topic Re: New Dining + Entertainment Card in Credit Cards

New Dining + Entertainment Card

blossom_rebuilding — Wed, 07 Apr 2021 00:00:31 GMT

With today's big news that the Marvel card is being discontinued, I am in the market for a new dining and entertainment card. In my post over in the Marvel thread, I mentioned that I didn't think that it was the best dining + entertainment product out there, but as I was looking for alternatives today, I may have changed my mind about that. The dining and entertainment coding with the Marvel card was super broad, so there really was something for everyone. Nothing I have looked at today has neatly fit in as a replacement, some for profile-specific reasons, but mostly because there are restrictions on what is coded as dining and entertainment from product to product. Anyway, here's where I am right now in considering options:

What I want:

An effective replacement for the Marvel Mastercard’s 3% cash back on dining and entertainment, specifically on streaming services (i.e. Netflix, Disney+, Pandora, Sirius XM) and dining (including take-out delivery services i.e UberEats and DoorDash). I loved the statement credits; there is something gratifying about seeing a negative balance after paying in full before the statement cuts, but I will take actual redeemable cashback as well.

Options Identified So far

Capital One Savor (or Savor One)

Pros: 3% cashback on dining, not sure whether delivery service qualifies, but it probably does. Redeemable cash back. I don’t love annual fees, so having a no-fee option with the Savor-One is a consideration.
Cons: I already have a Quicksilver and Venture-One, neither of which have received CLIs in the last several years. I’m really not into the notion of picking up another card with low growth potential, nor do I want to poke Capital One and potentially trigger a CLD to the Venture-One (been at $10k since it’s been open). Also, I do not think that streaming is coded as entertainment (at least, not as a regular thing, but it may be on as a special offer).

U.S. Bank Cash+

Pros: 5% cashback on selected categories (long list that incudes streaming), 2% on “everyday” categories (including dining), 1% on everything else.
Cons: I have no experience with U.S. Bank, so I’d be going into the application process blind. Would need to do research on underwriting and user experience. Also, selecting categories seems like a lot of work (in actuality, it’s probably only a few mouse clicks, but more work than a flat percentage cash back card).

U.S. Bank Altitude Go

Pros: 4x points on dining, 2x points on streaming services! Getting closer to what I loved about the Marvel card.
Cons: See above on lack of knowledge on U.S. bank. Also, cashback would be a statement credit redeemable only after a minimum threshold has passed, since cash out only goes to a U.S. bank account, which I don’t have and wouldn’t want to open for this purpose.

PNC Cash Awards

Pros: Lots of reward categories; 4% on gas, 3% on dining, 2% on groceries, 1% on everything else. I have accounts with PNC and am very happy with them, so redemption would be easy.
Cons: No entertainment category, so streaming services would be limited to 1%. Better than nothing, but I would love to have 3% or more on both if possible.

Chase Freedom Unlimited

Pros: 5% cash back on travel, 3% on dining and takeout and eligible delivery services, 3% on drugstores, and 1.5% on everything else.
Cons: I have the Chase United Mileage Plus Explorer card, which I use for travel purchases, so the Freedom 5% benefit would go unused. Still no streaming or entertainment category, but 1.5% is better than the PNC option. I believe Chase also hard pulls for CLIs, so could also expect limited growth from this card.

Venmo

Pros: Custom cashback, which is intriguing! 3% cashback on your highest spending category; 2% on the next top spending category, 1% on everything else. Cashback gets applied to your Venmo account. Cashback categories include dining (dine-in, takeout, and delivery) and bills and utilities (streaming goes here!) If I only use it for the same spend that the Marvel card got, i would still be getting decent cashback.
Cons: It’s another Synchrony product! What if this gets discontinued, too?

All of those will be under consideration, but just based on the very basic look I took at all these options today, Venmo is (weirdly) the leading contender. I’ll be looking through the forums for more info on all the products, but any immediate feedback is welcome.

Re: New Dining + Entertainment Card

blindambition — Wed, 07 Apr 2021 00:14:34 GMT

Saver One does include UberEats/DoorDash, as well as direct order like Pizza Hut app. Streaming is covered 3%, but oddly codes Phone/Cable.

Re: New Dining + Entertainment Card

cws-21 — Wed, 07 Apr 2021 00:17:59 GMT

What about the Wells Fargo Propel? It would be 3% back on dining and 3% on streaming with other 3% categories as well.

Re: New Dining + Entertainment Card

Kylo — Wed, 07 Apr 2021 00:19:48 GMT

Are you open to a business card? If so, Amex BBP (extremely easy to qualify for) is effectively 3% on everything if you redeem the Amex points in an intelligent way.

if you're not open to a business card, I would go for the USB Altitude Go. 4% on dining with no annual fee is fantastic, and 2% on streaming is great BUT you also get a statement credit that boosts your effective cash back rate.

Re: New Dining + Entertainment Card

FormerCollegeDJ — Wed, 07 Apr 2021 00:52:01 GMT

I recommend also looking at the "cousin" of the US Bank Cash+, the Elan Financial Services Max Cash Preferred that many regional banks offer. Unlike the US Bank Cash+, to my knowledge the various Max Cash Preferred cards offer a selectable 5% cash back entertainment category. The two cards are generally very similar otherwise.

One other comment - if you did go the Capital One Savor/SavorOne route, you'd need to drop one of your current Capital One cards; the bank credit card issuer only allows a customer to carry a maximum of two of their personal cards at one time.

Re: New Dining + Entertainment Card

digitek — Wed, 07 Apr 2021 01:11:49 GMT

@FormerCollegeDJ wrote:
I recommend also looking at the "cousin" of the US Bank Cash+, the Elan Financial Services Max Cash Preferred that many regional banks offer. Unlike the US Bank Cash+, to my knowledge the various Max Cash Preferred cards offer a selectable 5% cash back entertainment category. The two cards are generally very similar otherwise.

This is interesting to me I didn't know this, but I doubt the entertainment category on this card covers streaming since it is a separate category on the US Bank Cash+ version.

I think your best bet is the Altitude Go. You more than likely spend more on dining than you do on streaming each month. For that reason a 4% dining/2% streaming is actually better than a 3% dining/3% streaming card.

If you really wanted to optimize streaming category I'd recommend the US Bank Cash+ for streaming and any other category you want to choose (utilities is popular).

Streaming is probably just not that much spend a month to worry too much about having a dedicated card for it and it doesn't even have potential to ever really be that big. For a $50/month streaming bill saving 1% is only $.50/month or $6 a year.

Re: New Dining + Entertainment Card

Slabenstein — Wed, 07 Apr 2021 00:54:49 GMT

@FormerCollegeDJ wrote:

One other comment - if you did go the Capital One Savor/SavorOne route, you'd need to drop one of your current Capital One cards; the bank credit card issuer only allows a customer to carry a maximum of two of their personal cards at one time.

I think that's only true of their subprime cards.

Re: New Dining + Entertainment Card

CreditAggie — Wed, 07 Apr 2021 02:00:51 GMT

One other option you could look into is the Bank of America Cash Rewards. It has the ability to choose a 3% category. Two of those are dining and online shopping. If you primarily order food online or through delivery apps such as DoorDash, the online shopping category would cover both dining and streaming.

The only downside to this card is that there is a $2500 quarterly spending cap for the 3% category so if you spend more than that on dining and streaming in a quarter, this might not be the best option.

Re: New Dining + Entertainment Card

JNA1 — Wed, 07 Apr 2021 02:44:47 GMT

I'm not sure where you are, but the Synovus Cash Rewards card earns 3% on dining and has a selectable 3% category of your choice up to $3K per quarter. I recently got their travel rewards card, and I really like it.

https://www.bestcards.com/credit-cards/synovus-cash-rewards-visa-credit-card/

Re: New Dining + Entertainment Card

PandaGirl77 — Wed, 07 Apr 2021 03:16:37 GMT

@blossom_rebuilding wrote:
With today's big news that the Marvel card is being discontinued, I am in the market for a new dining and entertainment card. In my post over in the Marvel thread, I mentioned that I didn't think that it was the best dining + entertainment product out there, but as I was looking for alternatives today, I may have changed my mind about that. The dining and entertainment coding with the Marvel card was super broad, so there really was something for everyone. Nothing I have looked at today has neatly fit in as a replacement, some for profile-specific reasons, but mostly because there are restrictions on what is coded as dining and entertainment from product to product. Anyway, here's where I am right now in considering options:

What I want:
An effective replacement for the Marvel Mastercard’s 3% cash back on dining and entertainment, specifically on streaming services (i.e. Netflix, Disney+, Pandora, Sirius XM) and dining (including take-out delivery services i.e UberEats and DoorDash). I loved the statement credits; there is something gratifying about seeing a negative balance after paying in full before the statement cuts, but I will take actual redeemable cashback as well.

Options Identified So far
Capital One Savor (or Savor One)
Pros: 3% cashback on dining, not sure whether delivery service qualifies, but it probably does. Redeemable cash back. I don’t love annual fees, so having a no-fee option with the Savor-One is a consideration.
Cons: I already have a Quicksilver and Venture-One, neither of which have received CLIs in the last several years. I’m really not into the notion of picking up another card with low growth potential, nor do I want to poke Capital One and potentially trigger a CLD to the Venture-One (been at $10k since it’s been open). Also, I do not think that streaming is coded as entertainment (at least, not as a regular thing, but it may be on as a special offer).
U.S. Bank Cash+
Pros: 5% cashback on selected categories (long list that incudes streaming), 2% on “everyday” categories (including dining), 1% on everything else.
Cons: I have no experience with U.S. Bank, so I’d be going into the application process blind. Would need to do research on underwriting and user experience. Also, selecting categories seems like a lot of work (in actuality, it’s probably only a few mouse clicks, but more work than a flat percentage cash back card).
U.S. Bank Altitude Go
Pros: 4x points on dining, 2x points on streaming services! Getting closer to what I loved about the Marvel card.
Cons: See above on lack of knowledge on U.S. bank. Also, cashback would be a statement credit redeemable only after a minimum threshold has passed, since cash out only goes to a U.S. bank account, which I don’t have and wouldn’t want to open for this purpose.
PNC Cash Awards
Pros: Lots of reward categories; 4% on gas, 3% on dining, 2% on groceries, 1% on everything else. I have accounts with PNC and am very happy with them, so redemption would be easy.
Cons: No entertainment category, so streaming services would be limited to 1%. Better than nothing, but I would love to have 3% or more on both if possible.
Chase Freedom Unlimited
Pros: 5% cash back on travel, 3% on dining and takeout and eligible delivery services, 3% on drugstores, and 1.5% on everything else.
Cons: I have the Chase United Mileage Plus Explorer card, which I use for travel purchases, so the Freedom 5% benefit would go unused. Still no streaming or entertainment category, but 1.5% is better than the PNC option. I believe Chase also hard pulls for CLIs, so could also expect limited growth from this card.
Venmo
Pros: Custom cashback, which is intriguing! 3% cashback on your highest spending category; 2% on the next top spending category, 1% on everything else. Cashback gets applied to your Venmo account. Cashback categories include dining (dine-in, takeout, and delivery) and bills and utilities (streaming goes here!) If I only use it for the same spend that the Marvel card got, i would still be getting decent cashback.
Cons: It’s another Synchrony product! What if this gets discontinued, too?
All of those will be under consideration, but just based on the very basic look I took at all these options today, Venmo is (weirdly) the leading contender. I’ll be looking through the forums for more info on all the products, but any immediate feedback is welcome.

I was reading through your post and feeling a type of survivors guilt that Capital One thankfully "grandfathered" me when they switched Savor to an AF card with 3% max. I get 4% dining and entertainment with no AF on that Savor and will hang on to it for dear life! I was thinking to reply Venmo Venmo Venmo! And you ended up mentioning it at the end. I got approved yesterday so dont have user experience with them yet. I think thats pretty awesome how they just calculate the spending for you. I plan to put my utility bills on it and see how that goes. I occasionally get a quarter where some of the utilities qualify for 5% on Freedom or Disco It but nothing consistent by any means. And between all the utilities...its a good chunk of change! I earned a nice bit from Freedom this past quarter since they had cable/internet and phone on there. BoA is really good since they will let you change every month. I havent played with it because I leave it set for online shopping card when its not Amazon or Walmart giving 5%. Happy decision making!

Re: New Dining + Entertainment Card

FormerCollegeDJ — Wed, 07 Apr 2021 09:19:38 GMT

@digitek wrote:
@FormerCollegeDJ wrote:
I recommend also looking at the "cousin" of the US Bank Cash+, the Elan Financial Services Max Cash Preferred that many regional banks offer. Unlike the US Bank Cash+, to my knowledge the various Max Cash Preferred cards offer a selectable 5% cash back entertainment category. The two cards are generally very similar otherwise.
This is interesting to me I didn't know this, but I doubt the entertainment category on this card covers streaming since it is a separate category on the US Bank Cash+ version.

I think your best bet is the Altitude Go. You more than likely spend more on dining than you do on streaming each month. For that reason a 4% dining/2% streaming is actually better than a 3% dining/3% streaming card.

If you really wanted to optimize streaming category I'd recommend the US Bank Cash+ for streaming and any other category you want to choose (utilities is popular).

Streaming is probably just not that much spend a month to worry too much about having a dedicated card for it and it doesn't even have potential to ever really be that big. For a $50/month streaming bill saving 1% is only $.50/month or $6 a year.

TV/internet/streaming services is also a selectable 5% category on the Elan Financial Services Max Cash Preferred cards. A user could cover both entertainment and streaming as their two 5% categories (and use a different card that offers 3% or more for dining).

Re: New Dining + Entertainment Card

Anonymous — Wed, 07 Apr 2021 12:28:37 GMT

@digitek wrote:

I think your best bet is the Altitude Go. You more than likely spend more on dining than you do on streaming each month. For that reason a 4% dining/2% streaming is actually better than a 3% dining/3% streaming card.

Streaming is probably just not that much spend a month to worry too much about having a dedicated card for it and it doesn't even have potential to ever really be that big. For a $50/month streaming bill saving 1% is only $.50/month or $6 a year.

This! It's easy to focus on various percentages, but often some categories really account for very little spend. Sure, if you are open (and able) to getting lots of cards, you may as well get cards that optimize rewards in all categories, but otherwise do the comparison of the type here. A big percentage on a high spend category may well dominate a card with higher percentages on more minor categories.

Re: New Dining + Entertainment Card

blossom_rebuilding — Wed, 07 Apr 2021 13:46:45 GMT

@Kylo wrote:
Are you open to a business card? If so, Amex BBP (extremely easy to qualify for) is effectively 3% on everything if you redeem the Amex points in an intelligent way.

if you're not open to a business card, I would go for the USB Altitude Go. 4% on dining with no annual fee is fantastic, and 2% on streaming is great BUT you also get a statement credit that boosts your effective cash back rate.

This is a grreat point and another push in Altitude Go's favor. Having slept on it, Altitude Go is also a leading contender along with Venmo, but only if the ease of redeeming the rewards is simple and easy.

Thanks to everyone for the great suggestions! I don't need a business card, but have a few more ideas to consider thanks to the community. I hope this thread is helpful to others as well. I didn't have this trouble when the Wayfair card closed because it was so niche I didn't miss anything other than the high limit, but I'm coming to realize I had created the perfect card lineup nicely meeting all my spending needs quite unintentionally. I'm trying to be far more purposeful in this newest app decision, so appreciate all the feedback

Re: New Dining + Entertainment Card

Anonymous — Wed, 07 Apr 2021 14:44:01 GMT

@FormerCollegeDJ wrote:
@digitek wrote:
@FormerCollegeDJ wrote:
I recommend also looking at the "cousin" of the US Bank Cash+, the Elan Financial Services Max Cash Preferred that many regional banks offer. Unlike the US Bank Cash+, to my knowledge the various Max Cash Preferred cards offer a selectable 5% cash back entertainment category. The two cards are generally very similar otherwise.
This is interesting to me I didn't know this, but I doubt the entertainment category on this card covers streaming since it is a separate category on the US Bank Cash+ version.

I think your best bet is the Altitude Go. You more than likely spend more on dining than you do on streaming each month. For that reason a 4% dining/2% streaming is actually better than a 3% dining/3% streaming card.

If you really wanted to optimize streaming category I'd recommend the US Bank Cash+ for streaming and any other category you want to choose (utilities is popular).

Streaming is probably just not that much spend a month to worry too much about having a dedicated card for it and it doesn't even have potential to ever really be that big. For a $50/month streaming bill saving 1% is only $.50/month or $6 a year.
TV/internet/streaming services is also a selectable 5% category on the Elan Financial Services Max Cash Preferred cards. A user could cover both entertainment and streaming as their two 5% categories (and use a different card that offers 3% or more for dining).

All of the entertainment options look a lot more like my SavorOne's "go out and do something" though. The Marvel card was nice because it had you covered whether you wanted to go see a movie or stay home and play a video game (with the exception of Xbox because it uses Microsoft's MCC but PSN and Nintendo work fine) while SavorOne would cover the movie but nothing digital.

https://card.myaccountaccess.com/credit/elanmicro/pdfs/categories_max_cash_preferred_visa.pdf

Re: New Dining + Entertainment Card

Duke_Nukem — Wed, 07 Apr 2021 16:10:34 GMT

@blossom_rebuilding , is the AOD 3% on everything with no limit Signature card not an option available to you? There are some hurdles to jump through, but once getting past those it is an excellent card and CU!

For the US Bank products, they are very selective about the number of new cards you have gained in the past 12 months. Basically, if you've gotten 1 card in the past 12 months, they may not approve... if you've acquired 2+ then don't even attempt nabbing one of their options as it will most likely be a denial. I've had no issues redeeming cashback from USB as a statement credit, and just last month it still says minimum redemption amount was $0.01. Not exactly sure if the statement credit redemption amount changes soon... I thought I read that on here somewhere but haven't seen it on my USB Go or DW's Cash+ yet.

Re: New Dining + Entertainment Card

blossom_rebuilding — Wed, 07 Apr 2021 16:34:12 GMT

@Duke_Nukem wrote:
@blossom_rebuilding , is the AOD 3% on everything with no limit Signature card not an option available to you? There are some hurdles to jump through, but once getting past those it is an excellent card and CU!

For the US Bank products, they are very selective about the number of new cards you have gained in the past 12 months. Basically, if you've gotten 1 card in the past 12 months, they may not approve... if you've acquired 2+ then don't even attempt nabbing one of their options as it will most likely be a denial. I've had no issues redeeming cashback from USB as a statement credit, and just last month it still says minimum redemption amount was $0.01. Not exactly sure if the statement credit redemption amount changes soon... I thought I read that on here somewhere but haven't seen it on my USB Go or DW's Cash+ yet.

I'm good on inquiries; I only have one that is about 18 months old. All three Fico 8's are in the 750 neighborhood, total utilization around 23%. I hadn't considered AOD; will add that to my research list! The AltitudeGo redemption is good news, but I need to look more as to how points translate to cashback (one more reason why I don't love points structures)...

USB Altitude Go: 5-7 day message

blossom_rebuilding — Wed, 07 Apr 2021 18:53:54 GMT

Spent the last day deliberating on a new dining and entertainment card (ongoing thread can be found here). I want to replace the Marvel card before it gets discontinued at the end of May, and get my recurring charges and stuff switched over ASAP, and I landed on the USB Altitude Go card as my first choice. I know they are inquiry sensitive, but my last inquiry and new account were 18 months ago. My utilization isn't the best at 23%, but I've been steadily paying it down. All FICO 8s are 750-757. I know it's USB will be hit or miss, so I won't be too upset if I'm not approved or waste an inquiry since I have so few anyway and have a solid backup plan if in applying for Venmo if it doesn't pan out. I apped, got an identity verification request, then the 5-7 day message. Fingers crossed!

Re: New Dining + Entertainment Card

Anonymous — Wed, 07 Apr 2021 19:09:47 GMT

US Bank offers a totally free checking account (Gold Checking) for US Bank credit card holders. This can be used to transfer cashback balances if you do not want to use cashback as a statement credit....

Re: USB Altitude Go: 5-7 day message

Taurus22 — Wed, 07 Apr 2021 19:29:15 GMT

Good luck!

(Still give AODFCU a really good look....their 3% Everything card survived the myFICO wave when it was discovered and it's still going strong and still promoting. It's been a godsend for me personally, covering all the cashback categories I couldn't cover previously and it is my go-to card now. The credit union is phenomenal. They have a very healthy kasasa checking account as well that offers a 2.5% dividend up to $20k.)

Re: USB Altitude Go: 5-7 day message

Duke_Nukem — Thu, 08 Apr 2021 17:30:36 GMT

@blossom_rebuilding wrote:
Spent the last day deliberating on a new dining and entertainment card (ongoing thread can be found here). I want to replace the Marvel card before it gets discontinued at the end of May, and get my recurring charges and stuff switched over ASAP, and I landed on the USB Altitude Go card as my first choice. I know they are inquiry sensitive, but my last inquiry and new account were 18 months ago. My utilization isn't the best at 23%, but I've been steadily paying it down. All FICO 8s are 750-757. I know it's USB will be hit or miss, so I won't be too upset if I'm not approved or waste an inquiry since I have so few anyway and have a solid backup plan if in applying for Venmo if it doesn't pan out. I apped, got an identity verification request, then the 5-7 day message. Fingers crossed!

It's not unusual to have USB do a manual review, so nothing too concerning at the moment for you. It sounds to me like you should get the GO card with your DP's.

If you feel up to the challenge, go for the AOD card as well. I was able to get my AOD after getting a couple of new cards on my report, so even if you do have the USB Go report it shouldn't be much of a concern with AOD. A biggie with AOD is how they calculate student loans into your DTI. If you have any of those, then a may hurt your chances.

Good luck with the USB app! There's a phone number you can call to get updates on your application (it's automated, so you don't have to talk to a person unless you want to). I don't remember the number, but you should be able to find it somewhere in the application and/or approval threads.