Random News: US Bank FlexPerks Visa Signature vs. American Express vs. Business Cards and 4 New AMEX Offers
I’ve written about FlexPerks a few times:
- 10/16/2014 – US Bank FlexPerks: No Foreign Transaction Fees, 1,000 FlexPoints for Joining Visa Checkout, 3,000 FlexPoints for Spending $5,500, and other Offers (Targeted?)
- 7/23/2014 – How to Book Airfare with US Bank FlexPerks
- 5/31/2014 – Lesser Known Perks of the US Bank FlexPerks Travel Rewards Credit Card
- 3/30/2014 – App-O-Rama Update: US Bank FlexPerks Travel Rewards Credit Card Finally Arrived
- Freeze your ARS and IDA Credit Reports (Before applying for a US Bank credit card, freeze both credit reports. I did and I currently have 3 US Bank credit cards)
Up until last night, I did not know there was an American Express version of the US Bank FlexPerks credit card (Thanks Will @ Doctor of Credit). Surprisingly, there are 4 personal and 1 business FlexPerks credit cards, who knew?
I signed up for the Visa Signature version during the 2014 Winter Olympics promo when the sign up bonus was 7,450 FlexPoints higher than the standard 20,000 FlexPoints offer.
As of today, the Visa Signature and the American Express sign up bonuses are identical: spend $3,500 in the first 4 months and get 20,000 FlexPoints (worth up to $400 in airfare).
The Visa Signature benefits and the American Express Benefits differ, but I think these benefits apply to almost all Visa Signature and American Express credit cards, so it is not a big deal.
The one thing worth pointing out is that the American Express version offers double points on restaurants, while the Visa Signature version does not. All other earning and redeeming details seem to be identical.
One of the biggest worries when applying for the Visa Signature version, was that if your credit score/history/report was not good enough, you would be automatically approved for the lesser FlexPerks Select Rewards Visa, which offers only a 10,000 FlexPoints sign up bonus and no 2x categories.
As far as I can tell, if you apply for the American Express version, there is no lesser FlexPerks card to approve you for. Both cards have Chip and Signature and have no foreign transaction fees. Couple that with the 2x FlexPoints on restaurant purchases leads me to believe that the American Express version is better than the Visa Signature version.
US Bank also has a FlexPerks Business credit card that offers the same sign up bonus: spend $3,500 in the first 4 months and get 20,000 FlexPoints (worth up to $400 in airfare). This card offers 2x at Office Supply Stores and 3x on Cell Phone bills, similar to the Chase Ink Bold/Plus Business credit cards. I would still choose 5x at Office Supply Stores and 5x on Cell Phone bills, but this is an option.
The FlexPerks features seem very similar to the personal version, including the $25 airline allowance (which I have yet to take advantage of). There is also an annual spending bonus of $24,000 which is worth $55, which equates to a 0.23% rebate.
The card is automatically enrolled in Visa Savings Edge, which anyone with a business Visa credit card can do. For more information, please read What is Visa Savings Edge?
Last but not least, the business card offers National Car Rental discounts and complimentary Regus Businessworld Preferred membership.
If you are interested in applying for the Visa Signature or Business version of the US Bank FlexPerks credit card, please check out my credit card page. Unfortunately, I do not have a referral link for the American Express version.
In other news. here are some new AMEX Offers that showed up in my account this morning:
If you have a personal or business American Express Premier Rewards Gold or Platinum credit card, you may have seen the Hotel Collection offer in your account. This offer is only for cardmembers Premier Rewards Gold or Platinum credit cards. The best reason to book through the Hotel Collection is for the $75 hotel credit per stay (link).
If you have any questions, please leave a comment below. Happy Halloween!
One thing to keep in mind is that visa usually (but not always) codes target as a grocery store, while Amex does not. So if you plan to use the card to load your Amex for Target (or REDbird?) then the Visa might be a better choice.
That is true, I have had lots of fun at Target with my Visa FlexPerks card, loading my old AMEX for Target.
Another problem with these cards is the unpredictability of points earning.. You only get the bonus “X” points on the category you spend the most.. So, if u spend 1k on groceries and 999 on gas, u will only earn the usual 1 point for the gas spend while earning x2 on grocery.. Basically a waste of spend on other bonus categories based on ur buying habits :(
I’m not sure if it applies to the AMEX version though, does it?
I’m sure the American Express version has the same limitation. Very dumb to limit the 2x categories and not make all of those purchases count as 2x.
Right.. So basically even with the x2 on restaurants on AMEX, it’s useless.. If it was me I’d choose only 1 category for the card and stick with it.. Certainly not for restaurants since there are plenty more CC out there with better x bonus and value! Personally I’ll pass this one!
Great article as usual btw Grant! :)
Thank you Adam. Remember ever FlexPoint is worth almost 2 cents, so you could get close to 4% cash back on restaurant purchases.
Can you comment if we can have both of them together at the same time? i have the visa version from before and was contemplating about applying for the amex version. Any suggestions?
I believe so. I have the Visa Signature version and I’m going to apply for the AMEX version in the next 2 months. If you apply and get approved, please let me know. Good luck!
I already have the flexperks visa signature. Is it possible to also sign up for the Amex version to earn the signup bonus again?
Yes, I have both cards and got the sign up bonus for both cards. If you would like to use my referral link for the Amex card, please let me know. Have a great day.
Which credit bureau did they pull for you last time when you applied for the visa?
After freezing the ARS and IDA, I think they did Experian, but I’m not really sure.
One more question: did they give you an instant approval?
No instant approval. It took almost 2 weeks to hear back.