While it’s wonderful to redeem your points and miles for travel<\/a> arrangements, such as lodging and flights, there can be many other expenses involved in planning a trip, such as car rentals, train tickets, gas and campsite fees. Luckily, using cash-back rewards in combination with your points and miles can save you even more money on your next vacation.<\/p>\n With that in mind, let’s examine the often-overlooked Bank of America Preferred Rewards\u00ae program<\/a>. On top of the simple banking benefits members can expect, consolidating your finances with Bank of America can also boost your cash-back earnings with some of the best Bank of America credit cards<\/a>.<\/p>\n That’s because Bank of America designed its Preferred Rewards program to incentivize consumers to move their checking, savings, investment and retirement accounts to Bank of America and Merrill. The higher your balance of total assets with the bank, the more perks you can unlock, including with its credit cards. Depending on your holdings and the type of rewards you’re looking to accumulate, it might be time to stop ignoring Bank of America Preferred Rewards.<\/p>\n To qualify for the Bank of America Preferred Rewards program, you must have both of the following:<\/p>\n There are five Preferred Rewards tiers. You’ll qualify for each based on your combined average daily balance:<\/p>\n While not exorbitant, even the lowest level requires some pretty high figures. But don’t throw in the towel straight away. If you have an emergency fund, a holiday account, a savings account and a checking account, combining all those balances may qualify you for a Preferred Rewards tier. Once you add in investment accounts, such as IRAs, you may even find that the Platinum or Platinum Honors tiers are within reach.<\/p>\n Your balance doesn’t need to originate with Merrill or Bank of America to count toward each threshold. You can roll existing IRAs and investment accounts over to Merrill or Bank of America and immediately use those balances to begin establishing a three-month average to boost your tier. Of course, you’ll have to consider other things like account management fees and available investment options to decide whether doing so is a good option.<\/p>\n Daily Newsletter<\/p>\n Reward your inbox with the TPG Daily newsletter<\/p>\n Join over 700,000 readers for breaking news, in-depth guides and exclusive deals from TPG\u2019s experts<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n You can rise from one rung to the next any month after your average daily balance for the three previous months reaches the threshold for the following tier. Once you reach a specific status level, you won’t need to keep all your cash in the Bank of America basket. Instead, you’ll maintain your Preferred Rewards tier status for a full year. If you no longer meet the qualification requirements after that year, you have a three-month grace period to do so. If you still don’t meet the criteria after the three-month grace period, you’ll either be moved to a lower tier or completely lose your Preferred Rewards benefits.<\/p>\n Here’s a chart of the five Preferred Rewards tiers, along with the associated benefits of each:<\/p>\n Now, let’s take a closer look at each of these benefits.<\/p>\n You need to have a Bank of America Advantage Savings account and be an enrolled Preferred Rewards member to enjoy this benefit. If you have an existing savings account, it will not automatically convert to a Bank of America Advantage Savings account when you enroll in Preferred Rewards. Be sure to request the conversion when joining Preferred Rewards.<\/p>\n At Gold, the interest rate boost is 5%. That likely sounds better than what it is. As an example, if your interest rate is 1.00%, a 5% rate booster would increase the interest rate to 1.05%. Here’s the current annual percentage yield on a Bank of America Advantage Savings account for a sample Florida resident to give you some perspective:<\/p>\nBank of America Preferred Rewards Program<\/h2>\n
How to qualify for Bank of America’s Preferred Rewards Program<\/h3>\n
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How to move among Preferred Rewards tiers<\/h2>\n
Benefits of Bank of America’s Preferred Rewards Program<\/h2>\n
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\n Benefit<\/b><\/th>\n Gold<\/b><\/th>\n Platinum<\/b><\/th>\n Platinum Honors<\/b><\/th>\n Diamond<\/b><\/th>\n Diamond Honors<\/b><\/th>\n<\/tr>\n<\/thead>\n\n \n Credit card rewards bonus<\/strong><\/td>\n 25%<\/span><\/td>\n 50%<\/span><\/td>\n 75%<\/span><\/td>\n 75%<\/span><\/td>\n 75%<\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n \n Savings interest rate booster<\/strong><\/td>\n 5%<\/span><\/td>\n 10%<\/span><\/td>\n 20%<\/span><\/td>\n 20%<\/span><\/td>\n 20%<\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n \n Mortgage perks<\/strong><\/td>\n $200 origination fee reduction<\/td>\n $400 origination fee reduction<\/td>\n $600 origination fee reduction<\/td>\n 0.250% interest rate reduction (when PayPlan is established)<\/td>\n 0.375% interest rate reduction (when PayPlan is established)<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n \n Auto loan interest rate discount<\/strong><\/td>\n 0.25%<\/td>\n 0.35%<\/td>\n 0.50%<\/td>\n 0.50%<\/td>\n 0.50%<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n \n Home equity interest rate discount<\/strong><\/td>\n 0.125%<\/td>\n 0.250%<\/td>\n 0.375%<\/td>\n 0.625%<\/td>\n 0.750%<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n \n No-fee banking services<\/strong><\/td>\n Included<\/td>\n Included<\/td>\n Included<\/td>\n Included<\/td>\n Included<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n \n Free non-Bank of America ATM transactions<\/strong><\/td>\n N\/A<\/td>\n 12\/yr<\/td>\n Unlimited in the U.S.<\/td>\n Unlimited in the U.S. and internationally<\/td>\n Unlimited in the U.S. and internationally<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n \n Merrill Guided Investing fee discount<\/strong><\/td>\n 0.05%<\/td>\n 0.10%<\/td>\n 0.15%<\/td>\n 0.15%<\/td>\n 0.15%<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n \n Foreign currency exchange rate discount (for mobile and online orders only, includes free standard shipping)<\/strong><\/td>\n 1%<\/td>\n 1.5%<\/td>\n 2%<\/td>\n 2%<\/td>\n 2%<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n \n Access to exclusive lifestyle benefits<\/strong><\/td>\n N\/A<\/td>\n N\/A<\/td>\n N\/A<\/td>\n Yes<\/td>\n Yes<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n Savings Interest Rate Booster<\/h3>\n
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