BCE - not super useful?

[Anonymous]

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@jamesdwi wrote:

 $100/mo in groceries pays the annual fee. Anything over and above that is proffit. 

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I have to always rail against this type of analysis (a weakness of mine I do nothing to address).   Once again, consider the LongTimeLurker Premium Card.

A low low low $1 AF, and 0.1% back on EVERY purchase, no restrictions, no caps!, no registering for annoying rotating categories    So just $1000 spend (less than $90 per month!!!) pays back the annual fee, and anything above that is profit!

So, good card?   No, of course not, because there ware better ones.   Even between BCE and BCP, the BCP doesn't out-earn the BCE until $2,500 of grocery spend per year (where each earns $75 after BCP AF).   If you consider the Sallie Mae, BCP isn't better till $4K or so.

Bottom line: never just consider recouping the AF as the goal, review alternaitve cards and whether they would return more on your spend.

[kdm31091]

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@Anonymous wrote:

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@jamesdwi wrote:

 $100/mo in groceries pays the annual fee. Anything over and above that is proffit. 

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I have to always rail against this type of analysis (a weakness of mine I do nothing to address).   Once again, consider the LongTimeLurker Premium Card.

A low low low $1 AF, and 0.1% back on EVERY purchase, no restrictions, no caps!, no registering for annoying rotating categories    So just $1000 spend (less than $90 per month!!!) pays back the annual fee, and anything above that is profit!

So, good card?   No, of course not, because there ware better ones.   Even between BCE and BCP, the BCP doesn't out-earn the BCE until $2,500 of grocery spend per year (where each earns $75 after BCP AF).   If you consider the Sallie Mae, BCP isn't better till $4K or so.

Bottom line: never just consider recouping the AF as the goal, review alternaitve cards and whether they would return more on your spend.

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Agreed with LTL.

The problem with "100 a month pays the annual fee" is that yes it does pay the fee but you are not netting more than the BCE.

For it to make sense, you would have to earn the annual fee back plus more over and above what the BCE would earn on the spend. Just recouping the fee still leaves you with a net zero rewards, which makes no sense. Nerdwallet did the same funny math, which I quickly called out in the comments because it was flawed.

[Sharingan]

I received my BCE during college, and I used it quite a bit during those days. Once I got my Sallie Mae and AmEx EDP, I had every intention of closing my BCE, and I even transferred almost all of its CL away. I eventually decided to keep it because it's still a great card and it is one of my oldest accounts. Additionally, I fully expect the Sallie Mae card to get whacked with the nerf bat in the near future, particularly if Barclays found reasons to 'adjust' the Arrival/Arrival+ (which weren't all that great to begin with). Lastly, I like having access to the BCP without a HP, in the event that my spending patterns or rewards objectives warrant it in the future. 

The AmEx offers are pretty good as well. I get some incredible deals every so often from them. 

[kdm31091]

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@Sharingan wrote:

I received my BCE during college, and I used it quite a bit during those days. Once I got my Sallie Mae and AmEx EDP, I had every intention of closing my BCE, and I even transferred almost all of its CL away. I eventually decided to keep it because it's still a great card and it is one of my oldest accounts. Additionally, I fully expect the Sallie Mae card to get whacked with the nerf bat in the near future, particularly if Barclays found reasons to 'adjust' the Arrival/Arrival+ (which weren't all that great to begin with). Lastly, I like having access to the BCP without a HP, in the event that my spending patterns or rewards objectives warrant it in the future. 

The AmEx offers are pretty good as well. I get some incredible deals every so often from them. 

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I suspect Sallie will not last untouched much longer, especially with Arrival's nerf but I guess we will see.

[jamesdwi]

yes I did the take the easy way out, and I know that its more than $100 a month spend in groceries, but at least at that level you know you are at least going broke having the card. There are excellent charts availible with exactly how much you need to spend to justify the BCP vs the Sallie Mae, (an excellent card ). That makes it hard to justify the BCP, unless you start to add in other rewards,  Small bussiness Saturday can net you $30 a year. Along with other bonuses availible through out the year. The one factor that makes Sallie Mae less useful is that it gives you a set spending limit per month. Some months I may not spend the full $250, yet other months especially during the holiday season I will easily exceed $250 in a single month. The yearly limits of the BCP is much easier to deal with. Of course the other beneits of AMEX are there as well, extended warranties, insurance,  3x CLI's, etc. 

[Anonymous]

I'm with the other poster that it's not just the grocery incentive, you carry an American Express card number which gets you to qualify for the offers, the Twitter perks that pop up every once in awhile etc. I have co-branded AMEX cards just for that purpose alone. I wish they were all real ones and I wish I qualified for BCE, i should by next year.

[Anonymous]

I want the BCE (or BCP) over Sallie Mae simply because of the AMEX perks, and the 3X CLI after 60 days.  I'm really only going for 2-3 additional cards besides Freedom, and that's definitely on the list. An yes, Sallie Mae seems like a prime candidate for nerfing in the future.  None of Barclays bank cards really scream 'must have' to me to begin with. 

[Callandra]

Maybe it's me but I wouldn't necessarily worry about a card being nerfed down the line; I decide whether the card works for me today or not. Sallie Mae may or may not be nerfed. I've already gotten so much cash back with it (and I've only had it since last December) that it would have been silly to wait to see if they nerf it. Most people don't know it exists and doesn't get the press the flagship Arrival(+) gets. Even if they nerf it, they may allow existing cardholders to keep the benefits (see: Priceline). 

[SunriseEarth]

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@Anonymous wrote:

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@yfan wrote:

But here is what makes the BCE really worth it for me: Amex offers. I get a lot more, and a lot more useful, offers on the BCE than my TE. I have found that keeping an eye on the offers saves me a lot of money, and I'm pretty happy with that.

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Yep, they're worth checking every now and then.

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I would definitely agree with Amex Offers being the best thing about BCE.   My offers are consistenly better on BCE than on TE or on Twitter (Sync w/Macy's Amex).

I don't have another grocery card, so I use my BCE at groceries.   I don't typically buy many groceries, so it's not worth getting a better card at the moment.   I also use mine at Costco in-store (rewards are the same at TE and easier to redeem, IMHO) and at department stores for 2% (but not this quarter, thanks to Discover).   With the 1998 backdate and having my largest CL, I have no intentions of getting rid of my BCE, even if its use is somewhat limited.  

[Imperfectfuture]

To add to your first question, I would not upgrade to the BCp, in your situation. Me personally, if not getting the Sallie Mae, then it comes down to math. The rewards would add up faster, but need 2500 annual spend as LTL said (I did my own calculations). Of course, I mainly shop at Safeway. So, total purchase at groceriy store is a little over 200 per month. They also don't count gas unless purchased at pump, which I never do. So that category is wasted.

If my spend reaches that level (and thus making any discover it quarter for groceries a non factor), then upgrade. But I am not at that level, and will apply for Sallie Mae next May.