We’ve shared news and details about U.S. Bank’s new Altitude Reserve Visa Infinite Card before. We now have some more confirmed details thanks to Wallaby (and more again from Travel After Work).
- Card will launch on May 2nd
- Sign up bonus of 50,000 points after $4,500 in spend within 90 days of account opening. This is worth $750 towards travel, no higher targeted bonuses will be offered.
- Card earns at the following rates:
- 3x on mobile payments. This only includes NFC transactions (e.g it won’t included in app purchases or Samsung Pay purchases that turn a regular purchase into NFC, aka LoopPay)
- 3x on travel booked directly (airlines, hotels, car rental agencies)
- 1x on all other purchases
- Annual fee is $400 for the primary cardholder and $75 for authorized users. You can offset the annual fee with 35,000 points (1.14¢ per point)
- $325 annual travel credit. Can be used against purchases made directly from airlines, hotels, car rental companies, taxis, limousines, passenger trains and cruise lines. Update: This is based on a calendar year, yay! Update2: Travel After Work says cardmember, Wallaby says Calendar. Wallaby now says card member as well.
- Priority Pass Select Membership. Limited to four visits and four guests visits each membership year.
- Gogo Pass. 12 complimentary passes each membership year (same as what is offered on other U.S. Bank cards)
- Visa Infinite Benefits. Unclear if it will have $100 saving on round trip flights or not (according to travel after work, this benefit doesn’t apply) Minimum credit line of $5,000 instead of $10,000 normally required.
- TSA PreCheck/Global Entry Reimbursement once every four year.
- Silvercar discount. Rent an Audi A4 with no lines or paperwork from airport locations in select cities and receive a discount of up to 30% Â on rentals of two days or more.
- GroundLink Black Car Service. 15% discount and $30 off first ride
- Metal card.
Eligiblity
Only U.S. Bank customers with one of the following relationships will be eligible:
- U.S. Bank Checking or Savings account
- Certificate of Deposit
- Mortgage
- Home Equity Loan
- Home Equity Line of Credit
- Auto/Boat/RV Loan
- Personal Loans and Lines
- Private Banking account
- Consumer Credit Card
Thankfully most people will have a consumer credit card with U.S. Bank already, if not setting up a small certificate of deposit is not difficult. The account does need to be open for a minimum of 35 days prior to submitting an application.
You also need to go to a local branch to be able to apply (branch locator here).
Transferring Points
U.S. Bank does not have any transfer partners for this card but you’ll be allowed to transfer Flexperk points to Altitude points at a 1:1 ratio. Not clear if you can transfer Altitude to Flexperk as well, if you can then those points are worth up to 2¢ each.
Our Verdict
Lounge access is very limited with only four free passes. Obviously lounge access is much better with American Express’ Platinum, but the fact that this card earns at such a high rate on mobile wallet purchases means a different market segment is more likely to keep the card and pay the annual fee long term.
It’s interesting that only NFC payments will earn that 3x rate, if that didn’t add that restriction then Samsung Pay users would have been able to earn 3x everywhere (really worth 4.5% towards travel). Still waiting to also find out if the travel credit is based on a card member or calendar year, fingers crossed it’s calendar!
This is another card where it’s extremely obvious to apply for it and get the sign up bonus and other benefits, but it’s less obvious if it really makes sense to keep it past year one. What are your thoughts?
