U.S. Bank Altitude Reserve 3X Mobile Wallet & More
A couple of weeks ago I covered some rumors/leaked details that have emerged about a new possible premium credit card from U.S. Bank that is set to hit the market in May. At the time we heard some vague details, but everything was not yet confirmed. While we still do not yet have official confirmation, some more detailed information has made it to Reddit via Travel After Work.
Earnings
Let me start with the good great part. One of the leaked rumors we saw was that the U.S. Bank Altitude Reserve will earn 3X points in both the “Travel” and “Mobile Wallet” categories. At the time we didn’t know what would count as purchases in those categories, but now we do. Today’s leak confirms the great news.
Earn 3X points per $1 for eligible net travel purchases made directly with airlines, hotels, car rental companies, taxis, limousines, passenger trains and cruise line companies.
Earn 3X points per $1 for eligible net mobile wallet purchases when using the Altitude Reserve card with your mobile device to pay through Apple Pay,® Android Pay,™ Samsung Pay and Microsoft Wallet.
Earning 3X on travel is nothing new (the Sapphire Reserve earns the same for example), however the 3X on Mobile Wallet purchases is huge. Now that we know this includes Android, Samsung and Apple Pay, I almost want to cry. Those technologies are accepted at a ton of merchants with the list growing everyday.
Travel Credit
The U.S. Bank Altitude card will supposedly come with a $400 annual fee. This fee is partially offset by a $325 travel credit. According to this leak, the credit will be automatically applied to your account.
Account holders can earn up to $325 every cardmember year in automatic statement credits for travel purchases made directly from airlines, hotels, car rental companies, taxis, limousines, passenger trains and cruise lines.
If this leak is correct, then the credit will be issued per cardmember year and thus you won’t be able to “double dip” in the first year like you can with the Sapphire Reserve and American Express Platinum cards since those cards issue a credit once per “calendar year”.
Bonus
As was previously rumored, the bonus will apparently be as follows:
Earn 50,000 points after spending $4,500 in eligible net purchases within the first 90 days of account opening.
Points Redemptions
The points earned by this card are apparently not FlexPoints. They will be worth 1.5 cents each when booking travel and will have variable value when redeeming for gift cards, merchandise or cashback.
Points can be redeemed for travel as well as gift cards, merchandise, entertainment, cash back, magazines and more, starting at just 1,000 points. 1 point is worth 1.5 cents when redeeming for travel. 10,000 points are worth $150 in airfare, hotel stays, car rental or other travel awards.
Other Benefits
Among the other things we “know” are:
- Comes with 12 free Gogo internet passes per year.
- Comes with Priority Pass Select, but only includes 4 visits per year. (Including one guest.) Additional visits will cost money.
- No foreign transaction fee.
- Pretty good travel and shopping protection.
- Visa Infinite Benefits
- Silvercar Discount
Eligibility
According to this leak, only current U.S. Bank customers are eligible to get this card and you won’t be able to convert from another card. There will be some exceptions made for new customers though.
Altitude Reserve is exclusively offered to U.S. Bank customers who have an eligible consumer U.S. Bank account relationship open a minimum of 35 days prior to submitting an application. You must be a U.S. Bank customer in order to be approved for this card.
Eligible consumer U.S. Bank account relationship means: The 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 or Consumer Credit Card issued by U.S. Bank.
Conclusion
While this information is still in the “leaked rumor” stage, I have heard from several people that this card is indeed coming. The details in this leak are consistent with what we have heard as well. I suspect many of you will be excited to add this card to your portfolio.
What are your thoughts? Are 3X Mobile Wallet earnings combined with 1.5 cent value towards travel a gamechanger?
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[…] this week I covered the details of U.S. Bank’s new premium credit card Altitude Reserve which is set to launch May 1. Earlier today I also compared this new card with the Chase Sapphire […]
[…] is looking to get on board with the introduction of a premium card of their own. It is called the Altitude Reserve and I think it has amazing potential. With that said, Sapphire Reserve is the current king of the […]
I kept my US Bank Cash+ so I’ll apply, need to open a savings account for my spouse!
For the 1st year it is OK but the 2nd year, it is not worth it.
Barely anyone accepts mobile wallet where I am
I think I’ll pass.
Customer service for day-to-day business at US Bank is pretty poor and the handling of the Club Carlson card was a disaster. I’m not rewarding that kind of service by going back for more of the same…
These things seem to last less then a year.
I am tired of any hoopla anymore. Blogs kill the deals in such a short time.
If everybody knows it, it is not a secret anymore.
Cards will do their bait and switch like they did it many times.
US Bank did it badly with Club Carlson. It was almost a carnage. This should be no different.
Sounds nice, but wouldn’t call it a game changer, nothing here to make me go and out and apply once it is ready, especially since I’m happy with my CSR. Perhaps if they added (good) airline transfer partners, it could be worthy of consideration
Amen. Fee is too high compared to the bonus. If you have lots of travel points and don’t need a travel credit, this card means a lot of spend to only get $100 (bonus minus fee).
Does anyone know if the visa infinite benefits involve primary car rental insurance coverage like chase sapphire preferred/reserve?
How many mega Best Buy and Apple transactions will happen via Samsung or Apple Pay before they kill this? This is rumored to be the reason why the Diners Club Carte Blanche was shutdown. In its short life, they offered 3X on all grocery and drug store purchases.
Sounds line an awesome deal for a $75 first year fee when you take the travel credit into account. The Priority Pass is kinda lame though and it would be nice to see a better sign-up bonus. Regardless, I’d def go for this card.
How long until AMEX evolves their archaic $200 airline credit on their platinum cards, and brings the 50% refund to the personal platinum? If they were to do that, or upgrade the PRG to lets say 1.5 cpp, I’d sign up TOMORROW.
Remember Diner’s club? I bet MSing is going to get you shut down fast here. I give it 2 months for the hammer to fall. I will get this card but will hold off on MSing until after the 1st wave of shutdowns.
My phone doesn’t have NFC, so no AndroidPay for me 🙁
Also a USB business CC does not count, it must be a personal card. Learned this the hard way with the checking account monthly fees.
Any points transfer airline partners?
Hope it has the Ritz Visa Infinite flight discount!
It sounds good and I know the grocery stores here use Apple Pay. Does Simon take Apple Pay? What other options are good for MS?
Simon: No, unfortunately. So far, I’m still better off spending my time using my 5% opportunities. I’m even a USB customer, but the low bonus and high fee damps any enthusiasm I had. I don’t have enough time to spend on other cards that aren’t earning 5% unless it’s a nice bonus. I already have plenty of travel points so only interested in cashback. If the travel credit can be cash out some how (buy hotel GC then sell), that would help offset the high fee. But, if not then those who don’t care about more travel (have plenty of points to travel free like me), then a fee a $400 and a bonus worth $500 means a lot of spend for just a $100 cashback gain.
Who wants to place a bet on how much you can funnel through mobile wallet before getting shut down without warning?
3x mobile wallet is great. Nice that a consumer credit card account qualifies as being an existing customer.