Is the Bank of America Travel Rewards Credit Card Worth It? Editor’s Review for 2024 (2024)

Pros

• 25,000 points initial bonus ($250 in travel)
• 1.5 points / $1 spent
• No annual fee or foreign transaction fees
• User-friendly travel rewards redemption

Cons

• Very high regular APR,Requires excellent credit

Is the Bank of America Travel Rewards credit card Worth It?

The Bank of America® Travel Rewards credit card is worth it for people with excellent credit who want to reduce the cost of travel without paying an annual fee. It has an initial bonus of 25,000 points for spending $1,000 in the first 90 days and a decent regular rewards rate of 1.5 points per $1 spent.

The average person could earn over $1,300 in rewards by using the Bank of America Travel Rewards credit card for two years, according to WalletHub’s calculations. In addition, the card comes with an introductory APR of 0% for 15 billing cycles on purchases and 0% for 15 billing cycles for any balance transfers made in the first 60 days.

What You Need to Do to Make the Bank of America Travel Rewards credit card Worthwhile

To make the Bank of America Travel Rewards credit card worthwhile, you should spend $1,000 in the first 90 days after opening an account to earn the initial bonus. You should also pay your balance in full every month the regular APR is in effect to prevent interest from diminishing the value you get from rewards. The good news is that you don’t have to worry about spending a certain amount to make up for the cost of the card, since it has a $0 annual fee.

The Bank of America Travel Rewards credit card is most worthwhile for people who are existing Bank of America banking customers with a lot of cash saved. If you are in Bank of America Preferred Rewards®, which requires at least $20,000 in a BofA account, you can get 25% to 75% more rewards.

Bank of America Travel Rewards Highlights

25,000-Point Initial Bonus

You only need to spend $1,000 during the first 90 days your account is open to qualify for this bounty. That’s 25% back when you redeem for travel. The average rewards card offers nearly the same amount of points, according to WalletHub’s latest Credit Card Landscape Report.

1.5 Points per $1 Spent on Purchases

That equals 1.5% back in the form of free travel. In other words, you get $15 in travel for every $1,000 you spend. The average credit cards with points gives you just 1.22 points per $1.

$0 Annual Fee

This saves you $22.22 per year compared to the average credit card. Not having to worry about an annual fee is especially important for people who don’t plan to use their new credit card regularly or for all of their spending.

$0 Foreign Transaction Fee

A travel rewards credit card that charges you extra for traveling abroad would be pretty disappointing. Thankfully, the Bank of America Travel Rewards card doesn’t let you down in that regard.

Flexible Travel Rewards Redemption

You can use your Bank of America Travel Rewards points to pay for any travel-related purchases that you charge to the account and also purchases made at restaurants, including takeout. In other words, you don’t have to book your travel accommodations with points; you can use them to pay your credit card bill after the fact. In fact, you have 12 months from when you make a travel purchase to use your points to cover the cost.

Whether a given purchase qualifies as travel-related depends on the merchant’s category code. However, all major travel providers count. That includes airlines, hotels, cruise lines, and even taxis/ride-sharing services and vacation-home-rental services. More and more travel rewards cards are adopting this approach, and consumers definitely benefit from the flexibility.

Banking Bonuses

Having a Bank of America checking or savings account gets you more points on purchases. You can join Bank of America Preferred Rewards® if you have at least $20,000 in such an account, or a Merrill investment account. Among other benefits, that increases your bonus to 25% - 75%, depending on your exact balance.

0% Intro APR for New Purchases

Bank of America Travel Rewards credit card offers 0% for 15 billing cycles on new purchases. That is longer than average for a 0% APR credit card offer right now (11 months). After the intro APR period ends, a 19.24% - 29.24% Variable APR will apply.

0% Intro APR for Balance Transfers

The Bank of America Travel Rewards credit card also offers 0% intro rates on balance transfers for the first 15 billing cycles your account is open. You shouldn’t get too excited, though, as you need to transfer your balance within the first 60 days. Furthermore, there is a balance transfer fee of 3% for 60 days from account opening, then 4%, that spoils this part of the deal. And after the intro APR ends, a 19.24% - 29.24% Variable APR will apply.

Bank of America Travel Rewards Lowlights

Requires Excellent Credit

The Bank of America Travel Rewards credit card would be much more appealing if more people could get it. Instead, you need a credit score of 750 or higher to have a good chance of being approved. It might be more successful, too. People with excellent credit have their pick of the best rewards credit cards on the market, and the travel rewards space is very competitive, with lots of great offers available.

You can check your latest credit score for free on WalletHub to gauge your odds of qualifying for Bank of America Travel Rewards.

Very High Regular APR

You are guaranteed to pay interest at an above-average rate if you carry a balance from month to month with this card when its regular APR is in effect. After all, the Bank of America Travel Rewards card requires excellent credit for approval, and the average credit card offer for people with excellent credit has a 18.2% APR.

Other Things to Consider About The Bank of America Travel Rewards Card

Non-Travel Redemption Options Give Less Value

In addition to redeeming for a travel statement credit, you can also cash in your points more literally. You can exchange them for gift cards or a cash reward (i.e. a bank account deposit or a non-travel statement credit). But instead of being worth a penny apiece, as is the case when you redeem for travel, Bank of America Travel Rewards points yield just over half as much ($0.006) when you redeem them for cash. And with gift cards, point values vary.

Minimum Redemption Requirements

You need at least 2,500 points to redeem for a travel statement credit or cash reward. And you need at least 3,125 point for a gift card.

To help you confirm you’ve found the best credit card for your needs, we’ve compared the Bank of America Travel Rewards credit card to some of its top competitors in key categories.

Bank of America® Travel Rewards credit card Review Methodology

This Bank of America® Travel Rewards credit card review is based on WalletHub’s proprietary 100-point credit card rating system. By using a consistent methodology to evaluate the Bank of America® Travel Rewards credit card and all other cards, WalletHub’s credit card experts make it easy for people to compare their options and find the best credit cards for their needs.

The WalletHub rating system uses 16 key metrics grouped into seven categories: Fees, Rewards, Two-year Cost, Interest Rates, Approval Requirements, Special Features, and Reviews. Each metric has a maximum number of points allocated to it, based on the metric’s importance as determined by our editors. The points are added up to create an overall rating for the Bank of America® Travel Rewards credit card out of a maximum of 100 points, which is then converted to a 5-point scale.

Ratings for each category reflect how close Bank of America Travel Rewards credit card is to WalletHub’s definition of a 5-star credit card, which is based on market conditions and what we believe are reasonable terms. We compare Bank of America Travel Rewards credit card to that standard to give a numerical approximation of how reasonable and competitive its terms are compared to other cards.

To learn more about how WalletHub rates credit card offers, check out our full credit card review methodology.