Overview of Bank of America Altitude Reserve Visa Unlimited Card
Bank of America Altitude® Reserve Visa Infinite® Card is a premium travel card designed to earn rewards that you can easily redeem and achieve strong value. The highlight of this card is the ability to earn 3 points per dollar on purchases made with mobile wallets. Although it comes with expensive annual fees, it provides enough stated credit to cover most of its expenses. Card Rating*: ⭐⭐⭐⭐
*Card ratings are based on the opinions of TPG editors and are not affected by the card issuer.
Long-term reward travel enthusiasts know about this exercise: accumulating airline mileage or transferable points and then surveillance to get the maximum redemption value. This often requires a lot of research and leg work, which can be daunting.
The Bank of America Altitude Reserve Visa Unlimited Card makes reward travel a headache. It’s all about earning rewards that you can redeem with strong value quickly and easily. It comes with an expensive $400 annual fee, but it provides enough stated credit to make up for its cost to a large extent. In the past, the credit score of the approved applicant for the card was 750 or higher.
Although the card no longer accepts new applicants, online data points indicate that existing Bank of America credit card holders (usually other altitude card products) can change customer service and products to Bank of America High Reserve.
Information on Bank of America Reserve Unlimited Cards has been collected independently by Points Guy. The card details on this page have not been reviewed or provided by the card issuer.
Bank of America Altitude Reserve Patents and Disadvantages
| advantage | shortcoming |
|---|---|
|
|
Bank of America Altitude Reserve Welcome Offer
This card is not open to new applicants. Therefore, there is no welcome offer.
Related: 9 Valuable Travel Perks You Can Get with Credit Cards
Bank of America Altitude Reserve
Bank of America’s high reserve has several valuable benefits, but the easiest thing to use is a $325 annual credit for travel purchases and catering (including takeaway and restaurant delivery purchases). Qualified travel purchases include airlines, hotels, car rentals, taxis, limousines, trains and cruise routes.
Daily Newsletter
Reward your inbox with TPG Daily Newsletter
Join over 700,000 readers for breaking news, in-depth guides and exclusive deals from TPG experts
Highly reserved statement credit is good with my competition Chase SapphireReserve® (See interest rates and fees), a slightly lower annual credit of $300, only for travel purchases.
Like many cards, cardholders also receive a declaration credit of up to $120 every four years to cover the application fee for global entry or TSA Precheck.
Cardholders make free access to the Priority Pass Lounge eight times a year, each access is valid. After free access, cardholders can expect $35 per person per visit. So numerous credit cards offer full priority pass option membership, so limited access from the altitude reserve is a huge negative for the $400 annual fee card. I would say that sapphire reserve is a better option as it has priority pass membership and gives cardholders access to the Chase Sapphire lounge.
Other benefits include cancellation of travel and interruption coverage, reimbursement of delayed travel, reimbursement of baggage losses, and even emergency evacuation and transportation coverage. Cardholders can also get purchase protection, return protection and extended warranty.
Another notable privilege? This card does not charge foreign transaction fees, similar to many other travel credit cards.
Win points on Bank of America’s High Reserves
The point earning structure on this card is simple, making it a fan favorite among credit card enthusiasts. The cardholder receives the following:
- Spend 5 points per dollar on prepaid hotels and car rentals and book directly at the Altitude Reward Center.
- 3 points per dollar spent on all purchases made with Apple Pay, Google Wallet and Samsung Pay mobile wallet systems.
- Spend 3 points on all qualified travel purchases.
- Spend 1 cent per dollar.
Qualified travel purchases include direct travel with airlines, hotels, car rentals, taxis, limousines, trains and cruise lines. Qualified mobile app purchases can be made in the store, in-app or online.
The popularity and ease of choice of mobile wallet purchases make this card unique in the card market. With such an impressive bonus category, a lot of expenses like repairs of a car or buying electronics or jewelry, making this card worth it.
In the past, cash back credit cards offered in quarterly bonus categories included mobile wallet purchases. But having a card that has it as a permanent category without revenue restrictions is indeed innovative.
But that’s just part of the story, because when redeemed through the issuer’s portal, these points can be worth 1.5 cents more than 1 cent per point/mile that most loyalty programs offer.
Related: If I pay with my mobile wallet, will my reward change?
Bank of America’s high reserve redemption points
Tickets are worth 1.5 cents, including points directly manufactured by airlines, hotels, car rental companies, taxi, train and cruise companies.
When redeeming points, you will receive a statement credit for your credit card purchase. You can also choose to redeem your perspective in real time, a unique feature of your credit card. When you make a purchase in a selected category, you receive a text message asking if you want to apply the point to the purchase cost.
Redeem your points to get a real-time reward, earning 1 cent per net, so keep this difference in mind. This is still a valuable option, but I recommend redeeming your point of view as much as possible.
Related: Start your trip with points, miles and credit cards
Which card competes highly with Bank of America
Several cards fight alongside Bank of America’s high reserves when comparing annual expenses, stating credit, earning rates and benefits.
- If you like to chase: this Chatong Sapphire Reserve Received a refresh recently and received a higher annual fee of $795 with a $300 annual travel credit that can be used for flights, hotels and even rides or parking fees. The card also has full priority pass selection membership and access to the Sapphire Lounge. To learn more, read our full review of the Sapphire Reserve.
- If you prefer Capital One: Capital One Venture X Rewards credit cards have access to Priority Pass and Capital One Lounges, with an annual fee of just under $395. Cardholders spend an easy 2 miles per dollar on all purchases and earn $300 credits per year for qualified purchases made through Capital One Travel Portal. To learn more, check out our full review of Capital One Venture X.
- If you want a lower annual fee: The annual fee for Capital One Venture Rewards credit card is $95. The card offers a simple income structure that costs 5 miles per dollar per dollar on hotels, vacation rentals and rentals booked through Capital One Travel and 2 miles per dollar per dollar. The rewards you earn can be transferred to over 15 airlines and hotel partners for greater redemption. To learn more, read our full review of Capital One Venture Rewards credit card.
For other options, check out our draft picks for the best quality credit cards.
Related: Capital One Venture X and Chase Sapphire Reserve
Is Bank of America’s high reserve worth it?
If you are a frequent mobile wallet user, this card deserves the extra points you earn, as most places accept mobile wallet payments. The main obstacle is that the card is closed to new applicants, but changes may be made from existing U.S. bank cards.
Bottom line
Compared to some cards Chatong Sapphire Reservethe US Altitude Reserve Card has a low profile. Maybe it’s because it doesn’t allow you to transfer rewards to an airline or hotel program. The card’s $400 annual fee is also easily delayed – until you realize that this also comes with an annual travel statement credit of $325 per year. For travel that is difficult to redeem air miles or hotel points, Bank of America’s high reserves are priceless.
If you already have this card, it is recommended to keep it. For those who have another U.S. bank card, it is worth calling customer service and asking for product changes.
Related: Bank of America Highly Connected Visa Card Review
