Bellco Platinum Rewards Credit Card $250 Bonus + 3% On Lots Of Categories [CO only]

Update 3/14/19: Deal has been increased to 25,000 points from 15,000 points. Hat tip to reader HailState

The Offer

Direct link to offer

  • Earn a sign up bonus of 25,000 points after $500 in spend within the first 90 days (worth $250)

 

Card Details

  • No annual fee
  • Card earns 3x points on the following categories:
    • Grocery Stores/Supermarkets (Whole Foods Market, King Soopers, Target, Walmart, Costco)
    • Gas/ Service Stations (Conoco, Shell, Circle K, Corner Store)
    • Automated Fuel Pumps (King Soopers Fuel, 7-Eleven Fuel, Jenny’s Market)
    • Sporting Goods Stores (Cabela’s, Sports Authority, Bass Pro Shops)
    • Shoe Stores (DSW, Payless, Off Broadway Shoe Warehouse, Zappos.com)
    • Sports/Riding Apparel Stores (Dick’s Sporting Goods, Eddie Bauer, Lids)
    • Fitness/Member Clubs & Private Golf Courses (24 Hour Fitness, OrangeTheory Fitness, Gold’s Gym, CorePower Yoga)
    • Misc. Food/Convenience Stores (Starbuck’s, GNC, Schwan’s Home Delivery)
    • Rec Centers/Ski Lifts/Var. (Arapahoe Basin, Boondocks, JumpStreet)
    • Public Golf Courses (The Links, Deer Creek, Foothills Golf Course)
    • Bicycle Shops/Sales/Service (Performance Bike, Bicycle Village, TriBella)
    • Movie Theatres (AMC Theatres, Regal Cinemas, Elvis Cinema)
    • Camper/Trailer Dealers (RV America, Ketelsen Campers, RV World)
    • Tourist Attractions/Museums (Denver Art Museum, History Colorado Center)
    • RV Parks/Campgrounds (Great Sand Dunes, Royal Gorge KOA)
    • Sporting/Recreational Facilities (Colorado Clays, Challenger Sports, Altitude FC)
    • Wholesale Clubs (Sam’s Club, Shamrock Food Service)
    • Aquariums/Var. Zoo (Denver Aquarium, Butterfly Pavilion)
    • Bowling Alleys (Brunswick Zone, Lucky Strike, Fat Cats)
  • Card earns 2x points on the following categories:
    • Cable / Satellite Services (Hulu, Comcast, Netflix, DIRECTV)
    • Internet Services (XBOX Live, GoDaddy, PayPal, AOL)
    • Phone Services (Verizon, AT&T, T-Mobile, Cricket)

Our Verdict

You can read our full review of this card here. $250 bonus plus lots of 3% categories is pretty good, especially for those chasing cash sign up bonuses. It’s a shame that this is restricted to Colorado residents (although if you have a family member that is also a member that should work). Bellco also offer a 2.25% APY rewards checking account, make sure you compare this with the best savings accounts first.

Hat tip to caverunner17 on /r/churning
    William Charles
  • On March 14, 2019, 12:00

View Comments (26)

  • Was anybody able to join from out of state? I see the bellco foundation option, but most blogs/posts still say Colorodo residents only. Would love this 3% card

  • According to the link, the increased bonus offer was only available from 3/11/2019 to 3/19/2019. However, the link still works. I opened a checking account with them today, which cost me a hard inquiry, so I went ahead and applied for this card using the link in this thread, hoping to combine the inquiries. I didn't know about this credit card deal before I visited the branch today, or I would have asked about the $250 deal - whether it will be back or if it's possible to get matched. Anyway, they did send me home with a flyer for the $150 version, so I'm assuming that's the deal for now.

  • I'm too lazy to remember every single 3% category, so I just remember The Four Fs: food (stores), fuel, fitness, fun.

    • My bad. There was a blog post from 2017 specifically about the referral bonus; I'm surprised it isn't referenced in this blog post.

    • Interested in this as well. Can an out-of-state person be referred? If so, I would be interested, but DoC bans referrals via his articles unless he explicitly allows it, and he does not here.

  • That's not a bad spectrum for a free card with a sign up bonus. Paired with something like a Pathfinder for their travel category, one has got a decent 'free' hand.

  • Instant "conditional approval," got a call from a loan rep about an hour later. She tried to sell me some add-on "protection" for the card, didn't ask any other questions, approved. 8/24.

  • Personally can't recommend this card very well because the redemption system is kind of ridiculous. You can redeem for a lot of items at pretty cruddy rate. But to get the advertised statement credit percent of 3% on spend, which I assume everyone is after, you have to redeem in increments of 100 dollars, which is terribly difficult amount to plan.

      • There’s always a catch. I doubt they could afford to give a true 3 percent in all those categories with no catches or headaches.

        • Yea for Costco I got my Vantage West Credit Union connect Visa cred card, my gas with Fort Knox federal CU credit card, grocery and restaurant Golden 1 CU, and 2% on everything else Penfed power cash Visa credit card

  • Just a word of caution with this card for those who want to MS on it. I got this card four months ago and they just sent me a warning letter.

    The 5% bonus over Christmas was 5% in place off all their 3% categories.

    Also getting the card took some work. They wanted tax income records and also proof of residency. It took over 3 months for my wife to get her card. Just an FYI.

  • The sheer breadth of categories and merchants is amazing! 3% on so many might beat out the 5% on Freedom, Cash+, and other category cards. That $150 bonus and no AF makes this a very tempting offer indeed.

    And as Matt points out, it may be open to anyone who donates $10 as well.

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