Most of us don’t look outside the established rewards credit card bubble: Chase, Amex, Citi, CapitalOne and Bank of America. But there are lots of great credit cards out there that stay under the radar. Cards that offer generous rewards and no annual fee. The Navy Federal More American Express Card is one such card.
I’ve heard Rick talk about Navy Federal in general and when I got this offer via email, I thought it was worth sharing. Below are the rewards offered by the Navy Federal More American Express Card:
- 3x points on dining
- 3x points on transit
- 1 point on everything else
- 3x points at supermarkets
- 3x points at gas stations
Many of you have the American Express Gold Card for the 4x at grocery stores. But that bonus is capped to the first $25,000 spent and the card carries a $250 annual fee.
The Navy Federal More American Express Card has no earning limit or annual fee. And if you spend $38,000 or more on grocery spending in a year, you’ll earn more rewards with the Navy Federal More American Express Card than the American Express Gold Card:
American Express Gold Card
4x on $25,000 grocery spending = 100,000 Membership Rewards points
1x on $13,000 grocery spending = 13,000 Membership Rewards points
Total: 114,000 Membership Rewards points
Navy Federal More American Express Card
3x on $38,000 grocery spending = 114,000 points (or $1,140 cash back)
Sure the Navy Federal Card earns cash back rather than transferable points that can be redeemed for premium cabin awards. But if you don’t care about flying in premium cabins, then the cash back from the grocery bonus can go a long way. Especially nowadays when economy fares have gotten dirt cheap.
Just the other day I found a basic economy fare between San Francisco and Paris in November for $336 round-trip. As awful as flying economy on a long-haul flight can be, that fare is really tempting.
Cell phone insurance
Update: I’ve been notified by Navy Federal that although the card page links to an FAQ that lists cell phone insurance as a benefit, it does not apply to this particular card.
Another card benefit worth mentioning is the cell phone insurance coverage. Simply pay your cell phone bill with the Navy Federal More American Express Card and your phones (up to three lines) will be covered in case of accidental damage that renders it unusable.
While lost phones aren’t covered, stolen phones are as long as you file a police report within 48 hours of the theft.
Navy Federal More American Express Card sign-up bonus
Most cash back cards don’t offer sign-up bonuses, which makes the 30,000 points offered by the Navy Federal More American Express Card pretty solid. The spending requirement is just $3,000 in 90 days – not great, now that so many people are reporting issues with buying money orders at Walmart, but easily attainable via regular spending.
The 0% APR on purchases during the first 12 months is a nice bonus. I would probably use it to invest in Kickfurther co-ops and generate a small profit…assuming it doesn’t go sideways.
Who qualifies for a Navy Federal credit card?
Here’s the tricky part. Not everyone can qualify for a Navy Federal More American Express Card. You must be a Navy Federal member and only the following people qualify:
- Active duty, veterans, or retired members of the military
- Delayed Entry Program
- Department of Defense civilian employees
- DoD civilian retirees and annuitants
- DoD employees or contractors
- Military family or household members
- Relatives of Navy Federal members
- Select Employee Group members
The qualification page also states that if none of the criteria apply, you should call Navy Federal and see if there’s some other way you might qualify. It’s definitely worth doing so if you think you’ll get a lot of value out of this card.
Final thoughts
This isn’t is a sponsored post and I get nothing out of writing about this card. I just think it’s a solid offer if you’re looking for a rewarding cash back card with no annual fee.cre
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