American Express currently has an offer for 175,000 Membership Rewards® Points (instead of the typical 80,000) on the Platinum card after you spend $8,000 in the first 6 months of membership.
A note on the website implies this is a limited-time offer: "This offer may not be available if you leave this web page and return later."
https://www.americanexpress.com/u.../platinum/
Note: This offer may not be available for everyone.
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Also, I didn't see any card on BoA website that gives 5% on revolving categories on top of 1.5% on everyday purchase.
BoA has a no-fee card that, if you have 100k in assets with them, gets you 5.25% cash back on a category of your choice (from a list of a half a dozen, and you can change it monthly if you wish- and you can even have more than one of these cards to get 5.25% back on more than one category).
They also have a no-fee card that if you have 100k in assets with them gets you 2.625% cash back on all non-category spending.
These cards "only" get you 3% and 1.5% respectively if you don't have the BoA status mentioned.
Most folks get that status via an IRA with Merril or something.
If you're a non-travel person this is generally the most rewarding ecosystem to be in for cash back.
If you ARE a travel person, especially one who takes premium flights, then Chase and Amex are both better.
No, that hasn't been a thing for years. Initially they stopped taking cards at all (like 2011 or so)---
https://www.npr.org/sections/mone...ent-fliers
They do take them now, but they don't sell them at face value so it's not worth doing.
https://www.usmint.gov/american-i...IONMI.html
25 $1 coins cost $36.25. 100 $1 coins cost $123.50
I guess there might be some weird high-value first class redemptions this could still be a savings doing vs paying cash for the ticket, but you'd effectively be paying $9880 for your $8000 in coins here.
Can one take advantage of this offer (unsolicited) as an upgrade to an existing card?
Can one take advantage of this offer (unsolicited) as an upgrade to an existing card?
They also have a no-fee card that if you have 100k in assets with them gets you 2.625% cash back on all non-category spending.
These cards "only" get you 3% and 1.5% respectively if you don't have the BoA status mentioned.
Most folks get that status via an IRA with Merril or something.
If you're a non-travel person this is generally the most rewarding ecosystem to be in for cash back.
If you ARE a travel person, especially one who takes premium flights, then Chase and Amex are both better.
BoA has a no-fee card that, if you have 100k in assets with them, gets you 5.25% cash back on a category of your choice - which card in particular?
They also have a no-fee card that if you have 100k in assets with them gets you 2.625% cash back on all non-category spending. - which card in particular?
BoA has a no-fee card that, if you have 100k in assets with them, gets you 5.25% cash back on a category of your choice - which card in particular?
3% in a single category you pick by default- becomes 5.25% with the status I mention- no annual fee. $2500 quarterly cap though (see below if that cap is too low)
Note: there's also a business version of this card that ALSO can get you 5.25% in a (different) category of your choice. The list of pickable categories is slightly different for the two cards but some categories overlap and some don't.
You can also (or used to be able to, haven't checked in a while) get more than one of these cards, so you could have multiple categories where you get 5.25% back if you wanted just have to note which card has which category picked- or even more than one in the SAME category-- each card has its own $2500 per quarter cap on the max cash back.
BOA Unlimited Cash Rewards.
1.5% on anything by default, 2.625% with the status I mention. No reason to have more than one of these as there's no practical spending cap-- though there is also a business version that works the same way, which might be a better choice if you also have 5/24 concerns- no annual fee.
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They also have a no-fee card that if you have 100k in assets with them gets you 2.625% cash back on all non-category spending.
These cards "only" get you 3% and 1.5% respectively if you don't have the BoA status mentioned.
Most folks get that status via an IRA with Merril or something.
If you're a non-travel person this is generally the most rewarding ecosystem to be in for cash back.
If you ARE a travel person, especially one who takes premium flights, then Chase and Amex are both better.
No, that hasn't been a thing for years. Initially they stopped taking cards at all (like 2011 or so)---
https://www.npr.org/sections/mone...ent-fliers
They do take them now, but they don't sell them at face value so it's not worth doing.
https://www.usmint.gov/american-i...IONMI.html
25 $1 coins cost $36.25. 100 $1 coins cost $123.50
I guess there might be some weird high-value first class redemptions this could still be a savings doing vs paying cash for the ticket, but you'd effectively be paying $9880 for your $8000 in coins here.
US Bank has a better version of the BofA unlimited.
It's 2% base, 4% if you have $100k in US Bank accounts, unlimited on all purchases.
But, there are drawbacks. US Bank is smaller doesn't have the reach or support of BofA/Merrill.
Their investment accounts also have slightly higher fees than Merrill (but not ridiculous - the card boost would be worth the extra fees for most folks)
For me, I'm still with BofA because the nearest US Bank branch is 100 miles away.
How has this not made frontpage already?
Because it was posted by a new user? Or because it's YMMV? Because it's Easter weekend and SD staff is on break maybe?
A little risky, as the price of gold can fall between when you buy and when you sell.
Another option is to pay estimated taxes at pay1040.com for a 1.75% fee. The bonus and rewards are usually worth more than that, so it may be a win overall, and no risk - the USA will apply the money toward your taxes, and if you want, you can reduce your payroll withholding to make up for it and get your money back sooner than waiting for next year's filing.
A little risky, as the price of gold can fall between when you buy and when you sell.
Another option is to pay estimated taxes at pay1040.com for a 1.75% fee. The bonus and rewards are usually worth more than that, so it may be a win overall, and no risk - the USA will apply the money toward your taxes, and if you want, you can reduce your payroll withholding to make up for it and get your money back sooner than waiting for next year's filing.
Unfortunately MS is basically a thing of the past. Someone has to eat the CC processing fees, and I guess everyone got tired of it.
I guess you could take advantage of a supermarket (seems to happen often) deal where they $0 load fees for prepaid CC (E.g. visa) then use that to go buy gold @ Costco but that's a lot of hassle IMHO. I'd rather eat 1.75% on $8k ($140) than all that run around.
Unfortunately MS is basically a thing of the past. Someone has to eat the CC processing fees, and I guess everyone got tired of it.
I guess you could take advantage of a supermarket (seems to happen often) deal where they $0 load fees for prepaid CC (E.g. visa) then use that to go buy gold @ Costco but that's a lot of hassle IMHO. I'd rather eat 1.75% on $8k ($140) than all that run around.
I prefer the tax option too. Simple and precise, as opposed to gold, with price fluctuations and having to buy in $3k+ units. Forgot Costco didn't take Amex though.
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It's 2% base, 4% if you have $100k in US Bank accounts, unlimited on all purchases.
But, there are drawbacks. US Bank is smaller doesn't have the reach or support of BofA/Merrill.
Their investment accounts also have slightly higher fees than Merrill (but not ridiculous - the card boost would be worth the extra fees for most folks)
For me, I'm still with BofA because the nearest US Bank branch is 100 miles away.
They DID have one. You can't actually get that version of it anymore though.
https://frequentmiler.c
1) The extra rewards are capped at 10k of spend per cycle (this one is probably minor or irrelevant for those doing organic spending)
2) Investment accounts are no longer eligible for the bonus. Only checking accounts. Making this option absolute garbage now as you're missing out on more than 4% earnings on the 100k you have to tie up in a checking account to get the 4%.
3) Also it's no longer on "everything", it excludes some categories (tax payments, insurance, education, gift card sites, 3rd party bill pay, etc)
Plus of course unless you had multiple 100ks to tie up at each bank you'd miss out on the 5.25% on multiple categories that you can get the BoA route- even if you could get the "good" version of the USB card anymore.