No annual fee. No annual point earning redemption caps. Cash rebates are conveniently rewarded in the form of a credit to your account. Other redemptions options (gift certificates, travel, merchandise) exist, starting at 2,500 points level. 500 bonus points for first purchase on personal card or 1000 bonus points for business card (within 90 days of opening your account). Additional 1500 bonus points just for opening the card before October 30, 2005 (not mentioned on the website - I will scan the brochure if necessary).
Its not really teired. Your first purchases will still earn 2%, but you have to earn all 50000 points before you can redeem or you'll end up with less than 2%.
This is Farm Bureau Bank redux, except you have to get to $50k instead of $35k for the full 2%. Otherwise all the same caveats as FBB. Search the > 90 day archive for "Farm Bureau" or "FBB" for all the sordid details of that spectacular FW flame-out.
Cash Back = 200/30000 = 0.67%, even worse than the mediocre Citi/Chase 5%/1% card.
So far, Powerrewards (formerly fleet visa) from BOA is still the best (for people spending at least 30K per year).
MarkM said:This is Farm Bureau Bank redux, except you have to get to $50k instead of $35k for the full 2%. Otherwise all the same caveats as FBB. Search the > 90 day archive for "Farm Bureau" or "FBB" for all the sordid details of that spectacular FW flame-out.
Cash Back = 200/30000 = 0.67%, even worse than the mediocre Citi/Chase 5%/1% card.
So far, Powerrewards (formerly fleet visa) from BOA is still the best (for people spending at least 30K per year).
MarkM said:This is Farm Bureau Bank redux, except you have to get to $50k instead of $35k for the full 2%. Otherwise all the same caveats as FBB. Search the > 90 day archive for "Farm Bureau" or "FBB" for all the sordid details of that spectacular FW flame-out.My point was that, once upon a time, you could get 2% rebate on FBB, but only by getting to 35k points. Then, after a couple years & with almost no notice, FBB changed the terms to the crappy ones you quote above.
In other words, your post proves my point, it doesn't refute it.
I received my first statement in the mail on Saturday for this account and I did not receive the extra 1500 bonus points as listed by the OP. Anyone else have this problem?
Gotta be aware of how BofA calculates points. On the BofA cards I've seen that promise one point per $100 spent, this is not at all the same as 1%: if you spend $99.99 in one statement period, you get zilch. If you spend $199.99, you get one point. Etc. Any "loose change" before you hit the next $100 is ignored, completely discarded for the purpose of computing points.
Whereas with other rebate cards I've seen (such as Citi and AARP), they give you a true percentage-based rebate.
Would someone please check the actual points they're getting on their PowerRewards card and let us know if BofA is still basing their computations on full $100 increments? TIA.
I purchased $130.72 on my first statement and received 130 points. It seems that BofA calculates rewards by rounding each individual transaction up or down to the nearest whole number (ie. 1.24 becomes 1 point and 1.79 becomes 2 points). This is the exact same way American Express calculates their Membership Rewards points. Therefore, you won't likely ever lose 100 points and you can even milk the system (ie. making sure every transaction ends with $x.50 or greater).
As stated earlier, I have not received the additional 1,500 bonus points as stated by the OP. I did however receive the 500 bonus points on my first statement as mentioned on the website. Anyone else have this problem? Did the brochure state a specific timeframe for receiving the extra 1,500 bonus points EugeneV?
manuel said:I applied for the 5000 point promoDid you mean the 1500 point promo manuel, or is there another promo link?
MarkM, you and manuel raise good points about risk with this. However, there are key differences between BofA and FBB.
Most important, BofA is a huge mega-bank, which will notice the FW effect much more slightly than FBB did. (The FBB card's growth was fueled almost entirely by flocks of people gunning for the top 2% redemption level, thanks to a smartmoney piece and FW/flyertalk/et cetera.)
Also, FBB's card was brought out back when savings bonds could be bought (and often flipped) with credit cards). Many of us who otherwise would never have redeemed at the top level were able to do so thanks to bond purchases. BofA won't be contending with that.
So, is there a risk of them changing the program? Sure. But I don't think the risk of their changing the tiers is all that great. More likely, they'll tighten what will qualify for points, so that anything remotely resembling a cash equivalent won't qualify.
As I mentioned I applied in the branch - seems to be the only way. They are doing promos on their atms, etc.
5000 bonus points is not even enough for a $50 reward - below my usual threshold. And as you say - without SB and fewer GC deals all the time I probably won't go past the 6500 level in charges. Is coming in handy for the 6 mo no fee purchases&BTs 0% deal - I have another card I am consolidating.
Although I think you're right that BOFA is much bigger the 5 year period is a loooooong time to hold and then use those points. I would guess any changes would grandfather already earned points but you have to get to $35000 just to catch up to fidelity card.
Really hard to see where the 1.5% from the getgo or the 2% (minor 529 hassle) isn't a better deal - promo or not. Hopefully bofa won't destroy these.
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