BOA WorldPoints...kind of disappointing

[FretlessMayhem]

So my new BOA Platinum Plus WP MasterCard came in the mail.

I was reviewing the rewards insert that came with the card and noticed the rewards are a bit sub-par. 1 point per dollar, with 5000 points redeemable for $25, 0.5 percent.

Now, if I were to run the same cash through my Chase Freedom card, I would earn a minimum of $50, to a maximum of $150, depending on the purchases.

Assuming I used it for utilities, the Freedom card would be returning 600 percent more cash than the world points.

Am I missing something?

Does anyone have any input for World Points?

This is my highest CL at 20k. My next highest is Chase Freedom at 15k. The BOA card has much better promotional rates than the Chase, but since I PIF, I don't know if that will matter.

[haulingthescoreup]

My "feel" for this is that BofA is great for CL's and soft CLI's, but kind of ho-hum on rewards. They remind me of a credit union in terms of their willingness to keep you as a customer by giving CLI's, but with a bit more potential for danger.

[FretlessMayhem]

Hiya Hauling. I was wondering if you could expound on what you mean by "danger".

[haulingthescoreup]

Oh, sorry, I just meant that banks in general, as opposed to CU's, are more apt to take AA (adverse action) if something goes awry. To me, they're just more big and impersonal, and if there is some sort of weird quirk on your reports that flips a switch on their computers, then boom, something unpleasant happens, and it might be hard to reverse.

So: BofA is frequently generous like CU's, good CSR's 85% of the time (abysmal 15% of the time) like CU's, good entry-level cards as well as prime cards like many CU's, but a bit more unpredictable when things go wrong. But they do count as a "national bank." Not worse than other banks, but they're a bank. Hope that makes more sense!


edited to name the bank, for baffled readers

Message Edited by haulingthescoreup on 05-07-2008 09:11 AM

[Anonymous]

Like haulingthescoreup mentioned, BoA is kind of "ho-hum on rewards."   Two years ago, I converted my BoA card to a WorldPoints account, and at this point in time, I've earned only 141 rewards points.  That shows you how little I use my card.  I too, use my Chase Freedom card frequently. 

But, perhaps sometime in the future, you might be able to take advantage of some of this card's other benefits, such as an attractive balance transfer offer.  Have you looked at the WorldPoints Rewards website at:

https://wwwa.managerewardsonline.com/RMSapp/Ctl/link?eid=800B3F7A?

[Anonymous]

If you go to the world points site you should see some merchants listed that give more than 1:1 from what I recall from scanning it they range from 2:1 to 12:1 not a whole lot of merchants in the bonus section.

Unlike my chase card which has a massive list of merchants that give greater than 1:1.

BofA rewards program doesn't stand out but better than nothing I suppose.

[Anonymous]

I just got a $350 check in the mail yesterday for redeeming 35,000 points, which is 1%. It's only .5% at the lower levels.

You can see the cash tiers here:

https://wwwn.managerewardsonline.com/RMSapp/Ctl/link?eid=ECCDB2A6

[nicemann]

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watchnerd wrote:
I just got a $350 check in the mail yesterday for redeeming 35,000 points, which is 1%. It's only .5% at the lower levels.

You can see the cash tiers here:

https://wwwn.managerewardsonline.com/RMSapp/Ctl/link?eid=ECCDB2A6

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That is the rewards for all of their WorldPoint cards?

[FretlessMayhem]

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@Anonymous wrote:
If you go to the world points site you should see some merchants listed that give more than 1:1 from what I recall from scanning it they range from 2:1 to 12:1 not a whole lot of merchants in the bonus section.

Unlike my chase card which has a massive list of merchants that give greater than 1:1.

BofA rewards program doesn't stand out but better than nothing I suppose.

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I agree. It is better than the 0 rewards I had on the Platinum Plus Visa.

[Anonymous]

If you have a bank account or loan with BOA, you can get the Bank Americard which offers 1.5 points. That is a whopping 50% more.  lol