topic Re: New Bank of America Premium Rewards Card in Credit Cards

New Bank of America Premium Rewards Card

mkhan1093 — Tue, 01 Aug 2017 18:46:23 GMT

Not sure if this has been posted previously, but Doctor of Credit recently talked about a new Premium BOA card:

https://www.doctorofcredit.com/bank-america-premium-rewards-credit-card-50000-points-2x-travel-dining-1-5x-purchases-new-card-not-available-yet/

It looks like it's on the same tier as the CSP, but a combination of the CSP and CFU combined since non-category spend on the card is 1.5x.

Personally probably not going to get this

Re: New Bank of America Premium Rewards Card

K-in-Boston — Tue, 01 Aug 2017 19:03:22 GMT

Of course we have no details yet, but it basically looks like the Travel Rewards card with half a point higher on travel and dining, an annual fee, and possibly a travel credit that offsets the AF. As long as you're OK being restricted to redeeming for travel credit, it's a fantastic earner paired with Platinum Honors: 3.5% on travel and dining and 2.625% on everything else.

Re: New Bank of America Premium Rewards Card

UpperNwGuy — Tue, 01 Aug 2017 19:08:33 GMT

Apart from the signup bonus, the new card seems no better than Citi Double Cash.

Re: New Bank of America Premium Rewards Card

galahad15 — Tue, 01 Aug 2017 19:15:41 GMT

Very fascinating info, thanks for sharing! If the new BoA premium card has an AF though, I'm not really that interested in apping, especially since I already have the no-AF FNBO Travelite card with most if not all of the same benefits and features, etc.

Re: New Bank of America Premium Rewards Card

K-in-Boston — Tue, 01 Aug 2017 19:18:18 GMT

@UpperNwGuy wrote:
Apart from the signup bonus, the new card seems no better than Citi Double Cash.

It's either inferior to the Double Cash (and limited to travel statement credits since cash back would be pennies on the dollar) due to the lower earning rate on non-travel/dining spend, or it's a substantially better card if you have a good BOA/ML/ME relationship and are OK with the rewards structure. I won't say apples to oranges, but maybe red apples to green apples comparing them.

Re: New Bank of America Premium Rewards Card

simplynoir — Tue, 01 Aug 2017 19:36:52 GMT

I think without the preferred rewards bonuses you'd get as a BOA client really hard to justify this card.

Re: New Bank of America Premium Rewards Card

mkhan1093 — Tue, 01 Aug 2017 19:42:16 GMT

Just a guess but maybe BoA will construct a travel portal as well where points are redeemable for 1.25 cpp to keep it in line with the other cards it seems to be competing with. I think the only benefit of this is that those with a lot of money can get enhanced rates back, the same way the Cash Rewards card works.

Re: New Bank of America Premium Rewards Card

MrDisco99 — Tue, 01 Aug 2017 19:49:14 GMT

I posted a thread recently asking about Barclay and pros and cons of the Arrival+ vs. Cap1 Venture to churn for some upcoming travel expenses.

I think this may be the card I'm actually looking for. Looking forward to seeing more details.

Re: New Bank of America Premium Rewards Card

wasCB14 — Tue, 01 Aug 2017 20:00:06 GMT

I might make it my property/income tax payment card in the likely event of an SPG nerf.

Re: New Bank of America Premium Rewards Card

Anonymous — Tue, 01 Aug 2017 20:02:56 GMT

@UpperNwGuy wrote:
Apart from the signup bonus, the new card seems no better than Citi Double Cash.

Other than getting 500 dollars for the card. Well that is a very big other. You would have to spend and pay for 25000 dollars on the Citi card to make 500 dollars. Also if you are a bank of America customer you would get a bonus. Seems like a good card to get depending on the fee and whether its wavied the first year. I don't really see how double cash compares to this card. More like the Citi Thank You Premier.

Re: New Bank of America Premium Rewards Card

K-in-Boston — Tue, 01 Aug 2017 20:12:20 GMT

@wasCB14 wrote:
I might make it my property/income tax payment card in the likely event of an SPG nerf.

Re: New Bank of America Premium Rewards Card

Anonymous — Tue, 01 Aug 2017 20:44:41 GMT

$95 annual fee and $100 yearly travel credit? I'll take it!

Re: New Bank of America Premium Rewards Card

Anonymous — Tue, 01 Aug 2017 21:10:08 GMT

Those $95 AF and $100 travel credit etc are just assumptions and predictions as of now. Who know's what it'll be. I kind of doubt they'll offer a 100 dollar credit and charge a lesser 95 AF. We'll see

I mean the first rumors that went out was that BOA was going to enter the "premium card market" this Fall with a $450 AF card looking to directly compete with the chase sappjhire reserve, now this comes out and it's a 1.5% cash back/2% dining travel card. Is this really directly competing or similar to the CSR?.......

With the 50,000 point sign up bonus worth $500, there's definitely going to be an AF to it in my opinion, but I think the amount of the fee and if they will offer a annual travel credit or global/pre TSA is still up in the air.

Re: New Bank of America Premium Rewards Card

mkhan1093 — Tue, 01 Aug 2017 21:22:19 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:

I mean the first rumors that went out was that BOA was going to enter the "premium card market" this Fall with a $450 AF card looking to directly compete with the chase sappjhire reserve, now this comes out and it's a 1.5% cash back/2% dining travel card. Is this really directly competing or similar to the CSR?.......

With the 50,000 point sign up bonus worth $500, there's definitely going to be an AF to it in my opinion, but I think the amount of the fee and if they will offer a annual travel credit or global/pre TSA is still up in the air.

Given the annual fee and signup bonus, this looks much more like it's a card to compete with the Chase Sapphire Preferred rather than the Reserve. Not sure if a $450 premier card is going to come anytime soon.

Re: New Bank of America Premium Rewards Card

Anonymous — Tue, 01 Aug 2017 21:23:49 GMT

I'm not entirely seeing how this will be competitive with any other higher-end travel card since there are no transfer partners more than anything. At first it seemed like they were trying to make a CSR competitor but these newer details sound like a not-as-good CSP instead.

For me, the ability to transfer points is what makes Chase cards worthwhile, since the transfers I use them for are right on the money with TPG's 2.2 cents per point valuations so CSP earns me effectively 4.4 cents per dollar on travel and dining, and FU is getting 3.3 cents per dollar on general spend.

I can't see BofA being able to compete at all except for it's existing customers with sizeable amounts of money in savings or investments, so this seems more like a product to try and keep their existing customers from leaving for Chase or Amex more than a product intended to draw in new customers.

Re: New Bank of America Premium Rewards Card

mongstradamus — Tue, 01 Aug 2017 21:58:39 GMT

This seems like a card more comparable to Barclay arrival type card or cap one venture. not sure I get the mass appeal of this card . TBH I rather get a boa Alaska air card over this card if the rumors are correct about the card

Re: New Bank of America Premium Rewards Card

wasCB14 — Tue, 01 Aug 2017 22:14:35 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:
I'm not entirely seeing how this will be competitive with any other higher-end travel card since there are no transfer partners more than anything. At first it seemed like they were trying to make a CSR competitor but these newer details sound like a not-as-good CSP instead.

For me, the ability to transfer points is what makes Chase cards worthwhile, since the transfers I use them for are right on the money with TPG's 2.2 cents per point valuations so CSP earns me effectively 4.4 cents per dollar on travel and dining, and FU is getting 3.3 cents per dollar on general spend.

I can't see BofA being able to compete at all except for it's existing customers with sizeable amounts of money in savings or investments, so this seems more like a product to try and keep their existing customers from leaving for Chase or Amex more than a product intended to draw in new customers.

I think BofA is going for people who travel some but don't necessarily have the loyalty/time/interest to search for award travel...or whose travel habits aren't conducive to getting great cpp values.

Re: New Bank of America Premium Rewards Card

happypill — Wed, 02 Aug 2017 05:02:44 GMT

@wasCB14 wrote:
@Anonymous wrote:
I'm not entirely seeing how this will be competitive with any other higher-end travel card since there are no transfer partners more than anything. At first it seemed like they were trying to make a CSR competitor but these newer details sound like a not-as-good CSP instead.

For me, the ability to transfer points is what makes Chase cards worthwhile, since the transfers I use them for are right on the money with TPG's 2.2 cents per point valuations so CSP earns me effectively 4.4 cents per dollar on travel and dining, and FU is getting 3.3 cents per dollar on general spend.

I can't see BofA being able to compete at all except for it's existing customers with sizeable amounts of money in savings or investments, so this seems more like a product to try and keep their existing customers from leaving for Chase or Amex more than a product intended to draw in new customers.
I think BofA is going for people who travel some but don't necessarily have the loyalty/time/interest to search for award travel...or whose travel habits aren't conducive to getting great cpp values.

Exactly. This could be a great card for those that prefer cash or statement credits rather than point transfer. I definitely prefer this as I never seem to plan far enough ahead to get good value on points.

I know a lot of the details on this card are still speculation (heck, the card could be speculation until BofA actually announces it), but I like the mix of perks & benefits that they're offering. 50k points for sign-on is pretty hefty and if the AF is easily offset by a travel credit, that makes it a no-brainer, at least for the sign-on. For those with platinum honors preferred rewards, this is an excellent upgrade. If the 2.625% & 3.5% rates are accurate, this would be at the top of my wallet.

Re: New Bank of America Premium Rewards Card

Anonymous — Wed, 02 Aug 2017 10:53:11 GMT

Thanks for the information.

Re: New Bank of America Premium Rewards Card

MrDisco99 — Wed, 02 Aug 2017 12:02:56 GMT

Based on the 1 cpp redemption rate, it's pretty unlikely that the AF on this would exceed $95, which means there won't be a yearly travel credit on top of the exising rewards earning. I see this more as a competitor to the Cap1 Venture or Barclay Arrival+... a cash back card with a category restriction on redemptions, fat bonus, and low to moderate annual fee... a churner but not a keeper.