, and Kroger App that are all considered "online" purchases. Wish I switched to this category a year ago. Hope that B of A doesn't change the rules for this - as it seems too easy to get 5% back on what should be a 3% grocery category. Thanks for your thread on helping me learn this.
Thank you! I never knew that. I will try using Walmart Pay the next time.
Cranberry44 wrote: ↑Sat Oct 30, 2021 8:49 am
I've recently hit the 100k+ milestone of funds that I could transfer to Merrill Edge. Given the news about the new tiers, would you advise I wait to initiate a 100k transfer for preferred rewards?
Sounds like the changes will apply at the $1M and $10M levels, so if you’re thinking about moving $100k, you can expect to get the current Platinum Honors benefits but nothing more.