Alternatives to the Uber Visa Card

[Anonymous]

Thanks for the advice. I will open a 2% card for now once I decide which one. I'll think about the one for dining/entertainment at a later time.

About the 6% for the AMEX BCP with Visa gift cards.

I have used these before. Often when my 6 month car insurance is due or for another large purchase. I wouldn't use these cards for daily purchases. It wouldn't even be in my wallet. There's no way I would want to carry around a $500 gift card in my wallet where I'm not protected. It will stay at home in a drawer. I also completely agree that tracking that for daily/regular use would be a huge hassle. I would only use it for online purchases outside of Amazon.

The Visa gift cards at my location don't have the card number exposed nor any expiration date or monthly maintenance fee. You would have to open the package to see the card number and I wouldn't buy one of course that was opened. There is a $5.95 fee for the $500 cards. It's still roughly 5% which is better than I would get anywhere else (outside of Chase freedom and discover it having 5% for PayPal or something).

[Anonymous]

what do you think you'll be using an entertainment category for? this is one of the most weaselly categories that there is. i thought playstation store would be entertainment, nope. maybe netflix or movie tickets will be covered but maybe not... and if you call up to ask the card issuer the reps don't know what's covered and what's not. at least with restraunts it's clear-cut and they can't weasel out.

[Anonymous]

---

@Anonymous wrote:

what do you think you'll be using an entertainment category for? this is one of the most weaselly categories that there is. i thought playstation store would be entertainment, nope. maybe netflix or movie tickets will be covered but maybe not... and if you call up to ask the card issuer the reps don't know what's covered and what's not. at least with restraunts it's clear-cut and they can't weasel out.

---

To be fair, it comes down to the MCC the merchant uses, which isn't exactly something the credit card companies can control (with the exception of cards that actually own the network like Disco and AMEX which override MCCs with their own definitions for the business). This is the same reason why some Walmarts code as grocery while others code as discount stores. 

Savor cards specifically exempt digital entertainment while the Marvel card does include it -- actually it looks like Marvel counts streaming services as 3% on entertainment too, something that Savor cards won't. 

At the end of the day, the specificity is what allows them to offer these cards since some transactions will code 1% and turn a profit for them. Only savvy customers actually check to make sure everything coded correctly and even fewer are likely to call when something doesn't. 

Flat rate cash back cards exist to earn 1.5-2% on every purchase and higher earning category cards have pitfalls to try to offset losses from rewards chasers. It's just the way the game is played. 

[longtimelurker]

---

@Anonymous wrote:


The Visa gift cards at my location don't have the card number exposed nor any expiration date or monthly maintenance fee. You would have to open the package to see the card number and I wouldn't buy one of course that was opened. 

---

FWIW: some places are hit hard by very professional gangs.   You would have no idea that the package had been opened.  There are lots of variations.

So verify balance as soon as possible and quickly use or liquidate.  The earlier you find an issue the better!

(This is not to scare people away, I have bought lots of these.  Just be aware there can be problems and simply "packet not opened" is not enough)

[MachoHombre]

---

@FieryDance wrote:

---

@dsotm76 wrote:
Can you explain more about the Preferred Rewards? How is that determined?

---

Sorry didn’t get back to you sooner, but the others have given you the details.  

Just one thing, don’t do it just to earn 5.25%.  Make sure whatever you do makes sense in the big picture and be cognizant of the opportunity cost of $100k.   That little 5.25% cash back on dining will look negligible compared to getting in the market at the right time. 

---

Correct me if I'm missing something, but assets in Lynch account(s) count toward the credit card card kicker ....so you could be in the market and use those assets to bump the rewards on your BofA card.

[longtimelurker]

---

@MachoHombre wrote:

---

@FieryDance wrote:

---

@dsotm76 wrote:
Can you explain more about the Preferred Rewards? How is that determined?

---

Sorry didn’t get back to you sooner, but the others have given you the details.  

Just one thing, don’t do it just to earn 5.25%.  Make sure whatever you do makes sense in the big picture and be cognizant of the opportunity cost of $100k.   That little 5.25% cash back on dining will look negligible compared to getting in the market at the right time. 

---

Correct me if I'm missing something, but assets in Lynch account(s) count toward the credit card card kicker ....so you could be in the market and use those assets to bump the rewards on your BofA card.

---

Right, so I think the advice is more "Make sure the ML investment is as good as what you have".    So if you moved an index fund with an expense ratio of 0.01 to one at ML with 1%, obviously the extra expense on $100K would swamp the extra rewards.   But my guess is that most people here don't really need to be told that!

[MachoHombre]

---

@longtimelurker wrote:

---

Just one thing, don’t do it just to earn 5.25%.  Make sure whatever you do makes sense in the big picture and be cognizant of the opportunity cost of $100k.   That little 5.25% cash back on dining will look negligible compared to getting in the market at the right time. 

---

Correct me if I'm missing something, but assets in Lynch account(s) count toward the credit card card kicker ....so you could be in the market and use those assets to bump the rewards on your BofA card.

---

Right, so I think the advice is more "Make sure the ML investment is as good as what you have".    So if you moved an index fund with an expense ratio of 0.01 to one at ML with 1%, obviously the extra expense on $100K would swamp the extra rewards.   But my guess is that most people here don't really need to be told that!

---

Awesome advice.   

And my point being that many people may have a passive saving or investment account, maybe even a 401K etc  ....that could be used here but they never realized or thought of it.   But as you say, do the math first!!!     

BofA has provided really a nice, simple, low-drama, high-yield reward on these cards when you factor in your savings or investment assets.  

[wasCB14]

---

@MachoHombre wrote:

---

@longtimelurker wrote:

---

Just one thing, don’t do it just to earn 5.25%.  Make sure whatever you do makes sense in the big picture and be cognizant of the opportunity cost of $100k.   That little 5.25% cash back on dining will look negligible compared to getting in the market at the right time. 

---

Correct me if I'm missing something, but assets in Lynch account(s) count toward the credit card card kicker ....so you could be in the market and use those assets to bump the rewards on your BofA card.

---

Right, so I think the advice is more "Make sure the ML investment is as good as what you have".    So if you moved an index fund with an expense ratio of 0.01 to one at ML with 1%, obviously the extra expense on $100K would swamp the extra rewards.   But my guess is that most people here don't really need to be told that!

---

Awesome advice.   

And my point being that many people may have a passive saving or investment account, maybe even a 401K etc  ....that could be used here but they never realized or thought of it.   But as you say, do the math first!!!     

BofA has provided really a nice, simple, low-drama, high-yield reward on these cards when you factor in your savings or investment assets.  

---

One thing to keep in mind is Merrill, or at least Merrill Edge, generally pays very little on cash and has a poor selection of money markets for smaller cash positions. I'm not sure what markeup they charge on fixed income, but on some bonds I looked at recently they were asking a much higher price than Fidelity was. So their pricing and/or inventory was much worse.

I'm in a $1500 ME promo right now, which is nice because I transferred in shares I don't want to sell anytime soon. As dividends come in, I can just transfer the cash elsewhere for a better interest rate.

[Anonymous]

Does anybody have the wells fargo propel and visa signature combo? This would essentially give you 4.5x if redeemed towards airfare.

[longtimelurker]

---

@Anonymous wrote:
Does anybody have the wells fargo propel and visa signature combo? This would essentially give you 4.5x if redeemed towards airfare.

---

That was my original plan when replacing Uber, but I was denied for the VS (and don't have the propel).   I think that's a good option for those using portals for travel (rather than transferring) as is Citi DC+ Premier (which also allows transfers)