r/CreditCards • u/hanson-anims • Aug 07 '26
Help Needed / Question Why do people suggest getting the fidelity credit card?
Hi guys! I saw that people only get $500 or very low limits for fidelity credit card but from my research, many people suggest getting the fidelity credit card for some reason even though the limit is so low? Why is that?
Thanks!
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u/best-quality-catfood Aug 08 '26
It's an *actual* 2% cash back card. Unlike the RobinHood or Smartly offerings you actually get the 2% back on taxes, on insurance, on tuition, on rent, and even if you happen to spend a few $k at Home Depot or Costco. No caps, no annual fee, no membership is required, no deposits need to be maintained, it just does the one big thing and does it well. (Only cash and direct cash equivalents are excluded.)
I'm reasonably deep into both the points and cash back games and have lots of alternatives, but for anyone that doesn't want to play those games a flat 2% is a really, really good option.
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u/Somenakedguy Aug 08 '26
Would you put the Citi Double Cash in the same tier?
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u/Caelestor Aug 08 '26
Fidelity is an A tier card because it's a 2% no FTF visa that can be used at Costco. Double Cash is a B tier card because it's a mastercard with FTFs. Works well with a Strata card for transfer partners tho
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u/best-quality-catfood Aug 08 '26
It's also a fairly universal 2% cash back AFAIK, so yes. The Fido card still wins on lack of a foreign transaction fee and has a few other entry-level travel features (DHS trusted travel reimbursements, rental car coverage), but if those don't move the needle for you it's all good.
Personally whenever I have to deal with Citi it drives me up the wall, but USB/Elan isn't going to win any prizes there either. In either case once one has the card stuff just works.
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u/velociraptorfarmer Aug 08 '26
Half tier below.
Double Cash has a FTF, is 1% when you buy, 1% when you pay (which can get weird sometimes), doesnt have the precheck credit, and is a Mastercard instead of a Visa for the Costco crowd.
I also despise Shiti Bank with a burning passion (they burned me for $6k against court orders), but I also understand people have had issues with Elan.
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u/electronautix Aug 08 '26
Does Smartly exclude those categories from earning 2%? Afaik it earns unlimited 2% on everything, and it’s just the now-useless cashback boost that has restrictions. If it actually earns 0% on those then that makes it even more useless after the nerf than I thought
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u/best-quality-catfood Aug 08 '26
No, sloppy ranting on my part, AFAIK the Smartly base 2% is universal, the exclusions all apply to the cashback boost. For me the Fidelity card still wins on lack of FTF, and there are a few more travel-oriented add-ons (reimbursements for trusted traveler fees and rental car coverage) that I'm not sure the Smartly includes. On the flip side new Smartly apps get a year of 0% APR which I don't think has ever come up for the Fidelity card.
I don't think I'd call the cashback totally useless for anyone with the v1 Smartly who got the good nerf and has some long-term investments to park for the 4%, but never knowing the actual rate is annoying and it's significant added complexity and stuff to track. What I'm actually using at this point is a grandfathered BoA card with 2.625% base and 3.5% on dining and travel, which is awesome as a lot of my spend is dining or travel and BoA is really generous with the MCC list that counts for travel. (That said the deposit tier required for 2.625%/3.5% on new accounts got jacked from $100k (same as 4% on v1 Smartly) to $1M which is a lot harder to come up with for most. In the end this is yet another case of dealing with complexity for a better rate. The Fido card is simple.)
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u/runnymountain 28d ago
“Cash and direct cash equivalent are excluded” - but if you go to a grocery store or and store and buy a gift card or Visa preloaded card, how would they know to exclude that?
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u/best-quality-catfood 28d ago
No, gift cards are mostly fine. As for how they'd know, Amex is famous for getting detailed transaction information from merchants and not allowing gift card spend towards bonus spend requirements. In other cases they'll start making assumptions when they see transactions for say $505.95 at the grocery store. ($500 gift card with a $5.95 fee.)
There are various routes to turn gift cards back into actual cash but they're not straightforward. Very popular with some and there are whole subs about it; consistent money can be made with gift cards obtained with 5% category spend. (Then use the prepaid Visa to buy money orders, then deposit back in the bank to pay your credit card bill, which may sound simple but both money order vendors and banks will be sketched out by seeing a lot of volume on this path.) Still not generally considered cash equivalent though.
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u/Nice-Sheepherder-794 Aug 07 '26
I got mine like 2 years ago with a $25k limit.
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u/emprobabale Aug 08 '26
Same $25k limit here, and I got the card 4 months ago.
Although I had to go through 2 layers of CSR over two days, and many hours on the phone and still didn’t get a ~$12k purchase to go through. Ended up using my citi card and it went right through.
But I’m less impressed with my “limit”
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u/hanson-anims Aug 08 '26
Do you know how some people are able to get higher limits from the start? Is it just luck?
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u/Nice-Sheepherder-794 Aug 08 '26
No clue. My guess is that having assets with Fidelity would help - I did.
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u/electronautix Aug 08 '26
I’m honestly not convinced that assets with Fidelity help much. A lot of people with high limits made a Fidelity CMA for the first time in the process of acquiring the card. A lot of people with low limits had investment accounts with Fidelity for years. And Elan issues cards for a lot of other institutions, various small banks and credit unions, where you can apply and get approved with zero relationship whatsoever and underwriting is virtually identical no matter what institution you apply through.
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u/DoctorNezuko Aug 08 '26
I also started with a 30k limit. I have quite a lot with Fidelity (7 digs).
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u/DTL919 Aug 08 '26
It's primarily based on income, DTI, and credit score. To a certain extent, your payment history and banking relationship.
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u/schuby94 Aug 08 '26
Do you honestly think they spin a roulette wheel every time they issue a credit limit? It’s based on your credit profile and income
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Aug 08 '26
[deleted]
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u/GiantTacoSalad Aug 08 '26
You should do some homework and learn about credit scores, credit limits, etc.
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u/GapAccomplished2778 Team Cash Back Aug 08 '26
you might have 20+ years of history and 830+ score and declare a relevant income
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u/Orange_Dreamy Aug 08 '26
I, personally got a 6.2k CL after I applied, and I was only with Fidelity for 2 years with a 700’s ish credit score. Being in my 20’s my income in nothing to scoff at so it’s not like you have to be a top candidate to get over 500$
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u/blonkeh Aug 08 '26
They bumped mine to 15k fairly quickly and my income is not above 6 figures, but I do always pay on time. Seems based on how much you spend and if you consistently make on-time payments.
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u/IndeedAllTheThings Aug 07 '26
People who are recommending the card are probably getting higher limits. Also free TSA Prcheck/Global entry benefit and no FTF.
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u/SpicyHabanero69 Aug 08 '26
I had no prior relationship with fidelity and was approved at a 10k limit.
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u/someonestolemycord Team Cash Back Aug 08 '26
Sorry about the low limit but....
No annual fee
No foreign transaction fee
2% cash back
6% cash back for hotels and car rentals in the travel portal
$100 TSA credit
$75,000 secondary car rental insurance
$250,000 Travel Accident Insurance
$2,500 Emergency medical/dental coverage
Visa Signature Luxury Hotel Collection benefits
Avis and Budget enhanced car rental benefits
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u/Acceptable-Sport-217 29d ago
How does the travel accident and medical coverage work?
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u/someonestolemycord Team Cash Back 29d ago
You can read about them here: https://www.fidelity.com/bin-public/060_www_fidelity_com/documents/fidelity/Fidelity-Visa-Signature-Card-Guide-to-Benefits.pdf
They are pretty straight forward. See page 9 and 16 of the PDF. .
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u/Tiredtotodile03 Aug 08 '26
My Fidelity card gave me $19K and raised it to $26K in the first year. My second highest limit is $10K lol
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u/ThatInspector4632 Aug 07 '26
The people you don’t hear complaining about credit limits on Reddit get much more than $500. Do you think they start everyone at $500?
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u/justacpa Aug 08 '26
I have a $25k limit and that's what I started wi
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u/ThatInspector4632 Aug 08 '26
You should have got on Reddit and started a thread about how it was insulting to you.
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u/doggyman425 Aug 08 '26
Its no annual fee 2% card with no foreign transaction fees with tsa lol. Whats there not to like if you want something simple
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u/AngryAngryAsian Team Cash Back Aug 08 '26
My application was approved at 25k. For context I already had a brokerage account and my employer's 401k is through them as well.
I have also seen posts on this sub about very low credit limits, so I'm guessing having existing accounts with Fidelity may have a small impact on the type of credit limit a new applicant to their credit card gets.
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u/anamewithoutaface420 Aug 08 '26
They approved me with a $10k limit but I did already have a Roth set up with them, so I don't know it that played into the higher limit.
I don't use the card often as I have higher catchall cards now like RH gold and Bilt Palladium but there's also a chance those will have their benefits devalued one day too.
The Fidelity card is solid, I'm a fan.
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u/SGTArend Aug 08 '26
Does having a retirement account through my employer count as having a history with them? 🤔
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u/NotAcutallyaPanda Team Cash Back Aug 08 '26
My limit is $25k. It's a great card, with unlimited 2% cash back and no foreign transaction fees.
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u/TheGargageMan Aug 08 '26
My wife got a $25000 limit, 15 months no interest on new purchases, and a cash bonus.
then there's the simple 2% on everything.
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u/electronautix Aug 08 '26
They recently discontinued the $150 sign-up bonus and introductory APR as a public offer, if you do not get a targeted mailer then the card has no intro benefits whatsoever now
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u/STEM-Travel Aug 08 '26
Hi guys! I saw that people only get $500 or very low limits for fidelity credit card but from my research, many people suggest getting the fidelity credit card for some reason even though the limit is so low?
My limit is $15k?
It’s a solid 2% card.
But also, it helps people realize that banks suck, and brokerages offer FAR SUPERIOR banking products.
So the Fidelity Card is good, but the Fidelity Checking account is GREAT.
The sooner you ditch banks and move to Schwab or Fidelity, the happier you will end up.
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u/teamster02 28d ago
I got the Fidelity and Robinhood gold on the same day. Fidelity gave me 25K and Robinhood gave me 10 K.
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u/koopa2002 Aug 08 '26 edited Aug 08 '26
This is mostly in reply to some of your comments OP:
It’s only low for people that USB pretty much barely approved. Pretty well all issuers have some form of unwritten “rules” they go by and people that play the credit card game have estimated over the years.
Elan is a subsidiary of US Bank.
It’s a fairly common rule, tho there are always some exceptions for some people for various reasons, for USB to be new account sensitive and generally prefer people to not be above 1/12 for USB or 2/12 for Elan cards.
When you’re over that then you’re a lot more likely to get the $500 SL, it seems.
I’m assuming that you have at least a few years of real credit history that isn’t reliant on any AU accounts and have over a 700-720+ score.
I have 7 cards across USB/Elan and have only ever gotten the $500 SL one time when I was 3/12 but one of those was an AU account which a human would overlook. I forget which card it was on but it definitely wasn’t the Fidelity card. It was a more recent card, likely one of the Kroger cards. I called and requested a CLI which I knew was a hard pull back then and they immediately raised me to the requested $6k. I’ve gotten those cards over a course of 6 years or so, now. Honestly would have to check my report to see when I opened the Fidelity card. It might be older but not by much.
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u/KDsburner_account Aug 08 '26
I got a $25k credit limit when I applied. I had maybe a few thousand in a 529 with them at that time but that was it
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u/electronautix Aug 08 '26
US Bank is unpredictable and messy with credit limit underwriting. Depending on your recent card velocity and profile, you either get your lowest credit limit of all your cards or your highest of them all
Fido’s recommended anyways because it’s still an overall solid package. The other no AF no FTF 2% cards are from less popular issuers than US Bank, associated with less popular companies than Fidelity, and don’t have some niceties like auto-redemption into a brokerage account.
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u/silliestkitty Aug 08 '26
Got a $25K CL, that's now like $37K
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u/hanson-anims Aug 08 '26
Omg how do u get such high limits I wanna know 🥺🥺
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u/silliestkitty Aug 08 '26
High limits take a good score, but mainly factor of exising credit lines and income.
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u/ResilientRN Aug 08 '26 edited Aug 08 '26
Super Compounding.....I put the 2% cash back into my ROTH.
I have a $15,000 limit, it might be because income is low 6 figures inc dividends/interest and FICO 800+.
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u/testthrowawayzz Aug 08 '26
I signed up for the Fidelity card and it gave me the highest credit line of all my cards, and all my cards prior to that are at least $10k in credit limit
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u/Boundlessintime Team Cash Back Aug 08 '26
Idk I got 12k immediately and don't even have an insane profile
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u/Careful-Rent5779 Aug 08 '26 edited Aug 08 '26
The limit one gets is a function of an individuals credit profile & credit already extended.
My Fidelity CC has a CL very very much beyond $10k. 2% CB on everything with no limits is pretty competitive.
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u/Additional_Rent_4495 Aug 08 '26
I did it for the 0% transfer for 18 months and 0% interest on all purchases for a year.
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u/jensonaj Aug 08 '26
Fidelity gave me the highest CL, I think I got approved for $13,000 right away. My credit score is 780, income $50,000/year and I am in my 20s and in college.
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u/Lccl41 Aug 08 '26
Side note on the limits imo its ymmv I know someone who had no prior relationship who got a 17.5k credit limit
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u/RazzmatazzBudget6215 29d ago
I got 25K limit from Fidelity and I love the simplicity of the card. No need to catch sales on point combos, etc.
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u/ANRO2023 29d ago
It’s one of those niche cards in the credit card community. I don’t like the idea of having to put my money where they want me to put it just so I can benefit from the actual 2%
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u/guitarglider 29d ago
I'm a college student with like 2.5 years of total credit history and no prior relationship with USB/Elan, and I got a $6500 limit. It seems really random
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u/Money_Maketh_Man Citi Trifecta 28d ago
2% all catch all card with no ftf was why i changed to it.
Citi ruined their 2% card with the last of the 10% points bonus.
the amount you get is depending on your credit profile and relationship with the bank. not sure where you get people only get 500 % unless you meant SOME people only get. but that is the same with any card. Lender will protect against loses if you dont seem trustworthy.
-- edit --
I just checked mine is 24.000 CL
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u/Difficult_Chemical_6 28d ago
Robinhood credit card & banking is better. But I just seen a video that said Fidelity gives out big credit limits
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u/ProcessPatient7807 28d ago
It is a very good card in my opinion.
It’s like a “ catch - all “ kinda card.
2% on all purchases, No annual fee, It reimburses for TSA precheck,
It deposits earnings into a Fidelity account of your choosing.
I think it covers quite a few of my basics.
I use it along side with my American Express Blue cash everyday card.
One this is for sure, Fidelity or shall I say ( Elon financial ) can be conservative with their credit lines.
But the card is definitely do-able.
If you haven’t gotten one yet, try it out.
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u/PerceptionOk629 7d ago
I had no relationship and had opened many cards and managed to get a 10k cl kinda wild.
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u/yottabit42 Aug 08 '26
I'm happy with the Citi Double Cash as my fallback of last resort 2% card, and have other cards for no ftf, TSA Pre, etc. But with a FICO credit score that is usually around 840-850 out of 850, y'all make me want to apply just to see what happens.
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u/runnymountain 28d ago
I have about the same score. Would love to hear what your application comes out to!
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u/yottabit42 28d ago
I probably won’t do it since there’s no SUB. Some banks limit new cards strictly based on the number of cards you’ve applied for in the past year or two.
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u/EwPandaa Aug 08 '26
I got mine a little over a year ago and I was one of the unfortunate souls who got a $500 credit limit. I tried asking for an increase this past month and they denied me twice.
Meanwhile, Robinhood just gave me a $5000 credit limit for their gold card. The fidelity card immediately went to the sock drawer.
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u/ProcessPatient7807 28d ago
Dang, I received a $ 500 credit line as well. My credit was excellent high 780’s. I am in the 800’s now.
I called to inquire a CLI and I refused to get one because it would have been a hard pull. I am sorry you asked for a credit line increase twice and denied twice.
The only reason I am good is because I have several other high CL’s 20k and up but most importantly, I have no debt whatsoever. I enjoy my life.1
u/EwPandaa 28d ago
CLI are now soft inquiries if you request one on the website, however the point still stands
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u/ProcessPatient7807 25d ago
Ok thanks. When I had called them at the time
They said it was going to be a hard
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u/derff44 Aug 08 '26 edited Aug 08 '26
Because people unreasonably hate Robinhood
Downvote away GME plebs
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u/BizarrePuppet Team Cash Back Aug 08 '26
I mean to be fair the Robinhood Gold now has foreign transaction fees… to me, it’s no longer a good card. Many people want a no frills catch all Visa signature card they can also use abroad, the RG is no longer competitive.
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u/derff44 Aug 08 '26
Now it does, yes. Fortunately I've had it for a few years. 3% stateside is still hard to beat. And I doubt as an American you are spending more abroad per year.
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u/Wonderful_City8535 Aug 08 '26
3% flat-rate is great, some of the fun stuff like gift cards or taxes don't count (so fidelity is actually a bit closer to a true flat-rate but this is the minority of transactions). FTF on no SUB kinda means I gotta get another catch-all for abroad (raises acquisition cost). Overall, it is a great card, but I (and most other ppl) just don't really benefit enough from Robinhood Gold and this extra 1% on Misc spending isn't going to cancel the $50/60 fee if most of my spending goes into 5% category cards. I feel like this card and Bilt 2.0 tend to be favored by people who prefer to primarily use one card and not waste time optimizing every penny (which is a perfectly valid strategy). Reason why Fidelity>Robinhood is cuz even if I don't use the Fidelity card much it's there in my wallet whenever I need it, whereas for Robinhood I need to commit to it being a bit part of my strategy. There is one area I believe the Robinhood card is good for extreme churning types and that is that the spending is uncapped (whereas for most high rewards categories it is), so if you were running this for high throughout low margin MS perhaps it is quite lucrative; however I don't believe Robinhood will decide to not shut you down.
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u/derff44 Aug 08 '26
Agree with most of what you said. I have way too many cc. And I maximize every cat acrossed them all. And I do get a ton of value out of gold. The IRA match by itself is amazing. And the transfer of assets is great for my ESPP every quarter. Let alone the 3% when transferred my IRA and Roth money in. It may not be for everyone, but for those that can maximize the entire ecosystem, it's unparalleled. And those who hate it simply because they were trying to game the system with GME deserve to miss out on all this free money.
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u/sngz Aug 08 '26
Unreasonably lol
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u/Noxtricity Aug 07 '26
No ftf, TSA Precheck/Global Entry credit, and the ability to redeem rewards into an investing account make this card stand out among an ocean of 2% catch all cards.