US Bank Altitude Connect Visa Card Review

Top benefits

You get some nice features with the US Bank Altitude® Connect Visa Signature® Card.

Earn 20,000 points

Spend $1,000 in the first 90 days of opening this credit card to earn 20,000 points. Points are worth $0.01 each, making this bonus worth $200.

This welcome offer competes with the very best sign up bonuses. It combines a high number of points with a reasonable minimum effort. This card is a good choice for cardholders who don't spend a lot of money.

MORE OPTIONS: The best credit card sign-up bonuses

Up to 5 points per $1

With the US Bank Altitude® Connect Visa Signature® Card you get:

• 5X points on prepaid hotels and rental cars booked through the Altitude Rewards Center
• 4X points on travel; plus gas stations and electric vehicle charging stations for your first $1,000 per quarter (excludes wholesale clubs and discount/supercenters)
• 2X points on grocery stores (excluding discount/supercenters and wholesale clubs), grocery delivery, restaurants, and streaming services
• 1X points for other purchases

With so many bonus categories, earning rewards is another area where this card excels. You can earn extra points on a variety of spending, including several popular everyday categories.

0% introductory APR on balance transfers for 12 billing cycles

The US Bank Altitude® Connect Visa Signature® Card does not offer a 0% introductory APR on purchases. However, it offers 0% and 12 billing cycles on balances transferred within 60 days of account opening. For this privilege, you pay a residual transfer fee: either 3% of the amount of each transfer or a minimum of $5, whichever is greater. After the introductory phase, the regular effective annual interest rate of 17.74% – 28.74% (variable) applies.

Airport lounge access

The US Bank Altitude® Connect Visa Signature® Card includes a free 12-month Priority Pass Select membership. As a cardholder you get four free visits to Priority Pass lounges, there are more than 1,300 worldwide. This is a nice perk for casual travelers. If you travel a lot, you may be better served by other credit cards with airport lounge access that allow unlimited visits.

Global Entry/TSA PreCheck credit

This card covers the membership fee for Global Entry or TSA PreCheck. You can receive a statement credit of up to $100 every four years when you use your card to pay the fee for any of the programs.

Both trusted travel programs are designed to speed up the airport security process. Of the two, Global Entry costs a little more but also includes a TSA PreCheck membership. That makes it a better choice, especially if your credit card covers the costs anyway.

Travel protection

The US Bank Altitude® Connect Visa Signature® Card provides travel protection, including trip cancellation and interruption insurance, travel accident insurance, and travel delay reimbursement. The card also offers SmartDelay; In the event of a flight delay, you and up to three other travelers will have access to a network of more than 1,500 airport lounges in more than 500 airports worldwide.

Flexible reward redemption

US Bank offers several ways to redeem your points. Through the Altitude Rewards Center you can choose from the following reward redemptions:

• Travel bookings
• Cashback (with a minimum redemption amount of 2,500 points)
• Were
• Gift cards
• Rewards cards

Any of these options will net you $0.01 per point. The only problem with these options is that you need at least 2,500 points to redeem cashback. Many popular rewards credit cards have completely eliminated minimum redemption amounts. US Bank would make things easier for cardholders if it did the same. But that's just for refunds, and to be fair, there are redemptions that don't have a minimum amount.

No foreign transaction fee

There are no additional costs for spending outside the US. Like most travel cards, this US bank card does not charge a foreign transaction fee.

READ MORE: The best credit cards with no foreign fees