Hi all,
Looking for a sanity check on potential renewal of our BMO Wealth Mgmnt Premium Rewards credit card.
We received this credit card about 10 months ago as part of BMO’s purchase of Bank of the West (BOW), as a replacement for our existing BOW Mastercard. WRT credit cards, we’ve been satisficers, not maximizers; liking the autopay linkages with our BOW checking account and then now our BMO checking account, and the modest rewards. We’ve never used credit cards that charge an annual fee, and we use our credit cards a lot (always paying off the balance each month.) We’ve always taken the rewards as statement credits, which have increased markedly since we received the new cards. When we received the new cards, I went to the BMO website and saw that these cards would be charged an annual fee at some point, and also that they have another card (Premium Rewards) that doesn’t have an annual fee, probably reduced benefits and would also have the same autopay linkage to our checking accounts.
Fast forward to now and we just got a letter about the annual fee for this card, which will be charged in August in the amount of $350. Sticker shock for sure, and it actually seems crazy high to me. The letter notes the card benefits of varying multipliers of rewards on certain categories (up to $4K of purchase in that category per quarter, then reverting back to 1X.). Other benefits include $100 annual travel credit, Global Entry fee of up to $100 every 4 years, World Elite Mastercard Benefits and Travel Medical Insurance. We do occasionally travel internationally and occasionally get overall trip insurance but the benefits seem pretty thin relative to the annual fee, possibly excepting the Travel Medical Insurance of which I’m not sure of the specifics nor have I tried to research with BMO yet.
I’ve looked at a few of the credit card threads here but haven’t tried to dive into detail. Overall, looking for directional feedback…is it likely that I can find a cash (or statement credit) rewards card with similar or better benefits with a lesser (or none) annual fee, or should I consider accepting the current card’s renewal and annual fee (+/- research the travel medical insurance benefits), etc?
Thanks in advance for sharing your perspectives.
Looking for a sanity check on potential renewal of our BMO Wealth Mgmnt Premium Rewards credit card.
We received this credit card about 10 months ago as part of BMO’s purchase of Bank of the West (BOW), as a replacement for our existing BOW Mastercard. WRT credit cards, we’ve been satisficers, not maximizers; liking the autopay linkages with our BOW checking account and then now our BMO checking account, and the modest rewards. We’ve never used credit cards that charge an annual fee, and we use our credit cards a lot (always paying off the balance each month.) We’ve always taken the rewards as statement credits, which have increased markedly since we received the new cards. When we received the new cards, I went to the BMO website and saw that these cards would be charged an annual fee at some point, and also that they have another card (Premium Rewards) that doesn’t have an annual fee, probably reduced benefits and would also have the same autopay linkage to our checking accounts.
Fast forward to now and we just got a letter about the annual fee for this card, which will be charged in August in the amount of $350. Sticker shock for sure, and it actually seems crazy high to me. The letter notes the card benefits of varying multipliers of rewards on certain categories (up to $4K of purchase in that category per quarter, then reverting back to 1X.). Other benefits include $100 annual travel credit, Global Entry fee of up to $100 every 4 years, World Elite Mastercard Benefits and Travel Medical Insurance. We do occasionally travel internationally and occasionally get overall trip insurance but the benefits seem pretty thin relative to the annual fee, possibly excepting the Travel Medical Insurance of which I’m not sure of the specifics nor have I tried to research with BMO yet.
I’ve looked at a few of the credit card threads here but haven’t tried to dive into detail. Overall, looking for directional feedback…is it likely that I can find a cash (or statement credit) rewards card with similar or better benefits with a lesser (or none) annual fee, or should I consider accepting the current card’s renewal and annual fee (+/- research the travel medical insurance benefits), etc?
Thanks in advance for sharing your perspectives.
Statistics: Posted by Hubris — Tue Jul 02, 2024 8:08 pm — Replies 1 — Views 202