U.S. Bank BUSINESS Altitude Connect World Elite MasterCard
Last updated September 6, 2024.
The Facts
The Facts
- Annual Fee: 1st year free and $95 thereafter
- Signup Bonus: 60,000 points when you spend $6,000 within the first 180 days of new account opening. Historical best bonus: 75,000 points in 2024.
- Application Landing Page
- Rewards: 5x points on prepaid hotels & car rentals through U.S. Bank, 4x travel & gas and EV charging (up to $150,000 in annual spending for the combined 4x categories), 2x dining & cellphone 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, while you can transfer points between "1 cpp" Altitude Rewards cards (Altitude Go, Altitude Connect, Altitude Power), you can not transfer them to the high-end Altitude Reserve to achieve higher rewards value at 1.5 cpp.
- 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) Waived foreign transaction fees with an embedded EMV chip.
The Math
The 5x bonus category is not very useful because of the prepaid requirement and the fact that hotel bookings through a third party are ineligible for points earning and/or status recognition by several major hotel programs. The 2x bonus categories are not attractive either, because there are other business cards that offer 2x points for general spending. So the only interesting features for this card with a $95 annual fee are the 4x bonus categories and 4 free Priority Pass visits per year.
The Conclusion
With a $95 annual fee, US Bank Business Altitude Connect offers good 4% bonus categories (travel & gas) and 4 free Priority Pass visits per year. It could be a good business card for some consumers.
The 5x bonus category is not very useful because of the prepaid requirement and the fact that hotel bookings through a third party are ineligible for points earning and/or status recognition by several major hotel programs. The 2x bonus categories are not attractive either, because there are other business cards that offer 2x points for general spending. So the only interesting features for this card with a $95 annual fee are the 4x bonus categories and 4 free Priority Pass visits per year.
The Conclusion
With a $95 annual fee, US Bank Business Altitude Connect offers good 4% bonus categories (travel & gas) and 4 free Priority Pass visits per year. It could be a good business card for some consumers.