Update 9/20/24: Gigsky benefit has been extended through 11/11/25 (ht Steven)
Update 9/19/24: Reports are the $30 streaming credit are posting despite only six months posting: 1, 2
Update 8/27/24: reader Physicist points out that you’ll still be able to get a full $.01 per point when redeeming into a U.S. Bank bank account, or when redeeming for travel either in the Altitude Rewards Center or redeeming for travel with Real Time Rewards.
Update 4/10/24: Landing page also says that GigSky benefit will be removed on 8/31/2024.
Original Post:
U.S. Bank has announced major changes coming to the Altitude Connect card, effective September 9, 2024:
Biggest changes:
- The $95 Annual Membership Fee will be removed.
- Points are going down in value from 1 cent-per-point to .8 cents per point. This is true for cash back, Real-Time Rewards, U.S. Bank Rewards Card, Shop with Points at Amazon.com and Paypal. You can still get 1 cent per point in the Altitude Rewards Center when redeeming for travel.
- The $30 credit for annual streaming service purchases will be discontinued.Â
Points Earnings:
- 4XÂ points at gas stations and EV charging stations will be limited to your first $1,000 each quarter.
- The card earns 2XÂ points on dining, streaming services and at grocery stores. Beginning September 9, 2024, discount stores/supercenters and wholesale clubs are excluded.
- You will continue to earn 5X points on prepaid hotels and car rentals booked directly in the Altitude Rewards Center and 4X points on travel purchases.
Other Changes:
- New benefit: Points can be redeemed for a monetary charitable contribution across a variety of nonprofits and U.S. Bank will match your contribution at 100%.
- The cell phone protection benefit will no longer be available with your card.
Final Thoughts
All other benefits remain unchanged. Notably, the card will keep the Precheck or global entry credit. The card also offers complimentary Priority Pass Select membership with 4 free visits. These are sweet perks for a no-fee card.
Altitude Go Card
It’s not clear to me of what changes are happening to the Altitude Go card. It appears from this page that the card will maintain its $15 streaming credit. I’m not sure if points are going down to .8 cents per point on that card.
Hat tip to reader TJ
Has anyone been able to renew Gigsky since the benefit got extended?
Used to go to https://app.gigsky.com/#/my-sims?type=esim and click on “Buy again” on the free USB plan to recart it to order again, but now clicking on “Buy again” loads a page with the plan description instead and nothing to click on to actually recart it to order again. Tried Chrome and Firefox, and it’s not actually loading it in cart.
US Bank’s website prominently advertises “no foreign transaction fees” for this card, it doesn’t seem like it’s just a grandfather for existing cardholders like me. This has got to be the best all-around no-AF travel card, with good earning rates and perks you don’t typically get with no-AF cards, like the 4 Priority Pass visits and PreCheck/Global Entry reimbursement. The GigSky benefit is a nice bonus that has saved me over $50 this year.
Agree with your points, this card is solid. The 4 Priority Pass visits include restaurants, which is rare for PP on other cards.
Another change told to me a few days ago by customer service rep over the phone that as of September 9 2024 the card will have foreign transaction fee for new applicants (current card holders before that date are grandfathered – i.e. still keep no FTF). The same is true for the Altitude Go
Altitude Connect has 0% foreign transaction fees. Altitude Go has 3% FTF for both new and existing card holders. Check your card agreement on the online banking
Omer
That’s not what I was told by their customer service rep. I called to check if there is any change to my Altitude Go which I have for a few years now. Rep told me I was grandfathered with no FTF but said that new applicants for both the Go and the Connect (which I never had) now have FTF (any applicant after September 9). I am just telling verbatim what a customer service rep told me over the phone. He seems to be reading from an internal memo. Although now that I look at the landing page for new applicants for the connect it says “no foreign transaction fees”, so I don’t know what’s going on
You can request cardmember agreement on online banking. Go to your card, scroll down to go to the “Account Services” tab,
Omer
then Request a copy of cardmember agreement. After 1 business day, you’ll find out. Again, Altitude Connect has 0% FTF while Altitude Go has 3% FTF.
Well I did just that and got the agreement and it says FTF is %0, so I guess I was indeed grandfathered
It may be a YMMV thing then. Some readers reported that they’re seeing 3% in the cardmember agreement. You take your chances
Just received a letter saying not eligible for bonus on US bank credit card within last 5 years. I have been receiving bonuses on other US bank cards multiple times in the past, not sure of this change will extend to all US bank personal and business cards.
You’ve been able to churn us bank credit cards…that’s gotta be some nice returns.
How does one find out the terms at the time of enrollement (I didnt print and save), if they changed the terms ( such as added 5 year language) later on then I may be eligible to file a complaint with CFPB and get my, can someone chime on this?
Maybe you can try this with Amex for adding the LifeTime language. Amex is the big guy and US Bank is the little guy. Give the little guy a break.
mark
Wtf, a credit with priority pass (including dining) with 0 annual fee.
Can confirm and it was wired. They also tried to charge me the AF and I just asked to refunds for reasons and they did.
GigSky benefit has been extended to 11.11.2025
https://www.myvisacardportal.com/usbank/en_us/altitude/altitudeconnect/offer-detail.html#travel_perks/A986954.html
The GigSky worked surprisingly well in Mexico. We went to several rural Mayan sites and had decent speeds for the four days we were there.
It’s a great benefit, especially on a no AF card. Saves me probably $60/year
It was mentioned on 8/22 it had been extended instead of discontinued before the original discontinue date mentioned so there was no lapse in coverage https://www.doctorofcredit.com/major-changes-to-u-s-bank-altitude-connect-card/#comment-1897306
What’s going on with the annual fee for this card? It’s $0 now, but are they refunding it if you paid less than a year ago?
Very nice, got the $30 streaming credit despite being only 3 months into my second 12 month period.
I also got the $30 streaming credit. I had either 9 or 10 months of the payments on the card and stopped it this month since the card changed.
You should def get this card because Altitude Go is now charging 3% Foreign Transaction fees and Altitude Connect does not charge it and also doesn’t charge annual fees