Paying Bluegreen Maintain Fees with Credit Card Rewards
If you are a new or long time Bluegreen Vacations timeshare owner, maintenance fees are a fact of life and no matter the amount of points you have, the maintenance fees continue to go up every year. The last few years have seen significant increases due to inflation, maintenance costs, insurance costs, and hurricane damage to properties. As the admin of a related Facebook group, I see discussions on the topic daily and wanted to add some advice on one of the best ways to help offset or even completely pay for maintainence fees in a much more effective way than applying for the Bluegreen credit card that is pushed by sales and on the Bluegreen website.
The Bluegreen credit card touted by sales and online is issued by Barclays and earns “Bluegreen Rewards” which can be used to pay for maintenance fees or to buy gift cards. To oversimplify how the no annual fee card works, it offers 0% APR for 6 months on all Bluegreen purchases after first opening, which include new points purchases or maintenance fees paid with the card. Meanwhile, the card offers a 1,000 point bonus when signing up while earning 2 points per $ on all Bluegreen purchases and 1 point per $1 on all other purchases. This essentially equates to a $10 bonus for signing up and what amounts to 2% cash back equivalent on Bluegreen purchases and 1% back on all other purchases. These rewards are then redeemable only for maintenance fees or gift cards. To say that this is a terrible offer and terrible earnings for a credit card is an understatement. On top of this, there is a 3% exchange fee for all foreign currency purchases, which should be a dealbreaker for anyone who travels out of the country, ever.
As someone who has been a Bluegreen owner for over 35 years, been to 15 of the resorts, and as someone who travels extensively outside of Bluegreen, I am here to tell you there are much better options when it comes to credit cards that can also be used to pay for maintenance fees. My number one suggestion for pretty much anyone looking for a credit card that can be used towards maintenance fees is the Capital One Venture Card. This card has a $99 annual fee, but earns a flat 2 points per $ on all purchases as well as 5 points per $ on hotels, vacation rentals, and rentals cars booked through the Capital One travel portal. Currently the card has a bonus for 75,000 points after spending $4,000 in the first 3 months after card opening. These points can be redeemed for 1pt per .01 in the travel portal, 1pt per .01 to erase travel purchases (maintenance fees code as travel and can be erased with Capital One points) or transferred to airline / hotel partners (this is where you can get the most value if maximized). What it comes down to is you are earning 2% (or more) cash back that can be used towards maintenance fees, but the points are significantly more flexible and you can get even more value if using on award flights or hotels via transfer partner. For example, in the first year of having this card, if you spend the $4,000 within 3 months on the card, you would have at least 83,000 points worth at least $830. If you were to open the Bluegreen card, put $2,000 in maintenance fees on the card plus another $2,000 in regular spend, you would have 7,000 Bluegreen rewards points, worth $70 towards maintenance fees or gift cards. The Capital One card also comes with its own travel insurance protections, CDW coverage on rental cars paid for with the card, and no international transaction fees. A few other benefits of Capital One are you can get a pre-approval without a hard credit pull and points post as soon as charges post, which means if you made a $4,000 purchase 3 days after opening the card, your points from purchases and the bonus would post just a few days later. On the other hand most other cards post at the end of a statement period and bonuses can take several statements to post. The simple earnings format on the card, the low annual fee, and travel protections make this the perfect card for just about anyone, but is a strategic step up from a card like the Bluegreen card.
Another potential option from Capital One I would recommend is the Venture X, which is a premium card with a high $395 annual fee, but benefits that pay for themselves. With the $395 annual fee, you get an annual travel credit of $300 to use in the travel portal, global entry or TSA Precheck credit every 4 years, lounge access for yourself and 2 guest at Capital One Lounges as well as Priority Pass lounges worldwide. Just these benefits alone pay for themselves every year, but you still get 2 points per $ on all purchases, enhanced travel protections including primary CDW coverage on rental cars paid with the card, 10 pts per $ on hotels and car rentals booked through the portal as well as 5 pts per $ on flights booked via the portal. This card has the same sign up bonus as the Venture card at 75,000 points for spending $4,000 in the first 3 months. While the Venture is good for pretty much anyone, the Venture X is going to be a better option for people who travel more than a couple times a year and can utilize the enhanced travel protections, travel credits, and travel perks.
Hopefully this information is insightful on how you can maximize credit card spend for travel, particularly when it comes to Bluegreen. Please consider utilizing our referral links if you are a new Capital One customer applying for a card as it helps us keep producing more content just like this and you still receive the exact same publicly available bonuses when signing up.
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