BofA Travel Rewards Card

[Anonymous]

I currently bank with BofA and have the Cash Rewards card. Interested in getting this card in a little bit, but I'd like to hear the good and bad from those who have it currently.

1) Assuming the 75% preferrered rewards bonus which effectively gives this card 2.625% back, are there any no AF cards that offer higher rewards for general spending?

2) How do you spend the points? My understanding is it's any airline?

3) I've read that if you book through the BofA travel center you get double points, but not sure if it's true.

Please let me know if there is anything else I should know about this card before applying.

By my calculations, for someone that flies ocassionally the easy-to-use nature of this card and no AF (combined with preferred rewards) makes it better than the CSP/CSR game.

[Anonymous]

1. not many I know of

2. yes

3. haven't redeemed any points yet cannot confirm

but yes its a good card for any ocassional traveler that wants no AF, it was one of my first CCs.

[Anonymous]

As for Question #3

Yes, you do earn double points, however personally I find much better deals using coupons or booking through Costco/Hotwire etc.

Example: BofA Travel Quoted price for a 10 day car rental: $389

Costco Travel Quoted price for the same the same 10 day rental, same location: $216

So I haven't had any good experiences with booking through them so far.

[mdd0214]

Regarding the redemption, it is very easy to redeem against all travel spending. Travel is fairly expansive, including things like Uber & train tickets, in addition to flights & hotels, etc. You can redeem for whole purchases as soon as they post or apply points towards a part of a charge. Website is easy to use. Have not booked through their portal but they offer 3 points per dollar spent which is double.

I've had great success driving up my CLs with BoA which is probably even easier with a more complete relationship. 

[GeorgiaBulldog]

1.  If you've got the bonus that makes it a 2.625% back card, yeah, it is probably the best option for a no AF card unless you can get the USAA limitless.

2.  Points can be spent on a lot of stuff, not just airlines.  I've used mine to cover my drinking expenses on a cruise, reimburse admission to an aquarium, and for airline fees.  The aquarium actually coded as an art gallery, for what it's worth--that is still one of the redemption categories.  People give the card flak for limited redemption, but I find more things qualify than many folks realize.

3.  I think it's just a flat 3% back booking on the BofA travel center, but I'm not 100% sure on that. 

If you've got a lot of money/investmenst with BofA/Merrill and don't travel too frequently, I think it can certainly beat Chase cards as a daily driver.  CSR does increase the value of redemptions through Chase's portal though, so you have to take  that into account.  But then again, the $150 annual fee after travel reimbursement may not be worth it for someone who doesn't travel that much.

I think it's a good card if you want something simple, don't travel a ton and don't want to deal with maximizing redemption values.  I might go back to using it in conjunction with other cash back cards if I find my PRG and SPG cards aren't worth their annual fees after a year.

[CreditDunce]

There aren't many cash back cards better than the BoA TR card.  Perhaps the PCM CU card (very limited geo area), 5% cash back up to $1000 per month.  It does have a small AF.    Other cards close would be: USAA has a 2.5% cash back card.  Discover IT Miles 3% for the first year.  And Alliant has a new invite only card I haven't looked at. 

There is an opportunity cost to keep 100k at BoA.  Transferring IRA funds to MerrillEdge works well.  My only complaint is I have one Vanguard fund not eligible for the automatic investment option as dividends are paid.   Be sure to look to see if BoA has any promos for opening an IRA.  When I opened my account they had a earn $1000 bonus for $200k in new funds.  Another opportunity cost to keep in mind is you need to redeem the TR points against travel cost (Airline, Hotel, cruises, vacation packages, etc).  Often you can get more than 2.625% cash back for travel on a different card.  To redeem you go to the rewards tab and redeem the points for statement credits against any travel charges you have on the card.  It works very similarly to Cap1 Venture or Barclay's Arrival+.   I don't know anything about a BoA Travel Center.  You can get additional cashback/miles by going through other portals (e.g. TCB, AA shopping portal, etc).  You can also add any card to various dining programs (e.g. AA/SW Dining networks) for airline miles. 

Also note, the TR sign up bonus doesn't get the 75% bonus.   20k points is nice, but it isn't liike the CR where the sign up bonus gets multiplied by your Preferred Rewards Bonus.  The TR does pair well with the CR card.  CR covers gas (5.25%) and grocery/wally/wholesale clubs (3.5%).  The TR does everything else.  If you didn't have teh CR card, I would recommend app'g for it at the same time.  The BBR card is also a good choice to combine apps.  Normally, if you app for two BoA cards on the same day the EX INQs get combined.

Overall, it is a solid choice for someone who doesn't want to constantly churn signup bonuses.