Fidelity Replacement Cards with Elan

[audreyh1]

I have to agree.

I attempted to purchase tickets from a large foreign airline several times only to have the charges rejected. So, using my little brain, I called them ahead of time and said "Look, in a few minutes I am going to buy tickets RustyCrate Airways, can you please arrange to not reject the charge?" Sorry, no can do. Get rejected first then call was the answer. (Meaning I would have to reenter much of the reservation information, select seats, etc. all over again. Not so good.) So, I used my Costco Amex with gives the same 2% on travel expenses. (And soon will be 3%!!)

Yeah. BofA was good about taking details of the exact charging vendor name and exact charge in euros, if I called no more than three days in advance.

 

[MRG]

I have to agree.

I attempted to purchase tickets from a large foreign airline several times only to have the charges rejected. So, using my little brain, I called them ahead of time and said "Look, in a few minutes I am going to buy tickets to Pottsylvania on RustyCrate Airways, can you please arrange to not reject the charge?" Sorry, no can do. Get rejected first then call was the answer. (Meaning I would have to reenter much of the reservation information, select seats, etc. all over again. Not so good.) So, I used my Costco Amex with gives the same 2% on travel expenses. (And soon will be 3%!!)

Too funny! The fraudulent charges I dealt with were from Aero Mexico. Someone bought whole bunches of them on a card reported stolen. Those id10ts made me dispute every one after I had reported that Home Depot gave my number away. Morons.

About like ATT telling me I need to call a different part of ATT to resolve a separate issue. I foolishly thought they were the phone company.

 

[mathjak107]

got the new cards today . i activated them and enrolled on line . i get an error 413 trying to add it to full view . i can access it from outside full view so i will wait until tomorrow and try it again , other wise i will call them .

 

[euro]

I'm assuming there are others here that have both the Fidelity Amex with 2% Rewards and the Visa with 1.5% Rewards. I logged into my Fidelity account and it looks like I'm getting 2 new replacement Visa cards. One with 2% Rewards that replaces the old Amex and second Visa with 1.5% Rewards for the old Fidelity Visa. This second Visa accrues at 1.5% up to the first $15,000 and then 2% thereafter. The two Rewards accounts are separate so that means I need to use the 1.5% Visa until I get to the 5000pt threshold for cashing out before I switch over exclusively to using the 2% Rewards Visa card. I wish they had combined the two accounts into just one 2% Fidelity Rewards Visa. It would have made the transition so much easier.

I'm one of those really old-timers who still have a Fidelity Mastercard (2% cash-back). Does anyone know what will happen to these? Will they be replace with a Visa too?

 

[Done]

I'm one of those really old-timers who still have a Fidelity Mastercard (2% cash-back). Does anyone know what will happen to these? Will they be replace with a Visa too?

Yes, it appears that all cards issued by FIA will be replaced with a Visa issued by Elan.

https://www.fidelity.com/cash-management/cardmember-faqs
With this new program, you will receive an Elan Financial Services®-issued Fidelity® Visa Signature® card between mid-June and mid-July. This will replace your current Fidelity American Express®, MasterCard® or Visa® credit card(s) by July 22nd. All new credit cards will be part of the Visa® network, offering you the opportunity to enjoy Visa Signature® benefits.

Your cash back percentage will be the same as it is today. Existing points and balance will transfer to the new card on July 26.

 

[audreyh1]

got the new cards today . i activated them and enrolled on line . i get an error 413 trying to add it to full view . i can access it from outside full view so i will wait until tomorrow and try it again , other wise i will call them .

OK! I'll be looking for mine then. I've already got the alerts set up.

 

[audreyh1]

I also saw my new VISA numbers (the last four) when I logged into Fidelity today, and I saw the credit limit which was ~$1K less for some reason. It was an oddball number too, like $20,007.99. How weird is that!

I got notice that my Fidelty AMEX card would quit working on July 22nd.

OK, I finally figured out that my "credit remaining" was taking into account the the current balance on my FIA card. That wasn't my credit limit.

My new credit limit does match the old one when I add the two numbers up.

I was just surprised that the new card tracked the old one. Fidelity must be giving them that info.

 

[Ready]

I've had the Elan Visa card for a few months now. It does everything as promised - 2% cash back just like the FIA AMEX card, and it does work with Apple Pay.

However, it doesn't automatically download transactions to Quicken for Mac (although it works fine for Windows), so I'm probably just going to use the Costco Visa card for most of my purchases.

Pretty frustrating because except for the Quicken issues it's a great card, but I'm too lazy to enter every transaction manually.

 

[audreyh1]

I've had the Elan Visa card for a few months now. It does everything as promised - 2% cash back just like the FIA AMEX card, and it does work with Apple Pay.

However, it doesn't automatically download transactions to Quicken for Mac (although it works fine for Windows), so I'm probably just going to use the Costco Visa card for most of my purchases.

Pretty frustrating because except for the Quicken issues it's a great card, but I'm too lazy to enter every transaction manually.

I was expecting the Apple Pay support.

The not downloading transactions into Quicken - yuck! I've been able to import alternate formats. We'll have to see.

 

[gayl]

USAA just changed my MC to a Visa, and they started booking my cc transactions under the new Visa number at least one week before mailing it to me, I didn't activate for another week but that didn't stop them. I use it for automatic billing, the old card is now cancelled, but I noticed today I forgot to update one account - but they're accepting the charge anyway.

Did they notify you? I have only 1 cc: a USAA Mastercard Rewards Card but nothing seems to have changed

Just went to USAA site and Mastercard doesn't show up for new cards but mine doesn't expire until 05/17 and I have all my bills on auto charge as well

 

[mathjak107]

they broke ties with amex .

 

[TrvlBug]

I got the Elan Visa about a week ago. Unlike the Costco AmEx to Visa conversion, the Elan Visa is good to go now after activation. It's going to be hard to keep track of the various Visa cards now and their bennies .

I need to call AmEx to get the Blue Everyday card (or whatever it's called) as we really like their enhanced car insurance option especially for int'l rentals.

 

[audreyh1]

I got the Elan Visa about a week ago. Unlike the Costco AmEx to Visa conversion, the Elan Visa is good to go now after activation. It's going to be hard to keep track of the various Visa cards now and their bennies .

I need to call AmEx to get the Blue Everyday card (or whatever it's called) as we really like their enhanced car insurance option especially for int'l rentals.

If you have the Chase Sapphire, or the United Mileage or Coub card (also Chase) you get primary car rental insurance at no extra charge. Of course those cards have annual fees.

 

[TrvlBug]

If you have the Chase Sapphire, or the United Mileage or Coub card (also Chase) you get primary car rental insurance at no extra charge. Of course those cards have annual fees.

I have at least one of those cards and will compare coverage against the AmEx 'enhanced' coverage...thanks for the info.

 

[audreyh1]

I have at least one of those cards and will compare coverage against the AmEx 'enhanced' coverage...thanks for the info.

One article that gets into the nitty gritty Credit Cards That Offer Primary Car Rental Coverage

 

[mathjak107]

don't think you are off the hook when something happens with a rental and your card offers that rental car insurance .

there are usually outs for the card company's .

some will pay for damage but not loss of usage of the rental car . those that will cover loss of usage know that odds are they will not have to pay out .

that is because your card agreement states that in order to get paid the loss of usage amount they require you have a utilization report .

if the rental car company has 5 ford escorts and 3 are unrented the credit card company wants to know .

the problem is fleet utilization is top secret info . what cars are hot and what cars are not is information no rental car company wants its competitors to know and so they will not give you that report and the credit card company's know it .

so they have an out not to pay if they choose to .

"If I have full coverage, will I be responsible for any extra fees?
Unfortunately, it's possible. Rental car agencies often charge ''loss-of-use'' fees to cover the revenue they lose while a damaged car is in the shop, and those fees can total hundreds of dollars.

American Express, MasterCard and Visa (but not Discover) say they will pay those fees as long as the rental car agencies provide documentation, usually a ''fleet utilization log,'' verifying they actually lost money because the damaged car was out of service. Here's the problem: rental companies consider those logs confidential; they argue that, legally, they don't have to provide them. So while your rental company and credit card company play the blame game, you can end up on the hook for the bill. (Note: In some states, such as New York and Wisconsin, car rental companies aren't allowed to charge loss-of-use fees. In others, auto insurers are required by law to pay those fees.)

Fortunately, credit card companies have become more willing in recent years to pay loss-of-use fees, rental car claims administrators say. Some now accept repair estimates as documentation instead of fleet utilization logs. "They've created standards to determine how much they'll pay based on the repair cost," says Andrew Sutter, president of damage-recovery company Total Fleet Solutions. "So maybe four hours of damage repair equals one day of loss of use that they'll pay."

Are some card companies more willing than others to pay those extra fees?
Rental car claims administrators in three different states told CreditCards.com that Visa is the most willing to pay up, followed by American Express. "Visa without a doubt will pay loss of use, and that's not always the case with MasterCard and AmEx," says Coppere Williams, senior claims specialist at Khoury-Alternative Claims Management, a damage-recovery company based in San Antonio. "They will also cover an administrative fee without batting an eye. They are very reasonable."

Read more: http://www.creditcards.com/credit-card-news/car-rental-insurance-coverage-1273.php#ixzz4CUGPuqg3

 

[audreyh1]

Yes, I've read a couple of places that VISA is easier to deal with in terms of claims.

Overall, if something happens, it might take a while to work out even with primary insurance, but in general you turn it over to the credit card company and let them deal with it. And if you get notice from a car rental collection agent you keep working it out with the credit card company.

If you are at fault you'll also have to deal with your personal auto insurance company, but that has nothing to do with the rental car.

 

[mathjak107]

for the rare times i rent a car i spring for the insurance . it is so much easier to just walk away if there is a problem then get involved fighting it out with multiple company's that all have clauses to protect them and not you .

 

[tulak]

for the rare times i rent a car i spring for the insurance . it is so much easier to just walk away if there is a problem then get involved fighting it out with multiple company's that all have clauses to protect them and not you .

This reminds me of a reality show from many, many years ago (or maybe it was a movie?) where they rented a car, took out full insurance, and then proceeded to thrash the car.

I imagine that rental car companies would have a clause against this, but I have no idea how it would be worded.

 

[TrvlBug]

One article that gets into the nitty gritty Credit Cards That Offer Primary Car Rental Coverage

Thanks for the link. DH sent me an e-mail he got from our United Visa...looks like we're set and don't need another cc (AmEx replacement).

 

[Cobra9777]

Got our two new VISAs from Elan today. One replaced the old 2% AMEX and the other replaced the 1.5% VISA, same as OP. Fidelity had suggested I call Elan after the cards arrived and they would be able to consolidate everything (credit limits, rewards, balances) onto the 2% card, and cancel the lesser 1.5% card. After some discussion between the rep and her supervisor, it was determined that this could in fact be done, but not until after Aug 1, when all the Fidelity accounts are converted. So for now, I have two VISA cards, but we'll only use the 2% card.

Everything else went fine. I set up email alerts. Specified which Fidelity account to deposit my cash-back rewards into. Only hard part was going to 7 or 8 different websites to change all my auto-pay details. Some are really easy, like Netflix, while others are a pain, like the local gas company.

This will actually simplify things for us by eliminating one card. We still use a grandfathered AMEX Blue Cash for 5% on groceries, gasoline, and drug stores. We had been using the Fidelity 2% AMEX for everything else, but kept the 1.5% VISA for merchants who don't accept AMEX. Now we just use the Fidelity 2% VISA for everything that doesn't go on the AMEX Blue.

 

[mathjak107]

my elan card is now linking to fidelity full view with no problem

 

[braumeister]

If you don't have the new Visa yet

Heads up to anyone who might be affected.

As you know, Fidelity has been sending out notices about the switch from Amex to Visa for months now, it seems like I got something from them nearly every week. They always said the new Visa card would arrive by mid-July.

A few days ago, I got a letter from them that said, kind of "by the way", that I should have already received the Visa card. Well, I didn't, and I've been looking for it diligently.

So I called Elan card services and asked. Turns out they had mailed it three weeks ago, so it obviously got lost in the mail. They cancelled the card number and are shipping me another Visa card to arrive by Monday.

On the positive side, the customer service person at Elan was an absolute delight to deal with. Friendly, knowledgable, efficient and a very pleasant surprise.

 

[travelover]

What happens to the old Fidelity AmEx card? Does it close itself out like the Costco card did?

 

[braumeister]

Yes, it dies on July 22.