topic Quad-Fecta CB Strategy with 2.62% Min on Everything... in Credit Cards

Quad-Fecta CB Strategy with 2.62% Min on Everything...

Anonymous — Thu, 14 Feb 2019 19:32:20 GMT

In the process of transfering my $225K retirement account to Merrill Edge to Qualify for Preferred Rewards 75% Bonus. Spending is below. I have the Uber Visa but am looking to add 2 or potentially 3 more cards. My family of 5 flys about 2 times a year and the flights usually run us around $1500 round trip - we typically check 2 bags. I think that cash back is an easier stragegy than dealing with travel redemption sites (open to be convinced otherwise).

My question: should I just add the Cash Rewards and Premium Rewards or is it worth it the extra $36 to get Ducks unlimited for gas stations and sporting goods. We have 3 boys in sports and shop at Dicks a decent amount.. (wife and I are AU on each others cards)? With our traveling we would use the $100 credit in baggage to offset the $95 annual fee of the Premium Rewards card.

Am I missing something or is this the best total cash back based on my calcualtions...?

Re: Quad-Fecta CB Strategy with 2.62% Min on Everything...

Anonymous — Fri, 15 Feb 2019 02:28:04 GMT

anyone?

Re: Quad-Fecta CB Strategy with 2.62% Min on Everything...

kdm31091 — Fri, 15 Feb 2019 03:09:20 GMT

As you note, adding more cards (i.e. the Duck card) only really increases your cash back by 36 for a year. Your call, but IMO that is a pretty trivial amount in the long run. 36 bucks a year won't make or break anything, but if you don't mind maintaing the extra account(s) go for it. Just bear in mind it brakes down to 3 bucks a month which is really nothing substantial.

Re: Quad-Fecta CB Strategy with 2.62% Min on Everything...

Anonymous — Fri, 15 Feb 2019 03:16:32 GMT

Couldn’t imagine transferring a quarter of a million dollars to a new bank for $300 extra annual credit card rewards...

Re: Quad-Fecta CB Strategy with 2.62% Min on Everything...

Anonymous — Fri, 15 Feb 2019 03:41:47 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:
Couldn’t imagine transferring a quarter of a million dollars to a new bank for $300 extra annual credit card rewards...

Here’s the breakdown of the incentives from BOA / Merrill:

$900 for transferring the brokerage assets to Merrill (also free trades vs $6.95 at TD Ameritrade)

$300 for opening my checking

$300 for opening my wife’s checking

$500 (50,000 points) for the Premium Rewards Card

$150 for opening the Cash Rewards

$2,150 TOTAL

Also the only card my wife and I had were Bank Americards earning 1%. With the new strategy our cash rewards goes to 4.4% on average. Or $160 annually to $698 or a 436% increase.

I’d say it’s worth the effort to park the assets at Merrill....

Re: Quad-Fecta CB Strategy with 2.62% Min on Everything...

Anonymous — Fri, 15 Feb 2019 04:08:01 GMT

Not bad at all.. Your first sentence led me to believe CC rewards were your primary motivation..
Rewards structure looks great with the 75% bump.. I’d personally stay away from Ducks and maybe even dump Uber for simplicity’s sake.. But if you already have it and don’t mind carrying 3 different cards then no harm done...

Re: Quad-Fecta CB Strategy with 2.62% Min on Everything...

Anonymous — Fri, 15 Feb 2019 09:39:23 GMT

Get a second Cash Rewards card so you can set two different categories. Dining on one, gas on the other, and flip the gas to travel when you are going to make that purchase. Also if you go into the branch and get a "co branded" version you can get it as a Visa, which is useful if you shop at Costco - becomes 3.5% back at Costco. Once you start using it for big categories like that (travel, dining, groceries) note that it's not hard to blow past the $2500/quarter limit on the 5.25% reward category.

Re: Quad-Fecta CB Strategy with 2.62% Min on Everything...

Anonymous — Sat, 16 Feb 2019 01:10:44 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:
Get a second Cash Rewards card so you can set two different categories. Dining on one, gas on the other, and flip the gas to travel when you are going to make that purchase. Also if you go into the branch and get a "co branded" version you can get it as a Visa, which is useful if you shop at Costco - becomes 3.5% back at Costco. Once you start using it for big categories like that (travel, dining, groceries) note that it's not hard to blow past the $2500/quarter limit on the 5.25% reward category.

I’ve got the Uber for dining. It’s 4% and you get $50 back if you spend $5,000 and pay for a subscription service like amazon prime. So essentially 5% cash back on the first $5,000. There is also $600 in cell phone protection.

Re: Quad-Fecta CB Strategy with 2.62% Min on Everything...

Anonymous — Mon, 18 Feb 2019 03:56:19 GMT

....

Re: Quad-Fecta CB Strategy with 2.62% Min on Everything...

kdm31091 — Mon, 18 Feb 2019 15:06:11 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:
....

Not really sure what further input you're seeking here? You seem to have your mind made up and 2.62% obviously is a great base reward rate, and if you don't mind managing the several other cards to eek out every penny, go for it. It's up to you, no one else can decide how much complexity you are willing to handle.

Re: Quad-Fecta CB Strategy with 2.62% Min on Everything...

Anonymous — Mon, 18 Feb 2019 16:00:55 GMT

@kdm31091 wrote:
@Anonymous wrote:
....
Not really sure what further input you're seeking here? You seem to have your mind made up and 2.62% obviously is a great base reward rate, and if you don't mind managing the several other cards to eek out every penny, go for it. It's up to you, no one else can decide how much complexity you are willing to handle.

I guess I am looking for anyone to play "devils advocate" on why travel might be better than cash back. If our annual spending nets us $650 in cash back annually and we use that money for flights we are $850 out of pocket. Would pushing all our rewards towards travel points get us closer to covering more of the cost...? We dont use the lounges or any of the other perks. It would just be to offest the cost of the tickets.

Re: Quad-Fecta CB Strategy with 2.62% Min on Everything...

quickstrike — Mon, 18 Feb 2019 18:46:58 GMT

Just a thought...why not throw in something like the Chase Freedom or Chase Ink (if you have a business) to get 5% back. They earn UR points which you can accumulate and are flexible enough to redeem for cash or at least have your foot halfway through the door in case you decide the points for travel are more worth it. That way you can just get a CSP or CSR if you want to use the points for travel.

I currently have the Bofa Cash and Premium travel cards as well. But am using my Freedom and Ink cards as sort of a 'travel bank'.