U.S Bank Altitude Go Card Review & Overview
Earlier this summer, U.S. Bank launched a new card for the Altitude card family: the U.S. Bank Altitude Go card. This joins the Altitude Reserve card in U.S. Bank’s Altitude family of cards. The sad thing is the siblings don’t play well together. You can’t move points between cards. That seems like a big miss on U.S. Bank’s part, but maybe that will be fixed in the future.
Increased Welcome Offer
The U.S. Bank Altitude Go card has an increased welcome offer happening right now. The card launched with a 20,000 point welcome offer worth $200 but here is the current offer:
- Type of card: personal
- Card issuer: U.S. Bank
- Application rules to follow: not available to those who have or previously had the Altitude Go card, but they are sensitive to recent inquiries and number of new accounts (see more here)
- Spending requirements: $1,000 in the first 90 days
- Welcome offer: 25,000 bonus points
- Annual fee: none
- Learn More
The great thing about these points is that they never expire. The ability to use Real-Time Rewards (enroll here) adds value to the points from the welcome offer, and they’d become even more valuable if you could combine them with points from the Altitude card. 25,000 points are worth $250 in redemptions toward cash back, merchandise, gift cards, travel, etc. through your rewards account.
U.S. Bank Altitude Go Benefits
- 4X Points on takeout, food delivery & dining.
- 2X Points at grocery stores, grocery delivery, streaming services & gas stations.
- 1X Points on everything else.
Other Benefits
- $15 annual credit for streaming services after making streaming purchases each of the 11 previous months.
- 0% introductory APR on purchases and balance transfers for the first 12 billing cycles.
- Additional cards at no additional cost
- No foreign transaction fees
- Learn More
Thoughts On Where The U.S. Bank Altitude Go Card Stands Out
For a no annual fee card to earn 4x on dining is shocking. Yes, I know you can’t redeem those points across the Altitude family of cards or transfer them to travel partners. However, you can redeem them in other ways, and 4X earning for dining is one the best options in the market. The fact it comes on a no-fee card and without an annual cap is surprising.
The most surprising element for me is that it’s a no-fee card without annual fees. Typically, “no annual fee” cards from Chase, Citi, or American Express will hit you with foreign transaction fees on their no fee cards–even on the best ones. The U.S. Bank Altitude Go card shines here.
Thoughts On Where It Could Improve
There are some areas where this card could improve. First, it’s really odd that you cannot combine the points with other cards, even in the same family. The points on the Altitude Go are redeemed for 1 cent each and can’t be used for transfer partners or combined with other cards to redeem for 1.5 cents each in value on travel. This is something I’d like to see U.S. Bank improve.
The $15 streaming credit is also a head-scratcher, to be honest. I’m not one to say no to something free. However, you need to make 11 consecutive months of streaming purchases to earn just $15 in streaming credits. If you leave your Netflix or Hulu accounts, etc. tied to this card, you’ll qualify. I feel like it’s a lot of spend/effort for a low return.
Final Thoughts
The U.S. Bank Altitude Go card has better earning rates and lower fees than other no-fee cards. It has a few quirks that could be improved, but it’s an overall decent card. I personally wouldn’t use up an application with U.S. Bank to get this card, because I find their other cards more valuable. Plus, getting approved with U.S. Bank isn’t easy / requires a lot of waiting between cards. This is a decent card with good earning rates on select categories, it’s surprisingly free of foreign transaction fees, and it definitely appeals to some people. Those who dine out a lot but don’t want to pay annual fees or mess with rotating categories should like this card a lot.
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A purchase in the itunes store is counting as streaming for my Amex credits, perhaps that would work here? Buy a song for $1.29 (or less) every month for 11 months?
Yes, it probably would work. It’s a lot of effort for the $15 credit.