US Bank Connect/Reserve Questions

[K-in-Boston]

I don't know how I remember these things years later, but yes it's 5.

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U.S. Bank National Association wrote:

The U.S. Bank Altitude® Reserve Visa Infinite® Card is offered to U.S. Bank customers who have an eligible U.S. Bank account relationship open and active a minimum of 5 business days prior to submitting an application. An eligible U.S. Bank account relationship is defined as: Checking or Savings account, Certificate of Deposit, Mortgage, Home Equity Loan, Home Equity Line of Credit, Auto/Boat/RV Loan, Personal and Small Business Loans and Lines, Commercial Loan & Lease, Premier Lines, Private Banking account or U.S. Bank credit card. If you have questions regarding eligibility status, please speak with your banker.

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[simplynoir]

I was close lol though for real I'm having some serious brain fog lately so I'm amazed I remembered even that. I will look up what @imaximous said because that's an interesting datapoint I haven't heard of before

[imaximous]

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@simplynoir wrote:

I was close lol though for real I'm having some serious brain fog lately so I'm amazed I remembered even that. I will look up what @imaximous said because that's an interesting datapoint I haven't heard of before

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Call me crazy, but I know I've read more than 1 post where the person didn't wait the full 5 days, and others where they went to a USB branch to open a checking account and also applied for AR on the spot, and they walked out with both.

[NRB525]

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@imaximous wrote:

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@wasCB14 wrote:

Does 1/12 include accounts on which I'm an AU?

If AU is a problem, I can go the checking account route for AR.

If not, I can maybe go the Connect route.

My recent accounts are:

March 2020: WWFCR (personal, primary, reporting)

Nov 2020: JetBlue (personal, primary, reporting)

Nov 2020: Amex Platinum (personal, primary, reporting)

Nov 2021: CFU (personal, AU, reporting)

Nov 2021: Lowes Amex (business, AU, not reporting)

Nov 2021: Amex Bus. Platinum (business, primary, not reporting)

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Well, even counting that AU card, you're only at 1/12 at this point. I thought your other accounts were also under 12 months old.

If you have the chance to go the checking account route, I'd personally do it that way. Avoid a HP and a new CC account to qualify. Plus, you'll be able to cash out your points. USB will only let you cash out if you use their own banking products. You can get statement credits, but I prefer not to for my own reasons.

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Maybe I missed this, but if OP goes for checking first, then AR would be next. 
No sane person would cash out AR points to checking.  

[imaximous]

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@NRB525 wrote:

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@imaximous wrote:

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@wasCB14 wrote:

Does 1/12 include accounts on which I'm an AU?

If AU is a problem, I can go the checking account route for AR.

If not, I can maybe go the Connect route.

My recent accounts are:

March 2020: WWFCR (personal, primary, reporting)

Nov 2020: JetBlue (personal, primary, reporting)

Nov 2020: Amex Platinum (personal, primary, reporting)

Nov 2021: CFU (personal, AU, reporting)

Nov 2021: Lowes Amex (business, AU, not reporting)

Nov 2021: Amex Bus. Platinum (business, primary, not reporting)

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Well, even counting that AU card, you're only at 1/12 at this point. I thought your other accounts were also under 12 months old.

If you have the chance to go the checking account route, I'd personally do it that way. Avoid a HP and a new CC account to qualify. Plus, you'll be able to cash out your points. USB will only let you cash out if you use their own banking products. You can get statement credits, but I prefer not to for my own reasons.

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Maybe I missed this, but if OP goes for checking first, then AR would be next. 
No sane person would cash out AR points to checking.  

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Yes. We were suggesting a checking account instead of a CC for a much cleaner and faster path to AR.

No sane person would unless that person earns points at a much faster pace they could ever burn on travel to get the extra 50%. Better to have an option to cash out rather than continue piling up points that won't get used.

[wasCB14]

My understanding is that with AR's RTR feature I can cash out (via offsetting purchases) for non-travel everyday spend at 1.5 cpp?

If not, I can always book the odd flight or hotel room with the card.

1.5 cpp one way or another would be important.

Is there a travel-category-only restriction on RTR? Could I use points to offset Uber rides at 1.5 cpp?

[imaximous]

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@wasCB14 wrote:

My understanding is that with AR's RTR feature I can cash out (via offsetting purchases) for non-travel everyday spend at 1.5 cpp?

If not, I can always book the odd flight or hotel room with the card.

1.5 cpp one way or another would be important.

Is there a travel-category-only restriction on RTR? Could I use points to offset Uber rides at 1.5 cpp?

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No. Only travel gets the additional 50% value.

Restrictions with RTR are $500 minimum redemption for hotels and $250 for car rentals. Obviously not a fan of that. 

I think the minimum is $10 otherwise. 

Uber/Lyft works. Use it all the time.

You can still redeem points via RTR for non-travel but at 1:1

ETA: From what I remember, RTR only works in the US. Just FYI if you're thinking of using the feature abroad.

[wasCB14]

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@imaximous wrote:

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@wasCB14 wrote:

My understanding is that with AR's RTR feature I can cash out (via offsetting purchases) for non-travel everyday spend at 1.5 cpp?

If not, I can always book the odd flight or hotel room with the card.

1.5 cpp one way or another would be important.

Is there a travel-category-only restriction on RTR? Could I use points to offset Uber rides at 1.5 cpp?

---

No. Only travel gets the additional 50% value.

Restrictions with RTR are $500 minimum redemption for hotels and $250 for car rentals. Obviously not a fan of that. 

I think the minimum is $10 otherwise. 

Uber/Lyft works. Use it all the time.

You can still redeem points via RTR for non-travel but at 1:1

ETA: From what I remember, RTR only works in the US. Just FYI if you're thinking of using the feature abroad.

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Oh okay. I thought people were redeeming points for dining and stuff at 1.5 cpp.

So Uber/Lyft redemptions sound like the way to go, given all the points/certs I have for hotels and airlines!

[imaximous]

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@wasCB14 wrote:

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@imaximous wrote:

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@wasCB14 wrote:

My understanding is that with AR's RTR feature I can cash out (via offsetting purchases) for non-travel everyday spend at 1.5 cpp?

If not, I can always book the odd flight or hotel room with the card.

1.5 cpp one way or another would be important.

Is there a travel-category-only restriction on RTR? Could I use points to offset Uber rides at 1.5 cpp?

---

No. Only travel gets the additional 50% value.

Restrictions with RTR are $500 minimum redemption for hotels and $250 for car rentals. Obviously not a fan of that. 

I think the minimum is $10 otherwise. 

Uber/Lyft works. Use it all the time.

You can still redeem points via RTR for non-travel but at 1:1

ETA: From what I remember, RTR only works in the US. Just FYI if you're thinking of using the feature abroad.

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Oh okay. I thought people were redeeming points for dining and stuff at 1.5 cpp.

So Uber/Lyft redemptions sound like the way to go, given all the points/certs I have for hotels and airlines!

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Yes. Some people may be redeeming all their points at 1.5x, but I'm not sure this is the place to talk about that. 

[wasCB14]

If I'm not going to use the checking account much (if at all) I take it there's no meaningful difference between Easy and Gold checking?

For Easy I could mobile deposit a check to meet the minimum balance.

For Gold I'd be a little irked if they rejected me for AR and then billed me a monthly fee regardless of any balance. But OTOH I'd be unlikely to keep the checking account without an AR and could always transfer out all but $10 or so once I have the AR.