I have a few 2% cash back cards like the Fidelity Visa and Wells Fargo Active Cash.
I also have some 1.5% cash back cards, including the CapitalOne Platinum and Chase Freedom Unlimited.
I was thinking of closing my CapitalOne Platinum card, but I was surprised to find out that CapitalOne has several benefits, such as:
Extended warranty
Price protection (which is really rare among issuers)
Purchase assurance
Rental car insurance (secondary)
Baggage delay reimbursement
Trip cancellation and interruption reimbursement
Travel accident insurance
No foreign transaction fees
How valuable are these benefits to you when using the CapitalOne Quicksilver compared to just using a 2% cash back card?
Chase Freedom Unlimited comes in second, with many of these same benefits, while the Fidelity Visa is third because of its purchase protection, and Wells Fargo Active Cash ranks last among these four.
Nevin said:
I believe the Fidelity Visa also includes purchase protection now, along with car rental insurance and a $100 TSA PreCheck credit with no annual fee.
That’s awesome! The Fidelity card seems really appealing now, especially since it’s a 2% card. Compared to the Chase Freedom Unlimited, the only thing it’s missing is extended warranty protection.
@Donna
That’s true, but it also depends on where you shop. For instance, when I buy something expensive, I mainly use Amazon (90%) or Costco (10%). The Amazon Prime Visa has great protections, and Costco has fantastic warranties and return policies. If I had to, I could get by just using the Amazon card and the Fidelity Visa. That would give me a lot of cash back and solid protections with no annual fee.
I don’t buy cell phone insurance, but since it’s a benefit on my Amex Platinum, I just put my phone bill on that card. I used it last year, and it was super easy and saved me about $225 on a repair.
I wouldn’t count on that alone to cover the fee, but it’s worth it for the small loss in cash back I could have earned with another card.
Cypress said:
In my two decades of having credit cards, I’ve never used any of the benefits. I don’t take that into account when picking cards.
You’ve never done a chargeback for fraud? I usually do that every couple of years. The delay in payments sometimes allows me to earn a little interest.
But besides that, I agree—I’ve never cared about the interest rates since I never pay any interest.
It really depends on what you’re buying, especially for general use. I think for many people, it’s just about paying bills and insurance at stores like clothing, home goods, or Target, which often don’t code. In most cases, the protections aren’t important. But it’s definitely something to think about for online shopping, large purchases, or travel purchases when using just one card.
For me, rental car insurance is a key benefit, but I noticed lounge access was nice when I flew Delta. However, since I switched, I don’t find all the other benefits very helpful, except for possibly assisting me with rare contested charges (Amex vs. other cards).
Honestly, I would prefer a card with higher cash back that doesn’t offer any benefits, maybe just no foreign transaction fees. I’ll stress that I don’t travel.
Honestly, I earn points or cash back every single day. The benefits, like purchase protection and extended warranties, might not be widely used, but when you actually do need them, they can really save you.
I’ve taken advantage of price matching through the CapOne travel portal with my World Elite Mastercard. I’ve also benefited from extended warranties and lost baggage coverage. Those can be really frustrating situations, but some of these benefits have saved the day.
That said, when it comes to what I prioritize, it’s definitely the rewards program. If my 2% unlimited card was suddenly changed to earn no rewards but offered high-tier perks, I wouldn’t find that worth it. I’d rather stick with a 2% card that has the base Visa benefits.
It varies by card for me. I typically prefer cashback cards, so most of the time, I’m focused on the cash back percentage after considering any annual fees.
For example, I have a Chase Prime Visa for 5% back on Amazon purchases. I’m not interested in the other benefits because I only use it for Amazon.
However, I have a USB Connect as my travel card because it offers 4x on travel purchases without needing to use a specific portal. It also gives me 2x on dining, has no foreign transaction fees, allows for 4 yearly lounge accesses, TSA PreCheck credits, travel protection, trip cancellation coverage, and offers a GigSky data plan while traveling. I appreciate being able to use one card for everything when I travel, but when I’m not traveling, the Connect card just sits in my drawer until I’m ready to go again, haha.
In my opinion, points are worth 2-3 times more than cash back in most situations, though not all. It really depends on how you typically use the points. For example, if I booked a flight from LAX to Cabo that normally costs $700-$800 round trip, paying with points often only costs about $300-$400 in cash value. To me, that’s a lot of value. So it all depends on your lifestyle and needs. Not everyone will want or need to use points in a way that generates big savings, but for some, it works out great.