New BoA Premium Rewards Card coming in Sept - up to 3.5% travel/dine, 2.6% everything else

[MrDisco99]

How do redemptions work? Statement credit? Travel only?

[Anonymous]

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@wasCB14 wrote:

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@Anonymous wrote:

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@wasCB14 wrote:

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@Anonymous wrote:
My buddy and I keep discussing this card and we're on the fence about it. Seems like the CSP is still better...

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CSP wins on customer service.

Unless BofA adds some decent travel insurance, CSP will win on perks.

But the earn rate is excellent for people who find poor values, or just don't want to bother with point transfers.

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This card offers a 100 dollar travel incidentals reimbursement   CSP does not. So you are going to have to get 100 more dollars of value out of the CSP for it to be worth it after first year.  Also CSP involves 5/24 rule.  Bank of America has no such rule.   Plus if you have 20k in your Bank of America or Merril Lynch account you get better rewards rate. As you get 1.5 percent on everything even if you don't have a Bank of America card and the same earn on dinning and travel I think this card probably is probably superior to CSP card.  CSP you can transfer to Southwest which is worth 1.5 cents per point in my calculations.  But this card earns 1.5 percent minimum vs the 1 percent Chase minimum.  Perhaps first year CSP could be better but if you are keeping it B of A one seems better.  

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UR value is a hugely YMMV thing. You mention a value of 1.5 on Southwest, but some get better opportunities. Three months ago I had a domestic economy award flight where one of my options was to get 3.6 cpp via British Airways.

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I wouuld say that typically British Airways aveos are worth less than 1.5 cent per Aveo.  Check out the fuel surcharges on International British Airway flights  and they become completely worthless.  I think probably worth what a  penny an aveo on hotels at most?  Although you can find instances where the points are worth more  I would base it on the average redemption value of any transfer partner as the Bank of America card lets you use it on any travel.  Which is much more flexible. 

[Anonymous]

Whether you like this card or not you have to like how the big banks are working so hard to compete their profits away.  Good for the consumer.  

[wasCB14]

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@Anonymous wrote:

I wouuld say that typically British Airways aveos are worth less than 1.5 cent per Aveo.  Check out the fuel surcharges on International British Airway flights  and they become completely worthless.  I think probably worth what a  penny an aveo on hotels at most?  Although you can find instances where the points are worth more  I would base it on the average redemption value of any transfer partner as the Bank of America card lets you use it on any travel.  Which is much more flexible. 

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I was just giving one example of where URs could be used for a good value without needing to book a premium seat on an international flight. Award charts have strengths and weaknesses. That's the beauty of having several transfer partners to choose from. I don't care about the average value of all my options, only the best options available for a particular trip.

I do have my eye on this new BofA card for a time when I can't (or don't want to bother to) get a better return than 2.625%.

It's "Avios" btw.

[MJ-san]

BoA redemptions are ridiculously easy - transfer to a BoA checking or money market account and you get the bonus (assuming you are in the higher tier of the rewards program). Statement credits are 1:1 but xfer to a BoA bank account is how you earn the extra $. They also let you set it up to happen automatically. Must be at least $25 for either auto or one-time xfers. 

[wasCB14]

For anyone considering a move to BofA, be aware there is a Merrill Edge promo going on. Not sure when it ends. I think it's just for new accounts. Code: ME600

Merrill Edge has mediocre reputation, but I might park long-term investments there.

$20k gets $100

$50k gets $150

$100k gets $250

$200k gets $600

So for a $200k transfer and $3k spend on a new card, you could get:

$600 brokerage bonus

$500 card bonus

$78.75+ card rewards at 2.625%

Nearly $1200 total

Note that it may take a few months to get the Platinum Honors status since you need a few datapoints to have an average three-month balance or whatever.

[601flyguy]

Hmm.. i think i will app for this and apply for cli at the same time.

[MrDisco99]

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@MJ-san wrote:

BoA redemptions are ridiculously easy - transfer to a BoA checking or money market account and you get the bonus (assuming you are in the higher tier of the rewards program). Statement credits are 1:1 but xfer to a BoA bank account is how you earn the extra $. They also let you set it up to happen automatically. Must be at least $25 for either auto or one-time xfers. 

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I get that the existing cash rewards card works like this, but do we know if the new card is the same way?

[Anonymous]

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@wasCB14 wrote:

For anyone considering a move to BofA, be aware there is a Merrill Edge promo going on. Not sure when it ends. I think it's just for new accounts. Code: ME600

Merrill Edge has mediocre reputation, but I might park long-term investments there.

$20k gets $100

$50k gets $150

$100k gets $250

$200k gets $600

So for a $200k transfer and $3k spend on a new card, you could get:

$600 brokerage bonus

$500 card bonus

$78.75+ card rewards at 2.625%

Nearly $1200 total

Note that it may take a few months to get the Platinum Honors status since you need a few datapoints to have an average three-month balance or whatever.

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Calculating the marginal bonus is way more useful, so ((bonus rate - base rate) + the brokerage bonus). The card bonus and base earning rate work for everyone, regardless of the relationship. Moving $200k for the $630 in marginal value comes out to a third of a percent. This is very much not worth it, especially if you're going to trigger a taxable event. Even without the potential tax liability, ML is not anywhere near the top of my list for mass affluent wealth management providers.

I definitely wouldn't consider moving any of my holdings to Merrill Edge for an upgraded CC bonus structure, even though hitting the top bonus would represent a small percentage of my net worth. The value proposition changes if you're already investing at ML, but I'd be stunned if they actually are getting people to move with this bonus structure. 

[wasCB14]

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@Anonymous wrote:

Calculating the marginal bonus is way more useful, so ((bonus rate - base rate) + the brokerage bonus). The card bonus and base earning rate work for everyone, regardless of the relationship. Moving $200k for the $630 in marginal value comes out to a third of a percent. This is very much not worth it, especially if you're going to trigger a taxable event. Even without the potential tax liability, ML is not anywhere near the top of my list for mass affluent wealth management providers.

I definitely wouldn't consider moving any of my holdings to Merrill Edge for an upgraded CC bonus structure, even though hitting the top bonus would represent a small percentage of my net worth. The value proposition changes if you're already investing at ML, but I'd be stunned if they actually are getting people to move with this bonus structure. 

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You raise some good points.

I wouldn't say the base 1.5% earning rate is so good without a relationship. Maybe you mean the 1.5% + $500 is a good overall value for just $3k spend, with which I would agree. You're right that marginal rewards+bonus should be considered, but the difference on a calculation for $3k spend is small relative to $1100. I just intended to emphasize the bonuses and got lazy with the "regular rewards" portion. I have no experience with BofA, but their reputation suggests they are not one of the best.

That said, they don't need to be one of the best if all I do is have shares sit there. I've participated in many brokerage promos and moved shares around without actually selling them.

Admittedly, I don't really know the probability that some necessary number of clerks at the "sending" brokerage will simultaneously be incompetent enough to all ignore my written instructions and liquidate an account instead of transferring the shares as they are (or the difficulty of reversing it). Brokerage employees assure me it wouldn't happen, but I've mostly transferred shares with a small positive or negative unrealized return, and no large, highly appreciated positions.

I have over $200k of reasonably appeciated Berkshire Hathaway stock, and no intention to sell it. I was thinking of moving the position to Merrill Edge, just letting it sit there, and getting $600 and a good "travel cash" CC. *It's currently at Fidelity, where there is no outgoing partial ACAT fee. Minimizing those fees is an important part of how I get value from brokerage promos.*

That said, I've been thinking about it for a long time, but still haven't actually done it, given my concerns about Merrill Edge.