U.S. Bank Altitude Connect Visa Signature Review (Old Review NOT being Updated)
Last updated August 13, 2021. Please see our updated review here.
The Facts
The Facts
- Annual Fee: none for 1st year and $95 thereafter
- Signup Bonus: 50,000 points when you spend $1,000 within the first 3 months of new account opening. Historical best bonus: 50,000 points many times in the last years.
- Rewards: 5x points on prepaid hotels & car rentals through U.S. Bank, 4x travel & gas, 2x groceries & dining & streaming services, 1x everywhere else
- Best Use of Altitude Rewards points: You may redeem the points for cash back, travel, gift cards, merchandise, magazines, etc., at up to 1 cent per point (cpp). The best option for most customers will probably be the "real-time rewards" feature if you enroll your cellphone number for this feature in your online account. Once enrolled, whenever you use this card to pay for eligible purchases, you will receive a text message from US Bank asking you if you want to redeem your points for that specific transaction, at fixed value of 1 cpp. Note that, you can not transfer the points earned on this card to the high-end Altitude Reserve account to achieve higher rewards value at 1.5 cpp for travel.
- Other Benefits: (1) Annual $30 credit for streaming services; you will need to have the streaming service for the full year to be eligible for this credit. (2) Reimbursement for Global Entry ($100) or TSA PreCheck ($85) application fees every four years. (3) Waived foreign transaction fees with an embedded EMV chip.
- Protection: this card offers cellphone protection ($25 deductible, $600 per claim, up to 2 claims per year).
- History: The card was introduced in May 2021.
The Math
Altitude Connect can be considered a cashback card that offers 4%, 2%, and 1% rewards for different categories, with a $95 annual fee. As our benchmark is an non-fee 2% cashback card (e.g. Citi DoubleCash or Fidelity Visa), Altitude Connect only shines in 4% travel & gas; however, there are several options to gain the similar level of rewards - for example, Abound Visa offers unlimited 5% cashback on gas without an annual fee; US Bank's own high end Altitude Reserve ($400 annual fee, $325 annual travel & dining credit) has a lower effective annual fee and offers 4.5% fixed-value travel rewards for travel & mobile payments.
The Conclusion
With a $95 annual fee, Altitude Connect Visa has an unimpressive 5-4-2-1% rewards structure. Check out US Bank's own high-end Altitude Reserve instead for lower effective annual fee, higher signup bonus, and better rewards/perks/protection.
Altitude Connect can be considered a cashback card that offers 4%, 2%, and 1% rewards for different categories, with a $95 annual fee. As our benchmark is an non-fee 2% cashback card (e.g. Citi DoubleCash or Fidelity Visa), Altitude Connect only shines in 4% travel & gas; however, there are several options to gain the similar level of rewards - for example, Abound Visa offers unlimited 5% cashback on gas without an annual fee; US Bank's own high end Altitude Reserve ($400 annual fee, $325 annual travel & dining credit) has a lower effective annual fee and offers 4.5% fixed-value travel rewards for travel & mobile payments.
The Conclusion
With a $95 annual fee, Altitude Connect Visa has an unimpressive 5-4-2-1% rewards structure. Check out US Bank's own high-end Altitude Reserve instead for lower effective annual fee, higher signup bonus, and better rewards/perks/protection.