Bank of America Premium Rewards Elite Visa Infinite Card
Updated June 10, 2023.
The Facts
The Math
BofA Premium Rewards Elite Visa Infinite (PR Elite) has a $550 annual but comes with a total of $450 annual credits ($300 for airline incidentals and $150 for lifestyle categories). As these annual credits are not as easy to use as, e.g., Sapphire Reserve's $300 travel credits, we won't consider them as effective annual reducers. It is up to you decide how much they are worth.
Without a Preferred Rewards status, for general spending PR Elite returns mediocre 1.5% cashback (or 1.65% with a banking relationship), or 1.875%-2.06% fixed value travel rewards if you book airfare through BofA Travel Center. You would be better to go with a non-fee 2% cashback card like Citi Double Cash or Fidelity Visa. Also bear in mind that BofA points can't be transferred to frequent traveler miles/points, if you appreciate the value or benefits of miles/points, you would be better to consider premium travel cards with enhanced category bonus such as Chase Sapphire Reserve, Citi Premier, Amex Gold, etc.
For higher-tier BofA Preferred Rewards clients, however, this card may be hugely lucrative, just like BofA's lower-tier TR Visa and mid-tier PR Visa. The following table summarizes the enhanced rewards with the banking relationship bonus.
The Facts
- Annual Fee: $550
- Signup Bonus: 75,000 points when you spend at least $5,000 within 3 months of new account opening. Historical best bonus of this card: 75,000 points in 2023; 50,000 points since introduced in 2021.
- Application Page
- Rewards: 2x travel and dining, 1.5x everywhere else. In addition, you receive banking relationship bonus for all your earned rewards: (1) a 10% bonus when you have a BofA checking or savings account or Merrill Lynch account, (2) a 25% bonus when your 3-month average combined balance with BofA is $20K to $50K (Preferred Rewards Gold level), (3) 50% when your balance is $50K to $100K (Preferred Rewards Platinum level), and (4) 75% when your balance is $100K+ (Preferred Rewards Platinum Honors level).
- Best Use of Premium Rewards points: you may redeem your points for gift cards, cash, statement credit, deposit into your BofA checking or savings account, or contribution to an eligible Merrill Lynch account, at 1 cent per point. You may also redeem points for travel through BofA Travel Center: you will receive 20% discount for points redemptions for airfare, i.e., 1.25 cents per point for airfare, and 1 cent per point for other travel redemptions.
- Annual $300 airline incidental credit each calendar year; incidentals include check bag fees, change ticket fees, preferred seating upgrades, onboard meals, airport lounge day passes, and so on. There have been reports of successful reimbursement of certain airline gift cards.
- Annual $150 lifestyle credit each calendar year, for rideshare, food delivery, streaming service, and fitness purchases.
- Priority Pass Select membership which provides unlimited complimentary access to more than 900 airport lounges worldwide for you plus two guests. An authorized user also gets a Priority Pass Select membership. Please see our featured review to learn more about airport lounge access.
- Visa Infinite Benefits: (1) Visa Infinite Privileges at Relais & Chateaux (a collection of 500+ high-end luxury boutique hotels worldwide): a VIP welcome at all hotels (unique to each property) and complimentary breakfasts at 120+ participating hotels. Visit relaischateaux.com/visainfinite-us for details. You will also be accelerated to its Club 5C status after staying 2 nights in a 12-month period. Relais & Chateaux's Club 5C is by-invitation only if you don't have a Visa Infinite and normally requires staying 15 nights per year; perks include room upgrades upon availability, and "Discovery Privilege" unique to each property. (2) Visa Signature Luxury Hotel Collection which offers perks including daily complimentary breakfasts for two, room upgrades upon availability, late checkout upon availability, $25 food and beverage credit per stay, free room wi-fi, and VIP amenities, at over 900 luxury hotels and resorts worldwide. You may book a hotel on VisaSignatureHotels.com and the rates are the same as BAR. Note that the coverage and perks are different from LHRC's, but some hotels participate in both programs. (3) Visa Infinite Luxury Hotel Collection which covers a subset (200+) of Visa Signature hotels but offers an extra property specific perk like a $75 food and beverage credit or a $100 spa/hotel/rate credit per stay. You may book a hotel a VisaInfiniteHotels.com, and the rates are the same as BAR. (4) Visa Infinite Car Rental Privileges at Avis, National, and SilverCar. (5) Visa Infinite 24/7 Concierge Service.
- Other Benefits: (1) Waived foreign transaction fees, with an embedded EMV chip. (2) TSA PreCheck ($85) or Global Entry ($100) application fee reimbursement, every four years. (3) Privileges with NetJets such as complimentary upgrades.
- Travel and Consumer Protection: BofA Premium Rewards Elite Visa Infinite enjoys the highest level of travel and consumer protection among all BofA cards.
The Math
BofA Premium Rewards Elite Visa Infinite (PR Elite) has a $550 annual but comes with a total of $450 annual credits ($300 for airline incidentals and $150 for lifestyle categories). As these annual credits are not as easy to use as, e.g., Sapphire Reserve's $300 travel credits, we won't consider them as effective annual reducers. It is up to you decide how much they are worth.
Without a Preferred Rewards status, for general spending PR Elite returns mediocre 1.5% cashback (or 1.65% with a banking relationship), or 1.875%-2.06% fixed value travel rewards if you book airfare through BofA Travel Center. You would be better to go with a non-fee 2% cashback card like Citi Double Cash or Fidelity Visa. Also bear in mind that BofA points can't be transferred to frequent traveler miles/points, if you appreciate the value or benefits of miles/points, you would be better to consider premium travel cards with enhanced category bonus such as Chase Sapphire Reserve, Citi Premier, Amex Gold, etc.
For higher-tier BofA Preferred Rewards clients, however, this card may be hugely lucrative, just like BofA's lower-tier TR Visa and mid-tier PR Visa. The following table summarizes the enhanced rewards with the banking relationship bonus.
| BofA Preferred Rewards level | BofA and Merrill combined balance | General spending rewards | Travel | Dining rewards |
| Gold | 20K-50K | 1.875 points | 2.5 points |
| Platinum | 50K-100K | 2.25 points | 3 points |
| Platinum Honors | 100K+ | 2.625 points | 3.5 points |
In addition, when you redeem for airfare through BofA Travel Center, your points are worth 25% more. PR Elite combined with Preferred Rewards will return 2.34% | 2.81% | 3.28% fixed travel rewards for general spending, and 33% more for dining & travel categories (= 3.13% | 3.75% | 4.38% travel rewards).
PR Elite vs. BofA Premier Rewards Visa (PR Visa): They are very similar with 1.5%-2.63% cashback for general spending, and 2%-3.5% cashback for dining and travel. The differences are: (1) The annual fees are $455 higher on the PR Elite which also offers $350 more in annual credits (PR Visa has $100 airline incidental credit, while PR Elite offers $300 airline incidental credit and $150 lifestyle credit; (2) when you redeem points for airfare through BofA Travel Center, PR Elite has elevated points value of 1.25 cents a piece, thus returning 1.88-3.28% fixed value rewards for general spending and 2.5-4.38% for dining & travel categories; (3) PR Elite offers additional travel perks such as airport lounge access, luxury hotel privileges, and car rental privileges. The bottom line: if you care about 25% extra rewards and/or additional travel perks, go with the high-end PR Elite.
To see how BofA PR Elite competes with other cards with similar annual fees, please check out our featured review Comparing High-end Cards covering Amex Platinum Card, Amex Delta Reserve, Amex Hilton Aspire, Amex Marriott Brilliant, Chase Sapphire Reserve, Chase United Club, Citi Prestige, Citi AA Executive, BofA PR Elite, U.S. Bank Altitude Reserve, Capital One Venture X, CNB Crystal, HSBC Elite, and MasterCard Black Card.
Conclusion
As a high-end card with reasonable annual fee reducers and a few premium travel perks to compete with similar products in the market, BofA PR Elite Visa Infinite offers mediocre rewards for customers with a combined balance less than $50K, but becomes a rewards powerhouse for Platinum or Platinum Honors clients, returning up to 2.81% or 3.28% fixed value travel rewards for general spending. However, whether or not you could/should keep such a high balance with BofA/Merrill is obviously down to your own financial situation.
PR Elite vs. BofA Premier Rewards Visa (PR Visa): They are very similar with 1.5%-2.63% cashback for general spending, and 2%-3.5% cashback for dining and travel. The differences are: (1) The annual fees are $455 higher on the PR Elite which also offers $350 more in annual credits (PR Visa has $100 airline incidental credit, while PR Elite offers $300 airline incidental credit and $150 lifestyle credit; (2) when you redeem points for airfare through BofA Travel Center, PR Elite has elevated points value of 1.25 cents a piece, thus returning 1.88-3.28% fixed value rewards for general spending and 2.5-4.38% for dining & travel categories; (3) PR Elite offers additional travel perks such as airport lounge access, luxury hotel privileges, and car rental privileges. The bottom line: if you care about 25% extra rewards and/or additional travel perks, go with the high-end PR Elite.
To see how BofA PR Elite competes with other cards with similar annual fees, please check out our featured review Comparing High-end Cards covering Amex Platinum Card, Amex Delta Reserve, Amex Hilton Aspire, Amex Marriott Brilliant, Chase Sapphire Reserve, Chase United Club, Citi Prestige, Citi AA Executive, BofA PR Elite, U.S. Bank Altitude Reserve, Capital One Venture X, CNB Crystal, HSBC Elite, and MasterCard Black Card.
Conclusion
As a high-end card with reasonable annual fee reducers and a few premium travel perks to compete with similar products in the market, BofA PR Elite Visa Infinite offers mediocre rewards for customers with a combined balance less than $50K, but becomes a rewards powerhouse for Platinum or Platinum Honors clients, returning up to 2.81% or 3.28% fixed value travel rewards for general spending. However, whether or not you could/should keep such a high balance with BofA/Merrill is obviously down to your own financial situation.