Considering BofA Premium Rewards

[wasCB14]

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@K-in-Boston wrote:
For Delta, the credit still seems to cover the remainder of payment when a gift card has been used. Good to know it still works, at least some of the time So grab a $50 gift card at Target, Staples, or Best Buy, and then charge the rest. It also works for paying the $29 fee for guests at SkyClub Also good, though last time they forgot to charge me , and if you needed to *gasp* fly Main Cabin, it’ll pay for food and drinks Certainly better than letting it go to waste, though Delta Platinum gives me 20% off so it's a less-than-optimal use . Also taxes on award fares! There I tend to use CSR for the delay coverage.

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Good reminders!

[wasCB14]

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@Aim_High wrote:

It's interesting that you don't hear more about the Premium Rewards card. For such an apparently exclusive card, it's very low-key.  I think a lot of the denials on the forum, though, were from people who cold-apped and didn't understand that the target market is narrowly focused at relationship clients and underwriting is strict in that regard.  I definitely see that now, so if I apply it will be after I reestablish some basic banking and move assets into Merrill to fortify my position with them. 

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I just got a standalone brokerage account and didn't apply for a checking account, savings account, or check-writing ability from the brokerage account. Are those advisable in addition to a healthy brokerage balance before a PR app?

I'm surprised PR and Platinum Honors isn't more popular among people who don't travel that much. $100k is a small fraction of what a lot of other cards require for special perks.

[TSlop]

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@wasCB14 wrote:

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I'm surprised PR and Platinum Honors isn't more popular among people who don't travel that much. $100k is a small fraction of what a lot of other cards require for special perks.

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I thought about this as well. I don't travel too much (at least by flying) and I think this is an excellent card. I wasn't able to use my $100 the first year but I did get to use it this year, so it was nice to make up the annual fee (though I did use the pre check reimbursement the first year to offset the fee).

In my opinion, I think many people fail to realize how good this card can be. I always hear about how magical UR points are and how they are worth more than 1 cent. Even though PR points are worth less than UR points, depending on your spending, you can generate more points than you can with a CSP/CSR. For some people (like me), generating more PR points brings me a higher profit than generating a lesser amount of UR points, even though they are worth more.

This obviously is not the same for everyone though, and someone optimizing with the Chase Trifecta could probably beat the PR if they use the CSR/Freedom and don't have a lot of Freedom Unlimited spending. Getting a base of 2.625% on all spend and 3.5% on travel/dining can be tough to beat if you can get up to that relationship.

[coldfusion]

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While having that amount of deposits for only one month would theoretically achieve the 3 month balance requirement for Platinum Honors, I'm pretty sure that their system is automated and it is granted after 3 months of maintaining combined deposits of $100,000 or more.  You may find some value in the 100 free monthly trades as well.

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It needs to be 3 full months, you can't get around it for example by depositing $300,000.01 and waiting a month.  The status is evaluated once per month, from memory it's at some unusual timing like on the Tuesday after the 1st full weekend of each month.

[wasCB14]

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@coldfusion wrote:

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While having that amount of deposits for only one month would theoretically achieve the 3 month balance requirement for Platinum Honors, I'm pretty sure that their system is automated and it is granted after 3 months of maintaining combined deposits of $100,000 or more.  You may find some value in the 100 free monthly trades as well.

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It needs to be 3 full months, you can't get around it for example by depositing $300,000.01 and waiting a month.  The status is evaluated once per month, from memory it's at some unusual timing like on the Tuesday after the 1st full weekend of each month.

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Okay. So it will probably be an early 2020 app.

I may just collect dividends at BofA for the first few months until the 100 free trades per month become active.

[coldfusion]

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@wasCB14 wrote:

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@Aim_High wrote:

It's interesting that you don't hear more about the Premium Rewards card. For such an apparently exclusive card, it's very low-key.  I think a lot of the denials on the forum, though, were from people who cold-apped and didn't understand that the target market is narrowly focused at relationship clients and underwriting is strict in that regard.  I definitely see that now, so if I apply it will be after I reestablish some basic banking and move assets into Merrill to fortify my position with them. 

---

I just got a standalone brokerage account and didn't apply for a checking account, savings account, or check-writing ability from the brokerage account. Are those advisable in addition to a healthy brokerage balance before a PR app?

I'm surprised PR and Platinum Honors isn't more popular among people who don't travel that much. $100k is a small fraction of what a lot of other cards require for special perks.

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Platinum Honors clients are entitled to an Advantage Relationship checking account with fee waivers; having one makes it easier to redeem points for cash if you don't want to redeem for travel or a statement credit.  There is a 2500 point ($25) mininum redemption.

[wasCB14]

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@TSlop wrote:

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@wasCB14 wrote:

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I'm surprised PR and Platinum Honors isn't more popular among people who don't travel that much. $100k is a small fraction of what a lot of other cards require for special perks.

---

I thought about this as well. I don't travel too much (at least by flying) and I think this is an excellent card. I wasn't able to use my $100 the first year but I did get to use it this year, so it was nice to make up the annual fee (though I did use the pre check reimbursement the first year to offset the fee).

In my opinion, I think many people fail to realize how good this card can be. I always hear about how magical UR points are and how they are worth more than 1 cent. Even though PR points are worth less than UR points, depending on your spending, you can generate more points than you can with a CSP/CSR. For some people (like me), generating more PR points brings me a higher profit than generating a lesser amount of UR points, even though they are worth more.

This obviously is not the same for everyone though, and someone optimizing with the Chase Trifecta could probably beat the PR if they use the CSR/Freedom and don't have a lot of Freedom Unlimited spending. Getting a base of 2.625% on all spend and 3.5% on travel/dining can be tough to beat if you can get up to that relationship.

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I currently do have a lot of CFU spend, and plan to keep my trifecta with CSR as my main travel card. CFU will just be a sockdrawer card for a bit. Maybe I'll reconsider in 2020 and use Hyatt protections in place of CSR's, but at least I can have a nice Q4 with Chase/Samsung Pay on Freedom.

And this is all predicated on my liking and keeping BofA's Merrill Edge organization and order execution. Without the +75%, the BofA cards would only be good for the SUBs.

[wasCB14]

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@coldfusion wrote:

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@wasCB14 wrote:

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@Aim_High wrote:

It's interesting that you don't hear more about the Premium Rewards card. For such an apparently exclusive card, it's very low-key.  I think a lot of the denials on the forum, though, were from people who cold-apped and didn't understand that the target market is narrowly focused at relationship clients and underwriting is strict in that regard.  I definitely see that now, so if I apply it will be after I reestablish some basic banking and move assets into Merrill to fortify my position with them. 

---

I just got a standalone brokerage account and didn't apply for a checking account, savings account, or check-writing ability from the brokerage account. Are those advisable in addition to a healthy brokerage balance before a PR app?

I'm surprised PR and Platinum Honors isn't more popular among people who don't travel that much. $100k is a small fraction of what a lot of other cards require for special perks.

---

Platinum Honors clients are entitled to an Advantage Relationship checking account with fee waivers; having one makes it easier to redeem points for cash if you don't want to redeem for travel or a statement credit.  There is a 2500 point ($25) mininum redemption.

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Oh...so checking would be an intermediate step to move cash between PR and Merrill Edge?

[coldfusion]

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@wasCB14 wrote:

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@coldfusion wrote:

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@wasCB14 wrote:

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@Aim_High wrote:

It's interesting that you don't hear more about the Premium Rewards card. For such an apparently exclusive card, it's very low-key.  I think a lot of the denials on the forum, though, were from people who cold-apped and didn't understand that the target market is narrowly focused at relationship clients and underwriting is strict in that regard.  I definitely see that now, so if I apply it will be after I reestablish some basic banking and move assets into Merrill to fortify my position with them. 

---

I just got a standalone brokerage account and didn't apply for a checking account, savings account, or check-writing ability from the brokerage account. Are those advisable in addition to a healthy brokerage balance before a PR app?

I'm surprised PR and Platinum Honors isn't more popular among people who don't travel that much. $100k is a small fraction of what a lot of other cards require for special perks.

---

Platinum Honors clients are entitled to an Advantage Relationship checking account with fee waivers; having one makes it easier to redeem points for cash if you don't want to redeem for travel or a statement credit.  There is a 2500 point ($25) mininum redemption.

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Oh...so checking would be an intermediate step to move cash between PR and Merrill Edge?

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It can be, yes. 

[imaximous]

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@coldfusion wrote:

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While having that amount of deposits for only one month would theoretically achieve the 3 month balance requirement for Platinum Honors, I'm pretty sure that their system is automated and it is granted after 3 months of maintaining combined deposits of $100,000 or more.  You may find some value in the 100 free monthly trades as well.

---

It needs to be 3 full months, you can't get around it for example by depositing $300,000.01 and waiting a month.  The status is evaluated once per month, from memory it's at some unusual timing like on the Tuesday after the 1st full weekend of each month.

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That's good to know. When I talked to someone at Merrill, he told me the opposite. I remember asking if I'd have to wait the full 3 months for the status upgrade, and he said that it's the average of the last 3 months, so if I put more money than required, I'd qualify much faster. I ended up not doing it for other reasons. But now that I think about it, he probably said that because I already had a checking account, so I did have a history with BofA, and all I had to do was increase my average balance to qualify for the top tier status. On the other hand, all their literature does say 3-month average and not 3-month minimum.

Maybe that's something to consider. Open a simple checking account to become a customer early, and then dump a bunch of money when ready to apply for the PR card.