There was some speculation that the new Fidelity Visa card issued by Elan/US Bank will have Flexperks-esque value, either through travel redemptions or transfers. Unfortunately, it appears that neither is possible.
Travel Redemption
Initially, it was thought that the Fidelity points might actually be Flexperks points, and they’ll be redeemable for travel up to 2¢ per point. That would make it an up-to-4%-back card. That hope was squashed when it became clear that it has a max travel redemption value of 1¢ per point.
It is possible to book travel with Fidelity points, and it uses the same system as Flexperks travel redemptions, but it costs double the points with Fidelity points than with Flexperks points.
It obviously makes no sense to use the travel redemption option since you can just as easily turn the points into cash by redeeming into your Fidelity Cash Management Account or investment account.
Transfer Option
Another thought was that it would be possible to transfer Fidelity points to the Flexperks currency, and back as well, perhaps.
A Flyertalk member who signed up for the new Fidelity/Elan Visa card reports that Fidelity points are not transferrable to the Flexperks system. “The entered account is not eligible for Points transfer.” Since the points aren’t part of the points-transfer system, I assume that you can’t transfer points from Flexperks to Fidelity either. (HT: Dave)
If it were possible to transfer Fidelity points into the Flexperks system, it would be possible to get to get up to 4% everywhere since Flexperks can be worth up to 2¢ each. And if it would be possible to transfer from Flexperks to Fidelity, it would be a painless way of getting a full 2% redemption value from Flexperks, without sweating it out on a travel redemption.
Unfortunately, it appears that neither of these is possible.
Conclusion
In the end, the Fidelity credit card was, and remains, a flat 2% cash back credit card, similar to the Citi Double Cash card.
It’s better than Double Cash for international purchase (1% fee vs. 3%), but it’s a bit more complicated than Double Cash since it requires redemption into a Fidelity account.
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