Hello BBR card holders
Is it just me or how do you feel about this card ?
In October I got my BBR card which I PCd from the CR card. I had no clue how hard this card is to manage to get the quarterly rewards otherwise I would not have taken it.
To qualify for quarterly cash reward:
- Have a monthly payment due in each monthly cycle of the calendar quarter.
- Exceed minimum monthly payment.
- Monthly payment is not late.
- Card is active and in good standing.
Please note:
- Full payment is same as exceeding minimum monthly payment
- A $0 balance is not considered a payment
- Reward credit causing $0 payment due is not considered a monthly payment or qualification
- Minimum payment is due for statement credits
Sounds real easy, right ? Well then I am incapable of getting this beast to work. If you wonder how I did manage not to get any quarterly rewards after the very first 30$ in the past 6 months with charges every month? Here is what happened. In October when I just got my card I paid my statement balance in full but to my big surprise already got the quarterly bonus of 30$. Too good to be true is what I thought and it proofs that way for me. Not realizing that for the next statement cut date there was a charge of 28$ only that left due to the quarterly rewards a credit of 2$ which lead to a 0 balance reporting and no minimum payment. Clever as this voiced the next quarterly bonus qualification until end of the year 2014.
Come forward to January 2015 and a new cycle started. Recurring charges posted, statement cut, PIF and then after my payment a merchant credit from an item out of stock got refunded. Again I did not pay attention that the balance for my February statement was a few bucks lower than the charges and the statement cut with 0 due.
Shoot again… BofA wins … voided my next quarterly bonus 
Instead of 90$ I got the 30$ with the card in October and no further quarterly bonuses ever since.
Are BBR card members better than me in managing their accounts or anybody else struggles to get these rewards? I personally find this card by far the hardest to manage to get any rewards.
I would be interested to know how you rate this card?
Edit: Re-read OP's post after reading voltage's above. Disregard. 
@Anonymous wrote:
Just run up a $500 balance and BT it to this card. Pay $5 over min until BT term is over and forget it.
Thanks Nixon... why did I not come up with this idea? This sound by far the easiest method not to fall into the BBR trap
I think this card might work best if you charge a bit more a month; seems to be a hassle otherwise (of course I'm sure the card wasn't intended for being taken advantage of!). I plan to charge about $100 a month so even when the $25 posts every quarter, there will still be more than enough to generate a statement and minimum payment due. I figure charging $300 a quarter and getting $25 back is a pretty good reward rate. With my low spend it works and I can still use my Sallie Mae for the 5% categories. I'm not the ultimate reward chaser so I don't need to micro-manage this card.
Quicksilver $10,000 | Better Balance Rewards $2000 | Sallie Mae $3500 | Freedom $3500
@Anonymous wrote:
If you put a small recurring charge on it, you should have known when $25+5 bonus posts, it would result in a credit balance. And naturally not to use the card for something that could be refunded.
It's not that hard.
Your are right. I guess I am just not used to micromanage my accounts.
@Callandra wrote:I think this card might work best if you charge a bit more a month; seems to be a hassle otherwise (of course I'm sure the card wasn't intended for being taken advantage of!). I plan to charge about $100 a month so even when the $25 posts every quarter, there will still be more than enough to generate a statement and minimum payment due. I figure charging $300 a quarter and getting $25 back is a pretty good reward rate. With my low spend it works and I can still use my Sallie Mae for the 5% categories. I'm not the ultimate reward chaser so I don't need to micro-manage this card.
My recurrent charges were 75$ - 125$ (charity payment) but on a fix date close to the statement cut date. BofA had 33 days in billing cycle which means recurring payment close to the statement date will sooner or later fall into the same billing cycle and skip one. Combined with a refund this was my trap. This should now be over as it should stay the same date every month. I thinks my favorite idea is the BT option ...put it on and set payment for minimum +5$ and be done with it. I prefer to pay the BT fee and get rewards especially as the rewards are for a charity organisation to sponsor an additional child just with the rewards. Too bad I failed on my mission but will try again and see how it goes. So this time hopefully BofA can be the sponsor of a child in Ecuador or Guatemala.
@-Cal- wrote:I have a few small recurring charges totaling $40 that hits this card, even if I get the $25 bonus I still owe.
That is the way to do it and nothing that coud get refunded just like that