U.S. Bank Altitude® Connect Visa Signature® Card Review
This card can benefit frequent travelers with bonus points earned on travel, as well as the everyday cardholder with rewards earned at grocery stores, and on dining and eligible streaming services.
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U.S. Bank Altitude® Connect Visa Signature® Card
- Rewards
- 5X points on prepaid hotels and car rentals booked directly in the Altitude Rewards Center. 4X on travel. 4X at gas stations and EV charging stations through September 8, 2024, after that 4X on your first $1,000 each quarter (wholesale clubs and discount stores/supercenters excluded). 2X on dining, streaming services and at grocery stores (discount stores/supercenters and wholesale clubs excluded effective September 9, 2024). 1X point on all other eligible purchases.
- Welcome Bonus
- Intro Offer: Earn 50,000 bonus points when you spend $2,000 in eligible purchases within the first 120 days of account opening. That's a $500 value redeemable towards travel and more
- Annual Fee
- $0 intro for the first year, then $95
Credit Score: Excellent CreditKey Features
- Intro Offer: Earn 50,000 bonus points when you spend $2,000 in eligible purchases within the first 120 days of account opening. That's a $500 value redeemable towards travel and more.
- 5X points on prepaid hotels and car rentals booked directly in the Altitude Rewards Center.
- 4X on travel
- 4X at gas stations and EV charging stations through September 8, 2024, after that 4X on your first $1,000 each quarter (wholesale clubs and discount stores/supercenters excluded)
- 2X on dining, streaming services and at grocery stores (discount stores/supercenters and wholesale clubs excluded effective September 9, 2024).
- Receive up to $100 in statement credits for reimbursement toward your TSA PreCheck® or Global Entry® application fee once every four years.
- 1X point on all other eligible purchases.
- Points never expire as long as your account is active.
- Protection and assistance when traveling with Trip Cancelation/Interruption, Trip Delay Reimbursement and SmartDelay.
- Complimentary Priority Pass™ Select membership gives you 4 free visits to over 1,300 airport VIP lounges and experiences worldwide.
- Terms and conditions apply.
Editor Analysis:
- Earn up to $100 in statement credits to reimburse your TSA PreCheck® or Global Entry application fee once every four years.
- Earn 50,000 bonus points once spending $2,000 in the first 120 days of opening an account.
- Enjoy up to $600 reimbursement if your cell phone is stolen or damaged when you pay your monthly cell phone bill with your card.
- This card doesn't offer as many travel perks as some other travel cards with similar annual fees. If you travel regularly, you might want to consider a competing option that offers more travel benefits.
The CardName – a travel-focused credit card – is a solid choice, even for the infrequent traveler.
Although some other cards have more competitive perks, the Altitude® Connect offers an easy-to-use rewards program with the ability to receive cash back (in the form of a statement credit or as a deposit made to your U.S. Bank savings or checking account) instead of travel rewards, should you choose.
Even if you only travel a few times a year the Altitude® Connect may be a good choice for you.
Let’s break down why…
CardName WELCOME BONUS
The CardName rewards new cardholders who spend $2,000 on the card within the first 120 days of opening an account with 50,000 bonus points. That’s a $500 value that you can redeem for travel and more. Depending on your travel plans, you could significantly offset the cost of your next trip with this bonus alone.
Additionally, U.S. Bank offers cardholders a AnnualFees.
CardName BENEFITS
BONUS POINTS
On an ongoing basis, CardName cardholders earn:
- 5X points on prepaid hotels and car rentals booked directly in the Altitude Rewards Center
- 4X points on travel
- 4X points at gas stations & EV charging stations through September 8, 2024, after that 4X on your first $1,000 each quarter (wholesale clubs and discount stores/supercenters excluded)
- 2X points on dining, streaming services and at grocery stores (discount stores/supercenters and wholesale clubs excluded effective September 9, 2024).
- 1X point on all other eligible purchases
STREAMING SERVICE CREDIT
The Altitude® Connect offers a statement credit towards select streaming services.
Just charge your streaming service purchases to your card for 11 consecutive months. After the 11th month, a $30 statement credit will be applied to your card’s account within two billing cycles.
Only select streaming services are eligible for this benefit, including Netflix, Hulu, Spotify, HBO Max, YouTube TV and more.
This is an ongoing benefit, so you will receive the $30 credit annually.
TSA PRECHECK® OR GLOBAL ENTRY REIMBURSEMENT
TSA PreCheck® and Global Entry are programs from the Department of Homeland Security that allow for faster screening at security or U.S. customs.
U.S. Bank will reimburse you up to $100 for the application fee for one of these programs once every four years.
To qualify, you must apply for either the TSA PreCheck® or Global Entry and use your Altitude® Connect card to pay the application fee.
This is a great perk for a card with such a manageable annual fee.
CELL PHONE PROTECTION
The chances of something bad happing to your phone are higher on vacation because it’s easy to get distracted by your itinerary or the sights around you.
With the Altitude® Connect card, you can rest easy if your phone is stolen or damaged. U.S. Bank will reimburse you up to $600 for eligible claims, as long as you pay your monthly cell phone bill with the card.
ADDITIONAL BENEFITS
- No foreign transaction fees
- Points never expire (as long as your account is active)
- Contactless payment
- Mobile wallet
POTENTIAL DOWNSIDES OF THE CardName
The CardName offers decent perks, but competing cards like the CardName and CardName (compared below) outclass it.
If you frequently travel you will likely earn more value from rewards with competitors.
Although the Altitude® Connect offers cell phone protection, it lacks other important travel insurance. That extra security can help you out in a jam and can bring peace of mind on your journey.
CardName CARDHOLDER SCORES
CardRatings conducts a survey annually to learn what actual cardholders think of their cards. Here are the results:
| Current Scores | Past Scores | |
|---|---|---|
| Overall Score | 67.7 | Did not survey |
| Features Satisfaction | 6.7 | n/a |
| Customer Service | 6.7 | n/a |
| Website/App Usability | 6.6 | n/a |
| Likelihood of Continuing to Use | 7.2 | n/a |
| Recommend to a Friend/Colleague | 6.9 | n/a |
HOW DOES THE CardName COMPARE TO OTHER TRAVEL CREDIT CARDS?
CardName vs. CardName
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The CardName offers a welcome bonus worth $1,000 in travel through the Chase portal, but cardholders must spend a bit more than the U.S. Bank Altitude® Connect card to earn it. New CardName cardholders who spend $4,000 in the first three months can earn 60,000 bonus points – worth $750 toward travel when redeemed through Chase Travel℠.
The annual fee of AnnualFees also isn’t waived for the first year like it is with the Altitude® Connect.
With the Sapphire Preferred®, you can earn a $50 Annual Chase Travel Hotel Credit through Chase Travel.
You enjoy 5X points on travel purchased through Chase Travel compared to only 4X with the Altitude® Connect.
When you redeem your points through Chase Travel, they are worth 25% more, which is an enticing perk of this card.
Additional benefits include:
- 3X points on dining
- 3X points on online groceries
- 3X points on select streaming services
- 2x on all other travel purchases
- 1X on all other purchases
If you’re a frequent traveler, you’ll likely accrue more value in rewards with the Chase Sapphire Preferred® card because of the higher point multipliers, anniversary bonuses, and increased value purchasing travel through Ultimate Rewards&.
CardName vs. CardName
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With the CardName new cardholders can earn 75,000 miles once you spend $4,000 on purchases within three months from account opening, equal to $750 in travel.
The Venture card earns 2X miles per dollar on all purchases and 5X miles on hotels, vacation rentals and rental cars booked through Capital One Travel.
Capital One will reimburse the $120 application fee for TSA PreCheck® or Global Entry, just like U.S. Bank if you have the Altitude® Connect card. The Venture card also has a AnnualFees annual fee; however, the first year is not waived.
If you’re looking for an extra layer of security when you travel, Capital One Venture may be a better card for you. This is because the Venture offers additional travel protections like travel accident insurance and auto rental collision damage waiver.
CardName vs. CardName
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With the CardName cardholders earn 1.5X miles per dollar on all purchases. Plus, at the end of your first year, Discover matches the miles that you earned throughout the year.
You can redeem rewards as a statement credit to pay for travel purchases such as hotel rooms, rental cars, gas stations, restaurants, and more. You can also opt to get cash back if you don’t want to use your rewards on travel.
Unlike the other cards listed in this review, CardName does not have an annual fee.
If you are going to make a lot of purchases within your first year, this may be an excellent card for you because Discover will match them mile for mile. However, it may not be a good choice if you don’t see yourself traveling for the foreseeable future since Discover only matches miles for the first year. In that case, you would probably want a card with better ongoing travel rewards such as the Altitude® Connect, or perhaps one of the other travel cards compared above.
IS THE CardName A GOOD CARD?
The CardName provides a simple rewards program that’s beneficial for many travelers.
Overall, it’s a good card if you’re traveling within the U.S. a couple of times per year. Earning 4X points at gas stations and EV charging stations will save money on long-distance road trips, especially if you’re staying in hotels and renting a car along the way. Plus, bonus points earned at the grocery store, on dining and streaming services can benefit users when not traveling.
Travel rewards aside, cell phone protection is another valuable perk of this card. This is a rare perk for credit cards, so it’s an enticing reason to keep the card in your wallet, even through seasons of infrequent travel.
Our Methodology
Survey methodology: CardRatings commissioned Op4G in September 2023 to conduct surveys among 1,869 cardholders nationwide. CardRatings website analytics from Jan. 1, 2023-Aug. 31, 2023 were used to determine a selection of the most popular cards and additional cards were included to add survey breadth. Responses to each of nine questions were given on a scale of 1-10 and respondents’ scores were then averaged under broad topics. To determine the overall score, responses from questions 1-8 were summed and the answer to "How likely are you to recommend this card to a friend, coworker or family member?" was double weighted. Current Scores reflect scores from the most recent survey (2023); “Past Scores” reflect scores from the 2022 survey.
Disclaimer:The information in this article is believed to be accurate as of the date it was written. Please keep in mind that credit card offers change frequently. Therefore, we cannot guarantee the accuracy of the information in this article. Reasonable efforts are made to maintain accurate information. See the online credit card application for full terms and conditions on offers and rewards. Please verify all terms and conditions of any credit card prior to applying.
This content is not provided by any company mentioned in this article. Any opinions, analyses, reviews or recommendations expressed here are those of the author’s alone, and have not been reviewed, approved or otherwise endorsed by any such company. CardRatings.com does not review every company or every offer available on the market.
