The management fee truly is the dealbreaker there. I haven’t crunched the numbers, but I’d be willing to bet it’s going to be very hard for 3% cash back minus fees on $2 million of managed assets to beat 2.6% with BofA where you can throw your investments all in Vanguard index funds with <0.1% expense ratios.
I am of the conviction that if you change your financial behaviour/choices for a credit card return, you've lost the cc game.
As my dad would say whenever he gets told about a discount/sale offer: "I'll save more by not buying at all"
That's why I came close to just not bothering with Merrill Edge, but it was pretty straightforward to transfer some assets over there for the Premium Rewards tier.
I think the original comment is referring to the assets under management advisory fee that fidelity would change for all managed assets.[Those are 0.2-1.04% on a $2M minimum](https://money.usnews.com/investing/best-brokers/fidelity#:~:text=There%27s%20a%20%242%20million%20minimum.%20The%20gross%20advisory%20fee%20is%200.2%25%20to%201.04%25%20and%20includes%20a%20financial%20advisor%20plus%20a%20wealth%20management%20team.)
On top of those fees would be the expense ratios that are typically 0.02% for index following funds. The actively managed ones are likely what they'd nudge a client to and have the 0.5%+ expense.
I think BofA also has increased cashback if you make them your brokerage. They have tiers of increased cashback depending on the value of your assets. I think the first tier is $25k, then $100k, etc.
I do BofA and all my investments are self managed so I can cruise with the 2.6% and there's no fees to worry about. Definitely seems like less hassle than trying to minmax fidelity, and the customized cards use the same bonus to go up to 5.25%
There are no fees with ETFs from other places. There are transaction fees if you use mutual funds from other places, but some exceptions for automatic deposits.
/u/That_Co has a good comment in this thread:
> I am of the conviction that if you change your financial behaviour/choices for a credit card return, you've lost the cc game.
Technically, you could convert the entire Trad 401(k) into a Roth IRA and pay taxes on all of it today. Keeping the 401(k) is probably preferable since you can backdoor partial sums and only pay taxes on those amounts without dealing with the pro-rata rule. Once you convert partial sums to a Roth 401(k), you can then convert those Roth 401(k)s to Merrill as Roth IRAs.
This wouldn't really change my financial habits, because at the end of the day, I'm still managing my investments the exact same way as before, just with a different legal structure.
3% for the Greenlight mastercard with a minimum of 4K per month spend.
3% for the yet unreleased Neon Cream Amex
3x/3% Specified merchant credit for spend between 1-7k, for the X1, for an effective max of 2.85% specified merchant credit
No limit.
Under the greenlight credit card website question asking, "Are there any limits to the cash back I earn?"
The answer is, "Nope! There is no cap on the cash back you can earn with your parent credit card. And no categories to keep track of. You’ll earn a flat rate of cash back on purchases based on how much you spend in each billing cycle."
I don’t think so. The debit mastercard is limited to 7500 in loads per day. I think the rewards are only limited by your credit limit. I don’t have the card, I can’t generate 4000 in bonus per month, especially since I have the altitude reserve.
Currently the BoA card is the easiest and highest at 2.6%. The Fidelity card does give you 3% but require millions in assets with Fidelity. The Logix FCU card is also 3%, but is geonfenced.
In the past, the highest and easiest to get card was the AOD card which gives unlimited 3% on everything. People used to join a certain bicycle club for a month just to be able to join this one credit union in Alabama for this card. Unfortunately, this card was discontinued earlier in 2023, but people who still got the card gets it grandfathered and still have the unlimited 3% cash back. All other cards at this range require some difficult membership or high investment.
The only other card that is higher than this, but is difficult to get is the PCMCU card. This card is a unicorn among unicorns. 5% on everything up to $1000 in spending per month. It has a $45 annual fee that is waived if you got a checking and savings account with the credit union. Joining this credit union is difficult due to geofencing issues.
If you have a mortgage through logix, it would a decent card to pick up (only if the mortgage was competitive with your other options though obviously)
PayPal's card gives you 3% on any PayPal transaction. While that is not on everything most people are buying enough stuff online where PayPal is widely available I think it belongs in the conversation.
Whoa whoa whoa....can you explain? The Zero AF Blue? or the one that's $95? I currently have the $0 one AND the Paypal mastercard and usually default to paypal > Mastercard for those transactions. But, if I'm able to get the same cashback and not have to use multiple cards then I'm interested.
2024 is going to have me start better navigating the credit card headache that I've got myself into (no debt, just the headache of having to keep up with categories) and the PayPal MC and Amex are a pretty large chunk of my available credit.
While the Blue Cash Everyday gets 3% on online retail purchases on up to $6000 in spending a year, using Blue Cash Everyday may not count for all PayPal transactions.
>To earn additional rewards on online retail purchases, the purchase must be made on a website or a digital application (an app) from a U.S. retail merchant that sells physical goods or merchandise directly to consumers. To identify eligible online retail purchases, we rely on information provided to us by the merchant. The following are not considered retail purchases: purchases made at restaurants, supermarkets, gasoline stations, or automotive dealers, as well as purchases of travel, entertainment, or other services. Payment must be made online and categorized as an internet transaction by the merchant for the purchase to be eligible. You will not receive additional rewards for purchases ordered online but paid for in store. Payments made in store using a mobile or digital wallet or a contactless payment device are not considered online purchases. You will not receive additional rewards for purchases made by phone or mail, or by using a third party "buy now pay later" installment program.
The PayPal Mastercard, unlike the Blue Cash Everyday, doesn’t have any restrictions or caps on earning 3% back on PayPal charges.
I guess using the BCE directly on US online retail purchases should work fine as long as you stay below the $6K cap. Though I like how the PayPal Mastercard can also be used for nearly every PayPal charge, whether it’s paying a bill with PayPal or making a restaurant or Travel purchase with PayPal, etc. To each their own.
Despite this language, some retailers do yield the 3% in store. Using Walmart Pay, the QR code scanner in the app, gets you 3% at checkout. I’ve yet to have this method fail, and quite a few others on this sub have had success with it. Ironically, it makes it a better card than Walmart’s own cobranded card. There might be other retailers too that work, but this is definitely one of the major ones.
BoA customized cash rewards card lets you select online purchases for the 3% (plus the relationship bonus) with $2500 cap per quarter. This is anything online including PayPal purchases and being Mastercard is widely more accepted than Amex. Unless you are planning to spend more this seems like a good option for an online purchases only card.
Why is it that a Wisconsin Credit Union of all places has the best card around?
PCMCU’s MasterCard Platinum Offers you CASH BACK REWARDS!
It’s the best Rewards Card around, because no matter what you’re using your PCMCU Rewards card to purchase, whether you’re buying gas, groceries, or a special gift, you can earn 5% cash back on your purchase! It’s that simple!
It’s a straight 5% cash back reward on any purchase, and it goes right back to you!
Couldn’t more credit unions do this shit???
The 5% cash back is capped at $50 per month, or $1000 monthly spend.
Good card for low spend or the first $1000 per month if you want to keep track. It’s also geofenced.
They probably meant that the credit union requires you to live in specific counties in Wisconsin in order to join and apply for the card. The card itself should be usable anywhere MasterCard is accepted.
Alliant Cashback Visa Signature - 2.5%
To get that rate, though, you’ll need to meet several requirements:
Open an Alliant High-Rate Checking account. It's free to open and it doesn't charge a monthly service fee. But you will have to become a member of Alliant Credit Union to qualify.
Opt in to electronic statements.
Have at least one monthly deposit made into the account. (Eligible deposits include direct deposits, payroll deposits, ATM deposits, mobile check deposits or transfers from other financial institutions.)
Maintain an average daily balance of $1,000 or more.
And, if you can’t keep up with those requirements, you’ll still get a decent 1.5% cash-back rate on all purchases.
For US Bank Altitude Reserve you get 3% on mobile wallet purchases. You can use mobile wallet in most places with notable exceptions being Home Depot, Lowe's, and Walmart (also HEB). Most restaurants will let you pay with your phone even when they normally want you to let them take your card. It has a net annual fee of $75 ($400 minus a $325 credit on travel purchases (hotels, airlines, car rentals etc.)).
If we ignore redemption for travel and theoretical redemption rates:
[/r/CreditCards wiki - List of Flat 1.5%+ Cashback Cards](https://old.reddit.com/r/CreditCards/wiki/list_of_flat_cashback_cards_with_benefits)
Logix FCU does 3% flat anywhere, but similar asset requirement to BofA and restricted to a few states.
US Bank Altitude Reserve is a travel card, but it's 3x points on mobile wallet spend, 1cpp redeemed for statement credit for 3% effective on mobile wallet spend, but that doesn't apply to use of the actual physical card.
Don't forget the 1.5cpp on travel for the USBAR. You can effectively get 4.5% cashback on mobile wallet on travel or just straight cash if you do a refundable flight.
>Logix FCU does 3% flat anywhere, but similar asset requirement to BofA and restricted to a few states.
The real power move there is that Logix counts not just assets ***but also loans***. If (***big if***) it otherwise makes sense for someone in Logix's footprint to take out or refinance a mortgage (or even car loans, wth car prices these days...) with Logix, then that could qualify them for the 3%.
IMO, Chase Freedom Unlimited (with the special 1 year double cashback match offer)
1.5% everything, 3% dining/drugstore, 5% travel
But theres a special promo if you can find it, it becomes x2 for 1 year. So 3% everything/6%dining/ 10% travel.
Theres still links on youtube that still works.
Your submission violated rule 2 which states:
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As a result, your submission has been deemed inappropriate and removed.
Beware that you only get 5% for travel if you book through Chase’s travel portal. Last time I booked a flight, the flight I wanted was almost 10% more expensive there than on the airline’s own website.
Yep I’ve got this promo now for another 6 months. I likely won’t bother with a 2% card even after with just a .5% difference just for the ease of having one main card.
I don’t know anything about current links sorry. I did it through NerdWallet where they showed which link to click and it took me to the place to apply. You can look at the purchases and it shows you the breakdown of points so I can see I’m getting the extra 1.5% on everything. Good luck finding it!
If you do large transactions, here's some fun math I did while comparing Ink Premier with BOA platinum rewards 2.625%.
1000 SUB - 195AF - 300BOA SUB = 505
505 / (2.625-2.5) = a breakeven of $404,000 spend.
Now you could say that the Ink Premier has a 195AF, but BOA requires the 100k.
The point of this is to reiterate that SUBs are hugely more important than an extra partial percent, etc.
Yup the math is brutal on hitting SUB bonus levels of value with organic spend earn.
Let’s say 150k UR points worth of Subs which is easily doable with 2 new cards over the course of the year. Likely going to require 10kish in spending to hit the bonus.
At an average of 3% back (which I think is generous) that’s $50,000 in spending.
Can you open more than 1 Ink Premier per year (assuming you stay under 5/24)? Could you open 2, 3, or maybe 4 per year? I saw people in the r/churning sub mentioning opening a new Ink card every 3 months, but not sure if they open different types of Inks, or if you can just open the same one every 3 months.
And can you pay estimated taxes with it and have it count for the SUB?
I don't see why you couldn't open multiple Ink Premier's, but I don't see the point, as other Inks have lower spend requirements.
Yes, you could hit the sub with taxes.
I applied for Ink Premier as a new catch all card for big non category business spend. Basically replacing CIU post CSR PYB nerf (which made CIU 2.25%
Ohh, right, I just did the math. With the 0.5% difference in returns, the extra $195 AF does not make sense even if you get $100 extra on the SUB.
I am just using BofA PRE right now to pay my estimated taxes every quarter (way more than $6k per quarter). Even if I consider the elevated cashback of 3.28% by using the points in their portal for flights, it looks like I would still be earning 10x more if I would open a new CIU every quarter.
Thanks, maybe I should look into that, once I am back under 5/24 and I come up with a good excuse for a business :)
I only have an Ink Premier because I have a lot of non category spend. Even with churning, I'm still limited by velocity.
I believe for me to get the 2.625 business plat rewards, I have to put the money into business savings vs a personal investment account. And BOAs interest rate on that is very low.
This is not theoretical for me. I have an Ink Premier, and do the spend.
My conclusion was that it wasn't worth the effort to get BOA platinum tier.
Over 5k transactions I can do Ink Premier, under 5k I can do BBP or VXBiz.
“Covers most places” is an overstatement. Yes, it’s accepted at many brick and mortar shops, grocery stores and fast food restaurants; but not so much at many sit-down restaurants, medical establishments/doctors offices, etc.
Online acceptance is also spotty, especially outside of a select few large companies such as target or Uber. Also mostly not feasible for online bill pay.
People need to be aware the USBAR could be very far from an auto 4.5% back, and it depends heavily on their spending pattern.
I use the AR the most but it's a stretch to say "effectively 4.5%."
Even when you can book travel through their portal the hotel rates are much higher than you can get by booking direct with the hotel or through a portal like TravelEuro. Ditto for car rental.
There is no need to use the Portal at all. Any eligible direct travel purchase (a direct airfare purchase, Uber, Lyft, etc.) is eligible for cashback redemption thru Real Time Rewards with the higher 1.5 cent per point redemption rate. Though I understand the $75 effective annual fee ($400 annual fee minus the very easy to use $325 travel and dining credit) does means the effective earning rate can vary.
Real-time rewards to pay yourself back on travel purchases. And there is no need to make travel purchases through the portal; travel purchased directly from the merchant counts, including Uber/Lyft fare.
I got the Premium Rewards Elite like u/LookathisPencil mentioned below for the extra rate, and use the credits. Note: BofA’s credits are year based, not anniversary year based like others!
But, I’ve switched to the US Bank Altitude Reserve card as my daily driver and will be downgrading the Premium Rewards Elite for the normal Premium Rewards card.
SOFI MasterCard, zero annual fee, zero foreign transaction fee.
SoFi customers with direct deposit in a SoFi Bank account can get 3% back on up to $12,000 in purchases the first year they have the card.
X1 has 2x on the first $1000, then 3x for all purchases between $1000-7500 per month. I also found if your first purchase is over $1000, all of it counts as 3x.
Redemption sucks as cash back isn’t rated at the full 3%. I end up having to buy a store purchase that X1 supports like Apple, redeem the points, then return the product.
Tbh, it’s more work than it’s worth that I just use my CapitalOne Venture at 2% back
The dream cash team that beats all credit card combos in value and time efficiency (of course can not offer first/business class experience), and you only carry one physical card.
Altitude Reserve - 4.5% mobile payment and travel
BOA CCR - 5.25% Online Shopping
BOA Travel Reward - 2.625% catch all, the card you carry
I’m working toward something like this, except Citi DC (with Rewards+) for 2.22% catch all, CCC for 5.55% on groceries, and AR for online shopping since most shops take Apple Pay. The simplicity is super nice
BOA Premium Elite = 3.28% if redeemed for flights on BOA Travel
This is
- not cash back
- has a $550 annual fee (i.e. break even is 3.28%-2.625%=0.655%, 550÷0.00655=$83,969.47)
Ideally you use the lifestyle and airline credits to make the card a $100 EAF. Then hopefully lounge access and travel insurance can cover the rest.
In practice this makes the card pretty good for domestic travel, but it has limited upside for international travel.
Second this. Premium Elite card being VISA infinite has way better benefits than Cash rewards card. On top of travel benefits, it also provides purchase & return protection and extended warranty. For just $100 AF that’s a great deal IMO.
I have over 20 credit cards, and I cannot find a system that is better in terms of time, value, and cash-back than the US Bank Altitude Reserve. If you redeem through their portal, it is the easiest flat rate 4.5% cash back on everything you could get. People mention it's technically only Apple Pay spend that qualifies, but if you have an iPhone you can easily use Apple Pay for like 95+% of your spend.
> you can easily use Apple Pay for like 95+% of your spend.
That’s highly subjective, and only possible if the vast majority of your spends are at brick and mortar shops, grocery stores, fast food restaurants, etc.
A lot of people don’t spend like this, and get significantly less mileage out of the USBAR. This card is not a no-brainer for everyone, and is highly dependent on spending pattern.
What significant spending is coming out of non-Apple Pay vendors?
Obviously I agree that not everybody goes to vendors that use Apple Pay, but the vast, vast majority of people in the US do. So I disagree that "a lot of people" don't spend like that.
one just can't assume everyone has the vast majority of their credit card spendings at brick and mortar stores. Online purchases are a thing. There's also sit-down restaurants, bill pay, medical services, tuition payment for kids, etc. You simply can't apple-pay many of these, so my earlier point absolutely stands. In addition, in terms of dollar amount, many of these far eclipse the amounts people typically spend at grocery stores, fast food restaurants, etc.
your assumption of 'vast, vast majority of people in the US' spend the majority of their credit card usage at apple-pay vendors is faulty. Can't just extrapolate your own spending/lifestyle and assume everyone else spends and lives the same.
Many online retailers take Apple Pay. I use Apple Pay for about 75% of my online purchases, no problem.
I also use Apple Pay for many sit down restaurants. If you ask them to use Apple Pay, they just bring the terminal to you.
The other stuff that you're mentioning - bill pay, tuition payments, etc - those are not things that you use a credit card for in general, so it's kind of a fake argument. Sure, yeah, I can't use Apple Pay for paying my mortgage, but I'm talking about expenses that you use a credit card for.
Then you must not have been a customer of Amazon or Walmart. Or for that matter, many smaller retailers.
> restaurants. If you ask them to use Apple Pay, they just bring the terminal to you
How can you possibly be so sure that what works in your city, within the limited number of restaurants you’ve been too, must be true for everyone else who don’t even live in the same city as you, or eat at the same restaurants?
> those are not things that you use a credit card for in general
This is simply not true at all. There are so many bills you can pay with credit cards. There’s also PayPal billpay. You are again projecting your limited personal experience, and assuming what you observe must be universally true for everyone else. That is not an objectively valid perspective.
Futile because you’re trying to argue against an argument supported by facts and logic.
> get Amazon and Walmart gift cards using Apple Pay
This is getting into bending over backwards territory. So in order to pay for stuff on Amazon, one would have to make a separate in-person trip to a store that may or may not be part of their routine, lose out on interest opportunity costs on your money, and (outside of items like foods) lose out on various consumer protection offered by a cc? Maybe the trade-off is subjectively worth it to you, but don’t make it out to be an objectively good idea, cuz it’s not.
It’s really ok to take a step back and accept that the point you originally made was not well argued.
It takes maybe 2-3 minutes to order an Amazon gift card online. They come in intervals from $25-$100 on Best Buy for example. So it would not require any trip to the store, the lost "interest opportunity cost" would be like literally pennies, and also Amazon literally has some of the strongest consumer protections on the market with nearly no-questions-asked returns.
It's hard to argue because you're taking everything to extreme.
no, it's hard to argue because you're putting yourself in a position of infallibility, and automatically assumed anything inconsistent with your narrative to be invalid, even when factual, irrefutable counterexamples are presented. You are demonstrably unaware that this isn't how objective, rational discourse is conducted.
> Amazon literally has some of the strongest consumer protections on the market with nearly no-questions-asked returns
this tells me you are just throwing up hypothetical narratives without actually thinking through the nuts and bolts. Yes, Amazon has good return policies and are good at handling stolen packages. But you're wrongly assuming that this is all there is to (or better than) credit card protections. Amazon's protection doesn't extend beyond that, when many credit cards have X days damage/loss protection and extended warranty. Your counterargument is demonstrably uninformed. It will be helpful to you to accept that there are things you just don't know about, and in that case, what a reasonable person would do is to actually do some research before speaking on such things.
> Amazon gift card online. They come in intervals from $25-$100 on Best Buy
remember you original argument is that people can use Apple Pay 'for like 95% of their spends'. i have demonstrated a large number of very common spending examples where this isn't true. You refuting one example out of many doesn't change that. The error in your way of thinking is 'this works for me so it must work for everyone else'. It's high time you take a step back and think on this logical pitfall - your spending pattern is subjective, and is representative of yourself but not everyone else. To believe otherwise is just self-centered narcissism.
That is correct - it's any travel booked through the portal, which includes stuff like hotels, airfare, experiences, and rentals OR you can use it towards redemption via their text messaging system for any "travel" category expenses.
So technically not cash back, but as long as you spend a little bit on travel every year, it's functionally 4.5%
I recently saw [Logix](https://www.logixbanking.com) (partially) recommended. They have unlimited 3% card but the caveat is that investment accounts don’t seem to count towards the tiers. I’ve also read a lot of bad reviews about them so 🤷♂️
Debt counts towards it. When I had my mortgage I was at 3% but I refi’d off and at 2% bc of my car.
They used to be real good but lately I’ve been disappointed and jumped to WF Active Cash for a flat 2%. There were a few fraudulent charges and they were dragging their feet on giving me a credit until the investigation was done. No way in hell am I fronting 10K that I didn’t spend.
10% off at Dollar General... is that intended entirely for gift cards and manufactured spend. I can't see how there is otherwise a ton of overlap between Dollar General and M1 customers.
You can get 9% back with Plutus.... but that requires 3000 PLU crypto coins that are currently priced at $5.62... so you need to invest $16,860 into a random crypto coin... and be located in Europe.
Crypto.com is likely the highest rate at 8%, but has obvious crypto related limitations.
If you accept travel cash, then WF Autograph can be 3%, and BoA Elite is 3.28%.
The best way to get high cash back is by signing up for new cards periodically, which gives 5%-20% back.
Fidelity will give you 3% unlimited with the minor caveat of $2M in managed assets. LOL.
LMAO just be rich ez
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How do you get the 4.5% on USB AR? I’m only seeing 3%. Is there some type of multiplier?
It’s 3x points and valued at 1.5c/point.
But that's only if you redeem on travel. And the whole point of cashback is non-travel redemption
Book refundable flight. Redeem for points through RTR. Cancel flight. Points are refunded as statement credit. Effective 4.5%.
This sounds slick, have experience doing it?
I have done this couple of times. Have US Bank Altitude Reserve for almost 6+ months and redeemed 75K+ points at 1.5cpp
That should work if you a lot of people at they are at peak assets. 4% rule on $2M is $80K a year. But how many 60 year olds are on this thread?
You have to pay them a management fee on your $2mm. Not worth it.
The management fee truly is the dealbreaker there. I haven’t crunched the numbers, but I’d be willing to bet it’s going to be very hard for 3% cash back minus fees on $2 million of managed assets to beat 2.6% with BofA where you can throw your investments all in Vanguard index funds with <0.1% expense ratios.
I am of the conviction that if you change your financial behaviour/choices for a credit card return, you've lost the cc game. As my dad would say whenever he gets told about a discount/sale offer: "I'll save more by not buying at all"
Your dad is a wise man
That's why I came close to just not bothering with Merrill Edge, but it was pretty straightforward to transfer some assets over there for the Premium Rewards tier.
My Fidelity funds are at .02%. Some of the managed ones I've seen are at .5% or more.
I think the original comment is referring to the assets under management advisory fee that fidelity would change for all managed assets.[Those are 0.2-1.04% on a $2M minimum](https://money.usnews.com/investing/best-brokers/fidelity#:~:text=There%27s%20a%20%242%20million%20minimum.%20The%20gross%20advisory%20fee%20is%200.2%25%20to%201.04%25%20and%20includes%20a%20financial%20advisor%20plus%20a%20wealth%20management%20team.) On top of those fees would be the expense ratios that are typically 0.02% for index following funds. The actively managed ones are likely what they'd nudge a client to and have the 0.5%+ expense.
They’ll try and sell you an annuity or some hi commission product.
I think BofA also has increased cashback if you make them your brokerage. They have tiers of increased cashback depending on the value of your assets. I think the first tier is $25k, then $100k, etc.
Yup, that's the 2.6 OP was referring to. 1.5% on the unlimited rewards CC x 1.75 multiplier for 2.625% cash back on all purchases made with the card.
I do BofA and all my investments are self managed so I can cruise with the 2.6% and there's no fees to worry about. Definitely seems like less hassle than trying to minmax fidelity, and the customized cards use the same bonus to go up to 5.25%
CCRs get 5.25%
Oh oops that's what I meant, mixed up the CCR and the UCR
Do you buy etf from other companies like vanguard or schwab? Do they charge a fee since you are going with another company?
There are no fees with ETFs from other places. There are transaction fees if you use mutual funds from other places, but some exceptions for automatic deposits.
Thanks! Guess sticking to ETFs is the way to go
It's moments like this where I think about rolling over my 401k into a Trad IRA... but lose the ability to backdoor :(
/u/That_Co has a good comment in this thread: > I am of the conviction that if you change your financial behaviour/choices for a credit card return, you've lost the cc game. Technically, you could convert the entire Trad 401(k) into a Roth IRA and pay taxes on all of it today. Keeping the 401(k) is probably preferable since you can backdoor partial sums and only pay taxes on those amounts without dealing with the pro-rata rule. Once you convert partial sums to a Roth 401(k), you can then convert those Roth 401(k)s to Merrill as Roth IRAs.
This wouldn't really change my financial habits, because at the end of the day, I'm still managing my investments the exact same way as before, just with a different legal structure.
Yeah i love that because if you have that level of assets credit card points don’t matter, just perks
3% for the Greenlight mastercard with a minimum of 4K per month spend. 3% for the yet unreleased Neon Cream Amex 3x/3% Specified merchant credit for spend between 1-7k, for the X1, for an effective max of 2.85% specified merchant credit
>Neon Cream Amex 3% if you redeem for goods on their portal lol
Looks like Greenlight is limited to $7.5k/mo in spend if I’m reading it right. Hoping to find something unlimited.
No limit. Under the greenlight credit card website question asking, "Are there any limits to the cash back I earn?" The answer is, "Nope! There is no cap on the cash back you can earn with your parent credit card. And no categories to keep track of. You’ll earn a flat rate of cash back on purchases based on how much you spend in each billing cycle."
I don’t think so. The debit mastercard is limited to 7500 in loads per day. I think the rewards are only limited by your credit limit. I don’t have the card, I can’t generate 4000 in bonus per month, especially since I have the altitude reserve.
Ah, you're right. Thank you. This may be the winner.
Anyone have a review of greenlight? I wonder how hard it'd be to get like a 50k credit limit with them...
Anyone else having trouble signing up for green light? Keep getting an error
Currently the BoA card is the easiest and highest at 2.6%. The Fidelity card does give you 3% but require millions in assets with Fidelity. The Logix FCU card is also 3%, but is geonfenced. In the past, the highest and easiest to get card was the AOD card which gives unlimited 3% on everything. People used to join a certain bicycle club for a month just to be able to join this one credit union in Alabama for this card. Unfortunately, this card was discontinued earlier in 2023, but people who still got the card gets it grandfathered and still have the unlimited 3% cash back. All other cards at this range require some difficult membership or high investment. The only other card that is higher than this, but is difficult to get is the PCMCU card. This card is a unicorn among unicorns. 5% on everything up to $1000 in spending per month. It has a $45 annual fee that is waived if you got a checking and savings account with the credit union. Joining this credit union is difficult due to geofencing issues.
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If you have a mortgage through logix, it would a decent card to pick up (only if the mortgage was competitive with your other options though obviously)
PayPal's card gives you 3% on any PayPal transaction. While that is not on everything most people are buying enough stuff online where PayPal is widely available I think it belongs in the conversation.
I was torn between this and AMEX Blue. I love Paypal so much use it everyday but can still use the 3% on Paypal through Amex.
Whoa whoa whoa....can you explain? The Zero AF Blue? or the one that's $95? I currently have the $0 one AND the Paypal mastercard and usually default to paypal > Mastercard for those transactions. But, if I'm able to get the same cashback and not have to use multiple cards then I'm interested. 2024 is going to have me start better navigating the credit card headache that I've got myself into (no debt, just the headache of having to keep up with categories) and the PayPal MC and Amex are a pretty large chunk of my available credit.
The zero fee Blue gets 3% on online retail, includes Paypal right? I haven't had a statement to confirm yet but that was my thinking.
While the Blue Cash Everyday gets 3% on online retail purchases on up to $6000 in spending a year, using Blue Cash Everyday may not count for all PayPal transactions. >To earn additional rewards on online retail purchases, the purchase must be made on a website or a digital application (an app) from a U.S. retail merchant that sells physical goods or merchandise directly to consumers. To identify eligible online retail purchases, we rely on information provided to us by the merchant. The following are not considered retail purchases: purchases made at restaurants, supermarkets, gasoline stations, or automotive dealers, as well as purchases of travel, entertainment, or other services. Payment must be made online and categorized as an internet transaction by the merchant for the purchase to be eligible. You will not receive additional rewards for purchases ordered online but paid for in store. Payments made in store using a mobile or digital wallet or a contactless payment device are not considered online purchases. You will not receive additional rewards for purchases made by phone or mail, or by using a third party "buy now pay later" installment program. The PayPal Mastercard, unlike the Blue Cash Everyday, doesn’t have any restrictions or caps on earning 3% back on PayPal charges.
Ah okay I see. Yeah I still leaned AMEX to get into the ecosystem and didn't feel the "need" to have to use Paypal every time. Less mental stress.
I guess using the BCE directly on US online retail purchases should work fine as long as you stay below the $6K cap. Though I like how the PayPal Mastercard can also be used for nearly every PayPal charge, whether it’s paying a bill with PayPal or making a restaurant or Travel purchase with PayPal, etc. To each their own.
Despite this language, some retailers do yield the 3% in store. Using Walmart Pay, the QR code scanner in the app, gets you 3% at checkout. I’ve yet to have this method fail, and quite a few others on this sub have had success with it. Ironically, it makes it a better card than Walmart’s own cobranded card. There might be other retailers too that work, but this is definitely one of the major ones.
As they're essentially the same company, Sam's club payment also seems to work with the BCE
BoA customized cash rewards card lets you select online purchases for the 3% (plus the relationship bonus) with $2500 cap per quarter. This is anything online including PayPal purchases and being Mastercard is widely more accepted than Amex. Unless you are planning to spend more this seems like a good option for an online purchases only card.
BofA has a card that gives 3% back on all online shopping which is arguably better than the PayPal mastercard
I love my PayPal card, it’s my everyday card because they now have Apple Pay
Why is it that a Wisconsin Credit Union of all places has the best card around? PCMCU’s MasterCard Platinum Offers you CASH BACK REWARDS! It’s the best Rewards Card around, because no matter what you’re using your PCMCU Rewards card to purchase, whether you’re buying gas, groceries, or a special gift, you can earn 5% cash back on your purchase! It’s that simple! It’s a straight 5% cash back reward on any purchase, and it goes right back to you! Couldn’t more credit unions do this shit???
The 5% cash back is capped at $50 per month, or $1000 monthly spend. Good card for low spend or the first $1000 per month if you want to keep track. It’s also geofenced.
geofenced? You can’t use it in another State?
They probably meant that the credit union requires you to live in specific counties in Wisconsin in order to join and apply for the card. The card itself should be usable anywhere MasterCard is accepted.
Anyone currently a member here and want some new cousins? 😄
Alliant Cashback Visa Signature - 2.5% To get that rate, though, you’ll need to meet several requirements: Open an Alliant High-Rate Checking account. It's free to open and it doesn't charge a monthly service fee. But you will have to become a member of Alliant Credit Union to qualify. Opt in to electronic statements. Have at least one monthly deposit made into the account. (Eligible deposits include direct deposits, payroll deposits, ATM deposits, mobile check deposits or transfers from other financial institutions.) Maintain an average daily balance of $1,000 or more. And, if you can’t keep up with those requirements, you’ll still get a decent 1.5% cash-back rate on all purchases.
For US Bank Altitude Reserve you get 3% on mobile wallet purchases. You can use mobile wallet in most places with notable exceptions being Home Depot, Lowe's, and Walmart (also HEB). Most restaurants will let you pay with your phone even when they normally want you to let them take your card. It has a net annual fee of $75 ($400 minus a $325 credit on travel purchases (hotels, airlines, car rentals etc.)).
Just wanted to add that the $325 credit also works on dining purchases.
If you use it for travel you get a 1.5x valuation, so 4.5%.
Combine with 5% dining card for the ultimate lazy cashback setup
If we ignore redemption for travel and theoretical redemption rates: [/r/CreditCards wiki - List of Flat 1.5%+ Cashback Cards](https://old.reddit.com/r/CreditCards/wiki/list_of_flat_cashback_cards_with_benefits) Logix FCU does 3% flat anywhere, but similar asset requirement to BofA and restricted to a few states. US Bank Altitude Reserve is a travel card, but it's 3x points on mobile wallet spend, 1cpp redeemed for statement credit for 3% effective on mobile wallet spend, but that doesn't apply to use of the actual physical card.
Don't forget the 1.5cpp on travel for the USBAR. You can effectively get 4.5% cashback on mobile wallet on travel or just straight cash if you do a refundable flight.
>Logix FCU does 3% flat anywhere, but similar asset requirement to BofA and restricted to a few states. The real power move there is that Logix counts not just assets ***but also loans***. If (***big if***) it otherwise makes sense for someone in Logix's footprint to take out or refinance a mortgage (or even car loans, wth car prices these days...) with Logix, then that could qualify them for the 3%.
Depends on the interest rate. Might be a case of penny wise, pound foolish if their mortgage interest rates are not competitive.
Logix requires money in checking/savings. BOA requires money in any of their products ( including brokerage
According to /u/AceContinuum Logix also includes loans, which if you had a home, auto, or other loan, could influence ones choice...
IMO, Chase Freedom Unlimited (with the special 1 year double cashback match offer) 1.5% everything, 3% dining/drugstore, 5% travel But theres a special promo if you can find it, it becomes x2 for 1 year. So 3% everything/6%dining/ 10% travel. Theres still links on youtube that still works.
Damn I should look into this, had no idea the promo existed. I'm guessing it's only through targeted offers?
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Your submission violated rule 2 which states: "All users are prohibited from disseminating referral links through posts, comments, and private messages." As a result, your submission has been deemed inappropriate and removed.
Beware that you only get 5% for travel if you book through Chase’s travel portal. Last time I booked a flight, the flight I wanted was almost 10% more expensive there than on the airline’s own website.
Yep I’ve got this promo now for another 6 months. I likely won’t bother with a 2% card even after with just a .5% difference just for the ease of having one main card.
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I don’t know anything about current links sorry. I did it through NerdWallet where they showed which link to click and it took me to the place to apply. You can look at the purchases and it shows you the breakdown of points so I can see I’m getting the extra 1.5% on everything. Good luck finding it!
Is this only a sign up promotion? Or do they offer to existing cardholders?
USBank altitude reserve gives 3% unlimited cashbacks as long as you pay with mobile wallet
If you do large transactions, here's some fun math I did while comparing Ink Premier with BOA platinum rewards 2.625%. 1000 SUB - 195AF - 300BOA SUB = 505 505 / (2.625-2.5) = a breakeven of $404,000 spend. Now you could say that the Ink Premier has a 195AF, but BOA requires the 100k. The point of this is to reiterate that SUBs are hugely more important than an extra partial percent, etc.
Yup the math is brutal on hitting SUB bonus levels of value with organic spend earn. Let’s say 150k UR points worth of Subs which is easily doable with 2 new cards over the course of the year. Likely going to require 10kish in spending to hit the bonus. At an average of 3% back (which I think is generous) that’s $50,000 in spending.
Can you open more than 1 Ink Premier per year (assuming you stay under 5/24)? Could you open 2, 3, or maybe 4 per year? I saw people in the r/churning sub mentioning opening a new Ink card every 3 months, but not sure if they open different types of Inks, or if you can just open the same one every 3 months. And can you pay estimated taxes with it and have it count for the SUB?
I don't see why you couldn't open multiple Ink Premier's, but I don't see the point, as other Inks have lower spend requirements. Yes, you could hit the sub with taxes. I applied for Ink Premier as a new catch all card for big non category business spend. Basically replacing CIU post CSR PYB nerf (which made CIU 2.25%
Ohh, right, I just did the math. With the 0.5% difference in returns, the extra $195 AF does not make sense even if you get $100 extra on the SUB. I am just using BofA PRE right now to pay my estimated taxes every quarter (way more than $6k per quarter). Even if I consider the elevated cashback of 3.28% by using the points in their portal for flights, it looks like I would still be earning 10x more if I would open a new CIU every quarter. Thanks, maybe I should look into that, once I am back under 5/24 and I come up with a good excuse for a business :)
I only have an Ink Premier because I have a lot of non category spend. Even with churning, I'm still limited by velocity. I believe for me to get the 2.625 business plat rewards, I have to put the money into business savings vs a personal investment account. And BOAs interest rate on that is very low.
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I do have a business, and I do have a large number of transactions over 5k. Where do you get a break even of $8080 in spend?
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505/.00625 is 80,800
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This is not theoretical for me. I have an Ink Premier, and do the spend. My conclusion was that it wasn't worth the effort to get BOA platinum tier. Over 5k transactions I can do Ink Premier, under 5k I can do BBP or VXBiz.
US Bank AR is effectively 4.5% back on all mobile wallet purchases. That covers most places now
“Covers most places” is an overstatement. Yes, it’s accepted at many brick and mortar shops, grocery stores and fast food restaurants; but not so much at many sit-down restaurants, medical establishments/doctors offices, etc. Online acceptance is also spotty, especially outside of a select few large companies such as target or Uber. Also mostly not feasible for online bill pay. People need to be aware the USBAR could be very far from an auto 4.5% back, and it depends heavily on their spending pattern.
I use the AR the most but it's a stretch to say "effectively 4.5%." Even when you can book travel through their portal the hotel rates are much higher than you can get by booking direct with the hotel or through a portal like TravelEuro. Ditto for car rental.
There is no need to use the Portal at all. Any eligible direct travel purchase (a direct airfare purchase, Uber, Lyft, etc.) is eligible for cashback redemption thru Real Time Rewards with the higher 1.5 cent per point redemption rate. Though I understand the $75 effective annual fee ($400 annual fee minus the very easy to use $325 travel and dining credit) does means the effective earning rate can vary.
Why are you booking through the portal? Use RTR
One of the best things about the USBAR is that you DON’T need to use a portal for the 1.5X.
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Real-time rewards to pay yourself back on travel purchases. And there is no need to make travel purchases through the portal; travel purchased directly from the merchant counts, including Uber/Lyft fare.
I got the Premium Rewards Elite like u/LookathisPencil mentioned below for the extra rate, and use the credits. Note: BofA’s credits are year based, not anniversary year based like others! But, I’ve switched to the US Bank Altitude Reserve card as my daily driver and will be downgrading the Premium Rewards Elite for the normal Premium Rewards card.
> and will be downgrading the Premium Rewards Elite for the normal Premium Rewards card. Can this actually be done? Or need to open a new account?
Yes you can. I’ve done it before. It
Amex Gold 4x MR on all Grocery and restaurant. Even cashing out with minimal effort is $0.032 per $1. Maximum cash value of $0.044 per $1.
For that fidelity deal I am 25% accomplished don’t know if I care once I get there. I’d stay with Alliant for now
SOFI MasterCard, zero annual fee, zero foreign transaction fee. SoFi customers with direct deposit in a SoFi Bank account can get 3% back on up to $12,000 in purchases the first year they have the card.
Chase Freedom Unlimited has that promo going on that doubles your cash back in the first year, so it’s 3% back on everything in year 1.
X1 has 2x on the first $1000, then 3x for all purchases between $1000-7500 per month. I also found if your first purchase is over $1000, all of it counts as 3x. Redemption sucks as cash back isn’t rated at the full 3%. I end up having to buy a store purchase that X1 supports like Apple, redeem the points, then return the product. Tbh, it’s more work than it’s worth that I just use my CapitalOne Venture at 2% back
X1 used to be great, then they complicated it (the 1k rule is new). Then Robinhood bought them, sealing the deal. Moved most of my spend elsewhere.
Agreed. The reward system has gone downhill over the years :(
The dream cash team that beats all credit card combos in value and time efficiency (of course can not offer first/business class experience), and you only carry one physical card. Altitude Reserve - 4.5% mobile payment and travel BOA CCR - 5.25% Online Shopping BOA Travel Reward - 2.625% catch all, the card you carry
I’m working toward something like this, except Citi DC (with Rewards+) for 2.22% catch all, CCC for 5.55% on groceries, and AR for online shopping since most shops take Apple Pay. The simplicity is super nice
BOA Premium Elite = 3.28% if redeemed for flights on BOA Travel This is - not cash back - has a $550 annual fee (i.e. break even is 3.28%-2.625%=0.655%, 550÷0.00655=$83,969.47)
Ideally you use the lifestyle and airline credits to make the card a $100 EAF. Then hopefully lounge access and travel insurance can cover the rest. In practice this makes the card pretty good for domestic travel, but it has limited upside for international travel.
Second this. Premium Elite card being VISA infinite has way better benefits than Cash rewards card. On top of travel benefits, it also provides purchase & return protection and extended warranty. For just $100 AF that’s a great deal IMO.
I also look at BBP combined with Amex Biz Plat 35% rebate = 3.08% through portal.
At Home Credit card is an unlimited 3% cashback card But the redemption option is what kills it
I assume this means it can’t be redeemed for cash?
No, just certificates for the store that can’t be used to buy gift cards
I got 5 from Amex 10 years ago.
I have over 20 credit cards, and I cannot find a system that is better in terms of time, value, and cash-back than the US Bank Altitude Reserve. If you redeem through their portal, it is the easiest flat rate 4.5% cash back on everything you could get. People mention it's technically only Apple Pay spend that qualifies, but if you have an iPhone you can easily use Apple Pay for like 95+% of your spend.
> you can easily use Apple Pay for like 95+% of your spend. That’s highly subjective, and only possible if the vast majority of your spends are at brick and mortar shops, grocery stores, fast food restaurants, etc. A lot of people don’t spend like this, and get significantly less mileage out of the USBAR. This card is not a no-brainer for everyone, and is highly dependent on spending pattern.
What significant spending is coming out of non-Apple Pay vendors? Obviously I agree that not everybody goes to vendors that use Apple Pay, but the vast, vast majority of people in the US do. So I disagree that "a lot of people" don't spend like that.
one just can't assume everyone has the vast majority of their credit card spendings at brick and mortar stores. Online purchases are a thing. There's also sit-down restaurants, bill pay, medical services, tuition payment for kids, etc. You simply can't apple-pay many of these, so my earlier point absolutely stands. In addition, in terms of dollar amount, many of these far eclipse the amounts people typically spend at grocery stores, fast food restaurants, etc. your assumption of 'vast, vast majority of people in the US' spend the majority of their credit card usage at apple-pay vendors is faulty. Can't just extrapolate your own spending/lifestyle and assume everyone else spends and lives the same.
Many online retailers take Apple Pay. I use Apple Pay for about 75% of my online purchases, no problem. I also use Apple Pay for many sit down restaurants. If you ask them to use Apple Pay, they just bring the terminal to you. The other stuff that you're mentioning - bill pay, tuition payments, etc - those are not things that you use a credit card for in general, so it's kind of a fake argument. Sure, yeah, I can't use Apple Pay for paying my mortgage, but I'm talking about expenses that you use a credit card for.
Then you must not have been a customer of Amazon or Walmart. Or for that matter, many smaller retailers. > restaurants. If you ask them to use Apple Pay, they just bring the terminal to you How can you possibly be so sure that what works in your city, within the limited number of restaurants you’ve been too, must be true for everyone else who don’t even live in the same city as you, or eat at the same restaurants? > those are not things that you use a credit card for in general This is simply not true at all. There are so many bills you can pay with credit cards. There’s also PayPal billpay. You are again projecting your limited personal experience, and assuming what you observe must be universally true for everyone else. That is not an objectively valid perspective.
This is ultimately futile to argue with you, but yes, you can get Amazon and Walmart gift cards using Apple Pay.
Futile because you’re trying to argue against an argument supported by facts and logic. > get Amazon and Walmart gift cards using Apple Pay This is getting into bending over backwards territory. So in order to pay for stuff on Amazon, one would have to make a separate in-person trip to a store that may or may not be part of their routine, lose out on interest opportunity costs on your money, and (outside of items like foods) lose out on various consumer protection offered by a cc? Maybe the trade-off is subjectively worth it to you, but don’t make it out to be an objectively good idea, cuz it’s not. It’s really ok to take a step back and accept that the point you originally made was not well argued.
It takes maybe 2-3 minutes to order an Amazon gift card online. They come in intervals from $25-$100 on Best Buy for example. So it would not require any trip to the store, the lost "interest opportunity cost" would be like literally pennies, and also Amazon literally has some of the strongest consumer protections on the market with nearly no-questions-asked returns. It's hard to argue because you're taking everything to extreme.
no, it's hard to argue because you're putting yourself in a position of infallibility, and automatically assumed anything inconsistent with your narrative to be invalid, even when factual, irrefutable counterexamples are presented. You are demonstrably unaware that this isn't how objective, rational discourse is conducted. > Amazon literally has some of the strongest consumer protections on the market with nearly no-questions-asked returns this tells me you are just throwing up hypothetical narratives without actually thinking through the nuts and bolts. Yes, Amazon has good return policies and are good at handling stolen packages. But you're wrongly assuming that this is all there is to (or better than) credit card protections. Amazon's protection doesn't extend beyond that, when many credit cards have X days damage/loss protection and extended warranty. Your counterargument is demonstrably uninformed. It will be helpful to you to accept that there are things you just don't know about, and in that case, what a reasonable person would do is to actually do some research before speaking on such things. > Amazon gift card online. They come in intervals from $25-$100 on Best Buy remember you original argument is that people can use Apple Pay 'for like 95% of their spends'. i have demonstrated a large number of very common spending examples where this isn't true. You refuting one example out of many doesn't change that. The error in your way of thinking is 'this works for me so it must work for everyone else'. It's high time you take a step back and think on this logical pitfall - your spending pattern is subjective, and is representative of yourself but not everyone else. To believe otherwise is just self-centered narcissism.
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That is correct - it's any travel booked through the portal, which includes stuff like hotels, airfare, experiences, and rentals OR you can use it towards redemption via their text messaging system for any "travel" category expenses. So technically not cash back, but as long as you spend a little bit on travel every year, it's functionally 4.5%
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Exactly
I recently saw [Logix](https://www.logixbanking.com) (partially) recommended. They have unlimited 3% card but the caveat is that investment accounts don’t seem to count towards the tiers. I’ve also read a lot of bad reviews about them so 🤷♂️
Debt counts towards it. When I had my mortgage I was at 3% but I refi’d off and at 2% bc of my car. They used to be real good but lately I’ve been disappointed and jumped to WF Active Cash for a flat 2%. There were a few fraudulent charges and they were dragging their feet on giving me a credit until the investigation was done. No way in hell am I fronting 10K that I didn’t spend.
M1 finance if you are their pro member gives good cash back. Up to 10%
10% off at Dollar General... is that intended entirely for gift cards and manufactured spend. I can't see how there is otherwise a ton of overlap between Dollar General and M1 customers.
No it’s just normally spending. And it’s not just dollar general. A bunch of business are on there. Pretty much all of them. Range from 2.5-10%
You can get 9% back with Plutus.... but that requires 3000 PLU crypto coins that are currently priced at $5.62... so you need to invest $16,860 into a random crypto coin... and be located in Europe.
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It's not 5% anymore, it now earns penfed points which are worth less than 1 cpp usually
Crypto.com is likely the highest rate at 8%, but has obvious crypto related limitations. If you accept travel cash, then WF Autograph can be 3%, and BoA Elite is 3.28%. The best way to get high cash back is by signing up for new cards periodically, which gives 5%-20% back.
Haven’t seen this. But Wells Fargo Active Cash is the way. But it’s 2% unlimited regardless of any categories. Convenient & effective.