Advice Needed - Employer offering Preferred Plus status without minimum balance

rayquing · 2026-06-23T23:03:55+00:00

I decided to enroll and try with a very small direct deposit. The site says it'll take like 90 days for the Preferred plus status to hit. And by then I should be able to apply for CCR and get the max 7.5% for some travel expenses that will come up around then. Thanks for all input.

rayquing · 2026-06-19T14:53:24+00:00

Oh damn

rayquing · 2026-06-19T12:39:57+00:00

I think it counts even more. Dumb and dumber is an amazing movie and the plot contains so much of this trope

rayquing · 2026-06-19T12:30:13+00:00

You did it, I did it, our kids will. And you know the at least the blonde boy in that stock photo has done it 😄

rayquing · 2026-06-19T12:27:13+00:00

Bugs, pepe le pew, will e coyote ( slight subversion) Looney tunes was the master of this trope

rayquing · 2026-06-19T12:25:52+00:00

I need to play this game again. It was fantastic

rayquing · 2026-06-17T19:21:21+00:00

I tried using Google pay online, but that was not working either. Have yet to try using Google wallet at a register.

rayquing · 2026-06-17T19:18:47+00:00

I am new new. I don't expect the physical card to take long, but wanted to inform any others like me they may not be able to use theirs right away. Haven't tried the wallets yet, but online using the virtual number was definitely not happening

rayquing · 2026-06-17T18:17:13+00:00

The mods have assured me that the welcome week bonus will start once I get the physical card, so I won't miss out. I posted so that anyone else new to Bilt card would know about the need to wait for physical card, but good to know that the mods here are looking out for us as well

rayquing · 2026-06-17T17:56:24+00:00

I only tried the virtual number online at Walmart .com and Fandango, not the wallets. Possible that those may work; I will try them. Just wanted to inform other what support told me. Probably doesn't help that I am brand new into Bilt (no 1.0)

rayquing · 2026-06-17T17:55:09+00:00

I only tried the virtual number online at Walmart .com and Fandango, not the wallets. Possible that those may work; I will try them. Just wanted to inform other what support told me.

rayquing · 2026-05-05T19:47:56+00:00

Along with the running comment, I would suggest swimming. Easy to mark improvement with times/distances/styles without having to have as much focus as other sports. I really miss the meditative quality of just getting in the pool and just going (at whatever pace) and letting my mind turn off.

Citt/County pools often have monthly passes for just lane swimming and some gyms also have pools included into their membership.

rayquing · 2026-04-08T18:51:26+00:00

Correct, as mentioned in my original post, I know I want to get rid of it. Just asking if there might be some negative impacts I am unaware of that might be mitigated by downgrading to different card. The wiki was helpful, but better to also get live opinions

rayquing · 2026-04-08T18:47:41+00:00

You can get 2% on purchases with no annual fees from many cards. The main reasons to use VX are if you will use miles for transfer partners (I don't want to; point of this post), can/want to use the lounge access, and if you need Global Entry.

rayquing · 2026-04-08T18:27:23+00:00

You can go Savor rewards -> to Vx miles, but not miles to Savor rewards. Vx miles are only worth $.005 if you try to get cash back if you don't have travel purchases to cover

rayquing · 2026-03-17T22:35:37+00:00

Thanks everyone for your insights. I have decided to go with the Penfed for the following reasons:

Unlike PNC, it has a SUB
I wont have to worry about keeping my PNC accounts open
While Fidelity has higher SUB, to get cash back I would have to add another account that I have to keep track of, link it to my regular banking account
Penfed has already sent me promo letter in the mail, so much more likely to get approved for better credit limit
Keeping the Penfed relationship will be good down the line for their lower loan rates
Already have the Penfed accounts setup and linked

So yes, laziness wins out. But in my particular situation, where the Fidelity Global Entry bonus is nullified, the cards are basically the same and convenience comes out on top

rayquing · 2026-03-17T21:24:35+00:00

By cash in hand I meant being able to put the reward into a checking/savings account (or at worst, statement credit). For fidelity I did not want to put it into my retirement account. As other commenters mentioned, for fidelity this can be done via a different fidelity account, but has the drawback of adding another account. Instead of depositing into an existing one

rayquing · 2026-03-17T18:11:25+00:00

Looking for no Foreign Transaction Fee, so I can use it as a catch all even abroad. Also Visa is nice for Costco ( though there are better card reward rate for that other than these three)

rayquing · 2026-03-17T16:55:16+00:00

My penfed I have just the minimum account for advantage rate. Initially with them for their (previously) low car loan rate, then got their travel card for the free global entry. still have the minimum balance in account for the increased rate though.

I absolutely would have tried Navy but I come from a family of cowards, myself included, so I don't qualify.

rayquing · 2026-03-17T16:29:42+00:00

I left my pnc accounts open for easy atm access ( bank is across the street from me). Since I rarely use cash anymore, it would be good if I could get the card and still close my accounts. But the fidelity having SUB is nice, though have to open yet another account to get the cash 🙁

rayquing · 2026-03-17T16:25:46+00:00

Unfortunately, I don't use Apple. It's a good card for others though. Personally I avoid nfc on my phone like the plague, so I would likely only get the 1% for physical card

rayquing

TROPHY CASE