U.S. Bank Altitude Connect Visa Signature Review
Last updated September 9, 2024.
The Facts
The Facts
- Annual Fee: none
- Signup Bonus: 20,000 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.
- Application Landing Page
- Rewards: 5x points on prepaid hotels & car rentals through U.S. Bank, 4x travel & gas and EV charging (bonus for the latter category is capped at $1,000 each quarter), 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) Access to over 1,500 airport lounges worldwide via a complimentary Priority Pass Select membership for one cardmember per account (primary cardholder or authorized user). The first four visits for will be free, and visits thereafter will be $27 per person per visit. Please see our featured review All About Airport Lounges to learn more. (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.
- History: The card was introduced in May 2021. In September 2024, US Bank revamped the card by removing the $95 annual fee, adding 4 free Priority Pass Select visits, and removing annual $30 streaming credits and cellphone protection.
The Math
Altitude Connect can be considered a cashback card that offers 4%, 2%, and 1% rewards for different categories, with no 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 low effective annual fee and offers 4.5% fixed-value travel rewards for travel & mobile payments.
The Conclusion
Without an annual fee, Altitude Connect Visa has a decent 5-4-2-1% rewards structure but offers 4 free PPS visits. However, check out US Bank's own high-end Altitude Reserve for a low 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 no 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 low effective annual fee and offers 4.5% fixed-value travel rewards for travel & mobile payments.
The Conclusion
Without an annual fee, Altitude Connect Visa has a decent 5-4-2-1% rewards structure but offers 4 free PPS visits. However, check out US Bank's own high-end Altitude Reserve for a low effective annual fee, higher signup bonus, and better rewards/perks/protection.