[CA only] Patelco CU Passage Rewards World Elite Mastercard Review – 25,000 Point Bonus + 2% Everywhere + $85 Annual Fee Waived First Year

Originally posted on November 5th, 2016. Reposting on November 21st, 2017 as the card is now offering a sign up bonus of 25,000 points after $5,000 in spend. Might be worth considering for some people who can easily meet that spend requirement and have taken advantage of better deals already. Hat tip to reader Lrdx.

Reader Jay B sent me a link to the Passage Rewards World Elite Mastercard and also asked why we didn’t cover more credit cards from credit unions and smaller financial institutions. Normally the credit cards these places offer aren’t that interesting, or if they are we simply do not know about them (so make sure you contact us if you find anything of interest).

Card Basics

  • Card earns at the following rates:
    • 3x points per $1 spent on all travel and dining purchases
    • 2x points per $1 spent on all other purchases
  • Annual fee of $85 is waived the first year
  • APR from 10.40%
  • No balance transfer fee
  • Sign up bonus of 25,000 points after $5,000 in spend
  • MasterCard World Elite Benefits

How Much Are Points Worth?

Obviously 3x on travel and dining and 2x everywhere is great, but only if the points are actually valuable. This card earns Patelco Rewards points and there is no cap on the amount of points you can earn. Points also never expire.

Points can be redeemed for gift cards, travel and statement credit. The rewards site doesn’t show the redemption rates for travel or gift cards, but on this page it does give us the rate for statement credit redemption:

Points can be converted to cash at any time at a value of $.01 per point. A minimum of 2,500 points is required for cash redemption

Eligibility

You need to be a member of this credit union to apply for the credit card, you can view the full requirements here. The most common ways to be eligible are:

  • You live or regularly work, worship or attend school in Alameda, Contra Costa, Marin, Napa, Sacramento, San Francisco, San Mateo, Santa Clara, Solano, or Sonoma counties
  • You live or regularly work, worship or attend school in the California cities of Atwater, Auburn, Bakersfield, Eureka, Laguna, Los Banos, McKinleyville, Merced, Rocklin, Roseville, Santa Cruz, or Tracy

Our Verdict

Don’t think this card is worth considering unless you can get more than 1¢ per point when you redeem for gift cards or travel. That’s because of the $85 annual fee and the fact that there are cards that earn at 2% or more on all purchases and 3% or more on dining & travel.

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6 Comments
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Matthew
Matthew (@guest_1113015)
December 17, 2020 20:42

This card has been discontinued.

Fiona
Fiona (@guest_520747)
November 21, 2017 11:44

Hi Doc, thanks for being awesome as always.

Suggestion: Put the $85 annual fee in the title, so that doesn’t look like “Double Cash / Fidelity, but with a sign-up bonus”

Lrdx
Lrdx (@guest_519379)
November 20, 2017 01:13

This card has a 25000 points ($250) signup bonus with $5000 spend now.
Also their no-fee and $35 AF cards both have 10000 point / $2500 spend offer.

Aram
Aram (@guest_312708)
November 5, 2016 23:18

I have my first credit card from there (I don’t remember how I got it, I live in NY) so I have to keep it and hope some nice rewards program will come to it one day. But they have another nice distinct product: “Auto Convenience Check”. Basically it’s a car loan in form of a check (which expires in 3 months) you can fill the amount and give to a private seller closing the deal right away. I was pre-approved for 2.36% (no hard pull for me) but they will pull your credit and if your FICO is more than 750 you’ll qualify for that or 2.49%. The downside is that it doesn’t work with ‘used car dealers’ (works only with private sellers or franchised car dealers) and every other seller in craigslist is apparently a dealer. Also you won’t be able to finance the sales tax portion whereas the regular loan will cover tax too.

Aram
Aram (@guest_312709)
November 5, 2016 23:20

P.S. Patelco pulls experian