Wells Fargo Autograph^℠ Card Review

If you’re in the market for a credit card that offers rewards in everyday spending categories, the $0 annual fee Wells Fargo Autograph^℠ Card should be on your radar. This card offers elevated points on travel, dining, gas, streaming services, phone plans and more. Plus, if you’re planning to finance a large purchase, there’s an intro APR on purchases for a year.

You won’t get the same luxury travel benefits you’d get with a card that has an annual fee. That said, this card comes with a list of solid benefits and the ability to transfer points to other loyalty programs.

→ Looking for better travel benefits? See our list of best travel credit cards

• Annual fee: $0
• Sign-up bonus: Earn 20,000 bonus points when you spend $1,000 in purchases in the first 3 months - that's a $200 cash redemption value.
• Rewards: Earn unlimited 3X points on restaurants, travel, gas stations, transit, popular streaming services and phone plans. Plus earn 1X points on other purchases.
• Intro purchase APR: 0% intro APR for 12 months from account opening on purchases.
• Regular APR on purchases and balance transfers: 19.49%, 24.49%, or 29.49% Variable APR
• Balance transfer fee: 3% for 120 days from account opening, then up to 5%, min: $5.
• Foreign transaction fee: None
• Other benefits: Cellphone protection, My Wells Fargo Deals, Auto rental collision damage waiver, Zero Liability protection, Roadside Dispatch®, Free FICO credit score access, Emergency cash disbursement and card replacement , Autograph card exclusives, Luxury hotel collection and 24/7 concierge service.
• Recommended credit: Good / Excellent

• Earn 3X points in popular spending categories

  One of the most valuable benefits of the Wells Fargo Autograph^℠ Card is its rewards. You’ll earn unlimited 3X points on restaurants, travel, gas stations, transit, popular streaming services and phone plans. Plus earn 1X points on other purchases. This is an excellent earning rate for a no-annual-fee card.

  Most rewards credit cards only allow you to earn an accelerated rate on either travel or everyday purchases, but the Wells Fargo Autograph^℠ Card allows you to get both.

  Based on LendingTree’s value methodology

  What are Wells Fargo Rewards worth? At least 1 cent per point. For example, if you earn 30,000 points from spending, the value would be about $300. You can get higher values than this by strategically transferring points to one of Wells Fargo’s travel partners.

• Rewards are easy to redeem

  Wells Fargo Autograph^℠ Card rewards are extremely easy to redeem and there are plenty of options to choose from. You can redeem points as statement credits for any qualifying travel purchase with no restrictions or blackout dates. You can also redeem points for cash back at a value of about 1 cent per point, making Wells Fargo Autograph^℠ Card points extraordinarily flexible. Plus, points don’t expire.

  Here are all of the ways you can redeem rewards:

  • Travel: Redeem rewards for flights, car rentals and hotel stays.
  • Cash back: Cash can be redeemed as a deposit or credit to a qualifying redemption account, as a paper check or as a cash withdrawal from a Wells Fargo ATM.
  • Redeem points to your account: Rewards can be redeemed as a credit to a qualified Wells Fargo mortgage, loan or credit product.
  • Redeem points for purchases: Cover eligible purchases you’ve already made with a statement credit. You must have enough rewards to redeem for the entire amount of the transaction.
  • Pay with rewards: Use your rewards to make purchases when you check out with participating merchants.
  • Automatic redemption: Select a designated amount to be redeemed toward an eligible redemption account or through a paper check. Automatic redemptions are available in $25 cash rewards or 2,500-point increments.
  • Gift cards
  • Merchandise: Search for deals from hundreds of retailers.
  • Charitable donations: Redeem your Wells Fargo Rewards to support disaster relief through the American Red Cross.
  • Gift points: Gift your rewards to a rewards account owned by another program customer.
  Learn more about the Wells Fargo Rewards program.

• Transfer points to loyalty partners

  In April 2024, Wells Fargo introduced Points Transfer. This allows you to transfer points earned with your Wells Fargo Autograph^℠ Card as miles, points or credits to participating partner loyalty programs. So far, this includes a few partners, but more are expected to be added. Current partners are:

  • AerClub (1:1 ratio)
  • Air France‑KLM Flying Blue (1:1 ratio)
  • Avianca Lifemiles (1:1 ratio)
  • British Airways Executive Club (1:1 ratio)
  • Choice Privileges® (1:2 ratio)
  • Iberia Plus (1:1 ratio)

• Valuable sign-up bonus

  The Wells Fargo Autograph^℠ Card comes with a valuable sign-up bonus that’s relatively easy to earn. Earn 20,000 bonus points when you spend $1,000 in purchases in the first 3 months - that's a $200 cash redemption value. You’ll have to spend about $333 per month to earn this sign-up bonus.

  The sign-up bonus is pretty comparable to what you’ll see with no annual fee rewards cards. However, some have a lower spending requirement, such as the Capital One Savor Cash Rewards Credit Card (see rates & fees) and Capital One VentureOne Rewards Credit Card (see rates & fees).

• Intro APR on purchases

  If you need to finance a large purchase, you can do so without incurring interest charges for a year with the Wells Fargo Autograph^℠ Card. The card offers a 0% intro APR for 12 months from account opening on purchases. After that, a 19.49%, 24.49%, or 29.49% Variable APR applies.

  While 12 months is a solid length of time, there are cards with longer intro APRs if you need more time to finance. For example, the Wells Fargo Reflect^® Card has a 0% intro APR for 21 months from account opening on purchases. After that, a 17.49%, 23.99%, or 29.24% Variable APR applies. But many of the cards with the longest intro APRs don’t offer rewards. You should consider what you’re planning to use your card for when deciding — financing a large purchase or earning rewards.

  See all of the top 0% intro APR credit cards.

• Cellphone protection

  With the Wells Fargo Autograph^℠ Card, you’ll get up to $600 of cellphone protection when you use your card to pay your monthly cellphone bill (subject to a $25 deductible). Other no-annual-fee cards, such as the Capital One VentureOne Rewards Credit Card (see rates & fees) and Capital One Savor Cash Rewards Credit Card (see rates & fees), don’t offer cellphone protection as a benefit.

  This card also comes with a few other benefits:

  • Auto rental collision damage waiver: Covers theft, damage, valid loss-of-use charges, administrative fees and eligible towing charges for a car rented with your card.
  • Travel and emergency services assistance: Get help for medical and medical emergencies while traveling, as well as other travel mishaps like lost luggage.
  • Roadside Dispatch®: Access to a 24/7 on-demand referral dispatch network that provides emergency roadside assistance, towing or locksmith service.
  • Zero liability protection: Ensures that you won’t be held responsible for unauthorized transactions.
  • Emergency cash disbursement and card replacement: Emergency cash advance or a card replacement within one to three business days after issuer approval.
  • Luxury hotel collection: The Wells Fargo Autograph^℠ Card is a Visa Signature® credit card, meaning you’ll get access to premium benefits and deals at over 900 luxury hotels around the world.
  • 24/7 concierge service: The Visa Signature Concierge helps you find tickets to top sports and entertainment events, book travel, make dinner reservations and more.

• It’s not the best choice for balance transfers

  The Wells Fargo Autograph^℠ Card doesn’t offer an intro APR on balance transfers. If you have high-interest credit card debt that you want to transfer and pay off, you should consider a card with a balance transfer offer. For example, the Wells Fargo Active Cash^® Card offers a 0% intro APR for 12 months from account opening on purchases and qualifying balance transfers. Then, a 19.49%, 24.49%, or 29.49% Variable APR.

  See all balance transfer credit cards with a 0% intro APR.

• Not as many travel perks as annual fee cards

  While the Wells Fargo Autograph^℠ Card offers a few useful travel perks, it lacks the premium perks that come with cards that do have an annual fee. Many premium travel cards offer additional benefits that can easily justify the annual fee if you travel frequently, like TSA PreCheck, lounge access, free checked bags and automatic elite status. With an annual-fee travel card, you’ll usually get a higher sign-up bonus and travel credits.

  For example, the Chase Sapphire Reserve^® card comes with a high $550 annual fee, but you’ll get a long list of benefits including lounge access, a $300 travel credit, flexible points and premium travel insurance. Also, the Wells Fargo Autograph Journey^℠ Card comes with a $95 annual fee and you’ll get a $50 annual statement credit towards airline purchases, trip cancellation/interruption insurance and lost luggage reimbursement.

  See all of the top travel credit cards.

Wells Fargo Autograph^℠ Card vs. Wells Fargo Autograph Journey^℠ Card

The Wells Fargo Autograph Journey^℠ Card is very similar to the Wells Fargo Autograph^℠ Card, but it comes with a $95 annual fee. In exchange for paying an annual fee, you’ll get a better earning rate on travel purchases and a much larger sign-up bonus.

Plus, you’ll get more travel benefits including travel accident insurance, lost baggage reimbursement and trip cancellation and interruption protection. The card also comes with a $50 annual statement credit, automatically applied on your first airline purchase of $50 or more.

If you’re a frequent traveler and would benefit from these additional perks, it’s worth choosing the Wells Fargo Autograph Journey^℠ Card. But, if you’d rather pay a $0 annual fee, the Wells Fargo Autograph^℠ Card is still a great choice.

Wells Fargo Autograph^℠ Card vs. Capital One VentureOne Rewards Credit Card

The Capital One VentureOne Rewards Credit Card is a no-annual-fee rewards credit card that focuses on travel rewards (see rates & fees). You’ll earn 1.25 Miles per dollar on every purchase, every day; 5 Miles per dollar on hotels and rental cars booked through Capital One Travel. Capital One miles are worth about 1 cent each when redeemed through the portal, but can be worth much more when transferred to one of Capital One’s more than 15 travel partners.

This card also offers a longer intro APR on both purchases and balance transfers for 15 months (see rates & fees). After that, a regular APR of 19.49% - 29.49% (Variable) applies (a fee applies to balance transfers) (see rates & fees). The Capital One VentureOne Rewards Credit Card is a better option if you’re looking to do a balance transfer or earn high rewards on travel. But, the Wells Fargo Autograph^℠ Card offers more reward categories.

Wells Fargo Autograph^℠ Card vs. Capital One Savor Cash Rewards Credit Card

Like the Wells Fargo Autograph^℠ Card, the Capital One Savor Cash Rewards Credit Card offers elevated earnings on a variety of categories. However, it’s potentially more lucrative, since those categories include both restaurants and groceries. You’ll earn 3% Cash Back at grocery stores (excluding superstores like Walmart® and Target®), on dining, entertainment and popular streaming services, 5% Cash Back on hotels and rental cars booked through Capital One Travel (terms apply), 8% Cash Back on Capital One Entertainment purchases, 1% Cash Back on all other purchases.

This card earns cash back rather than points so you can redeem your cash back for any amount at any time rather than using points for statement credits. There’s also a long intro APR for 15 months on purchases and balance transfers (a balance transfer fee applies) (see rates & fees). Then, an APR of 19.49% - 29.49% (Variable) will apply (see rates & fees).

If you want to earn a generous rewards rate on everyday purchases, like dining, gas, streaming services and phone plans, the $0 annual fee Wells Fargo Autograph^℠ Card is a great option.

But if you want access to a more valuable sign-up bonus and more robust travel benefits, you may be better served by a travel credit card with an annual fee. Or, if you’re looking for a card to transfer a balance, you should look for a card with an intro APR on balance transfers.