Bank of America Travel Rewards credit card review: A travel credit card for the fee-averse
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“Verified by an expert” means that this article has been thoroughly reviewed and evaluated for accuracy.
BLUEPRINT
Published 6:00 a.m. UTC June 6, 2024
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The Bank of America® Travel Rewards credit card * The information for the Bank of America® Travel Rewards credit card has been collected independently by Blueprint. The card details on this page have not been reviewed or provided by the card issuer. offers a simple approach to rewards, with a base rate of 1.5 points per $1 on purchases — and the chance to earn up to an impressive flat rate of 2.62 points per dollar on purchases for being a Bank of America Preferred Rewards® member.
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Bank of America Travel Rewards credit card basics
- Annual fee: $0.
- Welcome bonus: 25,000 points after spending $1,000 on purchases in the first 90 days of account opening.
- Rewards: Earn 1.5 points per $1 on purchases, with the chance to earn 25% to 75% bonus points as a Bank of America Preferred Rewards customer. Also, earn an additional 1.5 points per dollar on Bank of America Travel Center purchases.
- APR: 0% intro APR for 15 billing cycles for purchases and any balance transfers made in the first 60 days, followed by a 19.24% to 29.24% variable APR. A 3% intro balance transfer fee will apply for the first 60 days; then a 4% fee applies to future balance transfers.
- Preapproval tool: Yes.
- Recommended credit score: Good to excellent.
Bank of America Travel Rewards review
The Bank of America Travel Rewards credit card is a mainstay among no-annual-fee travel credit cards. This card offers a flat 1.5 points per $1 on purchases, but if you’re a loyal Bank of America or Merrill customer, you may be able to earn as much as 2.62 points per dollar on purchases. You’ll also earn more rewards when you use your card to book travel through the Bank of America Travel Center.
With no annual fee, the card doesn’t offer much in the way of travel benefits. But its welcome bonus is solid, giving you 25,000 points after spending $1,000 on purchases in the first 90 days of account opening. And if you need an introductory APR promotion, this card offers a lengthy one, 0% intro APR for 15 billing cycles for purchases and any balance transfers made in the first 60 days, followed by a 19.24% to 29.24% variable APR. A 3% intro balance transfer fee will apply for the first 60 days; then a 4% fee applies to future balance transfers.
The card can be a great introduction to travel rewards for someone who prefers to avoid an annual fee, and it can also be a great way for certain Bank of America or Merrill customers to maximize their rewards on every purchase. But if you’re serious about travel rewards and perks, a different card may be a better fit, even if it charges an annual fee.
Pros
- Intro APR offer: The card’s intro offer is helpful for anyone wanting extra time to pay off a big purchase or looking to tackle some debt.
- Relationship bonus: Those who are already banking with Bank of America or Merrill can earn higher rewards based on their relationship tier via the bank’s Preferred Rewards program.
- Simple travel rewards: Navigating travel rewards can be complicated with some credit card programs. The flat-rate rewards on this card are relatively simple to earn and use.
Cons
- No notable travel benefits: If you want added benefits when you travel, such as robust travel protections, airport lounge access or reimbursement for the Global Entry application fee, you may be disappointed with this card.
- No everyday bonus categories: You can earn extra points when you book travel through Bank of America, but the card doesn’t offer any other bonus categories.
- Steep price to maximize rewards: To earn the highest rewards rate possible, you’ll need a three-month combined average daily balance of at least $100,000 in eligible Bank of America deposit accounts or Merrill investment accounts.
Bank of America Travel Rewards credit card rewards
The card offers a flat base rate of 1.5 points per $1 on purchases. However, if you use your card to book travel through the Bank of America Travel Center, you’ll earn 3 points per $1 on those purchases — an extra 1.5 points per $1 on top of the base rewards rate.
Additionally, the card earns 25%, 50% or 75% more points per purchase if you’re eligible for the Bank of America Preferred Rewards program. To join, you must have a three-month combined average daily balance of at least $20,000 in eligible Bank of America deposit accounts or Merrill investment accounts.
Depending on which Preferred Rewards tier you qualify for, you can earn between 1.87 to 2.62 points per dollar on most of your purchases with this card. Note, however, that this bonus doesn’t apply to the card’s welcome offer.
The welcome offer provides 25,000 points after spending $1,000 on purchases in the first 90 days of account opening.
To redeem your rewards, simply use your card to pay for eligible travel or dining purchases, then request a statement credit with your points within 12 months of the transaction date. You can also redeem points for cash or gift cards, but you’ll only get 0.6 cents per point with cash redemptions — and gift card redemption values can vary. As a result, it’s best to stick to travel and dining statement credits.
Bank of America Travel Rewards credit card rewards potential
Using government data and other publicly available information, we estimate that a household in the U.S. that would be in the market for this card has $29,525 in expenses they are likely to be able to charge to a credit card.
| SPENDING CATEGORY | SPENDING AMOUNT | POINTS PER DOLLAR | CASH BACK EARNED |
|---|---|---|---|
All spending
| $29,525
| 1.50%
| $442.88
|
TOTAL
| $29,525
| $442.88
|
If you’re earning the base rate of 1.5 points per $1 on purchases, you could earn $442.88 worth of points every year. If you’re a Bank of America Preferred Rewards customer, though, you could earn up to $773.56 in value.
Bank of America Travel Rewards credit card APR details
As a new cardholder, you’ll get a 0% intro APR for 15 billing cycles for purchases and any balance transfers made in the first 60 days, followed by a 19.24% to 29.24% variable APR. A 3% intro balance transfer fee will apply for the first 60 days; then a 4% fee applies to future balance transfers. That’s a rare benefit among travel credit cards, so it’s even more impressive that it’s also a relatively lengthy intro APR period.
Bank of America Travel Rewards credit card vs. Discover it® Miles
If you’re a big spender, you could benefit from a big bonus offer from the Discover it Miles. The card offers 1.5 miles per $1 on purchases, and Discover will automatically match all miles earned at the end of the first cardmember year, with no limit to how many miles you can earn.
You can redeem miles as a statement credit for travel purchases made up to 180 days after they post, for cash back to a bank account or you can use them to shop online at Amazon.com and through PayPal.
The card also has no annual fee and no foreign transaction fee, but keep in mind that if you plan to travel abroad, Discover is not widely accepted internationally.
Bank of America Travel Rewards credit card vs. Capital One Venture Rewards Credit Card
For a modest $95 annual fee, the Capital One Venture Rewards Credit Card offers substantial rewards value. As a new cardholder, you’ll earn 75,000 miles after spending $4,000 on purchases in the first three months of account opening. You’ll also earn 5 miles per $1 on hotels and rental cars booked through Capital One Travel and purchases through Capital One Entertainment and 2 miles per $1 on other purchases.
You can redeem miles as statement credits for past travel purchases, use them to pay for Capital One Travel bookings or transfer them to airline or hotel loyalty programs.
In terms of perks, you’ll get an application fee credit toward Global Entry or TSA PreCheck (up to $100), two complimentary annual visits to Capital One Lounges or Plaza Premium Lounges, Hertz Five Star status¹, bonus miles on Turo car rentals and more.
Bank of America Travel Rewards credit card vs. Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card
The Chase Sapphire Preferred offers 60,000 points after spending $4,000 on purchases in the first three months of account opening. You’ll also earn 5 points per $1 on travel purchased through Chase Travel℠, 3 points per $1 on dining, select streaming services, and online grocery purchases (excluding Walmart, Target and wholesale clubs), 2 points per $1 on all other travel purchases and 1 point per $1 on all other purchases.
Points are typically worth 1 cent each (though the value may vary for certain redemptions). Redemption options include cash back, statement credits, gift cards, Apple purchases and online shopping. You can also use them to book travel through Chase Travel℠ and receive 25% more value per point, or transfer your points at a 1:1 rate to airline and hotel loyalty programs.
The card also offers a $50 annual statement credit for hotel stays booked through Chase Travel, as well as partner benefits with Lyft, Instacart, DoorDash and Peloton. There’s a $95 annual fee.
Finally, the Sapphire Preferred provides a robust lineup of travel benefits, including trip cancellation and interruption insurance, trip delay reimbursement, baggage delay reimbursement and primary rental car insurance.
Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card
Should you get the Bank of America Travel Rewards credit card?
If you’re a Bank of America Preferred Rewards member, the Travel Rewards credit card can be a great way to rack up a lot of points on your everyday purchases, especially if you can qualify for the maximum 75% points bonus — which brings the earning rate up to 2.62 points per dollar spent on purchases.
That said, it may also be worth considering another travel card with added perks for when you travel, since this one’s benefits are slim compared to popular travel cards such as the Chase Sapphire Preferred.
If you’re not a Preferred Rewards customer, the Bank of America travel card may still be a good fit if you want to earn travel rewards but don’t want to deal with an annual fee. However, it should be mentioned there are many travel credit cards that charge an annual fee but offer enough value in perks alone to make up for the cost every year. Shop around and compare several options to determine which one offers the best value for you based on your travel and spending habits.
Methodology
Our credit cards team has spent hours analyzing hundreds of travel credit cards. We took a deep dive into the details of each product and that analysis, combined with our years of experience covering credit cards, informed us as we developed these credit card rankings. We factored the following into our analysis:
- Annual fees.
- Travel reward rates.
- Value of rewards.
- Redemption options.
- Additional benefits that a card may offer for travelers, such as travel insurance.
Frequently asked questions (FAQs)
The Bank of America Travel Rewards card doesn’t publicize a minimum credit score. In part, this may be because Bank of America considers many factors when reviewing your card application, including your credit scores, credit history, other accounts at Bank of America, income and monthly bills.
However, a higher credit score may increase your chances of getting approved and receiving a low rate. As a rule of thumb, you might want to have at least a good FICO Score (670 or higher) when you apply. Additionally, you can use the Bank of America preapproval tool to see if you’ll likely get approved.
You can redeem Bank of America Travel Rewards points by using your card to pay for travel and dining purchases. You then have up to 12 months to use your points to offset the purchase at a rate of 1 cent per point, and you can offset part of the transaction if you don’t have enough points.
The minimum redemption requirement is 2,500 points ($25), which you can meet by making several small redemptions at the same time. You can also redeem points for gift cards or cash, but you may receive a lower value for each point.
Bank of America travel rewards points do not expire while your account is open and has charging privileges. If you lose charging privileges, perhaps because you missed a payment and your account isn’t in good standing, you won’t be able to redeem your points. However, you can redeem them once your charging privileges are restored.
You might forfeit unredeemed points if you close your account or Bank of America closes your account for any reason. Bank of America can give you an extension to use the points when your account is closed, but it’s not guaranteed.
The Bank of America Travel Rewards credit card might be worth it if you want a card that doesn’t have an annual fee and offers 1.5 points per $1 on purchases you spend. However, it works like a cash-back card because you use your rewards to offset previous travel and dining purchases. With this in mind, also consider cash-back cards that don’t have annual fees. They may offer an equal or higher rewards rate on every purchase with fewer redemption restrictions.
The Bank of America Travel Rewards card does not offer travel insurance as a cardholder benefit.
For Capital One products listed on this page, some of the above benefits are provided by Visa® or Mastercard® and may vary by product. See the respective Guide to Benefits for details, as terms and exclusions apply.
¹Upon enrollment, accessible through the Capital One website or mobile app, eligible cardholders will remain at upgraded status level through December 31, 2024. Please note, enrolling through the normal Hertz Gold Plus Rewards enrollment process (e.g. at Hertz.com) will not automatically detect a cardholder as being eligible for the program and cardholders will not be automatically upgraded to the applicable status tier. Additional terms apply.
*The information for the Bank of America® Travel Rewards credit card has been collected independently by Blueprint. The card details on this page have not been reviewed or provided by the card issuer.
Blueprint is an independent publisher and comparison service, not an investment advisor. The information provided is for educational purposes only and we encourage you to seek personalized advice from qualified professionals regarding specific financial decisions. Past performance is not indicative of future results.
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