Question
Like many of us, I have been on a quest for years to find the "right" Visa/MC to complement my Starwood Amex card. I thought I had found it in the MBNA Quantum card, but now, IMHO, I found it: the brand new Fidelity Investment Rewards Platinum Plus Cash Back card.
This card gives you all the benefits of an MBNA Platinum but puts 1.5% back in cash, every three months, into your Fidelity brokerage account. No fee, all the usual benefits. I can't find ANY Visa/MC that gives a consistent 1.5% value back on purchases, especially miles cards which are so hard to convert at a $0.015 value per mile now... have been using since December and love it. I even switched most of my spending to it and barely use my Quantum other than to call the Concierge. Please let me know if I have missed something huge in my research, but this card has been great.
Answer
I too have decided to forgo mileage earning cards and I am now using cashback cards instead. I always manage to find such great deals on flights, that I find it better to get cashback and actually pay for the flights.
I have been using the AmEx cash back card and it earns anywhere from .5% to 2% cashback. This new Fidelity cash back card seems better as it appears to be a flat 1.5% cashback, with no tier levels.
Does anybody see any downsides to this? Just for reference, there is a great discussion group on credit cards, and it can be found here:
http://www.creditcardgoodies.com/forum/
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I too have decided to forgo mileage earning cards and I am now using cashback cards instead. I always manage to find such great deals on flights, that I find it better to get cashback and actually pay for the flights.
I have been using the AmEx cash back card and it earns anywhere from .5% to 2% cashback. This new Fidelity cash back card seems better as it appears to be a flat 1.5% cashback, with no tier levels.
Does anybody see any downsides to this? Just for reference, there is a great discussion group on credit cards, and it can be found here:
http://www.creditcardgoodies.com/forum/
No tier levels-so it's 1.5% from soup to nuts? Any annual caps or other ceilings?
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Mountain Trader--
I think it's the best out there; the Amex Blue gives you nada unless you carry a balance or shop at their special stores, and then what's the point? This is 1.5%, flat, for the first $100,000 in spending each year.
http://personal.fidelity.com/products/checking/content/mcplatplus.shtml
This should be the link to answer any other questions you might have...
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I have been using Fidelity 529 College Rewards card since last fall. It puts 2% of my purchases into my kids 529 college savings account. The fact that this is no fee card makes it a great deal for me.
GAry
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now that I can no longer use my Amtrak MBNA card to transfer to UA, anyone else looking again at this card?
I'm also considering the MBNA Miles & More card, but i dont have an LH account (but can start earning *Alliance miles there)....
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now that I can no longer use my Amtrak MBNA card to transfer to UA, anyone else looking again at this card?
I'm also considering the MBNA Miles & More card, but i dont have an LH account (but cant start earning *Alliance miles there)....
I too am looking around to replace the now impotent Amtrak MC. What fees are incurred charging in foreign currencies on the Fidelity card? Any other MBNA cards look interesting?
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If a BA business class roundtrip to Europe for every 55K charged would be of interest to you, you might want to consider the MBNA eBay Card - essentially the Asia Miles Card. (http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/showpost.php?p=3546648&postcount=3)
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If a BA business class roundtrip to Europe for every 55K charged would be of interest to you, you might want to consider the MBNA eBay Card - essentially the Asia Miles Card. (http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/showpost.php?p=3546648&postcount=3)
Wannaflyforless,
You seem to be pushing the Asia Miles program pretty hard, but as far as I see you can only redeem them for awards based on how far you're traveling. (see Here (Here ) These don't seem as generous in many cases as normal FF awards, because of the differences in distances for different regions. Am I wrong?
Answer
I
This new Fidelity cash back card seems better as it appears to be a flat 1.5% cashback, with no tier levels.
Does anybody see any downsides to this?
http://www.creditcardgoodies.com/forum/
One potential downside is that if you dont already have a Fidelity brokerage account (or 529 account for that Fidelity card), won't a new, low-balance Fidelity brokerage account be subject to various service charges that would eat into the 1.5% cashback rewards?
Put another way, has anyone figured out a way to open a new Fidelity account to store these cashback rebates and NOT pay any account service fees? Maybe there is a no fee money market account option or something?
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Duckman - According to Fidelity, the $50 account maintenance fee (charged in November) is WAIVED if:
• All eligible accounts in the household have suppressed delivery of paper statements and trade confirmations.
I just picked the easist criteria to meet. Just choose electronic delivery (versus mail) More info is here:
http://personal.fidelity.com/accounts/services/content/brokeragecommission.shtml#16
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Wannaflyforless,
You seem to be pushing the Asia Miles program pretty hard, but as far as I see you can only redeem them for awards based on how far you're traveling. (see Here (Here ) These don't seem as generous in many cases as normal FF awards, because of the differences in distances for different regions. Am I wrong?
I have no reason to push the Asia Miles program beyond goodwill to my fellow travellers. It appears to me many on FT could redeem the same tickets they want for less CC spending if they were to consider Asia Miles. You are right Asia Miles does not have the lowest redemption rate on every route but the fact they can be used for many routes at a much lower redemption level than most US FF programs on some of the nicest airlines in the sky makes them most desirable.
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Duckman - According to Fidelity, the $50 account maintenance fee (charged in November) is WAIVED if:
• All eligible accounts in the household have suppressed delivery of paper statements and trade confirmations.
I just picked the easist criteria to meet. Just choose electronic delivery (versus mail) More info is here:
http://personal.fidelity.com/accounts/services/content/brokeragecommission.shtml#16
You can get an even better deal by taking advantage of a $100 promotional credit for eBay members when opening an account ($10,000 minimum). Fidelity offers competitive rates on CDs and also Treasury bills and notes without commission if you participate in Treasury auctions.
https://scs.fidelity.com/other/framesets/ebay_brokerage_offer_frame.shtml?MSC=EB36
eBay Members: Get $100 deposited in your account when you open a Fidelity Brokerage account and fund it with at least $10,000.
PowerSellers: Get $100 deposited in your account and receive gold level pricing (up to a 60% discount on online equity trades - only $8) when you open a Fidelity Brokerage account and fund it with at least $10,000.
If you are a Fidelity customer, you are also eligible for this offer if you deposit at least $10,000 to your existing Fidelity Brokerage account.
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nyventurecapital - YOU JUST MADE MY DAY!
I am an existing Fidelity customer and I am going to take advantage of this eBay/Fidelity deal.... A sweet $100 for me!
The Power of FlyerTalk! Thanks!
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Thank you for pointing this out! It does indeed seem like a good deal.
I am curious - does anyone know if a Quantum can be changed to a Fidelity card without having to open a new account? I like the high credit limit on the Quantum, but I don't like having new inquiries on my credit report.
Like many of us, I have been on a quest for years to find the "right" Visa/MC to complement my Starwood Amex card. I thought I had found it in the MBNA Quantum card, but now, IMHO, I found it: the brand new Fidelity Investment Rewards Platinum Plus Cash Back card.
This card gives you all the benefits of an MBNA Platinum but puts 1.5% back in cash, every three months, into your Fidelity brokerage account. No fee, all the usual benefits. I can't find ANY Visa/MC that gives a consistent 1.5% value back on purchases, especially miles cards which are so hard to convert at a $0.015 value per mile now... have been using since December and love it. I even switched most of my spending to it and barely use my Quantum other than to call the Concierge. Please let me know if I have missed something huge in my research, but this card has been great.
Answer
I actually swith between by fidelity and citibank dividend card. the citibank card gives me 5% for gas, groceries, and drubstore purchases; for everything else it's fidelity.
for folk who have had $$ deposited already, does this show up as income/gains on your 1099? I wonder if fidelity is forced to report it since all other cash back cards leave it to the user to add any cash back eraned to their taxes.
another thought, can you get the 529 card and the transfer the $$ deposited in the 529 plan into other accounts. as far as I know there are no penalties for early withdrawal from a 529 plan so this could be an easy way to gain an extra 0.5% - it sounds too good to be true though.