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If you’re looking for a card that earns a strong rewards rate on gas and travel, and comes with a unique streaming bonus for purchases of services such as Netflix and Spotify, the U.S. Bank Altitude® Connect Visa Signature® Card might be the right credit card for you.
The U.S. Bank Altitude® Connect Visa Signature® Card charges a $0 introductory annual fee for the first 12 months, after that $95. This puts it right in the middle in U.S. Bank’s line of Altitude credit cards — there’s also the U.S. Bank Altitude® Go Visa Signature® Card with a $0* annual fee and the premium U.S. Bank Altitude™ Reserve Visa Infinite® Card with a $400 annual fee.
Intro Purchase APR
N/A
Regular Purchase APR
15.99% - 23.99%* (Variable)
Intro BT APR
N/A
Regular BT APR
15.99% - 23.99%* (Variable)
Annual Fee
$0 introductory annual fee for the first 12 months, after that $95.
Cash Advance Fee
N/A
Foreign Transaction Fee
$0
Balance Transfer Fee
Either 3% of the amount of each transfer or $5 minimum, whichever is greater.
Earn a valuable sign-up bonus
Earn 50,000 bonus points when you spend $2,000 in eligible purchases within the first 120 days of account opening. That's a $500 value redeemable towards travel, gift cards, cash back, merchandise and more.Generous rewards program
Earn 5X points on prepaid hotels and car rentals booked directly in the Altitude Rewards Center. Earn 4X points on travel, gas stations, and EV charging stations. Earn 2X points at grocery stores, grocery delivery, dining and on streaming services. Plus, a $30 credit for annual streaming purchases like Netflix, Hulu, Spotify®, Apple Music, Disney+, HBO Max and more!. If you’re a frequent traveler and a road warrior, this is a good card to have on hand.
Plus, earn 5X points on prepaid hotels and car rentals when you book in the Altitude Rewards Center.
Earn a $30 streaming credit
When you put eligible streaming service purchases such as Apple Music, Hulu, Netflix and Spotify on your U.S. Bank Altitude® Connect Visa Signature® Card for 11 consecutive calendar months, you can earn an automatic statement credit of $30.
Credit for TSA PreCheck or Global Entry
If you rely on TSA PreCheck or Global Entry to speed up your airport experience, you’ll like that the U.S. Bank Altitude® Connect Visa Signature® Card will reimburse you up to $100 in statement credits every four years when you put the application fee on this card.
No annual fee the first year
Not all cards that charge annual fees will waive the fee your first year, so it’s a nice feature that the U.S. Bank Altitude® Connect Visa Signature® Card does.
No foreign transaction fee
When you travel abroad, you can swipe the U.S. Bank Altitude® Connect Visa Signature® Card with peace of mind, knowing the foreign transaction fee is $0.
Can't transfer points
Some travel cards in the same annual fee range as the U.S. Bank Altitude® Connect Visa Signature® Card allow you to transfer your points to airline and hotel partners. For example, points earned on the Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card can be transferred at a 1:1 value to 14 different partners. Unfortunately, the U.S. Bank Altitude® Connect Visa Signature® Card does not offer that flexibility.
There's an annual fee
There’s a $0 introductory annual fee for the first 12 months, after that $95. If you value each point earned as worth 1 cent, you could recoup the amount of the annual fee after year one by spending $2,375 a year (or about $197.92 a month) on travel and gas station purchases that earn 4X. However, if you’re not a heavy spender in the U.S. Bank Altitude® Connect Visa Signature® Card‘s rewards categories, you’d likely be better off with a no-annual-fee cashback card in your wallet.
No travel protections
Unfortunately, if you’re looking for travel protections like baggage delay insurance, you won’t find such benefits on the U.S. Bank Altitude® Connect Visa Signature® Card.
If you’re looking for more flexibility in how you can use your points, as well as more in the way of travel protections, take a look at the Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card.
It comes with a reasonable $95 annual fee and cardholders earn 5x on travel purchased through Chase Ultimate Rewards®, 3x on dining and 2x on all other travel purchases
There’s also a generous sign-up bonus: Earn 60,000 bonus points after you spend $4,000 on purchases in the first 3 months from account opening. That's $750 when you redeem through Chase Ultimate Rewards®. Just make sure you haven’t opened five or more cards (from any issuer) within the past 24 months, or Chase’s unwritten 5/24 rule means you’ll get denied for this card.
Where Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card really stands out is the flexibility of the Chase Ultimate Rewards® points you’ll earn. Cardholders can book travel through the Chase Ultimate Rewards® portal, getting 25% more value per point. Or, points can be transferred at a 1:1 value to the following airline and hotel partners:
Plus, travel secure in the knowledge that the Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card offers these protections:
In short, while the U.S. Bank Altitude® Connect Visa Signature® Card earns more points on certain purchases than the Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card, the latter offers far greater flexibility in how to use your points for travel — as well as helpful travel benefits in case your trip doesn’t go quite as planned.
Bank of America® Customized Cash Rewards credit card details updated Sept. 9, 2021
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Apply Now on U.S. Bank's secure site
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Apply Now on Chase's secure site
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Apply Now on U.S. Bank's secure site
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Apply Now on Bank of America's secure site
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| Welcome Offer | |||
| Earn 50,000 bonus points when you spend $2,000 in eligible purchases within the first 120 days of account opening. That's a $500 value redeemable towards travel, gift cards, cash back, merchandise and more. | Earn 60,000 bonus points after you spend $4,000 on purchases in the first 3 months from account opening. That's $750 when you redeem through Chase Ultimate Rewards®. | Earn 20,000 bonus points when you spend $1,000 in eligible purchases within the first 90 days of account opening. | $200 online cash rewards bonus after you make at least $1,000 in purchases in the first 90 days of account opening |
| Rewards Rate | |||
| Earn 5X points on prepaid hotels and car rentals booked directly in the Altitude Rewards Center. Earn 4X points on travel, gas stations, and EV charging stations. Earn 2X points at grocery stores, grocery delivery, dining and on streaming services. Plus, a $30 credit for annual streaming purchases like Netflix, Hulu, Spotify®, Apple Music, Disney+, HBO Max and more! | 5x on travel purchased through Chase Ultimate Rewards®, 3x on dining and 2x on all other travel purchases | Earn 4X points on dining, takeout, and restaurant delivery, 2X points at grocery stores, grocery delivery, gas stations, EV charging stations and on streaming services. Plus, a $15 credit for annual streaming purchases like Netflix, Hulu, Spotify®, Apple Music, Disney+, HBO Max and more! And earn 1X points on all other eligible purchases. | 3% cash back in the category of your choice, 2% cash back at grocery stores and wholesale clubs (for the first $2,500 in combined choice category/grocery store/wholesale club quarterly purchases), 1% cash back on all other purchases |
| Annual Fee | |||
| $0 introductory annual fee for the first 12 months, after that $95. | $95 | $0* | $0 |
| Regular APR | |||
| 15.99% - 23.99%* (Variable) | 15.99% - 22.99% Variable | 14.99% - 23.99%* (Variable) | 13.99% - 23.99% Variable APR |
| Recommended Credit | |||
| Excellent/Good | Excellent | Excellent/Good | Excellent/Good |
| Card Details | |||
| U.S. Bank Altitude® Connect Visa Signature® Card | Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card | U.S. Bank Altitude® Go Visa Signature® Card | Bank of America® Customized Cash Rewards credit card |
It all comes down to what you’re looking for. The U.S. Bank Altitude® Connect Visa Signature® Card earns a handsome rate on travel and gas station purchases, and a decent rate in some other common spending categories too. Plus, the annual $30 streaming credit (when you make 11 consecutive calendar month purchases of an eligible service) has the potential to reward cardholders nicely for online entertainment. The annual fee is reasonable — $0 introductory annual fee for the first 12 months, after that $95.
However, while this card earns rewards on travel and gas station purchases, it doesn’t let cardholders transfer points to travel partners, and it doesn’t offer protections such as trip cancellation and interruption insurance or baggage delay insurance. If you need more flexibility and protection than you get with the U.S. Bank Altitude® Connect Visa Signature® Card, the Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card is worth considering.