FordPass Rewards Visa Card -- cashback strategies for Mach-E buyers

[jhalkias]

Yeah. I thought of that too after I posted my first response to her.

Sponsored

 

[ChasingCoral]

That would be awesome since our servicing costs should be quite low.

 

[ChasingCoral]

I wonder if I can get enough points to buy my floor mats right away?

 

[macchiaz-o]

I wonder if I can get enough points to buy my floor mats right away?

On new purchase of a gasoline powered Ford, you'd receive exactly enough points to get the mats just for being a FordPass member (no need for the credit card). But it can take weeks/months to receive the points and you might want the mats sooner since you're getting the car close to the start of Winter.

Ford hasn't updated the FP terms to indicate if/what points are given with a new BEV purchase.

 

[macchiaz-o]

Sorry, @ChasingCoral. I just rechecked the first post in this thread. As I said there, this is really confusing. I forgot that your first purchase grants you 11,000 FPR points.

That's good for $55 towards the floor mats if you buy them in a separate dealer transaction. If they're part of your order with Ford, then I'm not sure how that works. You might need to call the dealer or Ford to get that figured out.

If you want those points available in time for vehicle delivery, you might need to get the card now and make your first purchase ASAP. A trip to McDonald's for a $1 hot n spicy chicken sandwich would work. If they have that deal where you live.

I'm uncertain if this is a good credit card for me. Looking at my past bills, getting the $100 cash back for spending $3k in the first three months would be very unlikely for me to get to. But this will depend on how much my dealer is willing to let me put down towards the car via credit card. I need to contact them about that and would need to wait to get the card until my delivery timeline is more certain.

 

[ajmartineau]

got it

 

[macchiaz-o]

fyi for cardholders, there's a special promotion running from 9/1 to 12/31/20 for 3% Back in Points on grocery purchases, instead of 1%.

It's still not very clear how to use the points, or what value they really have. The website states you can "Redeem toward your next Ford", although clicking Redeem just transfers you to your dealer's home page. Guess we'll find out when the car arrives.

How long's it been since your first card purchase? Has the initial use points bonus (11,000 points) credited to your FordPass Rewards balance?

I haven't signed up yet. I want to be sure my card payment towards the MME is within three months of card sign up so I can get the $3k in 90 days spend bonus.

 

[macchiaz-o]

fyi for cardholders, there's a special promotion running from 9/1 to 12/31/20 for 3% Back in Points on grocery purchases, instead of 1%.

It's still not very clear how to use the points, or what value they really have. The website states you can "Redeem toward your next Ford", although clicking Redeem just transfers you to your dealer's home page. Guess we'll find out when the car arrives.

Thanks for the heads up.

You can pretty much only redeem points at a dealership. I've redeemed for service costs, but apparently we can also redeem towards new vehicle purchase, and for Ford branded accessories.

200 points is worth one dollar. But as I said above, that dollar is only redeemable for Ford products and pretty much only at Ford dealerships.

 

[macchiaz-o]

The 11,000 points was credited 14 days after my first purchase.

I just reached $3000 in purchases and am waiting for the $100 credit to show up. The wording for the $100 credit is "spend $3000 within your first 3 billing cycles after you account is opened." My first billing cycled ended about 2 weeks after I received the card, so be careful with the timing. The card took almost two weeks to arrive.

I imagine I'll continue on and reach the $6000 level to earn the $200 yearly statement credit.

I have over 23,000 points so far.

That is awesome!

I checked with my salesperson the other day... My dealer's max credit card charge is $3,500 which is actually a lot more than I was expecting.

You might want to check with yours. Once you reach $6k in spend for the card-account-year, it may make 'cents' to move on to better cards until the next card year starts.

That's my plan anyways... I have a card that pays five percent cashback in quarterly categories, and another that is 2% back on all charges. Either of those is better than the FPR Visa after you've reached the $6k threshold.

 

[macchiaz-o]

New FPR Visa video. Includes cartoonish images of the Mustang Mach-E:

 

[SnBGC]

Is there a simple summary that explains Ford Pass Rewards? I tried reading the FAQs on the website and the more I read....the more confused I became.

And there is a credit card too? I watched the video.....have no idea what they are talking about?
Points or Cash? What?

Help. ????

 

[macchiaz-o]

Is there a simple summary that explains Ford Pass Rewards? I tried reading the FAQs on the website and the more I read....the more confused I became.

And there is a credit card too? I watched the video.....have no idea what they are talking about?
Points or Cash? What?

Help. ????

Yes, it's pretty confusing! I'll try to break it down to the way I think I'm understanding it.

There's the FPR program... and there's a credit card. Two different things.

The credit card gives cash back (if you meet the requirements, $300 the first year and $200 subsequent years), and it also adds points to the linked FPR account.

FordPass Rewards (POINTS PROGRAM)

FordPass Rewards is a customer loyalty "points" program that incentives *dealership* transactions (rather than 3rd party mechanic or online transactions):

• earn points at a dealership, when you pay for maintenance, service, parts/accessories (must be Ford, Motorcraft, or Omnicraft), or with a new or CPO Ford vehicle purchase/lease
• redeem points at a dealership, towards the cost of maintenance, service, parts/accessories (must be Ford, Motorcraft, or Omnicraft), or towards a new vehicle
• for each dollar spent on parts and labor, you are credited with five cents worth of points (so... 5% back as points)
• for a vehicle purchase/lease, points are granted according to the vehicle type (new/used, gas/diesel/electric)
• if there's no activity on your FPR balance for 365 days, then the balance resets to zero.

FordPass Rewards Visa (CREDIT CARD)

OK. So now the "FordPass Rewards Visa" is a new add-on to the loyalty program.

It doesn't change the points program at all... It's just another way to earn more points. (And separately, it earns cash back. See the first post in this thread for those details.)

The card gives you 2 points for every dollar spent in general, 6 points per dollar spent in certain categories (gas, auto insurance, parking, tolls, dining), and 10 points per dollar spent at a Ford dealership. Based on the current conversion rate, these points are valued at 1%, 3%, or 5% of purchases from these three categories.

You might notice that marketing materials claim that the Visa card gives you 10% back in points on labor and Ford/Motorcraft/Omnicraft parts at a dealer... That's sort of true. In reality you're getting your normal 5% from the regular FPR program, and then the Visa card is adding in another 5% for any purchases made at a dealership (regardless of what you're buying).

When I buy my Mustang Mach-E, I will get a slew of additional points added to my balance:

• 22,000 points for purchase or lease of Mustang Mach-E -- this is a fixed amount that Ford set for all U.S. MME purchasers who are enrolled in the standard FordPass Rewards points program; it has nothing to do with which version of MME I buy
• 35,000 points for making a $3,500 FPR Visa purchase at a Ford dealership (that is the max that my dealer says they'll allow on a credit card). This extra points are a benefit specific to the FPR Visa credit card (5% rewarded as FPR points for purchases at dealerships).

That 77,000 points is worth $385 towards dealership purchases of Ford branded stuff, or non-warranty service/maintenance/labor.

So this $385, plus my existing FPR points balance (currently worth about $300), is going to make the Ford Connected Charge Station a much better value for me than non-Ford wall charger options.

 

[ChasingCoral]

New FPR Visa video. Includes cartoonish images of the Mustang Mach-E:

Yes but it's a bit frustrating the card comes in Black (of course), Blue, or Bronco. I want a Mach E on my card!

 

[ChasingCoral]

Yes, it's pretty confusing! I'll try to break it down to the way I think I'm understanding it.

There's the FPR program... and there's a credit card. Two different things.

The credit card gives cash back (if you meet the requirements, $300 the first year and $200 subsequent years), and it also adds points to the linked FPR account.

FordPass Rewards (POINTS PROGRAM)

FordPass Rewards is a customer loyalty "points" program that incentives *dealership* transactions (rather than 3rd party mechanic or online transactions):

• earn points at a dealership, when you pay for maintenance, service, parts/accessories (must be Ford, Motorcraft, or Omnicraft), or with a new or CPO Ford vehicle purchase/lease
• redeem points at a dealership, towards the cost of maintenance, service, parts/accessories (must be Ford, Motorcraft, or Omnicraft), or towards a new vehicle
• for each dollar spent on parts and labor, you are credited with five cents worth of points (so... 5% back as points)
• for a vehicle purchase/lease, points are granted according to the vehicle type (new/used, gas/diesel/electric)
• if there's no activity on your FPR balance for 365 days, then the balance resets to zero.

FordPass Rewards Visa (CREDIT CARD)

OK. So now the "FordPass Rewards Visa" is a new add-on to the loyalty program.

It doesn't change the points program at all... It's just another way to earn more points. (And separately, it earns cash back. See the first post in this thread for those details.)

The card gives you 2 points for every dollar spent in general, 6 points per dollar spent in certain categories (gas, auto insurance, parking, tolls, dining), and 10 points per dollar spent at a Ford dealership. Based on the current conversion rate, these points are valued at 1%, 3%, or 5% of purchases from these three categories.

You might notice that marketing materials claim that the Visa card gives you 10% back in points on labor and Ford/Motorcraft/Omnicraft parts at a dealer... That's sort of true. In reality you're getting your normal 5% from the regular FPR program, and then the Visa card is adding in another 5% for any purchases made at a dealership (regardless of what you're buying).

When I buy my Mustang Mach-E, I will get a slew of additional points added to my balance:

• 22,000 points for purchase or lease of Mustang Mach-E -- this is a fixed amount that Ford set for all U.S. MME purchasers who are enrolled in the standard FordPass Rewards points program; it has nothing to do with which version of MME I buy
• 35,000 points for making a $3,500 FPR Visa purchase at a Ford dealership (that is the max that my dealer says they'll allow on a credit card). This extra points are a benefit specific to the FPR Visa credit card (5% rewarded as FPR points for purchases at dealerships).

That 77,000 points is worth $385 towards dealership purchases of Ford branded stuff, or non-warranty service/maintenance/labor.

So this $385, plus my existing FPR points balance (currently worth about $300), is going to make the Ford Connected Charge Station a much better value for me than non-Ford wall charger options.

You sold me. I just got approved for mine. The blue card, of course.

Sponsored