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Home Trust Preferred Visa: Automobile benefits on the way out?
March 21, 2021
9:09 am
Norman1
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Looks like Home Trust is going to drop the car benefits on their Preferred Visa card.

I haven't received any word from Home Trust yet. But, the emergency roadside assistance and car rental collision/loss insurance are no longer mentioned on the product page or in latest Benefit Guide for the card.

March 21, 2021
10:15 am
christinad
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I saw this on redflagdeals

Just received my new statement and noticed the following disclosure stating that Home Trust Visa will be removing the rental car insurance and roadside assistance program effective May 31, 2021.

Too bad. I had always considered this card for this reason.

March 21, 2021
9:23 pm
User230
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This card is a niche card now.

Used for foreign purchases at Costco America.

Can also be a backup for foreign purchases at other places.

This is expected. Home Trust downgrades this card often.

March 22, 2021
12:46 am
Loonie
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I would not be surprised if the "no forex" provision gets downgraded once people start travelling again. I don't think they have any competition when travelling outside US, do they?

It's already no use for overseas car rentals. - their little contribution to inflation!sf-frown

I think it's problematic that they are giving so little notice, almost none. If you are planning a trip and relying on this card, perhaps you should give more thought to a backup card.

March 22, 2021
5:24 am
Londonguy
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Loonie said
I would not be surprised if the "no forex" provision gets downgraded once people start travelling again. I don't think they have any competition when travelling outside US, do they?
 

Just one -- the Brim MC will now be the last of the no-fee no-FX cards

March 22, 2021
5:46 pm
Jon
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Londonguy said

Loonie said
I would not be surprised if the "no forex" provision gets downgraded once people start travelling again. I don't think they have any competition when travelling outside US, do they?
 

Just one -- the Brim MC will now be the last of the no-fee no-FX cards  

If you don't mind AMEX, Scotia Amex Gold is a good one for no FX fee.

March 23, 2021
7:00 am
zooweemama
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Not surprising. :/ They stop advertising the rental car perk more then half a year ago. I knew it was coming, it was fun while it lasted.

Big banks (except AMEX simply cash) stop offering flat cash back and is playing the category game. So there is less pressure for Home Trust to offer better deals then the rest. So CUT CUT CUT! Still, I think for now, this card might be a keeper for the merchants that does not hit the categories nor accept AMEX.

It is also the time that Home Trust returned to good profitability so again, they are more worried about profit margin.

March 23, 2021
10:45 am
Londonguy
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Jon said

If you don't mind AMEX, Scotia Amex Gold is a good one for no FX fee.  

That's not a no annual fee card, it costs $120/year. The basic Brim card is free

March 24, 2021
11:11 am
Jon
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The Brim card are not really FX free. This is because they use their own exchange rate rather than the MasterCard rate. Despite there are no difference right now, Brim can charge more for exchange rate without notice anytime.

March 24, 2021
11:29 am
Norman1
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That's an important detail!

Home Trust Preferred Visa commits to using the Visa rate in the fine print:

1Foreign currency transactions are converted at the exchange rate set by Visa International, without additional surcharge.

March 24, 2021
11:38 am
Norman1
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christinad said
I saw this on redflagdeals

Just received my new statement and noticed the following disclosure stating that Home Trust Visa will be removing the rental car insurance and roadside assistance program effective May 31, 2021.

Too bad. I had always considered this card for this reason.

Yes, the roadside assistance was a nice incentive for me to apply for the card.

March 24, 2021
12:24 pm
Londonguy
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Jon said
The Brim card are not really FX free. This is because they use their own exchange rate rather than the MasterCard rate. Despite there are no difference right now, Brim can charge more for exchange rate without notice anytime.  

Actually Brim has always used the MasterCard exchange rate. Granted that Brim made a big splash about their plans for developing their own rate back when they first launched their card (implying it would be even better than the MC rate), but that's since been abandoned

March 24, 2021
12:37 pm
Londonguy
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Norman1 said
That's an important detail!

Home Trust Preferred Visa commits to using the Visa rate in the fine print:

1Foreign currency transactions are converted at the exchange rate set by Visa International, without additional surcharge.

  

The no-FX fee feature was one of the attractions of the HT card (I have one myself), but there's more to that story -- early last year IIRC they changed their T&C such that they still don't charge the FX fee on foreign purchases, but they made those purchases no longer eligible for the 1% cash back. So no FX fee, but no reward either

April 14, 2021
1:33 pm
fionag11
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Wow, they never notify their customers of any of these things? Do we know for sure that these changes apply to existing cardholders?

April 14, 2021
1:51 pm
Norman1
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Yes, the changes do apply to existing cardholders.

Check the March statement. There is a notice printed on the first page under "Important News."

… TO CONTINUE OFFERING YOU THE BENEFITS OF YOUR CARD AT NO ADDED COST, WE ARE REMOVING RENTAL CAR INSURANCE (CLDI) & ROADSIDE ASSISTANCE FROM THE CARD BENEFITS PROGRAM, EFFECTIVE MAY 31, 2021. …

April 14, 2021
3:01 pm
topgun
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Londonguy said

The no-FX fee feature was one of the attractions of the HT card (I have one myself), but there's more to that story -- early last year IIRC they changed their T&C such that they still don't charge the FX fee on foreign purchases, but they made those purchases no longer eligible for the 1% cash back. So no FX fee, but no reward either  

I have a Capital One MC with 1.5% cashback redeemable ANYTIME. The cashback is dropping to 1% April 29th.

Have a Great Day

April 16, 2021
11:18 am
fionag11
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Norman1 said
Yes, the changes do apply to existing cardholders.

Check the March statement. There is a notice printed on the first page under "Important News."

… TO CONTINUE OFFERING YOU THE BENEFITS OF YOUR CARD AT NO ADDED COST, WE ARE REMOVING RENTAL CAR INSURANCE (CLDI) & ROADSIDE ASSISTANCE FROM THE CARD BENEFITS PROGRAM, EFFECTIVE MAY 31, 2021. …

  

So it is. Thank you @Norman1. Guess I better start reading my statements more closely. I was always curious about that roadside assistance and whether is would actually "work " if I needed it. I guess now I'll never know.

April 16, 2021
11:39 am
seh
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Scotiabank Passport Visa Infinite card still has zero fx charges. Annual fee (about $120) pays for itself with one out of country trip where you would otherwise have to buy separate medical and/or trip cancellation insurance.

April 16, 2021
11:41 am
Norman1
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We still have about 1½ months of the roadside assistance coverage left before the coverage is gone on May 31. If one's car breaks down during that time, one can still call.

I think it is a casualty of the 0.1% average interchange cut agreed to by Visa Canada and MasterCard Canada. Visa issuers, like Home Trust, used to receive, for example, 1.42% interchange for electronic card-is-present charges. The rate now is 1.25%.

With a 1% cash back, Home Trust now receives a net of 0.25% instead of 0.42%, a cut of 40.5%, to pay for any benefits and for its efforts!

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