The Smartly Credit Card earning rate is amazing for those who have 100K+ with USB, but keep in mind that unlike a lot of other Signature Visas, this one lacks any ancillary benefits like extended warranty, loss/theft protection, return protection, rental car insurance, travel delay/insurance, etc. Great for casual spending, but if you’re making an electronics purchase for which you might need an additional year of warranty protection, buying an expensive good, or buying plane tickets, it may be better to use something like the USBAR (for those who were able to get it before it was discontinued), Amazon Credit Card if shopping on Amazon, BofA Premium Rewards card, etc.
If you’re able to buy with the USBAR through Apple Pay, I think the earning rate on that is 4.5% anyways (if redeemed through the travel portal). But the Smartly card will definitely be my go-to for day-to-day purchases or anything I don’t need an extended warranty or other benefits on.
Also, there’s a large 3% foreign transaction fee for international purchases, so it’s best to avoid the card altogether if traveling internationally and stick with a 0% card like BofA Premium Rewards.
This is the primary reason I’m not changing from PRE + USBAR. I want all my purchases to have the Visa Infinite protections. Rental car insurance is a huge deal. If I didn’t travel at all, Smartly would make a lot more sense.
@Dex
Agree. I used to have nearly all my spending on BofA Premium Rewards and I hate min-maxing, but extended warranty and other benefits have come in very handy in the past. Btw is PRE premium rewards? Sorry, not familiar with all the abbreviations.
Ah got it. I looked at the Elite but didn’t think it was great value because the travel credit was so restrictive. When I need Infinite benefits (e.g., primary car rental), I use the Venture X or BAR. If BofA enlarged what the travel credit could be used for, it would make the card a lot more competitive.
Dex said: @Dawson
Yes, I fly a lot on United, so it was easy enough to buy $300 of travel bank, and I waited until the bonus points day in November to do so.
American gift cards also count, so folks flying either 1/year can easily use it.
@Dex
I’m using Smartly for non-category online stuff at the moment - a backup service, some domain registrations. Travel, dining, and supermarket are all better on Amex Platinum/Gold anyway.
Smartly is best paired with either a good $95 travel card (Autograph Journey, Citi Strata, CSP, etc) or one of the luxury or luxury-lite cards (PRE, VX, CSR, Amex Plat) for: 1. No FTF 2. Travel protections 3. Purchase protections 4. Travel benefits (hotel rental car status and collections, lounges, GE, TSA Pre, etc)
Do you have a link to where you read that it has no benefits at all? That seems surprising for a Visa Signature to strip all that out. This is definitely a good point, and it makes me rethink that maybe it’s worth holding a BoA PR. I already would use USBAR for travel, but I guess hypothetically for some kind of electronics I ordered from e.g. Best Buy, maybe I’d value the warranty more than the extra cash back.
@Brigham
For many issuers, it is par for the course to offer signature/world elite cards with nothing - US Bank also has the Altitude Go, for example, and that has no major ancillary benefits either.
Sayer said: @Brigham
For many issuers, it is par for the course to offer signature/world elite cards with nothing - US Bank also has the Altitude Go, for example, and that has no major ancillary benefits either.
Capital One doesn’t offer much with some of their WEMC products (i.e., upgrading QS and V1 cards to WEMC mainly for the higher interchange fees, but they do better on Venture (both newish WEMC and previous VS versions) and Venture X (V Infinite).