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A couple of weeks ago, I announced that Fidelity’s new no-annual-fee 2% cash back Visa Signature card is now available. Cards offering 2% cash back with no fee are rare enough, but could the deal be even sweeter than we thought?
EndPoint reports that points earned with the new Fidelity card may be FlexPerks points. EndPoint says that 2 out of 3 call center reps confirmed that the rewards earned with this new card were the same as those earned by US Bank FlexPerks cards.
This would be amazing, if true. FlexPerks points are worth just 1 cent each if redeemed for cash, but they’re worth up to 2 cents each if redeemed for airfare. So, if the Fidelity card really earns FlexPoints, each dollar spent would be worth up to 4 cents towards airfare!
Of course, it’s nearly impossible to get exactly 2 cents per point value from FlexPoints. To maximize value, you need to happen upon a fare that is as close to the top of FlexPerks award ticket price ranges as possible, without going over. For example, a $399 flight costs just 20,000 FlexPoints (2 cents per point value), but a $401 flight goes into the next price range so it costs 30,000 points (1.34 cents per point value):
| Ticket Price Range | FlexPoints Required |
| $0 to $400 | 20,000 |
| >$400 to $600 | 30,000 |
| >$600 to $800 | 40,000 |
| >$800 to $1000 | 50,000 |
| >$1000 to $1400 | 70,000 |
| >$1400 to $2000 | 100,000 |
| >$2000 to $3000 | 150,000 |
| >$3000 to $4500 | 225,000 |
| >$4500 to $7000 | 350,000 |
| >$7000 to $10,000 | 500,000 |
In some cases, it’s possible to play games to increase the per point value you get from FlexPerks. I described a few techniques here: Maximizing value from the U.S. Bank FlexPerks Travel Rewards Visa Card. However, even if your average flight cost is in the middle of each fare range, you can get decent value. For example, a $300 flight would cost 20,000 points (1.5 cents per point value) and a $500 flight would cost 30,000 points (1.67 cents per point value). The only truly horrible redemptions are flights costing around $200 or less. In those cases, you’re better off redeeming FlexPoints for cash (1 cent per point) and buying airfare directly.
Are there any other hurdles?
It’s likely that US Bank will require points to be transferred to a FlexPerks account before they can be redeemed for up to 2 cents each towards airfare. That wouldn’t be bad. US Bank’s FlexPerks card costs only $49 per year and it now includes 12 Gogo in-flight internet passes per year. Alone, the FlexPerks card is a good deal. Combined with the Fidelity card, it may be great.
If you don’t have, or don’t want, a FlexPerks card, it’s likely that you can transfer points from your Fidelity card to another person’s FlexPerks card, for free. Then, they can book airfare for you. Currently, FlexPerks points can be transferred for free from/to any accountholders. If Fidelity points are FlexPoints, then transfers from Fidelity Rewards to FlexPoints should be possible.
Is it true? Do Fidelity Visa cards earn FlexPoints?
I don’t yet know, but I’m sure we’ll find out soon from new accountholders. I’ll report back once we receive credible information.
Time will tell.
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Any updates?
Any news? Can fidelity points be turned into Flexpoints?
I’m still waiting for someone to give a definitive answer to this. Has anyone tried moving their new Fidelity points to a FlexPerks account?
[…] and gift cards, in addition to the obvious redemption into a Fidelity account. To many, including FrequentMiler, this sounded a lot like the FlexPoints earned on US Bank’s FlexPerks cards. This speculation […]
[…] Fidelity FlexPerks? Is the Fidelity Visa Signature 2% card better than we thought? (Frequent Miler) and How to Redeem Bank of America WorldPoints Travel Rewards (Travel with Grant). […]
One extra thing. If you book with Flexperks points you get 25.00 Credit per ticket for in flight fees, baggage, food etc. Not WiFI though. Some people on day of flight get a 50.00 gift cert which ends up getting them 25.00 back on that as well. I have found it pretty easy with Flexperks points to get near 2 cent value from them. They are definitely worth more as used then Citi Thank you points for airfare
Yep, I agree. Even if you book a ticket in the middle of a range (e.g. $500 ticket for 30K points) and don’t use the $25 credit, you get 1.67 cents per point value. That’s slightly more than the 1.6 cents per point value of TY points when using the Prestige card to book AA
Can the Flexperks points be used for covering infant award booking fees? Or will it only work for adult fare bookings? I would be interested to see if this can be used for high surcharges on international infant award tickets.
No, you can only use the points to book regular fares
Any word on what will happen to those who have both the FIA Amex and FIA Visa cards?
I think it was Reddit where I read this, but both should be converted to the Elan Visa card. Don’t quote me on that, though.
You can redeem Flexperk points (as well as City TYP) for Southwest flights, but you can’t do it online – you need to call in.
The travel agents may not have the cheapest Southwest fares available on their system. A good way to maximize value, particularly with Flexpoints, and to make sure the travel agent sees the same fares you see, is to find a flight with Wanna Get Away fares sold out or unavailable, and an Anytime fare just under $400 or $600. Then you use 20,000 or 30,000 Flexpoints to purchase the ticket, asking the agent to give you the Southwest record locator for the booking, or to add your Rapid Rewards number to the reservation.
Then you can access your Southwest reservation online, cancel it (since it’s refundable, you’ll be asked whether you want a refund, or to keep the funds for future travel. BE SURE TO KEEP THE FUNDS FOR FUTURE TRAVEL, or the cost will be refunded back to the travel agency. You can then use the funds for the trips you actually want to take for up to 1 year.
So if this Fidelity Visa is paid out in 4 flex points per dollar used toward Southwest tickets the value would be doubled for those of us who are SW companion pass holders. This would become my go to card for non bonus category spend. I already have the Fidelity Amex and hope it does just get converted to Fidelity Visa. Waiting for data points.
That depends on if the Flexpoints flight search engine includes Southwest, which would be unlikely. Anyone with access can chime in?
The Fidelity Visa would give 2 points per dollar, not 4. That’s guaranteed based on pretty much everything. Those points can then be worth up to 2 cents each, making the card up to 4% back. With the SW CP, that would then be worth up to 8% back.
Is it possible to book SW flights with FlexPerks? I’ve never tried, but I’d be surprised considering that they don’t allow their flights to be searched on travel aggregators.
[…] Fidelity FlexPerks? Is the Fidelity Visa Signature 2% card better than we thought? by Frequent Miler. Any data points will probably be shared in this post. […]
FWIW, Worldpoints (the current FIA card points scheme) has a very similar feature where you could buy tickets up to $xx for yy points. Was very possible to get a lot of value from those points.
Would be interested to hear how they’re gonna handle the points balances of existing fido Amex Card holders w large balances
Well this would be timely. My 4% back Travelocity card (best financial move I ever made lucking into that one 5 years ago) is finally done in April. This would be phenomenal. I am not totally buying it yet – surely they are smarter than that, but i’ll certainly jump on it quickly if anyone confirms in reality.
If this is found to be the case, would you have a single FlexPerks account for your entire US Bank account like you would with MR and AmEx, or would it be split between cards like Chase does with UR points? (I am guessing if you have two FlexPerks cards you would be able to test this, but I wasn’t sure how strict US Bank was about that sort of thing.)
I believe there’s a no annual fee USBank FlexPerks Amex, if you don’t want to worry about an annual fee.