Total Rewards Visa Comments Please

I have had a Comenity Bank Total Visa Cards since it has been offered. Yes, we did take advantage of the free offers free Buffet if Buffet offers as well as spend $750 in 90 days get free 10,000 points which automatically gives you Platinum status. I know that I spend a considerable amount during the year on the card but I really never kept track monthly (probably my fault) to make sure I spent $5000 to keep my status at Platinum. So, I pull up my upcoming hotel reservation at I notice I've been downgraded to Gold. I immediately call visa who cannot give met any information as to why I have been downgraded won't tell me how much I spent or why I was now gold. All I was told they will put in a dispute which could take up to 60 days. I tried explaining I'm leaving for LV in a week, their response Oh Well ! I ask to speak to a supervisor I was told there is no one to speak to but I will connect you. WTH ! I get someone else on the phone who says they can connect to someone at the total rewards corporate office and she will stay on the line with me to help me straighten this out to get me back to Platinum. I sit and wait on hold for 35 minutes and I finally get a hold of someone at the Rio. Of course, the supervisor from Visa has somehow disappeared and the person at the Rio was absolutely no help. All she could tell me I didn't have enough tier credits. Complete waste of time !! I still don't understand how you get 5x points for spending money at CET properties and 2x points for airlines I just doesn't add up ! Any comments welcome please

Both my husband and I each have this card as well. We both got to keep Platinum this year.

For my account (since I usually spend more), I kept track of the balances of my monthly statements in an Excel spreadsheet to be sure I knew were I stood and if I was getting close. You could try that for the coming year to track as well as go back at your last year's statements online and check your spending.

I believe the 2x and 5x is just for the rewards credits, not applied towards your spending balance. We spend about $250 at the Rio on the card and did get a bonus of about 1250 points shortly after we returned so I think the 5 times is working.

We just stayed at the Rio a few weeks ago. The platinum probably doesn't help much other you can get a few shorter lines at the Rio (Buffet and Check In) and can get buy one get one free show tickets. The benefits of Platinum seem to be getting slimmer and slimmer.

Hope that helps!

I didn't make platinum last year for the first time in years and it did get extended from the Visa offer. It is hard to figure out the multipliers. Not all restaurants or grocery do you get the multipliers and the help center is absolutely no HELP at all with that. Good luck.

I do like the cutting lines and that is really all the platinum is good for.

Just sharing my experience with the VISA card.
Word of caution. Read your credit card statement carefully.
I was being charged late payment fees by Visa.
I am very dilligent about this and had copies of cancelled checks to prove my payments were on time.
Lots of arguments and time spent with the credit rating services to get this sorted out.
Cancelled the card. Wasn't worth the aggrevation.

If you log into Total Rewards, there is a spot (I believe at the bottom of the page) that allows check onto each of your monthly statements. Thus, you can add together the totals yourself.

Not had a problem with my VISA card. I like that I can keep my platinum status as I don't get to CET casino often enough to get it through gaming. My understanding is that only purchases count toward the $5,000 and multipliers only add to your RCs. I find the statements sent online easy to read.

I had a friend who was diamond but made sure to spend the $5,000 figuring he would start January with Platinum tier points. He had called to verify point status last year and was told yes. Needless to say this caused a lot of aggravation.

You can not make diamond using the VISA card. If you charge $10,000 you get a VIP Access Pass which doesn't amount to anything special since Platinum already get line passes.