USAA World Master Card question

[Anonymous]

I'm pretty new to the forums so I ask your forgivness for my ignorance, but every time I search here USAA I see everyone talking about their world mastercard.  I'm not sure why though.  I'm comparing the advertised benifits to my current cards (NFCU nRewards Visa, AMEX Gold NPSL, and NFCU Platinum MC, and USAA AMEX), am I missing something?  I'm not looking to apply for it (though I'm almost positive I'd get approved), I'd just like to know if there are any 'Hidden' benifits which they are not advertising and why it seems to be the card to have with them.

[Anonymous]

The rewards for the USAA World Mastercard are not that good. Citi, BoA, Chase, Discover all leave the USAA Credit Cards in the dust. Check their cash redemption and you will see it as low as 0.45% then it goes up and even the rep told me that, Their World MC benefits are all right. Truth I have had one for over three years and I use the others for better benefits and USAA can get strange on security sometimes. One plus is the USAA World Mastercard can be updated to a great looking Black true "chip & pin" credit card. Most USA Credit Card issuers are putting out "chip & signature" cards which are NOT the same.

[Anonymous]

Nothing special at all with the USAA WMC, at time of applying I got a 10.99% APR, I don't know if thats still offered, but besides that I don't see anything outstanding about it.

[Anonymous]

Your 10.99% variable is about their best posted rate. Over the last three years the rate has eased up from 8.9%. Told by others that they have 7.9% from the old days and USAA allowed them to keep it.

[Anonymous]

Everyone here is missing the real benefit. 

DO NOT get the cash back card. It's terrible.

DO get the points card. 

The points card is a straight 1% cash back if you redeem through the mobile app (apple or android) but you need $50 ($5K) to redeem, unlike the USAA website. 

USAA runs secret promotions. 

Someone on the other board received a 5% bonus (making it 6%) on gas for an extended period of time. 

I myself have received bonus offers on travel and gas at the beginning of summer, making it a 3-2-1% card. 

That, along with excellent CS and extremely low APR and high CL makes the WMC a winner! 

[navyox]

For me the big plus is they were very generous with the CL and they didn't cut the limit or raise my APR when others did in 2008.   I can't say I use it much though now that I have more rewarding options.

[Anonymous]

Good catch. Forgot I got a secret promo of 2% for two months on certain items of everyday use. A good promo. Glad you pointed that out. Also, the points card being the better path to walk.

[takeshi74]

---

@navyox wrote:

For me the big plus is they were very generous with the CL and they didn't cut the limit or raise my APR when others did in 2008.   I can't say I use it much though now that I have more rewarding options.

---

Same here.  They were great rebuilding cards for me.  Now they're backup low APR and no AF cards for me.  Converted the WMC to chip & PIN but haven't used it.

[navyox]

---

@Anonymous wrote:

Everyone here is missing the real benefit. 

DO NOT get the cash back card. It's terrible.

DO get the points card. 

The points card is a straight 1% cash back if you redeem through the mobile app (apple or android) but you need $50 ($5K) to redeem, unlike the USAA website. 

USAA runs secret promotions. 

Someone on the other board received a 5% bonus (making it 6%) on gas for an extended period of time. 

I myself have received bonus offers on travel and gas at the beginning of summer, making it a 3-2-1% card. 

That, along with excellent CS and extremely low APR and high CL makes the WMC a winner! 

---

How do you get these secret promos?   Any tips or tricks you can share?   I just checked "My Offers" and saw nothing but extended vehicle warranty crap.

[Anonymous]

Found mine in the offers section where I needed to activate them. As to how did I get them? No clue. My offers have a pre-approved mortgage offer and a pre-approved auto loan. Good offers so they must soft pull to do it.