Credit Card Reviews

Review: Elan Reserve Rewards+ Visa Infinite

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The Elan Reserve Rewards+ Visa Infinite credit card is aimed at being a relatively high-end all-in-one card. It’s a newer Visa Infinite, issued by Elan Financial Services, released around mid-2023.

This credit card is available at dozens of credit unions, including Spectra and Valley Bank. Card details are the same regardless of which bank you work with. Other Elan cards include the Max Cash Preferred and Everyday Rewards+.

Considering the high annual fee, people will wonder if this card is right for them, and if the benefits outweigh the costs. It’s very subjective in this case.

FEATURES AT A GLANCE

  • $390 annual fee
  • No foreign transaction fees
  • 6x points on travel booked through their Rewards Center (flights, hotels, car rentals)
  • 2x points on everything else
  • $100 credit towards Global Entry or TSA PreCheck (usually once every 4-5 years)

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Review: Signature Federal Credit Union Visa Signature

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The Signature Federal Credit Union Visa Signature is an obscure yet powerful everyday card which beats most competitors. It has good cash back rates, no fees, and a host of Visa perks which are normally only found on high-fee Visa Infinite cards. Few credit cards offer superior cash back on non-category purchases or superior non-cashback perks. Side note: this is unrelated to Signature Bank of New York. Signature FCU is its own entity.

FEATURES AT A GLANCE

  • No annual fee
  • No foreign transaction fees
  • 6% cash back on streaming (up to $10 per month)
  • 2% cash back on everything else

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Credit Card Issuers: TD Bank (6 cards reviewed)

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In May 2023, TD Bank “revamped” their line of consumer credit cards. In general, there isn’t any reason to consider TD Bank; their credit cards have been worse than competing options for a long time. These cards are still among the worst in the industry even after their updates. Let’s look into why they’re bad and what the alternatives are.

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Review: Ness Wellness Card

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UPDATE for 11/15/2023: The card is shutting down. Rewards can be redeemed through 11/22/23 and balances must be paid by 12/19/23. According to a new message on their home page, “…the short answer is we’ve simply run out of money. We’re a venture backed startup and always anticipated raising more funding… but haven’t been successful there.”

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Initial review from April 2023:

The Ness Wellness Card (issued by The Bank of Missouri) is a health-focused charge card running on the Mastercard network. It’s a complex program with a lot going on here, so let’s take a deep dive to check out the potential of this card.

First, you need an iPhone or iPad to be eligible, running iOS 14 or greater. This unfortunately limits the pool of people who can apply for the card by about half. Ness notes that “We may not be able to award you points if we are unable to obtain your Health Information from Apple HealthKit.”

FEATURES AT A GLANCE

  • $349 annual fee
  • No foreign transaction fee
  • 5x points on “health and wellness” which includes grocery stores, select restaurants, meal kits, vitamins, pharmacies, healthcare services, athletic apparel, and more.
  • 2x points on everything else
  • $200 annual health and wellness credit (applies to purchases earning 5x points)
  • $200 annual “healthy activity” credit, awarded as “up to 56 points per day”
    • 14 points for 30+ active minutes per day
    • 14 points for 10+ “mindful” minutes per day
    • 14 points for 7+ hours of sleep per day
    • 14 points for 6,000+ steps per day (ideally you want to get 10,000 daily)
  • Up to $360 in annual Sweetgreen credits: spend $75 in a month to get a $15 credit (can do this twice per month—Ness advertises this as “Every 5th & 10th Salad Free at sweetgreen each month“). The $75 can include the $10/month cost for Sweetpass+.
  • Various other credits and discounts

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Review: Elan Everyday Rewards+ Visa Signature

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The Everyday Rewards+ Visa Signature credit card is a trimmed-down version of the U.S. Bank Altitude Go card for regional banks. It’s good for restaurant-related expenses.

In general, the Altitude Go is much better. The Everyday Rewards+ is only an alternative for people outside of U.S. Bank’s footprint. Because of U.S. Bank’s regional restrictions on applications, not everyone can get their credit cards. Elan cards function as a workaround. Many credit unions and other small banks carry Elan-issued cards. For example: A+ Federal Credit Union, Kearny Bank, Trustco Bank, and Webster Bank. Check your local area to see what’s available.

Also see: the Max Cash Preferred, which is an alternative to the U.S. Bank Cash+ card.

FEATURES AT A GLANCE

  • No annual fee
  • 3% foreign transaction fee
  • 4x points on dining (including delivery and takeout)
  • 2x points on groceries (including delivery)
  • 2x points on streaming
  • 2x points on gas (and electric vehicle charging stations)
  • 1x points on everything else

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Review: Chase DoorDash Mastercard

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In March 2023, Chase launched a Doordash Mastercard. It gives cash back on most food or delivery-related purchases. The immediate value of the card is unclear. Whether or not you’ll personally benefit depends on your budget and spending habits. Most people probably won’t benefit, especially since it rarely makes financial sense to use Doordash on a regular basis.

FEATURES AT A GLANCE

  • No annual fee
  • No foreign transaction fee
  • 4% cash back on DoorDash and Caviar orders
  • 3% cash back at restaurants
  • 2% cash back at grocery stores
  • 1% cash back on everything else

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Review: Chase Instacart Mastercard

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In July 2022, Chase Bank introduced a credit card for Instacart. If you’re not familiar with Instacart, it’s a delivery service for groceries and other goods. You can choose to have things delivered or pick them up yourself, although in either case, note that many stores have higher prices when ordering through Instacart.

If this sounds overly limiting for a credit card, that’s because it is, in most circumstances. Let’s take a dive into the benefits and alternatives. This might work well for some people.

FEATURES AT A GLANCE

  • No annual fee
  • No foreign transaction fee
  • 5% cash back at Instacart
  • 5% cash back on travel purchased through Chase’s site
  • 2% cash back for dining, gas, and streaming
  • 1% cash back on everything else

SIGN UP BONUS

As of March 2023, the public sign-up bonus is a $100 Instacart credit plus one free year of Instacart+ (normally $10 per month or $99 per year). Although this is a low bonus, you do get the credit immediately, and there are no spending requirements.

It’s probably worth waiting for a higher offer. In summer 2022, the card had an introductory $200 bonus, and briefly had a $300 bonus in February 2023.

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Review: Capital One Savor

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The Capital One Savor Rewards Mastercard is a low-fee card which earns unlimited rewards for dining, entertainment, and more. For most people, alternative cards are a better option, especially the no-fee SavorOne from Capital One. Savor might be worthwhile for the first year in some circumstances, especially with Capital One’s new Uber partnership. Long-term, however, it’s a questionable choice.

FEATURES AT A GLANCE

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Review: Wells Fargo Autograph Visa Signature

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The new Wells Fargo Autograph Visa Signature is an updated version of their no-fee ‘Propel’ card. These are basically the same card, except that the Autograph is Visa and Propel is American Express, and Autograph also earns bonus points for phone plans. Both are strong considerations for many wallets.

FEATURES AT A GLANCE

  • No annual fee
  • No foreign transaction fee
  • 3x points on dining
  • 3x points on travel and transit (airfare, hotels, subways, parking, etc.)
  • 3x points on gas and electric vehicle (EV) charging
  • 3x points on select streaming and entertainment
  • 3x points on phone plans
  • 1x points on everything else

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