Bank of America Premium Rewards Elite Card
Bank of America has been long rumored to release a new premium card to rival Amex Platinum, Chase Sapphire Reserve and now Capital One Venture X as well. As the launch of the Bank of America Premium Rewards Elite Card nears, we now have more information about the welcome bonus, benefits and earning rates. We also know the price tag of $550 per year. Let’s look at the details, and see if this is a card for you.
Welcome Bonus
- Earn 50,000 bonus points if you use your new credit card account to make eligible purchases totaling at least $3,000 (exclusive of any fees, including the annual fee, returns and adjustments) within 90 days of the account open date.
- Annual Fee: $550
- Application Link (not officially released yet)
Earning Rates
Here’s the earning structure for this card:
- 2X points on travel and dining purchases
- 1.5X points per dollar on all other purchases
Preferred Rewards members earn can earn a bonus of 25% to 75% on every purchase. This means that you can get up to 3.5X points on travel and dining purchases, and up to 2.62X points on all other purchases.
You can redeem points for travel, cash back, a statement credit, distinctive experiences or gift cards.
Other Perks and Benefits
- $300 in statement credits each calendar year if you make qualifying airline incidental fee transactions.
- $150 in statement credits each calendar year if you make qualifying rideshare, food delivery, streaming service and fitness transactions at select merchants.
- $100 in statement credits per account every four years in connection with the TSA Pre✓® or Global Entry program when you use your Premium Rewards® Elite credit card to pay the application fee
- 12-month Priority Pass Select membership to access airport VIP lounges worldwide currently participating in the Priority Pass Select program with their accompanying guests
- Receive 20% off the cost of airfare when redeeming points through the Bank of America Travel Center. To be eligible for the 20% discount, the airfare itinerary must be booked online at bankofamerica.com or through the Premium Rewards Elite concierge service using the Bank of America Travel booking system.
- Visa Infinite benefits.
- No Foreign Transaction Fees
Conclusion
The new Bank of America Elite Visa Infinite Card comes with several credits such as $300 for airline incidental fees, $150 for rideshares, food delivery, streaming and fitness, and $100 for TSA PreCheck or Global Entry.
The card comes with complimentary Priority Pass Select membership. You get 20% off the cost of airfare when redeeming points through the Bank of America Travel Center. It earns 2X points on travel and dining purchases and 1.5X on everything else. That could go as high as 3.5X and 2.62X for Preferred Rewards members.
But the welcome bonus is only 50,000 points. That is pretty low for a premium credit card that comes with a $550 annual fee.
The card has not officially launched yet, so there might be some minor changes to the listed benefits and maybe the welcome offer. As it stands, the card falls behind the recently launched Capital One Venture X Card, Chase Sapphire Reserve and Amex Platinum.
Let us know what you think!
HT: Doctor of Credit
 Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card
Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card is the old king of travel rewards cards. Right now
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Learn more about this card and its features!
Opinions, reviews, analyses & recommendations are the author’s alone, and have not been reviewed, endorsed or approved by any of these entities.
What a dud! BoA really had a good opportunity here, but completely blew it. I’ll stick with my CSR!!!
20% off airfare when using points has the potential to be quite attractive.
I find this a good one for next few weeks. The fees are calendar year based so you can potentially score three times before the next few hits and walk away with much more than what you paid for. Are you willing to give up a slot if you are under 5/24 is key question here. Who knows based on the initial response the card might be spiced up with additional benefits retroactively.
Yup. Pass.
Compared to Capital One’s new Venture X card, Bank of America’s card looks like a cheap (more expensive, actually) knockoff. Aside from the Venture X’s lower annual fee and twice the signup bonus points, Capital One’s new lounges and large portfolio of foreign airline points transfer partners shows their commitment to premium card holders.
Capital One Venture X Card: contender
Bank of America Premium Rewards Elite Card: pretender
BofA had to something in this space. But, as with its other offerings, this card demonstrates it really isn’t in the game. What a poor offering.
Hard pass.
Thud 2
Thud