Bank of America® Travel Rewards credit card
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- Annual Fee:
- $0
- Purchase Intro APR:
- 0% Introductory APR on purchases for 12 billing cycles
- Regular APR:
- 14.99% - 22.99% Variable APR on purchases and balance transfers
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Bank of America® Travel Rewards credit card last updated on 4.29.2020
The information about the Bank of America Travel Rewards credit card has been collected independently by Bankrate.com. The card details have not been reviewed or approved by the card issuer.
Bank of America® Travel Rewards credit card: Details and benefits:
The Bank of America Travel Rewards credit card includes some intriguing perks available to cardholders who have a banking relationship with Bank of America, but those extra goodies aren’t enough to make this a first-tier travel rewards credit card.
The Travel Rewards card (formerly the BankAmericard Travel Rewards Credit Card) comes with no annual fee, which makes its only decent rewards program look a bit better. You’ll earn 1.5 points for every dollar you spend. Top-of-the-line travel cards pay 2X spending or more — but you’ll pay for it in the annual fee.
The signup bonus is also fairly standard for a annual fee-free travel card. You’ll earn 25,000 online bonus points if you make at least $1,000 in purchases in the first 90 days of account opening – that can be a $250 statement credit toward travel purchases.
Again, pretty good, if you’re not interested in higher-tier earnings.
Advantages
- Get 25,000 bonus points when you spend at least $1,000 within the first 90 days of opening an account.
- Points earned can be redeemed for a statement credit for any qualified travel spending.
- No foreign transaction fees.
Disadvantages
- You have to make your travel purchase first and then redeem your rewards as a credit on your statement. Some other rewards programs allow you to use your rewards directly to make the purchase.
- No additional perks like lounge access or travel protections that come with many other travel rewards cards.
- There are other rewards cards that earn a higher flat rate back.
Is it worth it for you?
If you’re an existing Bank of America customer, the pumped-up rewards program makes this card a better proposition.
You’ll have to have some serious cash invested in this bank to earn the Preferred Rewards member bonus of 25 to 75 percent, which probably still isn’t enough to compel you to switch bank accounts just for the credit card rewards.
What can those BofA bonuses earn you?
If you have the highest status of Platinum Honors with Bank of America, which comes with a hefty $100,000 minimum account balance requirement, you can earn a 75 percent bonus on your cash-back rewards.
If you have no banking relationship and spend $1,000 in 90 days, you earn $15 in redeemable travel credits back.
But if you have the highest Platinum Honors Preferred status, that additional 75 percent means you’ll get a total of $26.25 on the $1,000 spent.
Without the bonus, this card isn’t as competitive, but you can still earn decent rewards, especially if not having an annual fee is important to you. If you’re a travel rewards beginner or you don’t need added perks like lounge access or airline credits, this could be a good starter card option.
Get the most value from Bank of America Travel Rewards credit card
Beyond the rewards you’ll earn on your purchases with this card, its decent introductory offer also makes it a bit more compelling.
There’s no introductory offer for balance transfers, but if you’re looking to make a big purchase soon, you can use this card to earn rewards and then pay it off over the intro APR period, lasting for 12 billing cycles (14.99% – 22.99% variable APR thereafter).
If you’re a Bank of America Preferred Rewards member, the 25 – 75 percent bonus can also add significant value to your rewards. You have to maintain a combined balance of at least $20,000 with either Bank of America or Merrill accounts to get these increased rewards but if you do, the rewards value goes from good to great.
How much are points worth?
The best way to redeem your Travel Rewards points is for a statement credit towards travel purchases. You can also redeem for cash or gift cards, though they’ll earn lesser value.
Redemption is pretty straightforward and standard, with each point being worth about one cent in value. If you spend $10,000 during the first year, that’ll earn 15,000 points which you can redeem for $150 in statement credit.
If you also qualify for the 25,000-point sign-up bonus, you can earn an additional $250 in statement credits and boost your first year earnings to a total $400.
How to redeem rewards
Use your points to redeem for a statement credit to pay for any travel-related expenses including flights, hotels, vacation packages, rental cars, cruises and baggage fees.
You don’t have to have to have the full amount of credit available to redeem, partial redemptions are allowed. Points never expire and there is no fee to redeem them.