Bank of America® Premium Rewards® credit card review

Rewards Card

Bank of America® Premium Rewards® credit card

Top Features

• Rewards
• Earn unlimited 2 points for every $1 spent on travel and dining purchases and unlimited 1.5 points for every $1 spent on all other purchases. No limit to the points you can earn and your points don't expire as long as your account remains open.
• Welcome Bonus
• Receive 60,000 online bonus points - a $600 value - after you make at least $4,000 in purchases in the first 90 days of account opening.
• Annual Fee
• $95

5.0

Credit Score: Excellent/Good

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Terms and Limitations Apply

card_name benefits

If you like a card that rewards your passion for travel and dining out, but you don’t necessarily want a strictly travel rewards credit card, the CardName is a great place to start.

The welcome bonus is 60,000 points, or the equivalent of $600, after you spend at least $4,000 in the first 90 days that the account is open. On an ongoing basis, you can look forward to unlimited two points for every dollar spent on travel and dining purchases and unlimited 1.5 points per dollar spent on all other purchases. There’s also no limit to the points you can earn, and your points don’t expire as long as your account remains open. Those points can be redeemed for cash back as a statement credit, as gift cards, or for purchases in the Bank of America Travel Center, deposited into eligible Bank of America accounts, or credited to eligible Merrill accounts.

While the flexible redemption options are certainly a perk, if traveling is your thing you’re also sure to appreciate the numerous travel features associated with this card. For instance, you’ll save with up to $100 in an airline incidentals statement credit annually (more details on this below), as well as up to $100 in statement credit for your TSA PreCheck® or Global Entry application fee.

The card does carry a AnnualFees annual fee, however, the right person for the card will reap benefits that more than offset the fee.

Furthermore, if you happen to be a Bank of America account holder, your rewards earning gets substantially better. This card is eligible for the Preferred Rewards program with the bank. Through the program, customers who maintain a certain account balance across their eligible Bank of America or Merrill accounts will receive bonus cash back – anywhere from an extra 25-75% – on every purchase. If you qualify for the Gold tier of the Preferred Rewards program, for instance, making a $100 travel purchase will earn you the base 200 points (two points per dollar on travel) plus an additional 50 points for being a Preferred Rewards Gold tier client. If you do the math, that means you could earn up to 3.5 points per dollar on travel and dining purchases and up to 2.625 points per dollar on all other purchases if you qualify for the highest Preferred Rewards tier. Not a bad earning rate at all.

card_name airline credit

Airline travelers can save up to $200 thanks to two statement credits offered by the CardName.

The first is the Airline Incidental Statement credit. It provides a credit of up to $100 each year for expenses such as lounge access, in-flight services, seat upgrades and baggage fees. The credit is automatically applied to your statement after a qualifying purchase has been made.

Customers also get an Airport Security Statement credit once every four years. This credit covers up to $100 of the cost of TSA PreCheck® or Global Entry. Global entry costs $100, so with this credit, it would be totally covered, and if you have Global Entry membership, you’ll be covered for TSA PreCheck® as well. If you don’t want Global Entry membership, you can apply for TSA PreCheck® which is $85, so again, the credit covers it, but if you can qualify for Global Entry you might as well apply for that instead since it gets you membership to both all for one fee.

card_name foreign transaction fee

The CardName has a lot of good perks for travelers, including no foreign transaction fees on purchases made abroad. Many cards charge around 3% on all foreign transactions, which might not seem like much, but can add up in a hurry if you travel internationally often.

Think about it this way: if you take your family of five on an international vacation, and budget $4,000, you’ll end up spending an extra $120 just on foreign transaction fees. If you travel with the card_name though, that’s money you’ll keep in your pocket. So instead of spending $4,120 at the end of the trip, you’d stay in budget, only spending $4,000.

Especially if you’re a frequent international traveler, this benefit has a lot of money-saving power.

card_name travel insurance

CardName provides a number of valuable travel insurance protection benefits that can help make your trip more enjoyable, and offset or cover costs should your trip be delayed or cancelled or your baggage be delayed, lost or stolen.

Some of these benefits include:

• Trip delay reimbursement
• Trip cancellation/interruption insurance
• Baggage delay reimbursement
• Lost luggage reimbursement
• Travel and emergency assistance services
• Emergency evacuation and transportation coverage
• Auto rental collision damage waiver
• Roadside dispatch program

Potential downsides of the card_name

The CardName offers some solid benefits, but those benefits are really best for those who travel and dine out often. If that doesn’t sound like your lifestyle, you’re unlikely to realize the full benefits of this card and you might even have some trouble offsetting the annual fee. Sure, you can still earn points and redeem them for cash back, but there are cards that don’t charge an annual fee and feature higher rewards earning in other categories, like gas or groceries, and may be more your speed. As with any credit card, you’ll want to honestly consider your spending habits and goals to determine if this card is best for you.

Plus, keep in mind that this card will truly perform to its full potential for existing Bank of America account holders who qualify for the Preferred Rewards program.

How do cardholders rate the card_name?

CardRatings conducts a survey annually to learn what actual cardholders think of their cards. Here are the results for the card_name:

How the card_name compares to other cards

card_name vs. CardName

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Neither card requires its cardholders to have brand loyalty in order to reap the rewards of its benefits. Flexibility is key and both cards offer it with redemption, although the CardName will get you more bang for your buck if you redeem through Chase Travel℠ where your points are worth 25% more. That means that, although the welcome bonus rewards offers seem similar, Chase’s 60,000 bonus points after spending $4,000 in the first three months is actually worth $750 when redeemed through Chase Travel, plus up to $300 in statement credits on Chase Travel purchases within your first year makes the full offer worth up to $1,050 in Chase Travel value. The Bank of America welcome offer will get you the equivalent of $600 after your spend at least $4,000 in the first 90 days. The CardName also charges a AnnualFees annual fee.

Another thing to keep in mind is that your Ultimate Rewards points earned with the Preferred® card can be combined with Ultimate Rewards points you earn with other Chase cards in the program; therefore, if you already have a card in the Chase Ink or Freedom families, you might be better off with CardName. Furthermore, Ultimate Rewards points don’t require brand loyalty to a particular hotel or airline, but Chase does partner with several airline and hotel loyalty programs to which you can transfer your points and possibly see their value increase dramatically.

card_name vs. CardName

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The CardName is another Bank of America credit card that rewards your loyalty to the bank with rewards bonuses, and this one even allows you the flexibility to choose a category in which you’ll earn the highest cash back rewards from among the following options: gas and EV charging stations, online shopping/cable/internet/phone plan/streaming, dining, travel, drug store/pharmacy or home improvement/furnishings purchases.

With the Customized Cash Rewards card, you earn 3% back in a category of your choosing from the list above. You can change your category once each calendar month. You’ll also earn 2% back at grocery stores and wholesale clubs on up to $2,500 combined spending in your choice category/grocery store/wholesale club purchases each quarter (then 1%), plus 1% back on all your other purchases.

Given that both travel and dining are 3% category options, you could structure this card to reward you similarly to how the Premium card works, but you won’t be getting the airline fee statement credit or the Global Entry and TSA PreCheck® application credit. Importantly, you should also note that this card does charge foreign transactions fees: foreign_fee of each purchase made in a foreign currency.

Bank of America Preferred Rewards clients can also receive a 25-75% cash back bonus on each transaction depending on your tier with this card.

The CardName card also features a welcome offer: Earn a $200 online cash rewards bonus after you spend $1,000 on purchases in the first 90 days of account opening. Notably, this card does not have an annual fee.

Who is a good fit for the card_name?

The best applicant for the CardName is a person who budgets their money wisely so as to reap the benefits and not waste them. This person will enjoy traveling and dining out and seeing their points grow just for using this card for everyday purchases. The perfect cardholder will not have one brand of hotel or airline to which they are loyal, but will hold an account with Bank of America – preferably one (or several) that qualify you for the Preferred Rewards program.