Bank of America Travel Rewards Visa Signature Review
Updated August 15, 2020. For the temporary benefits during the COVID-19 pandemic, please see our featured review.
The Facts
The Math
Without a Preferred Rewards status, BofA Travel Rewards Visa (TR Visa) offers mediocre cashback rewards of 1.5% (or 1.65% with a banking relationship) for general spending. You would be better to go with a non-fee 2% cashback card like Citi Double Cash or Fidelity Visa. On the other hand, TR Visa' s 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. The following table summarizes the enhanced rewards after the banking relationship bonus.
The Facts
- Annual Fee: none
- Signup Bonus: 25,000 points
- Application landing page
- Rewards: 1.5x everywhere. In addition, you receive banking relationship bonus for 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 Travel Rewards points: You may redeem points for travel (either through the booking portal or in statement credit) or gift cards at 1 cent per point; you may also redeem your points for cash, statement credit, deposit into your BofA checking or savings account, or contribution to an eligible Merrill Lynch account, at 0.6 cent per point.
- Other Benefits: Waived foreign transaction fees, with an embedded EMV chip.
The Math
Without a Preferred Rewards status, BofA Travel Rewards Visa (TR Visa) offers mediocre cashback rewards of 1.5% (or 1.65% with a banking relationship) for general spending. You would be better to go with a non-fee 2% cashback card like Citi Double Cash or Fidelity Visa. On the other hand, TR Visa' s 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. The following table summarizes the enhanced rewards after the banking relationship bonus.
| BofA Preferred Rewards level | BofA and Merrill combined balance | General spending rewards |
| Gold | 20K-50K | 1.875% |
| Platinum | 50K-100K | 2.25% |
| Platinum Honors | 100K+ | 2.625% |
As you can see, once you reach Platinum or Platinum Honors level, this card becomes so lucrative that it has the potential to beat all other cashback cards in the market. And if you set aside the flexibility of miles/points transfer feature of those premium travel cards mentioned above, TR Visa may also have them beaten, at least on paper.
TR Visa vs. BofA Premium Rewards Visa (PR Visa): They are actually very similar with 1.5% rewards (and potentially as high as 2.625% for Preferred Rewards clients) for general spending. The differences are: (1) PR Visa has a $95 annual fee but will be considered none when you make use of the annual $100 airline credit; (2) PR Visa offers 2x for dining and travel categories; (3) While the travel & gift card redemption rates are the same at 1 cent, PR Visa's cash redemption rate is better than TR Visa's (1 cent vs. 0.6 cent); (4) PR Visa offers TSA PreCheck or Global Entry application credit. The bottom line: if you could make use of the annual $100 airline credit, you should definitely go with PR Visa.
Conclusion
BofA TR Visa is unimpressive for clients with a combined balance less than 50K, but will be a cashback powerhouse for Platinum or Platinum Honors clients. Whether or not you could/should keep such a high balance with BofA/Merrill is obviously down to your own financial situation. And you should consider getting PR Visa instead if you will be able to use its $100 annual airline credit.
TR Visa vs. BofA Premium Rewards Visa (PR Visa): They are actually very similar with 1.5% rewards (and potentially as high as 2.625% for Preferred Rewards clients) for general spending. The differences are: (1) PR Visa has a $95 annual fee but will be considered none when you make use of the annual $100 airline credit; (2) PR Visa offers 2x for dining and travel categories; (3) While the travel & gift card redemption rates are the same at 1 cent, PR Visa's cash redemption rate is better than TR Visa's (1 cent vs. 0.6 cent); (4) PR Visa offers TSA PreCheck or Global Entry application credit. The bottom line: if you could make use of the annual $100 airline credit, you should definitely go with PR Visa.
Conclusion
BofA TR Visa is unimpressive for clients with a combined balance less than 50K, but will be a cashback powerhouse for Platinum or Platinum Honors clients. Whether or not you could/should keep such a high balance with BofA/Merrill is obviously down to your own financial situation. And you should consider getting PR Visa instead if you will be able to use its $100 annual airline credit.