Bank of America® Travel Rewards credit card review: Flat-rate travel rewards with no annual fee

The Bank of America Travel Rewards Card offers a decent flat reward rate on every purchase. Not only that, you can pay down your purchases with an intro APR offer comparable to many dedicated low-interest cards.

Intro APR: Great length for purchases and balance transfers

The Bank of America Travel Rewards card offers a 0 percent intro APR for 15 billing cycles on purchases and balance transfers made within the first 60 days. A 3 percent balance transfer fee applies for transfers made within 60 days of account opening. After your intro balance transfer fee offer ends, the fee for future balance transfers is 4 percent. After the promotional period, an 18.24 percent to 28.24 percent variable ongoing APR applies. 

Compared to competing reward cards that offer a 12-month intro APR period or shorter, this is a fairly lengthy offer that can provide you with more than enough time to pay down a transferred balance or big purchase during the first year. Once your intro APR offer ends, you’ll still enjoy long-term value from the card by earning flat-rate rewards on purchases.

Welcome offer: Decent value compared to similar cards

Bank of America offers 25,000 bonus points when you spend at least $1,000 on qualifying purchases within 90 days of opening your account. If you redeem these points for a statement credit, they’ll be worth about $250 in statement credit toward travel. This is a generous offer for a card with no annual fee.

A $250 value is slightly higher than what you’ll find with other no-annual-fee cards, but remember that some competing cards only require a $500 spend to earn a $200 bonus: You have to spend double with the Bank of America Travel Rewards card to earn an extra $50 in rewards.  But on the bright side, the Bank of America Travel Rewards card doesn’t come with an annual fee that eats into your reward earnings. 

Rewards: Earn more with the preferred rewards program 

The Bank of America Travel Rewards credit card allows you to earn unlimited 1.5X points on all purchases. However, the Bank of America Preferred Rewards® program gives the Travel Rewards card an edge over similar competing cards if you already have an eligible account with Bank of America or Merrill. 

Depending on your status tier, you can earn 25 percent to 75 percent bonus points on every purchase. That means Platinum Honors Preferred Rewards members can earn up to 2.62X points on all purchases and up to 5.25X points on Travel Center purchases. Plus, you could receive other benefits like boosted interest rates on savings accounts and reduced interest rates on your home equity and auto loans.

Here are Bank of America’s Preferred Rewards status tiers:

• Gold (at least a $20,000 combined balance): 25 percent bonus rewards
• Platinum (at least a $50,000 combined balance): 50 percent bonus rewards
• Platinum Honors (at least a $100,000 combined balance): 75 percent bonus rewards

The Preferred Rewards program also offers a Diamond Tier status above the Platinum Honors Tier, but it carries the same 75 percent bonus rewards boost and is only available to account holders with a combined balance of $1 million to $10 million.

This boost results in a card with one of the best flat rewards rates available, especially for no annual fee. It could make the Travel Rewards card an exceptional deal since rival cards typically max out at 2X rewards on general spending and 5X rewards on comparable travel portal purchases through the issuer.

Redemption: Fair options for a variety of travel and dining categories

You can redeem your points for gift cards, cash or a statement credit to cover travel-related purchases. Even better, you can request credit for your travel-related purchases up to 12 months after you make them. This feature opens the door to exceptional deals you might not find with other travel reward programs, such as discounted bookings through external travel websites. 

You can also redeem points for cash back as a check or direct deposit to an eligible Bank of America checking or savings account or Merrill Cash Management account, though there’s a 2,500-point redemption minimum for travel credits and cash and a 3,125-point minimum for gift cards. 

One of the best features of the Bank of America Travel Rewards card’s travel credit redemption is that it covers categories that may not typically qualify as travel or dining. For example, you can redeem points on admission tickets to tourist attractions, bar and nightclub purchases, transit and RV and boat rentals. However, some travel or dining-related expenses, such as in-flight goods and services and duty-free airport purchases, aren’t eligible for statement credits.

Knowing which purchases qualify for credits can get confusing, so here’s a list of Bank of America Travel Rewards card categories eligible for travel credits:

Though the Bank of America Travel Rewards Card has plenty of perks, it has some drawbacks compared to competitors, including a lower value for cash back redemption and the inability to transfer points to hotel or airline partners.

Flexibility: Low redemption value and you can’t transfer points

This card offers a solid rewards rate on your purchases, whether you’re traveling or at home, but these travel rewards work differently than typical bonus miles. Instead of using rewards to book travel, you can redeem Bank of America travel rewards as statement credits on travel or dining purchases, making this card function more like a cash back credit card.

When you redeem this way, they're worth 1 cent each — so 25,000 points equals $250 in statement credit. But redeeming your rewards for anything else is a value loss. When you redeem for gift cards, the value of your points will vary by retailer, leading to inconsistent value. And when you redeem for cash, your points are only worth 0.6 cents each (or $150 for every 25,000 points). 

Compared to Chase and other issuers with robust travel reward programs, this card offers more flexible reward categories, but you can’t book travel with your points or transfer them to travel partners for a higher value. Bank of America Travel Rewards points are stuck at a maximum value of 1.0 cents cents per point. According to Bankrate’s point valuations, several issuers’ points or miles can be worth around 2 cents each on average with the right transfer partner.

Perks: Doesn’t quite stand out compared to other travel cards

The Bank of America Travel Rewards card isn’t as robust in perks as other travel-oriented rewards credit cards. Along with basic features like free access to your credit score, overdraft protection and account alerts, it has just a few extra benefits outside the Preferred Rewards program that might be helpful during your travels, such as:

• BankAmeriDeals: Bank of America cardholders have exclusive access to BankAmeriDeals, the issuer’s version of card-linked limited-time offer programs like Amex Offers or Chase Offers. You can log into your account and usually earn anywhere from 5 percent to 50 percent extra cash back (up to a certain limit) or a sum of cash back (usually $4 to $35) for spending a certain amount at participating restaurants and other merchants after activating the respective offer. BankAmeriDeals won’t rake in big bucks, but the “coins” you earn for regularly using the program can help you access upgraded deals.
• Visa Signature benefits: As a Visa credit card, your Bank of America Travel Rewards card grants access to a portfolio of Visa Signature perks that can be useful while traveling. Contact your issuer to determine the specific features your card offers. You can expect standard benefits like extended warranty protection, Visa Signature® Concierge services, Roadside Dispatch®, lost luggage reimbursement and travel and emergency assistance. However, you’ll want to contact Bank of America to determine the specific features your card offers.
• Museums On Us: If you love planning day trips to popular museums, then this benefit is an underrated gem. Simply presenting your Bank of America debit or credit card and a valid photo ID will grant you free admission to over 225 cultural institutions during the first weekend of each month.

However, in the travel card landscape, these features aren't particularly competitive. Many of the more popular travel cards offer airport perks such as TSA PreCheck or Global Entry credits, in-flight or airline credit, airport lounge access, free checked bag(s), rental car assistance and more. You’ll normally have to pay an annual fee for these types of travel cards, but these card perks typically offer enough value to offset the cost of that annual fee. 

Fees: Not terrible, but charges a balance transfer fee

Though it lacks an annual fee and has a long intro APR offer for purchases and balance transfers, the Bank of America Travel Rewards card charges a 3 percent fee for each balance transfer you make (for the first 60 days; after the intro balance transfer fee offer ends, the fee for future balance transfers is 4 percent). 

If one of your primary goals in opening a new credit card is to consolidate existing debt and save on interest, this fee could prove a dealbreaker. If you have an especially large debt to transfer or want to perform several balance transfers over time, a dedicated balance transfer credit card might better serve your needs. 

If you value flexibility, the Bank of America Travel Rewards card is one of the best travel credit cards with no annual fee. It doesn’t operate like a traditional travel card with bonus points or miles, but works like a flat-rate cash back card — except your statement credits are restricted to travel and dining-related categories. But if you don’t travel frequently and you like to redeem for cash back, you’re probably better off with a true flat-rate cash back card. 

Since the Bank of America Travel Rewards card is a flat-rate card, the best cards to pair it with will reward your most frequent spending categories with higher rates. Your Travel Rewards card points are best used to cover travel and dining purchases, so you’ll want a card that covers spending outside those two categories.

The Bank of America Travel Rewards Card offers plenty of benefits, but it may not be the best option for everyone. It might be a good fit if you align with one of the following personas. 

The no-annual-fee Bank of America Travel Rewards card is a good choice for frequent travelers who value flexibility, particularly Preferred Rewards members already banking with Bank of America or Merrill.

Since you can redeem points for a travel rewards statement credit, you won’t have to deal with blackout dates or travel restrictions when redeeming, and you have the freedom to book through third-party sites for better travel deals. You can also use your points to cover a wide range of travel purchases, from aquarium tickets to hotel stays, which aren’t covered by comparable rewards cards. 

However, there aren’t any travel-specific perks or opportunities to transfer rewards, so if you want richer travel opportunities you may find this card lacking. A 2 percent flat-rate cash back card may be a better option if you aren’t a Preferred Rewards member.

We rate credit cards using a proprietary card scoring system that ranks each card’s estimated average rewards rate, estimated annual earnings, welcome bonus value, APR, fees, perks and more against those of other cards in its primary category.

Each card feature is assigned a weighting based on how important it is to people looking for a card in a given category. These features are then scored based on how they rank relative to the features on other cards in the category. Based on these calculations, each card receives an overall rating of 1-5 stars (with 5 being the highest possible score and 1 being the lowest). 

We analyzed over 150 of the most popular rewards and cash back cards to determine where each stacked up based on their value, cost, benefits and more. Here are some of the key factors that influenced this card’s overall score and how the score influenced our review: