@longtimelurker wrote:
@red259 wrote:
@j_casteel wrote:
So basically you would have to spend $2950 to cover the AF. Then you can start earning rewards.I used to know this, but does someone have a listing of the spend break points to offset the AF for the Venture card and the barclay's arrival?
Always have to ask, compared to what. So saying after $2950 you start earning rewards, while sort of true, is sort of missing the point.
So consider again my LongTimeLurkerBank Super Platinum Diamond Cash Rewards Card. It offers a 0.1% cashback on EVERY eligible purchase (no confusing rotating categories here!) and a cheap cheap AF of just $1!!! (Compare that to Arrival etc!) So, after just $1000, you have paid back the AF and start earning rewards.
Would you get this card? No, it's terrible, because there are cards that offer a much better rate for free. And even if For A Limited Time, I either waive the AF, or bump the redemption rate to .5%, or both, it's still bad!
And that is why some of us discount the Venture (if you have other Visa Sigs and no FTF cards, I guess). The rate is the same as the Fidelity Amex, which is free and has much more flexible redemptions (no restriction to travel). Arrival has a higher rate at least, but still needs a lot of spend ($40K if above conditions are met) to compete with the Amex.
Break points of venture vs Barclay. Doesn't arrival also give you 10% back on travel purchases so you actually are getting 2.2 cents? Honestly since I do a lot of international travel the fidelity amex doesn't work very well for the way I want to use it. Plus barclay is chip and pin, which is important for europe. If I was looking for straight cash back and not necessarily travel redemptions it be different. For me the barclay is looking like a decent play, because I will have to give up my world mastercard when I cancel my Citi AA exec card next year and I won't have any other cards that offer that benefit. Gives me avis first level for rental cars so free upgrades etc. Then there is the whole amex is not accepted as many places as MC point. Also, I was reading somewhere that the cash back gets deposited into an account? Are there extra steps to get the cash back via the fidelity?
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@j_casteel wrote:
@longtimelurker wrote:
@red259 wrote:
@j_casteel wrote:
So basically you would have to spend $2950 to cover the AF. Then you can start earning rewards.I used to know this, but does someone have a listing of the spend break points to offset the AF for the Venture card and the barclay's arrival?
Always have to ask, compared to what. So saying after $2950 you start earning rewards, while sort of true, is sort of missing the point.
So consider again my LongTimeLurkerBank Super Platinum Diamond Cash Rewards Card. It offers a 0.1% cashback on EVERY eligible purchase (no confusing rotating categories here!) and a cheap cheap AF of just $1!!! (Compare that to Arrival etc!) So, after just $1000, you have paid back the AF and start earning rewards.
Would you get this card? No, it's terrible, because there are cards that offer a much better rate for free. And even if For A Limited Time, I either waive the AF, or bump the redemption rate to .5%, or both, it's still bad!
And that is why some of us discount the Venture (if you have other Visa Sigs and no FTF cards, I guess). The rate is the same as the Fidelity Amex, which is free and has much more flexible redemptions (no restriction to travel). Arrival has a higher rate at least, but still needs a lot of spend ($40K if above conditions are met) to compete with the Amex.
my point was to the fact that the 2pts per $1 for a $59 AF sucks compared to other 2pt or 2% cards with no AF. you have to spend nearly $3k on the Venture just to pay for the card before you start "earning" rewards while the Fidelity AMEX immediately starts earning the 2% back with no AF.
I think people need to take in consideration a few other points. One is that Venture and Barclay waive the AF the first year. Second they have decent signup offers and three there are many stories of people who actually use the cards getting those AFs waived. I believe these are valid considerations that should be factored in. The fidelity is a fine card, especially if you are only interested in cash back and will be doing only domestic spend.
@Membersince2013 wrote:
Really? 70k points can get you a first class ticket?..
if you are lucky and can take advantage of a promo ? ... I am using my miles only for promos in Business class and LH offers Europe - USA for 50K round trip every once in a while... that is less than economy class at the regular price...
...regular award prices are not interesting for me and then I rather use my Arrival and fly coach !
@lg8302ch wrote:
@Membersince2013 wrote:
Ouch!... I have a couple of CapitolOne cards and I never even noticed the triple pull. Probably because I got them because I ever thought about maintaining credit lol. Also, are you saying 1.5 cash back is better than 2X miles depending on how much I spend on the card?First it is not really miles but cash back for travel purchases and yes depending on spend your net earnings are higer with 1,5% and no AF. ... it is an easy calculation 2% -59$ compared to 1,5% ...you need to decide whether earnings are higher at the end. For me it is definitely the 1,5% with no AF but I am not earning enough to be a heavy spender. Advantage of the QS you can redeem your cash for anything and the Venture for travel related purchases. ... so it is YMMV depending on spend.
In this example, in order for the extra 1/2 percent ( 0.005 ) to offset the $59 annual fee, you would need to spend:
$59 / 0.005 = $11800
But on the positive side, once you exceed $11,800 per year, you would start making a profit. A very tiny profit.
@Themanwhocan wrote:
@lg8302ch wrote:
@Membersince2013 wrote:
Ouch!... I have a couple of CapitolOne cards and I never even noticed the triple pull. Probably because I got them because I ever thought about maintaining credit lol. Also, are you saying 1.5 cash back is better than 2X miles depending on how much I spend on the card?First it is not really miles but cash back for travel purchases and yes depending on spend your net earnings are higer with 1,5% and no AF. ... it is an easy calculation 2% -59$ compared to 1,5% ...you need to decide whether earnings are higher at the end. For me it is definitely the 1,5% with no AF but I am not earning enough to be a heavy spender. Advantage of the QS you can redeem your cash for anything and the Venture for travel related purchases. ... so it is YMMV depending on spend.
In this example, in order for the extra 1/2 percent ( 0.005 ) to offset the $59 annual fee, you would need to spend:
$59 / 0.005 = $11800
But on the positive side, once you exceed $11,800 per year, you would start making a profit. A very tiny profit.
I still think for most people if signup bonus isn't factored in , Fidelity Amex is an very good choice. I am actually contemplating getting fidelity amex later this year. The venture and arrival+ type cards do serve an purpose but for me I think fidelity amex is fine.
