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Credit Card Upgrades
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I was recently looking through my “sock drawer” credit cards that I do not use anymore and came across two cards, my Capital One Journey and my Bank of American Royal Caribbean card. I signed up for the Journey card when I first turned 18 (~3 years ago) and it earned a measly 1% cash back on all purchases, with a 25% bonus on the cash back I earned when the bill was paid on time. The Royal Caribbean card was more recent (~1 year) and earned 1% on board credit back on every purchase. Those two cards are chump change nowadays, but when I first signed up for them they were the bees knees, to me at least.
Since they were taking up a very small amount of space and I never expected to use them again, I decided to check on their upgrade eligibility. I first contacted Bank of America. Since I recently heard about their new BankAmericard Better Balance Rewards, I wanted to try and upgrade to that.
Rewards
- $25 per quarter towards your balance when you pay more than your monthly minimum payment (Up to $100 a year).
- $5 bonus per quarter towards your balance if you have a Bank of America checking or savings account (Up to $20 a year).
Those rewards may not sound like much, however an extra $100-$120 a year does not hurt since I do not use my Royal Caribbean card at all. From what I have read, if my monthly statement is under $25 and I pay it in full at the end of the month, I will still get the $25 even though I am technically not paying more than my minimum balance. I will have to test this to be sure, however if that is the case I will simply buy a $1 Amazon gift card every quarter.
My phone call with Bank of America lasted a total of 5 minutes and they upgraded me without any issues. I should expect to receive the card in the next 3-5 business days and I am very excited about it!
Next I contacted Capital One via their online chat system. This took much longer than I anticipated. I was in their queue for about 10 minutes then I explained what I wanted to do to the CSR and waited another 3 minutes to be transferred to the right department – It was a pain. The only card I was eligible to upgrade to was the Capital One Quicksilver card, you know the credit card that Samuel L Jackson is promoting.
Rewards
- 1.5% cash back on all purchases.
Yep, that is it – very boring. I decided to go through with this upgrade, simply because I don’t use the Journey now and it never hurts to have a new card. I doubt I will use my new Quicksilver, however if for some strange reason I have to use it, at least I will earn 1.5% cash back instead of 1.25%.
So, if you have some old credit cards sitting around it wouldn’t hurt to try and upgrade them.
Has anyone had any experience with the Bank of America BankAmericard Better Balance Rewards credit card? (That is a mouthful)
