USAA Upgrade offer

[Anonymous]

I logged into to my usaa account and there's a box on the right side of the page to upgrade my platinum mastercard to a "world mastercard"

it says all the terms of the account stay the same, except the late fee (non issue) goes up to $35 and the over the limit fee is eliminated.

Has anyone else been shown this page recently/accepted the upgrade?  Is the world MC a new offering from usaa?  Besides not reporting the limit, any downsides to taking this card?

[MojaveMoon]

Congrats! So far I've only seen two people anywhere who talked about this (last July). One person promised to provide an update later on about whether or not his credit limit is still being reported, but he hasn't gotten around yet to providing that update.

Here are the benefits for the different USAA cards including the World Mastercard: (link)

Here are excerpted comments from these two people:

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The World MC card and the regular MC card look identical. The only differance is "World" that is put under the MC logo.

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Yesterady I asked for a APR D I was dropped from 9.9% to 7.9%. When I checked my accounts today my CC showed "World MC"

I called USAA and they told me I was enrolled in this "limited membership program" on July 14. I asked how I ended up here and they told me that my credit and work with USAA entitled me to this. [...] Also, the rep told me that the update was a mass one so check your accounts online! [...] I pay at least $200 twice a month when i have a balance but the account isnt even a year old yet. Tomarrow it will be though. [...] I dont think it had to do with my 1 year mark as I couldnt even ask for a CLI till after 180 days.

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I had this [update] happen but I didn't really pay much attention. I got the letter, perused, got the card, cut up the old and inserted the new into the wallet. I don't use it often and I don't get CLI's often since I have mortgage, credit card, home equity loan and all insurance through them as well. As far as how I got it, I did nothing. Everything just came in the mail. I'm guessing it must have something to do with length of the account and payment history. Kinda like an upgrade from a regular card to a platinum. I don't see much difference in the USAA cards but sure...why not! [...] Mine [upgrade] came around the two year mark in January.

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The only difference I spotted as I quickly reviewed them was the world card has trip cancellation and lost baggage insurance which the platinum card does not...which could be very valuable if there aren't too many restrictions

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Message Edited by MojaveMoon on 11-22-2008 04:32 PM

[MojaveMoon]

One other comment. Someone posted a link to the press release about the launch of the World Mastercard: (link)

One of the two people who was upgraded to the USAA World Mastercard made this comment:

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From the article:

""Mass affluent" cardholders, defined as those earning more than USD $100,000 in household income,"

HA I made less than $30k last year

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Message Edited by MojaveMoon on 11-22-2008 04:30 PM

[Anonymous]

Mojave- Thanks for putting those posts together!

My big concern was that it would be a hard inquiry, but apparently not after reading these posts.  I'm not sure why I was offered it though: I just use it a few times a month (normally under $100) the main reason was to get deposit@home.  It's also only a few months old.

Contrary to the posts below, the card looks different... blue color, similar to the debit card (which, since I don't use it much is one of the biggest advantages )

Anyways, I'll probably upgrade it in the next few days and post back with an update.

If anyone else has experiences with this, I'd love to hear.

[MojaveMoon]

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@Anonymous wrote:

Mojave- Thanks for putting those posts together!

My big concern was that it would be a hard inquiry, but apparently not after reading these posts. I'm not sure why I was offered it though: I just use it a few times a month (normally under $100) the main reason was to get deposit@home. It's also only a few months old.

Contrary to the posts below, the card looks different... blue color, similar to the debit card (which, since I don't use it much is one of the biggest advantages )

Anyways, I'll probably upgrade it in the next few days and post back with an update.

If anyone else has experiences with this, I'd love to hear.

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If you go through with this, I look forward to reading your comments. Maybe you or I will get a chance to find a talkative phone agent to spill the beans and give a little background on USAA's intentions on bringing out this card.

Hopefully there won't be a hard inquiry. I didn't think to ask that of either person who posted those comments. I guess you could try freezing your reports, but then maybe you'd be risking USAA completely turning down your request for the upgrade.

USAA recently sent me a replacement cash rewards debit card. If this World MC looks like it, then it sounds like a decent looking card.

[Anonymous]

I clicked the link online and it showed a screen with the new terms of the card.  I hit submit and it thanked me for upgrading.  It said I would receive the new card in 7-10 days.  The account summary already shows it as "World Mastercard" instead of "Platinum"

So...pretty easy, nothing really changed though.  Same account number too.

[MojaveMoon]

Congrats! According to the other two people, it sounded like previously USAA mailed the upgrade and assumed people would want the upgrade. Maybe the response to this approach was such that now USAA only informs people like yourself that they are eligible for the upgrade.

[MojaveMoon]

A little bit more information. Tonight at another site someone posted this:

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While on the phone I inquired about the "World Mastercard" version. The CSR didn't have any specific information other than the rollout was targeted till the end of the year. Mentioned that next year the card should be listed for straight applications. When it does show I imagine they will have more information on what the requirements are to get the card.

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[MojaveMoon]

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@Anonymous wrote:

I clicked the link online and it showed a screen with the new terms of the card.  I hit submit and it thanked me for upgrading.  It said I would receive the new card in 7-10 days.  The account summary already shows it as "World Mastercard" instead of "Platinum"

So...pretty easy, nothing really changed though.  Same account number too.

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This afternoon I just about fell out of my chair when I saw that I've got the same invitation to apply. The reason that I quoted this post is that this might answer one of the couple of questions that I have.

(1) There was a notice that accepting the invitation "will take two minutes". The fact that it take a few minutes gave me the impression that I'm going to be asked a bunch of questions in order for the computer to decide for sure that I'm truly eligible for this card ? It isn't that I have anything to hide about salary or occupation, but rather I have high utilization on the USAA card because of a BT and middle high utilization on another card because of some things that I'm weathering right now.

(2) By any chance does anyone know how much longer the invitation will be available to me ?

(3) Looking back, does anyone think there's any potential disadvantage to accepting this offer ?

(3b) It looks like these are the (key) differences between the USAA Platinum Mastercard and the USAA World Mastercard ?

Platinum:

-Master Road Assist Service
-Travel Assistance Services
-MasterCard Global Service

World: the above, plus;

-Extended Warranty
-Purchase Assurance Coverage
-Master Road Assist Service
-Travel Assistance Services
-Identity Theft Resolution Services
-MasterCard Global Service
-MasterRental insurance
-Trip Cancellation/Interruption Service
-World Wide Automatic Travel Accident and Baggage Delay Insurance
-Price Protection Coverage

[MojaveMoon]

Also, my USAA platinum mastercard has my photo on it. If I accept the World Mastercard, will I still be able to have my photo on it ?