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I've asked this before, but is there a good way to get value out of Amex points other than transferring them to travel partners and doing that whole song and dance? I've got a bunch to burn but cash back seems like a rip. Do you get better values in their vacation portal or something?
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Jan 9, 2023 01:42
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| # ¿ May 21, 2024 02:50 |
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I'm in the same boat, the Amex is coming up again, and I'm not exactly sure 650/yr is worth it these days. Need to figure out what to do with 300k Amex points. I used to cash them into Delta to fly others, but haven't had the need in a while.
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Mar 6, 2023 15:54
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Amex annual fee came up again, so now its time to do the "is it worth it" dance on this card. If I wanted to cash out my MR points, do I have to open a Scwab account, then get the "schwab" version of the plat card, then cash them out? Or does it make sense to open a little Amex MR account, close this Plat, then do the Scwab + Plat thing next? I've got 300k MR points, so its worth the hassle to do once, but I'm not sure if its worth the hassle to keep this expense card ALONG with the expensive AA card I have. Gotta do the math on the rewards value of all these things.
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Apr 1, 2023 19:34
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pseudanonymous posted:As long as you have some card that can earn MR points you keep your banked points. Any idea if I'm going to have to pony up the AF on the Schwab Plat when issued?
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Apr 4, 2023 16:39
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Amex chat brushed off my "I'm gonna cancel" threat with a "what do you want to do" response. Should I bother calling in to see if I get a retention offer or is this how its going to be on the phone too?
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Apr 11, 2023 21:16
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Eh, I actually sat down and did the math on the plat card and even paying the fee made it basically a freebie for me. I'm spending the money on the media that I get comped back and use the Uber credits, so that money all comes back. Then my particular travel uses some of the credits. I valued the rental car upgrades and few lounge visits a year pretty reasonably and it came out basically a wash. Then I called them and cashed in my points to cover the fee, which is probably my best ROI on those points. I've said it several times in this thread, but I have a difficult time getting a decent return on their system. I value amex points at a penny, basically making it a 1% cash back card. So I don't really drive spend on it, but I use it for all those things.
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May 27, 2023 01:21
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I've posted several similar complaints over the year. Best I've come up with without doing the Schwab cash back thing is to use them for buying other people travel on delta points. Or you can get a 1% value on the travel portal I think with pay with points.
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Jun 16, 2023 18:04
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Metal amex tap-n-pay works fine. I think it didn't have it when first introduced, but that was Amex being weird about rolling out tap-n-pay I believe.
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Jul 16, 2023 02:10
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litany of gulps posted:I've been using a "Bank Americard Rewards Visa Signature" for something like 20 years. I think it's just a 1% cash back card. I purchase everything that I buy on it, and I pay it off in full each month. I turn the points into account credits when they build up to 150-200 dollars worth, and I've done this for some years now. My credit score is 775-800ish, depending on which credit agency you ask. The only thing differentiating them is the number of accounts they are aware of, but my history is otherwise impeccable. BofA has some decent rewards if you've consolidated your assets with them. I have their premium rewards card, 2.625% everywhere and more on the bonus categories.
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Aug 12, 2023 01:48
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If you qualify for their rewards bonuses they apply on all their cards, take a similar look at the fee free cash and travel cards. I travel enough to get that 95 back usually.
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Aug 12, 2023 03:37
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US moved to chip and sign to reduce fraudulent card use, but the "default" here is credit unlike the EU which feels built around debit transactions. The chip makes it harder to use a fake card, but we generally don't use PINs. You're seeing an auth+capture separate where they authorize some amount (usually $100) then capture the final amount when they close the bill. The transaction was secured in all the normal ways when you provided the card then the final amount was sent later to close it up. Similar to how a gas pump or hotel would work. Card first, amount later.
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Sep 4, 2023 16:08
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Also depends on how you connected the account might affect it. Usually you have to confirm the test drafts if they can't authenticate it another way (say Plaid). And yeah, from my corporate account I can push or pull from accounts with just routing and account numbers, however the punishment for abusing the draft power is severe. I don't like how easy it is either though.
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Sep 4, 2023 21:02
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I've said it before and I'll say it again. No good can come from the most valuable and profitable part of airlines not being moving people and flying planes. I don't know how it unwinds, or what the play is, but there's something fundamentally flawed there and it's going to correct itself at some point. To bring it back on topic for the CC thread, my AA card was a nice compliment to my regular travel. Now that it's "mandatory" to have the card and dump huge spend on it to maintain my AA status my loyalty is less, not more. The hurdles are too high and the gain too little to want to work the game. Starting to make more sense to buy better tickets on whomever and collect cash back instead of points/miles/whatever.
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Sep 25, 2023 15:52
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BofA's other cash and rewards cards have similar bonus structures and I know with the cash one it's just straight statement credit.
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Jan 20, 2024 05:04
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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pONcOSlyW48
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Mar 28, 2024 15:23
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I've historically sent my cash back $ to a statement credit on the CC out of fear of getting a 1099 on the $ back. Is that logic flawed, does anyone know if BofA will 1099 you if I switch it to hit a bank account instead?
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Apr 16, 2024 16:00
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| # ¿ May 21, 2024 02:50 |
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I understand the logic and the tax rulings, but I'd rather not have to fight the IRS or the bank, hence my question if anyone had dealt with it. Sounds like the answer is no. Managed to work down my Amex fee again this year. Spreadsheet says it works out to ~2% once the "return my money to me" nonsense is netted out (I account no value to benefits I don't use).
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Apr 18, 2024 23:20
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