topic Re: AAA Daily Advantage pre-approval worth it or other options? in Credit Cards

AAA Daily Advantage pre-approval worth it or other options?

PullingMeSoftly — Thu, 08 Dec 2022 23:13:59 GMT

Recently received this emailed pre-approval, but reservations about Comenity remain along with questions about my future grocery card strategy:

This is somewhat timely as I've been considering some different options for grocery spend. My BCP is the current daily driver and I've been happy with it apart from the $95 AF. My family grocery budget (for supermarkets, not including wholesale and Target runs) is just slightly below the cap, and I've got some streaming services going to it, as well as a few transit charges here and there. I've utilized a number of Amex offers and have my DW conditioned to use it as well for her visits to the grocery stores.

I've considered the following options:

AAA Daily Advantage with 5% on groceries with no AF and a more generous cap in case I may need it in future years, but do not care about the 3% on wholesale since I've got my Vantage West for that at 5%.
Morgan Stanley BCP could replace this with a nice $400 sub, and I could PC my exisiting BCP to a BCE (would like to have a dedicated online purchases card).
US Alliance VS with 6% through 12/31/23, not sure if I want a zero sub and limited duration for the grocery multiplier.
Leave everything as is, and get back under 5/24 in July (the discipline required gives me the shakes)

On the surface, accepting the Daily Advantage pre-approval and downgrading my BCP seems like the practical thing to do. Oh, but there's the Comenity thing. Not sure if the technical frustrations people have had (such as recent experiences posted about Comentiy not reporting/updating to the bureaus) are a true indication of the problems I could be walking into.

Any insight would be most appreciated as I continue arguing with myself. Would also love to hear about any experiences with the Daily Advantage and/or experiences with Comenity pre-approvals. Thanks!

Re: AAA Daily Advantage pre-approval worth it or other options?

Bill77 — Thu, 08 Dec 2022 23:31:25 GMT

I went through a similar decision making process with this card and decided to hold off for now. Too many reports of incorrect balances frozen on credit reports for months and other issues related to not updating credit bureau reporting. If I got the card, I would end up being afraid to use it!

Re: AAA Daily Advantage pre-approval worth it or other options?

CreditCobra — Fri, 09 Dec 2022 01:22:19 GMT

@PullingMeSoftly wrote:
Recently received this emailed pre-approval, but reservations about Comenity remain along with questions about my future grocery card strategy:

This is somewhat timely as I've been considering some different options for grocery spend. My BCP is the current daily driver and I've been happy with it apart from the $95 AF. My family grocery budget (for supermarkets, not including wholesale and Target runs) is just slightly below the cap, and I've got some streaming services going to it, as well as a few transit charges here and there. I've utilized a number of Amex offers and have my DW conditioned to use it as well for her visits to the grocery stores.

I've considered the following options:
AAA Daily Advantage with 5% on groceries with no AF and a more generous cap in case I may need it in future years, but do not care about the 3% on wholesale since I've got my Vantage West for that at 5%.
Morgan Stanley BCP could replace this with a nice $400 sub, and I could PC my exisiting BCP to a BCE (would like to have a dedicated online purchases card).
US Alliance VS with 6% through 12/31/23, not sure if I want a zero sub and limited duration for the grocery multiplier.
Leave everything as is, and get back under 5/24 in July (the discipline required gives me the shakes)

On the surface, accepting the Daily Advantage pre-approval and downgrading my BCP seems like the practical thing to do. Oh, but there's the Comenity thing. Not sure if the technical frustrations people have had (such as recent experiences posted about Comentiy not reporting/updating to the bureaus) are a true indication of the problems I could be walking into.

Any insight would be most appreciated as I continue arguing with myself. Would also love to hear about any experiences with the Daily Advantage and/or experiences with Comenity pre-approvals. Thanks!

I like this card for both the 5% on groceries, and the 3% on wholesale clubs (could be new Costco card). It's on my radar for 2024 if it's still around then.

I already have the USAlliance for 6% on groceries for 2023, and I can shift things around and make my Venmo card a Costco only thing, it just doesn't support Apple Pay (which sorta blows).

Re: AAA Daily Advantage pre-approval worth it or other options?

FinStar — Fri, 09 Dec 2022 01:38:00 GMT

@PullingMeSoftly wrote:
Recently received this emailed pre-approval, but reservations about Comenity remain along with questions about my future grocery card strategy:

This is somewhat timely as I've been considering some different options for grocery spend. My BCP is the current daily driver and I've been happy with it apart from the $95 AF. My family grocery budget (for supermarkets, not including wholesale and Target runs) is just slightly below the cap, and I've got some streaming services going to it, as well as a few transit charges here and there. I've utilized a number of Amex offers and have my DW conditioned to use it as well for her visits to the grocery stores.

I've considered the following options:
AAA Daily Advantage with 5% on groceries with no AF and a more generous cap in case I may need it in future years, but do not care about the 3% on wholesale since I've got my Vantage West for that at 5%.
Morgan Stanley BCP could replace this with a nice $400 sub, and I could PC my exisiting BCP to a BCE (would like to have a dedicated online purchases card).
US Alliance VS with 6% through 12/31/23, not sure if I want a zero sub and limited duration for the grocery multiplier.
Leave everything as is, and get back under 5/24 in July (the discipline required gives me the shakes)

On the surface, accepting the Daily Advantage pre-approval and downgrading my BCP seems like the practical thing to do. Oh, but there's the Comenity thing. Not sure if the technical frustrations people have had (such as recent experiences posted about Comentiy not reporting/updating to the bureaus) are a true indication of the problems I could be walking into.

Any insight would be most appreciated as I continue arguing with myself. Would also love to hear about any experiences with the Daily Advantage and/or experiences with Comenity pre-approvals. Thanks!

It appears you have multiple 5% rotators and BCP, so is this AAA CC offer more of a shiny thing? Do none of the current 5% rotators cover grocery that may overlap absent of BCP?

A couple of things, if you get the MS BCP version there's no downgrade path unlike the standard BCP. The SUB can seem like an attractive incentive, but only if that specific version will be a keeper.

As far as Comenity/CCB, yes they've had their notable mentions here and some not so stellar by a variety of members. The question is, are you willing to be ok with any headaches that may pop-up down the road? Personally, in the 25+ years I've had Comenity accounts (even under previous rebrandings), I've not encountered any major issues. Keep in mind that if you want to grow the card's CL, the CLI policy is now HP vs SP.

The items that you may have to accept with Comenity (if you decide to pull the trigger) are the possibility of your account either transferred/sold to another lender or be discontinued/closed, CLD if you're not using your card every ~6 months (sometimes reminders are sent), closure of an account if their audit team deems you've opened several accounts or too many inquiries in the past 6-12 months, and HPs for CLIs recently reported. Just something to consider.

Re: AAA Daily Advantage pre-approval worth it or other options?

Hansolojr — Fri, 09 Dec 2022 02:58:15 GMT

I went through the same process and opted to pass. My reasons included low probability of expanding the Comenity relationship over time, and preference to stick with the big issuers for PC probabilities later on.

If your P2 has these options, I would consider

- doing the Amex $175 referral for BCP. P2 would get the regular $300 SUB with year one AF waived. Authorized users who have not had BCP are eligible for the offer;

- doing the CFF $100 referral. P2 gets $200 SUB and 5% on groceries in year one up to $12k spend.

Either option keeps 5/24 available for you and gives you another 12 months to see how US Alliance plays out or find a less nerf-able 5% grocery card.

Re: AAA Daily Advantage pre-approval worth it or other options?

issac2x — Fri, 09 Dec 2022 06:29:24 GMT

I'd go with option 4 and stay in the garden. Comenity's technical issues have been ongoing for a while now and until they get that sorted out I'd be cautious about apping with them.

Re: AAA Daily Advantage pre-approval worth it or other options?

cws-21 — Fri, 09 Dec 2022 16:16:31 GMT

@PullingMeSoftly, for what do you currently use your Citi Custom Cash? Given your cards, I would probably product change the Blue Cash Preferred to a Blue Cash Everyday, use your rotators and Custom Cash for groceries, and use your U.S. Altitude Go for dining (if you have been using the Custom Cash for dining). Is there a reason that you have chosen not to do this or that you think something else would be preferable?

Re: AAA Daily Advantage pre-approval worth it or other options?

PullingMeSoftly — Fri, 09 Dec 2022 17:47:58 GMT

Finding these responses to be very helpful/insightful and exactly what i needed to hear to be able to make some informed decisions outside of my own perspective, thank you!

@Bill77 My thoughts exactly, thank you for confirming similar reservations.

@CreditCobra Nice to see you have the US Alliance card in action with the Venmo card for Costco (albeit the physical card until the mobile wallet is sorted). Also great to see another rotator enthusiast here, as it appears we share some of the best in common (AFCU, Nusenda, Langley).

@FinStar I appreciate these excellent points, as indeed this is a bit of a case of a new "shiny thing". The rotators have been great for picking up some grocery spend to ensure I don't go over the BCP $6k spend cap, but I've not been able to get the DW to confidently use any of them, hence the BCP has provided a stable card for her use. That dynamic is unfortunately in conflict with my credit card enthusiasm, leading to the consideration of the AAA card as a new always-in-use card. Some great points about Comenity which affirm my hesitations, and I'll be steering clear for now. It's also unfortunate that the MS BCP does not have a downgrade path.

@Hansolojr I agree with your perspective, I'm going to pass as well. Thank you for the the P2 referral tips, that's a great option and would indeed preserve my progress toward 5/24.

@issac2x Agreed, can't go wrong with some gardening and staying away from a clearly problematic lender!

@cws-21 What you're seeing is my compulsive pursuit of 5% everything even though I'm now at the point of marginal gains. You make a really good point, while my Citi CC is currently on dining duty, that spend could easily be put on the GO for the loss of just 1 percent, while opening the use of the CC as a grocery card. That would totally work, but the DW's spend pattern at grocery stores includes months of going well over the $500 cap, and some other months going below. My use of rotators for groceries, especially Affinity FCU, has kept us under $6k/year on the BCP, but DW has a hard time with card-switching. I have her on a BCP-GO-Connect-Fidelity setup that she has memorized for Groceries-Dining-Gas-Uncategorized. While I enjoy the rotator hobby, there may be a point at which I capitulate and just run a simple setup, but for now I'm still looking for ways to squeeze the lemon!

Re: AAA Daily Advantage pre-approval worth it or other options?

cws-21 — Fri, 09 Dec 2022 18:08:52 GMT

@PullingMeSoftly wrote:
@cws-21 What you're seeing is my compulsive pursuit of 5% everything even though I'm now at the point of marginal gains. You make a really good point, while my Citi CC is currently on dining duty, that spend could easily be put on the GO for the loss of just 1 percent, while opening the use of the CC as a grocery card. That would totally work, but the DW's spend pattern at grocery stores includes months of going well over the $500 cap, and some other months going below. My use of rotators for groceries, especially Affinity FCU, has kept us under $6k/year on the BCP, but DW has a hard time with card-switching. I have her on a BCP-GO-Connect-Fidelity setup that she has memorized for Groceries-Dining-Gas-Uncategorized. While I enjoy the rotator hobby, there may be a point at which I capitulate and just run a simple setup, but for now I'm still looking for ways to squeeze the lemon!

I get your dilemma now. We have a family of five so we typically spend around $1,000 per month on groceries. What I do to optimize cash back for grocery spending is to use my Citi Custom Cash for 5% on the first $500 spent each month and then the Amex Blue Cash Preferred for 4.4% (after annual fee subtracted) on the second $500 spent monthly. I do often take advantage of a grocery quarter offered by Affinity FCU for 7% cash back as well. These three cards effectively take care of my grocery spending for any given year. I could even probably do without the Affinity Cash Rewards, but, since I have it for Amazon purchases, I may as well use it when the rotating categories make sense for my spending. I think it gets unnecessarily confusing, especially for spouses who are not into credit cards, when multiple rotating category cards are being juggled except for those individuals who enjoy activating quarters, adjusting their setups, and the like.

For dining, I was using the Custom Cash, but my family kept going over the monthly cap. Now, I don't have to worry about a cap on dining with the Altitude Go and the Custom Cash cap is not limiting for grocery spending given I use it in conjunction with the Blue Cash Preferred. In fact, I used to find the cap on each card to be a bit frustrating, but now that I am using them in tandem I don't mind them at all.

Re: AAA Daily Advantage pre-approval worth it or other options?

CreditCobra — Sun, 11 Dec 2022 21:12:09 GMT

@PullingMeSoftly wrote:
Finding these responses to be very helpful/insightful and exactly what i needed to hear to be able to make some informed decisions outside of my own perspective, thank you!

@CreditCobra Nice to see you have the US Alliance card in action with the Venmo card for Costco (albeit the physical card until the mobile wallet is sorted). Also great to see another rotator enthusiast here, as it appears we share some of the best in common (AFCU, Nusenda, Langley).

I've absolutlely turned this into a hobby. At this point I'll only pick up cards that "further the cause." By that I mean cards that can improve on my cash back percentages for specific categories. I may be close to the point where the juice isn't worth the squeeze, but I'll likely continue to squeeze anyway. I have some free time on my hands.

Re: AAA Daily Advantage pre-approval worth it or other options?

NAVYCHOP — Tue, 12 Sep 2023 06:23:32 GMT

Tonight I received an e-mail from Comenity that I was pre-approved for the AAA cards. I chose the AAA Daily Advantage card and I received an instant approval with a $20k SL that I could add instantly to my Apple wallet. What surprised me when I checked my Equifax credit report is that it showed a Comenity soft pull today following the application rather than the hard pull that I expected for a new account. I previously had a Comenity BJ's warehouse Visa card that moved to Capital One this year and Comenity's last informational soft pull was about six months ago on my credit report.

Re: AAA Daily Advantage pre-approval worth it or other options?

PullingMeSoftly — Tue, 12 Sep 2023 16:42:47 GMT

@NAVYCHOP wrote:
Tonight I received an e-mail from Comenity that I was pre-approved for the AAA cards. I chose the AAA Daily Advantage card and I received an instant approval with a $20k SL that I could add instantly to my Apple wallet. What surprised me when I checked my Equifax credit report is that it showed a Comenity soft pull today following the application rather than the hard pull that I expected for a new account. I previously had a Comenity BJ's warehouse Visa card that moved to Capital One this year and Comenity's last informational soft pull was about six months ago on my credit report.

Sweet, congrats on that 20k approval @NAVYCHOP , great to know that accepting these offers will be a SP, thanks for sharing your DP

Re: AAA Daily Advantage pre-approval worth it or other options?

Turbobuick — Wed, 13 Sep 2023 02:38:42 GMT

Comenity replaced my 20 yr old BofA AAA (emergency use only) card that had a fixed 7% rate with their crappy cards that they could not get sorted. First they said they sent me the wrong version, then they only sent one replacement. Before I ever used it, I canceled and swore I'd never own anything Comenity again. YMMV.

Re: AAA Daily Advantage pre-approval worth it or other options?

UncleB — Wed, 13 Sep 2023 03:02:28 GMT

@NAVYCHOP wrote:
Tonight I received an e-mail from Comenity that I was pre-approved for the AAA cards. I chose the AAA Daily Advantage card and I received an instant approval with a $20k SL that I could add instantly to my Apple wallet. What surprised me when I checked my Equifax credit report is that it showed a Comenity soft pull today following the application rather than the hard pull that I expected for a new account. I previously had a Comenity BJ's warehouse Visa card that moved to Capital One this year and Comenity's last informational soft pull was about six months ago on my credit report.

I received the same email (well, I'm assuming the same, anyway). While I had planned on going for this next spring - to give my new acquisitions from earlier this year a chance to age a bit - I admit I'm considering going for it earlier.

It would be my de facto Walmart card (since it doesn't exclude Walmart from the grocery category) but I admit it won't be a huge gain, since I already get 5% back at Walmart half the year anyway via Discover, and the rest of the year I get 3% back via Venmo Visa/BCE/BoA Customized Cash anyway. The main draw to taking the plunge now vs. later is my scores are at an all-time high which will change once my Amex loan is PIF in a couple of months.

Thankfully the expiration date is sometime in November, so I have some time to think it over. 🤔

Re: AAA Daily Advantage pre-approval worth it or other options?

mwarmor — Thu, 14 Sep 2023 00:35:49 GMT

I came out of the garden for this card around a month ago. I was mainly looking for a Walmart card with a possible warehouse option, and this card was the only one to meet all my needs. The 3% gas was also a nice addition. I'm choosing to deal with the risk of it being a Comenity issued card, and the fact it could go away with little notice.

Signup process was easy enough, but I got a 10-14 day notice. Eventually I had to call in to confirm some information and at that point I was accepted. The card arrived faster than expected with a $10,000 limit, one of the largest starting limits I've had. The online Comenity portal is lean in terms of features.

For the good? Zero problems getting 5% from Grocery and Walmart (in-person). The 3% Gas rewards has worked for all grocery store and warehouse store gas pumps so far. So far it's been a good experinece, but as others have mentioned, waiting to see if any problems might occur.

Re: AAA Daily Advantage pre-approval worth it or other options?

SouthJamaica — Thu, 14 Sep 2023 15:02:08 GMT

@PullingMeSoftly wrote:
Recently received this emailed pre-approval, but reservations about Comenity remain along with questions about my future grocery card strategy:

This is somewhat timely as I've been considering some different options for grocery spend. My BCP is the current daily driver and I've been happy with it apart from the $95 AF. My family grocery budget (for supermarkets, not including wholesale and Target runs) is just slightly below the cap, and I've got some streaming services going to it, as well as a few transit charges here and there. I've utilized a number of Amex offers and have my DW conditioned to use it as well for her visits to the grocery stores.

I've considered the following options:
AAA Daily Advantage with 5% on groceries with no AF and a more generous cap in case I may need it in future years, but do not care about the 3% on wholesale since I've got my Vantage West for that at 5%.
Morgan Stanley BCP could replace this with a nice $400 sub, and I could PC my exisiting BCP to a BCE (would like to have a dedicated online purchases card).
US Alliance VS with 6% through 12/31/23, not sure if I want a zero sub and limited duration for the grocery multiplier.
Leave everything as is, and get back under 5/24 in July (the discipline required gives me the shakes)

On the surface, accepting the Daily Advantage pre-approval and downgrading my BCP seems like the practical thing to do. Oh, but there's the Comenity thing. Not sure if the technical frustrations people have had (such as recent experiences posted about Comentiy not reporting/updating to the bureaus) are a true indication of the problems I could be walking into.

Any insight would be most appreciated as I continue arguing with myself. Would also love to hear about any experiences with the Daily Advantage and/or experiences with Comenity pre-approvals. Thanks!

I have the Travel Advantage version. I love the card. My only issue has been that I can't redeem the cash rewards online, but have to call in.

For some reason I can't select the "direct deposit" option online.

And for some reason when I try to redeem as a "statement credit" I get an error message saying the statement credits are limited to the statement balance. I don't have a statement balance, since I pay off my rewards card accounts prior to the statement cutting. It should be limiting the credits to "current balance", but their programmers don't seem to understand the difference.

I've spoken to them on the phone about this, and they say they're aware of the issue and are working to fix it. But it's been 6 months or so.

Re: AAA Daily Advantage pre-approval worth it or other options?

UncleB — Fri, 15 Sep 2023 03:14:26 GMT

With Chase having Paypal as the 5% category next quarter I can say that between Discover and Freedom I've been able to get 5% back from in-store Walmart three out of four quarters this year (and 3% for the other quarter via Venmo).

That's not doing much to help the argument for me to pull the trigger on the AAA card, LOL.

It's likely just as well... I've already added five cards this year, and Comenity might not like that too much anyway (in spite of the preapproval).