The Bank of America® Premium Rewards® Elite Credit Card is a premium card for travelers who want flexibility to redeem rewards with any airline or hotel. Although it has a premium annual fee ($550), its annual credits and lounge perks can help offset them. Additionally, customers with higher deposit and investment balances can earn up to 75% more points on every purchase.
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Annual contribution
$550
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Welcome offer
75,000 online bonus points – worth $750 – after making at least $5,000 in purchases within the first 90 days of account opening
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Buy APR
20.24% – 28.24% variable
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Reward rates
- 2x points on travel and dining
- 1.5x points on all other eligible purchases
- Bank of America Preferred Rewards® members earn 25-75% more points on every purchase
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Benefits
- Up to $100 in statement credits for Global Entry or TSA PreCheck® application fees every four years
- Save 20% on domestic or international airfare for any class when you pay with points
- Complimentary 24/7 full-service concierge to book your travel, dinner reservations, event tickets and more.
You can earn the welcome bonus as a new cardholder, but you will have to rely on the rewards rate to continue earning. The Bank of America Premium Rewards Elite offers high spending categories for travel and dining, making it a decent card for travelers and foodies. You also get a higher-than-average base income rate if your usual spending doesn’t match the bonus categories.
You can earn even more as a Bank of America Preferred Rewards member, but you need to calculate whether earning 25% to 75% more on your purchases is worth storing away money with Bank of America deposit accounts and d Merrill investment available.
To qualify for the lowest tier of the Preferred Rewards program, you’ll need a combined average daily balance of at least $20,000 over three months in these accounts. This would unlock a 25% points bonus on your card.
Points earned through Bank of America Premium Rewards Elite don’t expire, so there’s no rush to redeem them. Customers can redeem their points for travel, cash back, statement credits, experiences or gift cards.
Don’t forget, you’ll get 20% savings when you use your points to book domestic or international airline tickets.
The Bank of America Premium Rewards Elite is packed with premium benefits and annual credits. Although the card has a significant annual fee, these benefits help justify or offset the cost.
You can get up to $300 in statement credits each year for airline incidental fees, such as seat upgrades, baggage fees, airline lounge fees, and in-flight services. These credits do not apply to airline tickets.
This credit covers a variety of subscriptions and lifestyle costs, such as video streaming services, fitness memberships, food delivery and ride sharing.
Charge the TSA PreCheck or Global Entry application fee to your card to be reimbursed up to $100 once every four years.
This card includes free, unlimited access to the Priority Pass airport lounge network, where you can enjoy drinks, food, Wi-Fi and more, depending on the lounge. Cardholders enjoy up to four free Priority Pass Select memberships, so you can share these benefits with friends and family.
The Bank of America Premium Rewards Elite is best suited for frequent travelers who can use the card’s annual credits, airport lounge access and travel protections. If you don’t use the card’s credits for eligible purchases, the credits disappear without any benefit.
Additionally, customers with larger deposit and investment balances will receive up to 75% more points on every purchase. These additional rewards for your spending can help justify the card’s high annual fee and rack up a lot of rewards.
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Up to $450 in annual credits for eligible airline expenses and lifestyle purchases
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Up to $100 TSA PreCheck or Global Entry reimbursement every four years
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Up to four free Priority Pass Select memberships
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Earn up to 75% more rewards as a Preferred Rewards member
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No airline or hotel transfer partner limits the ability to maximize rewards value
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High annual fees are hard to justify for some customers
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Limited bonus categories to earn extra points on purchases
As a Visa Infinite card, the Bank of America Premium Rewards Elite Credit Card can be used anywhere merchants accept Visa cards for payment. Visa and Mastercard are the major credit card processors in the United States and abroad, so you should have no trouble using this card when traveling domestically or internationally. The card also waives foreign transaction fees, making it a great choice for spending outside of the United States.
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Automatic recurring payments
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In person at approximately 3,700 Bank of America branches and 15,000 ATMs ()
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Call customer service at (800) 236-6497
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Send payments to PO Box 15019, Wilmington, DE 19850-5019
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Next day delivery to Bank of America, Attn: Payment Processing, DE5-023-03-02, 900 Samoset Drive, Newark, DE 19713
Although the Bank of America Premium Rewards Elite has many attractive features, it is not the best card for all customers. One of its main drawbacks as a luxury credit card is that there are no transfer partners available to maximize the value of your rewards. If that doesn’t suit you, consider these other travel credit cards.
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Annual contribution
$95
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Welcome offer
Earn 60,000 bonus points after spending $4,000 in the first 3 months – worth $750 when redeemed through Chase Travel℠
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Current purchases APR
20.74% – 27.74% Variable
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Recommended credit score
Excellent/Good
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Reward rates
- 5x points on travel purchased through Chase Travel℠
- 3x points on restaurants, select streaming services and online grocery shopping
- 2x points on all other travel purchases
- 1x points on all other purchases
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Benefits
- Points are worth 25% more when you redeem them for airline tickets, hotels, car rentals and cruises through Chase Travel.
- Earn up to $50 in annual statement credits for hotel stays purchased through Chase Travel
- On each account anniversary, earn bonus points equal to 10% of your total purchases made in the previous year
Why we love it: Although it’s not a premium card, it’s one of the most popular travel credit cards for good reason. The annual fee is low at $95, so you have a lot less to worry about when trying to offset the cardholder cost each year. Plus, you can earn flexible Chase Ultimate Rewards points that can be transferred to more than 12 airline and hotel loyalty program partners.
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Reward rates
- 10x miles on hotels and rental cars booked through Capital One Travel
- 5x miles on flights and vacation rentals booked through Capital One Travel
- 2x miles on all other purchases
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Benefits
- $300 annual credit for travel bookings through Capital One Travel
- 10,000 annual bonus miles (worth $100 in travel spending; starting on your account’s first anniversary)
- Unlimited access for you and two guests to Capital One lounges and over 1,300 additional lounges through partner networks
Why we love it: Earn flexible rewards that can be redeemed in different ways, such as transferring them to over 15 travel partners. The Venture X is also attractive because of its simple benefits that can easily help offset the annual fee each year. These include a $300 annual travel credit for bookings made through Capital One Travel and 10,000 bonus miles every year starting on your first birthday.
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Reward rates
- 10x points on hotels and rental cars purchased through Chase Travel℠*
- 5x points on flights purchased through Chase Travel*
- 3x points on meals and other travel purchases
- 1x points on all other purchases
- *Once the first $300 is spent on travel purchases each year
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Benefits
- Points are worth 50% more when you redeem through Chase Travel
- Earn up to $300 in annual statement credits for travel purchases
- Receive up to $120 credit on your statement every four years to cover application fees for Global Entry, TSA PreCheck or NEXUS.
Why we love it: One of the most popular premium travel credit cards is the . This card includes a $300 annual credit that automatically applies to any eligible travel purchase, plus airport lounge access, premium travel protections and more. Its points offer numerous redemption options, including transferring to more than 12 partner airlines and hotels or getting 50% more value when booking travel through Chase Travel℠.
This article was edited by Ben Walker (CEPF, CFEI®)
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