Affinity Pure Rewards no AF

[GatorCowboyLion]

The Cash Rewards has gotten quite a bit of love on MF for good reason, but the Pure Rewards is a monster card in its own right, if anyone is willing to cultivate a significant relationship with Affinity. The thing that makes this credit card so valuable is attaining the monthly Even More perks level. This makes it a flat 2% cash back credit card and unlocks the 7% cashback Hi5 categories, up to $3500 per quarter. For 2021 these 7% categories have been:

Q1 Supermarkets, Sporting Goods, Wholesale Clubs

Q2 Clothing & Accessories, Home Supplies (inc. Lowes/ HD), Drug Stores

Q3 Gas Stations, Restaurants, Hotels

Q4 Amazon, Discount Stores (eg Walmart), Supermarkets

Hoops to jump through to get Even More (400 points):

Straightforward points: 200

Any Checking Account – 75

Active Credit Card – 25

Direct Deposit – 50

Paperless Banking – 25

$5-10k in account (SmartStart $5k at 1.5%apy) – 25

Questionable points:

16 Debit Card transactions – 100

16 Credit Card transactions – 100

Business Checking – 50

Other consumer loan– 50

Home Equity Loan or Line of Credit – 100

Questions:

Has anyone unlocked the 2% + 5% on the PR credit card?

Has anyone used spend such as $0.50 Amazon reloads to meet the debit or credit requirements?

If qualified for a Line of Credit (Home Equity or PrivateLine Line of Credit Overdraft Protection), is there any requirement to actually use the loan? Could I qualify and then just not use the line of credit for a period of time without incurring charges or fees?

Does anyone have the personal experience of opening a business checking account?

From today’s email:

[cws-21]

So, you don't get the Hi5 categories unless you meet the criteria that you mentioned?

[GatorCowboyLion]

You do. I did not mention the card is a flat 1% on everything, 1% + 5% = 6% on Hi5.

If you get 400 monthly points then you qualify for the Even More status which converts the card into a flat 2% card, 2% + 5% = 7% on Hi5.

This 7% is a higher rate than the Cash Rewards card gives for the quarters when the Hi5 category is Sporting Goods, Wholesale Clubs, Clothing & Accessories, Home Supplies (inc. Lowes/ HD), Drug Stores,  Hotels, and Discount Stores (eg Walmart). Of course we don't know what future categories will be. Also, this increases the Hi5 spend from $3.5k per quarter to $7k if someone already has CR.

My hope is that we can relatively easily qualify by opening a Business checking, a line of credit, and rely mostly on organic CC spend (10 transactions is good for 50 points).