topic Re: NavyFed Flagship Question in Credit Cards

NavyFed Flagship Question

MediumReputation — Tue, 01 Nov 2022 16:05:24 GMT

Hi everyone,

I have a (perhaps silly) question about the Navy Federal Flagship card. When redeeming the points for cashback, I understand that you must have a minimum of 5,000 points (i.e., $50). After 5k points, are you required to redeem in fixed increments like the More card, or could you redeem all your points for their cashback value? For instance, can 5,111 be redeemed for $51.11? Thanks, y'all!

Re: NavyFed Flagship Question

OmarGB9 — Tue, 01 Nov 2022 19:05:14 GMT

I don't have the Flagship, but if the rewards redemption is anything like it is on my MoreRewards (which I'm assuming is probably the case), then it would only be available to redeem in $50 increments. So to use your example, no, you would not be able to redeem $51.11. You'd only be able to redeem $50 exactly, and the $1.11 would remain until you get to $50 again.

ETA: Found this in the rewards brochure document: No partial redemptions can be made. Cash redemptions may be requested by signing in to Navy Federal Online Banking and using the available link for redemptions.

Re: NavyFed Flagship Question

Aim_High — Tue, 01 Nov 2022 20:06:29 GMT

@OmarGB9 wrote:
I don't have the Flagship, but if the rewards redemption is anything like it is on my MoreRewards (which I'm assuming is probably the case), then it would only be available to redeem in $50 increments. So to use your example, no, you would not be able to redeem $51.11. You'd only be able to redeem $50 exactly, and the $1.11 would remain until you get to $50 again.

ETA: this in the rewards brochure document: No partial redemptions can be made. Cash redemptions may be requested by signing in to Navy Federal Online Banking and using the available link for redemptions.

Thanks @OmarGB9. Wow, this is really not a customer-friendly policy and I hope they ease up. I've considered the Flagship and may still get it. The $50 redemption was bad enough (in comparison to other cards) but I didn't know there was also an "increment" restriction!

Re: NavyFed Flagship Question

5KRunner — Tue, 01 Nov 2022 20:24:26 GMT

@Aim_High wrote:
@OmarGB9 wrote:
I don't have the Flagship, but if the rewards redemption is anything like it is on my MoreRewards (which I'm assuming is probably the case), then it would only be available to redeem in $50 increments. So to use your example, no, you would not be able to redeem $51.11. You'd only be able to redeem $50 exactly, and the $1.11 would remain until you get to $50 again.

ETA: this in the rewards brochure document: No partial redemptions can be made. Cash redemptions may be requested by signing in to Navy Federal Online Banking and using the available link for redemptions.
Thanks @OmarGB9. Wow, this is really not a customer-friendly policy and I hope they ease up. I've considered the Flagship and may still get it. The $50 redemption was bad enough (in comparison to other cards) but I didn't know there was also an "increment" restriction!

I agree with your comment about this being a customer-unfriendly policy and it's the main reason I'm now using the Bread Cashback AmEx for all uncategorized spending.

Re: NavyFed Flagship Question

Jordan23ww — Tue, 01 Nov 2022 20:28:37 GMT

Hey, unfortunately you have to have the 5000 points/$50.00 in rewards to redeem it. So having 5111 points, you'd only be able to get $50.00 untill you earn more rewards totaling to 5000 points again.

Re: NavyFed Flagship Question

Curious_George2 — Wed, 02 Nov 2022 21:40:06 GMT

Perhaps this is already known or implied, but one can redeem rewards in arbitrary amounts above $50 if taken as statement credits. I forget the exact terminology they use (some other issuers call this "erase a charge"), but you basically select one or more charges you've made, and receive a credit for the full amount of each selected charge. They don't allow partial erasures; you must have enough points to cover the full amount of each selected charge.

For example, I had something like 5800 points, so I selected the charge I had that was closest to $58, and got this statement credit:

I'm not saying this is a great way to do it. I would prefer more flexibility when receiving actual cash back instead of statement credits. But it would be overstating things to suggest all redemptions must be in multiples of $50.

Re: NavyFed Flagship Question

MediumReputation — Thu, 03 Nov 2022 04:15:26 GMT

Thanks y'all. This is disappointing.

Re: NavyFed Flagship Question

Lou-natic — Thu, 03 Nov 2022 07:26:16 GMT

Just another reason that although I do all my banking with NFCU, I don't use any of their credit cards. I went through and read all the prgram rule .pdfs for their cards one day and just wasn't impressed. Not to mention when they upgraded their cash rewards card they somehow thought 1.75% was perfectly fine. With the proliferation of 2% cards from banks why does a CU card need to be 1.75% exactly? I really feel like they phoned that in.

Re: NavyFed Flagship Question

Aim_High — Thu, 03 Nov 2022 20:54:17 GMT

@Lou-natic wrote:
Just another reason that although I do all my banking with NFCU, I don't use any of their credit cards. I went through and read all the prgram rule .pdfs for their cards one day and just wasn't impressed. Not to mention when they upgraded their cash rewards card they somehow thought 1.75% was perfectly fine. With the proliferation of 2% cards from banks why does a CU card need to be 1.75% exactly? I really feel like they phoned that in.

I know what you're saying, @Lou-natic. IMO, NFCU cards are a solid "good" as a whole, but they often don't compete with specific aspects of other cards, especially when it comes to rewards. However, they are very popular for numerous reasons on My Fico.

NFCU is known for having easier underwriting for thin/damaged profiles that are building or rebuilding.
NFCU is known for granting quick CLIs on their cards, even without a lot of spending.
NFCU is known for giving higher CLs relative to profile than many other lenders will grant. Credit limits up to $80K are more achievable than with some other lenders.
NFCU has very competitive interest rates on the their cards. For that matter, I still think their Platinum card offers one of the most competitive interest rates available anywhere which was as low as 5.99% before about a year ago. (8.99% currently) Even their rewards cards have lower ranges than comparable cards from other lenders. (Flagship Rewards starts at 12.99% currently.)
NFCU offers BTs on their cards at the purchase APR, something you don't find on many other cards.
NFCU offers free cash advances at NFCU ATMs (otherwise either 50 cents domestic or $1 international.) And Cash Advance APR is set at only 2% above your purchase APR.
NFCU cards have no FTF.
NFCU cards have no BT fees.
NFCU is known for good service by US-based representatives. They have good fraud prevention, as I can personally attest to.
Fees for late payment or returned payment are very low, capped at only $20. No, I don't plan to use those but reasonably low fees indicate to me that the lender isn't trying to be predatory. Likewise, their penalty APRs are capped at 18%, which is much lower than most lenders would charge. Penalty APR will only apply apply until you've made six on-time payments, not indefinitely. Finally, their grace periods are a generous 25 days minimum.
For someone like you who does all their banking at NFCU, there is a convenience element to being able to log into banking and credit cards at one time to monitor and manage both types of accounts more seemlessly.

I agree that when they upgraded cashRewards, they should have just made it a flat 2%. Missed opportunity, but they probably wanted to keep some differentiation with FSRs card. But IMO, FSRs should either drop the nominal AF or add enhanced benefits or rewards. Again, as a whole, the rewards on their cards are middle-of-the-pack.

Comparing the above to, for example, your Citi Double Cash which has:

Lowest currently-advertised APR of 16.99% and up to 26.99%.
Penalty APR of up to 29.99%.
Penalty APR may apply indefinitely once assessed.
Late/Returned payment fees of up to $41.
FTF of 3%.
Cash Advance Fee of 5% (no less than $10.)
Cash Advance APR of 28.24%.
Grace Period of 23 days.

While many (or all) of the above fees/rates may apply to some My Fico members, there are those who like to keep their risk exposure low in terms of banking fees. Credit Unions, in general, often offer the best deals on rates/fees which might be a consideration for someone that closes the rewards-gap between higher yielding cards.

Re: NavyFed Flagship Question

TheRedHat — Thu, 03 Nov 2022 21:24:36 GMT

Agree with everything @Aim_High said above. My NFCU Flagship Rewards card was the first card to give me a 5-figure starting credit limit, gave me the highest sign-up bonus (which they gave to me IMMEDIATELY after my transaction posted to meet their minimum spend), and a free year of Amazon Prime. The reward points post right away instead of at the end of a statement cycle. It is my most used card.

Re: NavyFed Flagship Question

Lou-natic — Fri, 04 Nov 2022 02:06:28 GMT

@Aim_High

I'm glad I'm not the only one that feels like the Flagship Rewards is lackluster. I honestly believe that as it is it shouldn't have any AF at all either. If they increased the value of it then sure but for me personally I'd never apply for it in its current state. I do think the Platinum card is pretty good for what it is. It's not a "goal card" by any means but that rate is really nice and as you outlined above NFCU has pretty good card benefits overall which makes it a solid choice if you need that kind of card.

Re: NavyFed Flagship Question

Aim_High — Fri, 04 Nov 2022 17:46:41 GMT

@Lou-natic wrote:
@Aim_High
I'm glad I'm not the only one that feels like the Flagship Rewards is lackluster. I honestly believe that as it is it shouldn't have any AF at all either. If they increased the value of it then sure but for me personally I'd never apply for it in its current state. I do think the Platinum card is pretty good for what it is. It's not a "goal card" by any means but that rate is really nice and as you outlined above NFCU has pretty good card benefits overall which makes it a solid choice if you need that kind of card.

The Flagship Rewards could be such a great card if they refreshed it and made it a true "Flagship" card for NFCU. I think the problem is that, like many cards, it has just slowly became somewhat dated as the market changed. It's still not a bad card, so I wouldn't go so far as to call it "lackluster." It just doesn't truly excel in its' market niche right now. In the past few years, no AF 2% cards have become too commonplace.

I did some digging in the My FICO archives and on the webz. I wasn't sure when FSR came out or when it was last refreshed. Per links on MF, there has been discussion about it since 2010 or before. It's been around a long time in various formats. I don't think the $49 AF has changed in over 12 years. Back then, it was a 1.5% card when 1.5% was unusual. A few years later, they updated it to 2% flat. It appears the last refresh was in 2018 when they added the 3% for travel on top of the 2% everything else. Still, that isn't exceptional for an AF card when comparing by rewards. If someone's budget was 15% travel-related and 85% everything else, that works out to 2.15% overall rewards. That would be great if no AF; it would slightly beat the PenFed PCRs and similar 2% cards.

I'll note also that FSRs includes >some nice perks< for a very low AF card is someone doesn't choose to have a more expensive premium card that would cover these areas:

Purchase Protection for up to 90 days (damage, theft; limited to $500 per item.)
Secondary Rental Car CDW
Travel Accident Insurance (benefits up to $250K)
Lost Luggage Insurance (up to $3K per covered trip.)
Reimbursement for TSA Global Entry ($100 every 4 years) which could lower the effective AF to $24.

So overall, I do think FSRs still has a lot to offer, depending on what other cards a member carries. The low fees and APRs, favorable terms like low cost balance transfer and cash advance opportunities, high credit limits, respectable rewards structure, good customer service, and the above perks I listed. For that reason, I think lackluster is too strong of a word, but I do agree that Navy could stand to update the card.

Re: NavyFed Flagship Question

EAJuggalo — Sun, 06 Nov 2022 13:14:46 GMT

@Aim_High wrote:
@Lou-natic wrote:
@Aim_High
I'm glad I'm not the only one that feels like the Flagship Rewards is lackluster. I honestly believe that as it is it shouldn't have any AF at all either. If they increased the value of it then sure but for me personally I'd never apply for it in its current state. I do think the Platinum card is pretty good for what it is. It's not a "goal card" by any means but that rate is really nice and as you outlined above NFCU has pretty good card benefits overall which makes it a solid choice if you need that kind of card.
The Flagship Rewards could be such a great card if they refreshed it and made it a true "Flagship" card for NFCU. I think the problem is that, like many cards, it has just slowly became somewhat dated as the market changed. It's still not a bad card, so I wouldn't go so far as to call it "lackluster." It just doesn't truly excel in its' market niche right now. In the past few years, no AF 2% cards have become too commonplace.

I did some digging in the My FICO archives and on the webz. I wasn't sure when FSR came out or when it was last refreshed. Per links on MF, there has been discussion about it since 2010 or before. It's been around a long time in various formats. I don't think the $49 AF has changed in over 12 years. Back then, it was a 1.5% card when 1.5% was unusual. A few years later, they updated it to 2% flat. It appears the last refresh was in 2018 when they added the 3% for travel on top of the 2% everything else. Still, that isn't exceptional for an AF card when comparing by rewards. If someone's budget was 15% travel-related and 85% everything else, that works out to 2.15% overall rewards. That would be great if no AF; it would slightly beat the PenFed PCRs and similar 2% cards.

I'll note also that FSRs includes >some nice perks< for a very low AF card is someone doesn't choose to have a more expensive premium card that would cover these areas:
Purchase Protection for up to 90 days (damage, theft; limited to $500 per item.)
Secondary Rental Car CDW
Travel Accident Insurance (benefits up to $250K)
Lost Luggage Insurance (up to $3K per covered trip.)
Reimbursement for TSA Global Entry ($100 every 4 years) which could lower the effective AF to $24.
So overall, I do think FSRs still has a lot to offer, depending on what other cards a member carries. The low fees and APRs, favorable terms like low cost balance transfer and cash advance opportunities, high credit limits, respectable rewards structure, good customer service, and the above perks I listed. For that reason, I think lackluster is too strong of a word, but I do agree that Navy could stand to update the card.

Reimbursement for TSA Pre or GE also extends to every authorized user on the account, and there is no additional charge for AUs. I will continue to use it for some things, not for others but I will always keep it.