I and P2 are deep into BofA ecosystem. P2 doesn't like to juggle too many credit cards, hence we have a relatively simple 4 card setup to cover our major spending categories (grocery, dining, travel, and online shopping). The following is our cash back earning rate for each category and overall in 2025.
Card 1: Premium Rewards (our workhorse)
- Category: Travel, dining, and catch-all
- Cash back rate: 3.5% (travel and dining), 2.6% (everything else)
- Percentage of our total spend: 74.8%
- Effective cash back rate: 3.17%
Card 2: Custom Cash Rewards
- Category: Grocery (and occasionally gas)
- Cash back rate: 5.2% (gas), 3.5% (grocery) with $2,500 quarterly cap
- Percentage of our total spend: 9.7%
- Effective cash back rate: 3.60%
Card 3+4: Custom Cash Rewards (P1 + P2)
- Category: Online shopping
- Note: BofA is extremely generous about 'Online Shopping' category — so transactions from Uber or DoorDash code as online shopping too!
- Cash back rate: 5.2% with $2,500 quarterly cap per card
- Percentage of our total spend: 15.5%
- Effective cash back rate: 5.11%
Effective cash back rate overall: 3.48%
I'll dearly miss the simplicity and effectiveness of this setup if, as rumoured, BofA nerfs the Preferred Rewards program later this year.
2025 Recap: my four-card cash back setup from BofA
byu/neilsarkar81 inCreditCards
Posted by neilsarkar81
4 Comments
My P2 hates having multiple cards and having to remember benefits, so her PRE is a great card that also gets us a PP restaurant meal every time we visit the airport lol. It’s a very underrated setup imo if you just want simplicity without having to worry about transfer partners, aspirational travel etc.
The PR card categorized payments made to the HOA as travel. After a 2.9% fee for using a credit card and earning a 3.5% back travel, it’s a net positive. Just wanted to share.
We might hear something by the end of the month on potential nerfs
I currently have 1 CCR for online shopping and 1 UCR but if they nerf me from 5.25 to 4.5 and 2.625 to 2.25, then I’m going to start using some cards differently (custom cash, prime visa, and usb+ cash categories etc).
How about downgrade the PR to Customize to get new hacked no ftf PR of foreign Travel/Dining? Open new PR afterwards
Add Aaa Daily (no membership needed) 5% grocery, 3% wholesale, drugstore, no ftf too