Bank of America Travel Rewards Credit Card Review
For anyone who travels and who wants a solid card, try the travel rewards credit card from Bank of America. It’s a great rewards card for people who want something simple. However, this card also has drawbacks like any card. We’ll cover the pros and cons of the Bank of America Travel Rewards Credit Card. You’ll know by the end of the post if this is a good choice for you or not.
Bank of America Travel Rewards Credit Card Pros
1. Unlimited Rewards
You don’t have to travel to earn rewards with this card. You earn 1.5 points for every dollar you spend. These rewards are unlimited. This means that you can stack them and cash them in for larger purchases. Your rewards come back as statement credits or travel-related expenses. You have a great deal of flexibility with this card to earn free travel.
2. Bonus Offer
You get a bonus offer for signing up for this card. You have to spend $1,000 in the first three months. It breaks down to $333 per month to get the bonus. Do this, and the Bank of America card will give you points. This bonus works out to a $250 statement credit. This is very doable, especially if you use your card each day.
3. No Annual Fee
This travel rewards credit card is unique. The Bank of America Travel Rewards Credit Card is one of a few no annual fee travel credit cards. Having no annual fee is rare for a rewards travel card. This is why it’s good for people who don’t plan to use their card often. You won’t have to worry about justifying paying an annual fee if you don’t use it a lot. However, if you do use it a lot, all of the rewards you earn are pure profit.
4. No Foreign Transaction Fee
You don’t want a credit card with a foreign transaction fee when you travel. So with the Bank of America Travel Rewards Credit Card, you won’t have to worry. There is no foreign transaction fee. You can use this card at any vendor, bank, or ATM without paying extra. So this is huge for people who like to travel internationally.
5. Point Redemption Options
Do you like to stay in hotels? Perhaps you want to book a flight, rental car, or cruise. You can do all of this and more with your Bank of America card’s points. You redeem them as a statement credit and apply it to the category of your choice. This can save you money as you travel so you can use it on fun outings.
6. Chip Technology
Everyone worries about having their identity stolen or credit card fraud. However, this travel rewards credit card can help. It comes with EMV chip technology embedded into the card. This technology adds another layer of security each time you use your card. It’s much harder to steal your information because it’s encrypted into the card.
7. Introductory APR
Do you have a big ticket purchase in mind? If so, you can buy it when you first open this card. You get 12 billing cycles of zero percent APR. You can split your large bill into 12 even payments. This puts money back into your pocket. Additionally, you’ll pay less because you won’t pay additional interest charges.
8. Points Bonus
Bank of American makes it extremely easy to earn bonus points with the travel rewards credit card. When you open the line of credit, open a Bank of America checking or savings account. So this gets you a 10 percent customer points bonus on every purchase you make with your card. It goes up depending on how much you have in your account.
9. Widely Accepted
The Bank of America Travel Rewards Credit Card is widely accepted. It’s a Visa card, and this card is traditionally accepted worldwide. Since it’s widely accepted, you won’t have to carry a second card around with you. This reduces the risks of losing your cards or being a victim of identity fraud.
Bank of America Travel Rewards Credit Card Cons
1. Low Rewards Rate
You earn 1.5 points on every purchase. However, this is a lower rate for a rewards-based credit card. If you have decent credit, you should be able to find a card with a higher rewards rate. This lower rate makes it more difficult to earn enough rewards to cash in. Compare other credit cards with travel rewards.
2. Credit Needed
This is a rewards card, and it shows with the credit score. You’ll need a credit score of 700 and up to qualify for this card. Unfortunately, this requirement cuts out a lot of people who are rebuilding their credit scores. It’s also a lower-end rewards card for people who have an excellent credit score.
3. Balance Transfer Fee
This isn’t a good card if you plan to perform a balance transfer. It charges you each time you do a balance transfer to this card. You’ll pay either $10 or three percent of the total balance, whichever is higher. There are credit cards that offer 0 fee balance transfer fee intros. Even though 3% isn’t a huge fee it could be a balance transfer mistake. So if you’re trying to get out of debt, every little bit counts.
4. Caters to Bank of America Customers
If you don’t have a Bank of America account, you lose out on the bonus offer. You won’t be able to get the 10 percent more points on each purchase. You can open an account with them to get this offer. However, a lot of people will see this as an inconvenience, especially if they’re loyal to a particular bank.
5. Variable and Penalty APRs
Once the introductory offer is up, you get a variable APR. This APR ranges depending on your credit score when you apply for the card. It starts at 16.74 and goes up to 24.74 percent. There is also a penalty APR of 26.99 percent if you miss payments. You can avoid this by not carrying a balance.
6. Benefits Limits
This travel rewards credit card comes with some benefit limits and limits on travel discounts. The current benefits exclude car rental insurance, roadside assistance, or trip cancellation insurance. Since traveling is unpredictable, this is a large drawback.
Bank of America® Travel Rewards Credit Card Bottom Line
In conclusion, the travel rewards credit card is a solid rewards card. You get a lot of great perks and a few drawbacks. It’s a no-frills card with a flat rewards rate. Also, it’s also widely accepted and doesn’t have an annual fee. For people who don’t travel a lot, it’s worth checking into.
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CreditFast has reviewed the best travel credit cards on the market. Some of the credit card offers are from our advertising partners. CreditFast has objectively reviewed the features and benefits of each credit card. We have chosen travel and airline credit card offers based on our editor’s recommendations.
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