PNC launched the new Premier Traveler which earns 2% back on all purchases in the form of travel credits. It also comes with a 30,000 point signup bonus which can be redeemed for $300 in travel credits.
Contents
Card Overview
PNC Bank recently launched the Premier Traveler credit card which offers 2 miles per dollar on all spend, worth 2% back when redeemed against travel charges. It also comes with a 30,000 point ($300) signup bonus and has no foreign transaction fees. There is an annual fee of $85, waived the first year.
The card is very similar to Barclay’s Arrival Plus and Capital One’s Venture cards which also earn 2% back when redeemed for travel and have no foreign transaction fee.
PNC has long had some cards with complicated rewards systems, so it’s nice to see them introduce a more straightforward option.
Geographic Limitation
PNC only offers their credit cards to people with addresses in the following states: Alabama, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Maryland, Michigan, Missouri, North Carolina, New Jersey, Ohio, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Virginia, Wisconsin, West Virginia and Washington D.C.
Rewards
Premier Traveler earns 2 miles per dollar of spend. Rewards can be redeemed in your online login or over the phone.
Travel Credit
Each mile is worth 1 cent when redeemed for a travel purchase.
You can redeem for travel charges of 5,000 points or more. You may redeem for all or part of your travel purchase. For example, if you have 5,000 points and you had a travel charge of $50 or $100, you’ll be able to redeem the 5,000 points for a $50 statement credit.
Travel purchases must be redeemed within 90 days of when the travel charge was made.
Other Redemptions
Miles can also be redeemed for a statement credit at the rate of .5¢ per point. To redeem for cash, you only need a minimum of 1,000 points which will yield a $5 statement credit. This option is useful if you have less than $50 to redeem.
Miles can also be redeemed for travel-related gift cards, but no information is given on what the redemption rates are.
Miles can also be used to book travel directly through a designated provider at a rate of 1¢ per point (minimum of 5,000 points). However, I assume everyone would prefer to book it on their own and then redeem the charge for a travel statement credit.
Closed Accounts
If your account is closed with a miles balance, you will automatically receive the cash redemption option, and you’ll get a credit to your account of .5¢ per point. Amounts of less than 200 miles will be forfeited.
Signup Bonus
- Receive 30,000 bonus points, worth $300 toward travel, after spending $3,000 within 3 billing cycles
The wording implies that PNC calculates the 3 months based on the billing cycles, even if it’s less than 90-days. So keep that in mind.
Fees
The card has an annual fee of $85 per year. The fee is waived the first year.
No foreign transaction fee.
Miscellaneous Details
- I’ve seen a couple reports indicating that PNC pulls Experian for credit card applications
- A couple of reports indicate that PNC is a bit tougher than other banks to approve credit cards
- You don’t need an existing relationship with PNC to apply for their credit cards
Our Verdict
$300 almost-cash signup bonus isn’t bad, although it’s less than Barclay and Capital One’s $400 bonus.
Once we have the fee-free Citi DoubleCash and Fidelity 2% cards, all these other complicated 2% cards with annual fees attached don’t make a whole lot of sense for most people.
The main reasons people take a look at these travel 2% cards, like the PNC card, Barclay’s Arrival Plus, or Capital One’s Venture is for one of a few reasons:
- To get the signup bonus; since the annual fee is waived the first year, you can pocket the nice bonuses attached to these cards
- If you need a card with no foreign transaction fee; all three of these cards (PNC, Arrival, Venture) have no foreign transaction fees while the DoubleCash and Fidelity cards do have a 3% or 1% fee, respectively
- If you need multiple 2% cards to increase your spend bandwidth or for any other reason
- If you have trouble getting approved with the other banks
HT: kgarv3 on Reddit
