Bank of America’s Senior Rewards Elite Credit Card Overview
If you are eligible for the America® Premium Rewards® Elite Credit Card has the potential to be more profitable for daily spending and travel. For those who prefer transferable rewards, there are more travel cards to earn. Card rating*: ⭐⭐⭐½
*Card ratings are based on the opinions of TPG editors and are not affected by the card issuer.
Among the usual heavyweights in the premium reward card world, such as Capital One Venture X reward credit card and PlatinumCard® from American Express, Bank of America has its own competitors. However, its competitiveness comes with a warning: To reach your full potential, you need to be eligible for the Bank of America’s preferred rewards program (more below).
The annual fee for Bank of America’s Senior Reward Elite Credit Card is $550 and is designed for Bank of America’s high net worth clients. But that’s not unique to this client base, you don’t need to establish a relationship with the bank to apply. Approved applicants usually have a credit score of 670 or higher.
At first glance, this card looks like a long-standing version of the American® Premium Rewards® credit card.
Depending on its lifestyle credit and all-metal design, this card may be worth considering. Here’s what you need to know about Bank of America’s Advanced Rewards Elite Credit Cards.
Bank of America’s Information Advanced Rewards Elite Credit Card has been independently collected by Points Guy. The card details on this page have not been reviewed or provided by the card issuer.
Pros and cons of Bank of America’s Senior Reward Elite Credit Card
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Bank of America’s Senior Reward Elite Credit Card Welcome Bonus
New premium bonus elite cardholders can earn 75,000 bonus points after spending $5,000 in the first 90 days of opening. The fixed value of these points is 1 cent each, which means the bonus is worth $750. This is the standard quote for this card.
Banks of America do not have public restrictions specifically for earning welcome bonuses, but they do have the infamous 2/3/4 rules regarding card applications.
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Under this rule, you can only get approval for two U.S. bank cards in a 30-day period, three cards in a 12-month period and four cards in a 24-month period.
Related: Best Credit Card Welcome Offer of the Month
Bank of America’s Senior Reward Elite Credit Card Benefits
Most reward cards with high annual fees offer privileges that help offset annual (or all) annual fees. The Advanced Reward Elite Card is no different, with the following obvious benefits:
- Up to $300 per year on the airline’s stated credit line; this includes purchases such as seat upgrades, luggage fees and airline rest fees, but no Air tickets
- Lifestyle convenience statement credits up to $150 per year; this includes streaming services, food delivery, fitness subscriptions and rides
- Declaration credit of global admission or TSA Precheck application fee is up to USD 120 (once every four years)
Other benefits include up to four free priority pass options, saving any class 20% on domestic or international air tickets without foreign transaction fees when you pay points, travel and shopping protection.
With a preferred membership, you will receive access to over 1,700 airport lounges worldwide.
As long as you take advantage of all the credits offered, this is a nice benefit of a card with a $550 annual fee that comes with a $550 fee. The flexibility of lifestyle credit for senior reward elites is very useful for everyone who spends on a variety of categories throughout the year.
Related: 9 Valuable Travel Perks You Can Get with Credit Cards
Bank of America earns points for senior rewards elite credit cards
With Premium Reward Elites, you will earn at the following rates:
The travel and dining categories are broadly defined, which means many fees can qualify for double-point. The real difference is the preferred rewards program for Bank of America. Essentially, if you have enough assets at Bank of America, you will get rewarded for using one of your bank’s credit cards.
Preferred Rewards Members receive 25%, 50%, or 75% bonus on reward bonuses on U.S. Selected Bank Cards, including Premium Rewards Elite Cards.
| Cost Category | Regular cardholder | Preferred Rewards Gold Membership (25% Bonus) | Preferred rewards to Platinum members (50% bonus) | Preferred rewards Platinum Honors, Diamond or Diamond Honors Members (75% Bonus) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Travel and dining | 2 points per dollar | 2.5 points per dollar | Spend 3 points per dollar | Spend 3.5 points per dollar |
| Everything else | 1.5 points per dollar | Spend 1.875 points per dollar | 2.25 points per dollar | Spend 2.625 points per dollar |
Related: Why Get a Fixed Rate Reward Credit Card
Bank of America’s Redemption Points Advanced Reward Elite Credit Card
One of the biggest drawbacks of the Advanced Reward Elite Card is the limited number of redemption options. Unlike comparable cards, there are no airlines or hotel transfer partners.
Points can be redeemed for travel, statement credit, cash back, gift card or experience per person.
Remember that you will save 20% of your ticket savings for any class through points from Bank of America Travel Center or Concierge Services. This brings you to 1.2 cents per point of these redemptions. This is close to the value you can get with transferable rewards, but it is an improvement.
Related: Start your trip with points, miles and credit cards
Which cards compete with Bank of America for premium reward elite credit cards?
The best cards compared to Premium Rewards Elite Card are cards with similar annual fees or benefits, such as the following:
- If you like Chase: Chase SapphireReserve® (see Rates and Fees) is a great choice. This is a premium travel card with an annual fee of $795, offering priority passing membership, up to $500 hotel credit (annual maximum $250 note credit, minimum booking for two nights), $300 travel statement credit and a strong money-making category. To learn more, read our full review of the Sapphire Reserve.
- If you like Citi: The annual fee for the Citi StrataPremier® card (see Fees and Fees) is low, and the discounted price of $500 or more for a qualified hotel stay offset by the $95 annual fee when booking through Cititravel.com (excluding taxes and fees). The total income rate of the class is spent on hotels, car rentals and attraction bookings made through citizenship.com at a rate of 10 points; it costs 3 points per dollar for air travel, other hotel purchases, restaurants, supermarkets, gas stations and electric vehicle charging stations; it costs 3 points per dollar for all other purchases. To learn more, read our full review of the Citibank Prime Minister.
- If you like American Express: The Amex Platinum annual fee is $695 (see Rates and Fees), although you can recover this fee and then some fees if you maximize its massive statement credit and allowance. For those who travel frequently, the card earns an impressive 5 points per dollar on airline purchases made directly with airlines or via American ExpressTravel® (in the first $500,000 in a calendar year, followed by 1 point per dollar). Additionally, Card Members will receive Golden Elite status such as Marriott Bonvoy and Hilton Honors (registration is required; terms and conditions apply). To learn more, read our full review of Amex Platinum.
For other options, check out our best travel cards.
Is Bank of America’s Senior Reward Elite Credit Card worth it?
If transfer partners are no big deal for you, the premium bonus elite card may be worth it. If you are the preferred reward member, the card becomes almost effortless as you will get more reward points in all categories. That is, if you don’t use its statement points or are not the preferred reward member, this card has little value. In this case, you’d better use a mid-tier travel card.
Bottom line
Bank of America Premium Rewards Elite Card offers existing or incoming reward program customers’ goals by providing higher-priced products in the Bank of America ecosystem.
The card may still be a niche player, especially considering that Bank of America has no airlines or hotel transfer partners. That said, for those at Bank of America, this is still a reliable card that can take advantage of its annual statement credit.
Related: 7 Seven Best Separate Credit Cards
For Amex Platinum rates and fees, click (see here).
