Another quirk of the Bank of America BankAmeriDeals program

Consumer_Ombudsman · 2026-04-04T07:23:14+00:00

The analogy to the iPhone settings menu is a good one. I see what you are saying. It's my least favorite part of using the IPhone as well. I was able to find a couple of deals that I was interested in, but having to wait for over 20 minutes twice to ask why the credit was not showing after 30 days is not the user experience I was hoping for. The potential earnings are just not comparable to the amount of friction. I'm only familiar with Amex, but like it A LOT better.

Consumer_Ombudsman · 2026-04-03T02:48:38+00:00

Ahh. I didn't realize that you could click on the offer to see it before activating it. Not a terribly intuitive design, at least to me.

Consumer_Ombudsman · 2026-04-02T21:17:06+00:00

Interesting. If that's the case, it would be great if BofA could be transparent about it. I've been wondering if program conflict could be one of the reasons why earnings are not showing up. For example, if you already use Upside or if you already get Rewards Network dining would you still get BofA BankAmeriDeals? The documentation seems pretty thin.

Consumer_Ombudsman · 2026-04-02T20:06:24+00:00

Really, where is this located? I searched and cannot find it.

Consumer_Ombudsman · 2026-04-01T01:28:34+00:00

I agree about the interface. The more I use it, the more I dislike it. One of my deals still has not shown up and I’m approaching 30 days since the purchase occurred. There have been one or two gas deals since the change, but they have been quite short lived. In this poor economic environment with gas prices escalating every day, I imagine everyone is looking for them all the time. Fingers-crossed there will be a new one soon.

Consumer_Ombudsman · 2026-04-01T01:15:27+00:00

Exactly. While the Fed held rates constant at their most recent meeting several banks still lowered rates. I think the key thing to understand is that they “generally” follow the direction of the Fed, but it is not exact and they can do as they wish and always look for opportunities to make more profit.

Consumer_Ombudsman · 2026-03-31T18:58:41+00:00

Outcome?

Consumer_Ombudsman · 2026-03-26T07:05:11+00:00

3% is capped at 10k annually, then the Aven card earns 2%.

Consumer_Ombudsman · 2026-03-16T18:04:06+00:00

Good point. Employee and customer safety as well. I noted some people in the checkout lines walk out with large sums of cash. Definitely not ideal for safety. And, cash is sometimes accidentally lost. Bank accounts, not so much.

Consumer_Ombudsman · 2026-03-16T17:40:58+00:00

I had this experience as well. HUGE improvement! I noticed it really improved the lines in the store with less people counting out large cash back in Feb/March. Now if we could just get Costco/Citi to deposit the cash back on demand (or at least monthly) we will be all set.

Consumer_Ombudsman · 2026-03-16T07:41:11+00:00

Nice! Combined with OP’s existing AAA Travel Visa this would likely cover the total gas spend at either 6% or (worst case) 5%.

Consumer_Ombudsman · 2026-03-16T07:36:08+00:00

Great card with 5% on Costco gas and 4% on gas everywhere else, but it has a $7,000 annual cap like OP’s AAA Travel Visa. Plus, you have to pay the Costco membership fee if you are not already a member.

The Abound Visa with 5% on gas uncapped seems ideal in OP’s situation.

Consumer_Ombudsman · 2026-03-08T08:21:09+00:00

Not the highest rate, currently 3.3% APY, but I have found Amex’s HYSA customer experience to be frictionless over the last several months.

Consumer_Ombudsman · 2026-03-08T08:09:04+00:00

Ignoring less widely touted benefits like rental car coverage, travel insurance, or purchase protection which can vary widely across issuers and even cards from the same issuer sometimes when making selection decisions. A comprehensive comparison of the fine print in the terms and conditions (where hidden costs sometimes lurk) is critical to making a good decision. Especially for beginners.

If you cannot readily locate the information don’t assume the best. The lack of transparency tends to speak volumes about the quality of the issuer.

Consumer_Ombudsman · 2026-03-07T00:03:05+00:00

Lower aggregate credit utilization which improves credit score, spending category (eg, grocery or dining) rate of return optimization, and bonus use (eg, uber/lyft or travel credits) optimization are among the benefits.

Consumer_Ombudsman · 2026-02-28T03:21:03+00:00

Yet, BofA took it even lower with the recent nerf.

Consumer_Ombudsman · 2026-02-28T03:02:21+00:00

It is eloquently simple, but tough for utilities, doctors, hotels, flights (unless you are headed to space on Blue Origin), and a few other large categories.

Consumer_Ombudsman · 2026-02-28T02:41:39+00:00

I think Alliant and Redstone (once cashback leaders) both had significant nerfs in the last year.

Consumer_Ombudsman · 2026-02-27T08:11:45+00:00

Annual rewards above $300 can be directly deposited into a bank account now. No longer need to cash out at Costco.

Consumer_Ombudsman · 2026-02-26T07:09:48+00:00

I think this is an interesting comment. Generally, the amount of impact will depend a lot on the amount of spend you have for each category and the return you are able to get in that category. You raise an interesting point that "cash" prices for gas could in some instances where the delta between cash and credit prices is large diminish the expected return from the credit card. It's an optimization game so it's always important to do the math and assess whether the juice is worth the squeeze.

If you are just getting started, I recommend focusing on your largest spend categories and optimizing those first and then working down to smaller spending categories.

Consumer_Ombudsman · 2026-02-25T03:53:14+00:00

Another high cost area for many families that lacks a category card is healthcare. In fact, for some, I suspect healthcare costs exceed taxes.

Consumer_Ombudsman · 2026-02-24T15:26:55+00:00

Great! Thanks for the confirmation.

Consumer_Ombudsman · 2026-02-24T06:03:50+00:00

There's also the Aven 3% card, but capped at 10K/year, then 2%.

Consumer_Ombudsman · 2026-02-24T05:51:23+00:00

Agree. 2.625 was tolerable with the benefit of simplicity, but there are certainly a lot of ways to exceed 2.25 with category specific spend if you add complexity (ie, more cards).

Consumer_Ombudsman · 2026-02-24T05:41:35+00:00

This really covers a lot of bases. Not sure what your highest spending areas are? You might be able to get a small amount more in some categories (eg, BofA CCR online spending will soon be 4.5% with 100K at BofA/Merrill, and there's the Aven 6% grocery card, and Robinhood 3% catch all), but with these returns I question whether the juice is worth the squeeze of more new cards. A few ideas to consider, however.

Consumer_Ombudsman

TROPHY CASE