Best card to have

[Anonymous]

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@Open123 wrote:

If you have an orphan $100K IRA (or, just Acats over $100K) to park at Merrill Edge, I'd go with Travel Rewards combined with Fid Amex.  Currently, aside from JCB Murakai, this is the best pure cashback option for general non-bonus expenditures.

2.65% cashback and 30 free trades per month isn't a bad deal.

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Sound advice Open123. If you decide to move a 100k over to BoA, your 321 cash rewards cc will now earn an extra 75%, at redemption, more in rewards if money is deposited into a BoA account.

[kdm31091]

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@Anonymous wrote:

I second the JCB Murakai with its 3% anywhere Discover or JCB is accepted.

Or if you do a lot of online shopping you may want to look into the Upromise Mastercard.  It gives you an extra 5% in addition to their regular gateway cashback.  In my experience their cashback is usually fairly close to the other popular cashback providers like eBates/FatWallet/MrRebates/etc.  Although DiscoverDeals sometimes has some great cash back offers.

For example:

5% + 2% on Bestbuy

5% + 5% on Macys

5% + 5% on Nordstrom

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I'll vouch for the upromise card for online shopping. Good deals on many websites, including many travel bookings, which can be better than trying to hassle with miles (depending on your perspective).

You just have to be patient as the cash can take awhile to actually come to you, but not much different than discover deals coming at statement cut.

[longtimelurker]

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@beautifulblaquepearl wrote:

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@Open123 wrote:

If you have an orphan $100K IRA (or, just Acats over $100K) to park at Merrill Edge, I'd go with Travel Rewards combined with Fid Amex.  Currently, aside from JCB Murakai, this is the best pure cashback option for general non-bonus expenditures.

2.65% cashback and 30 free trades per month isn't a bad deal.

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Sound advice Open123. If you decide to move a 100k over to BoA, your 321 cash rewards cc will now earn an extra 75%, at redemption, more in rewards if money is deposited into a BoA account.

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Open is referring to what is probably an unintended glitch in the system.   With the travel rewards (and the $100K account) you can earn 2.65% on everything, uncapped (and while the 321 has higher rewards on gas and groceries, they are capped low).     And then, with the Fidelity Amex, you can transfer your rewards  and get pure cash back

[Open123]

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@longtimelurker wrote:

Open is referring to what is probably an unintended glitch in the system.   With the travel rewards (and the $100K account) you can earn 2.65% on everything, uncapped (and while the 321 has higher rewards on gas and groceries, they are capped low).     And then, with the Fidelity Amex, you can transfer your rewards  and get pure cash back

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Right, while there can be no assurances if this glitch will continue, based on the relative complexity (as compared to a staight 2% rewards card) and BofA's historical tolerance for unintended consequences of their rewards programs (think BBR and keep the change), there's a fair chance this glitch will continue unabated for quite some time.

In my view, given the expected travel rewards devaluations over the next few years, 2.5% cashback is beginning to become more appealing than, say, a single SPG, MR, or UR point.  As rewards points continue to inflate/devalue, pure cashback becomes more appealing, if only as a hedge.  I speculate that given the vast amount of points that have been harvested and created for client acquisition, a strategic progressive devaluation will be the inevitable outcome.