Questions and Answers

Ben,

I am surprised that your travel blog (along with most others) fail to mention the potential benefits the card provides. If you have a 100k+ balance with BOA or ML the travel card will give you an unlimited 2.625 points for every dollar you spend (1.5 pt base rate+ 75% bonus for 100k relationship=2.625 pts) equaling unlimited 2.625% cash back towards any travel expenses on your statement. The points don’t expire and you can redeem against your travel expenses for up to 12 months after the travel expense occurred.

The card also does not charge an annual fee or a foreign transaction fee which is a rare combination. Since you value most points at <2 cents each I am surprised you haven't mentioned this as an option. Sure its dumb to keep 100k in a checking or savings account but investment balances do qualify, and I know the Merrill Edge platform supports a lot of of other firm's products including Vanguard that can easily be moved over in kind to qualify with little to no fees. What do you think?

Jonathan

Those requirements are hard for a lot of people. Furthermore, it’s basically a cashback card thats limited to travel expenses only.

A better card might be the Citi DoubleCash where its 2% cashback on anything, though there are forex fees. If you had 100k to sit in a bank account, I’d rather go into a high yield savings account or other investment product. Should make up the other .625%