Wells Fargo Autograph℠ Card: A top pick for everyday travel (2024)

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The Wells Fargo Autograph Card could be a great fit if you’re looking for a no-annual-fee card that earns solid rewards in numerous popular everyday categories. This card also includes a generous intro bonus and above-average perks for a no-annual-fee card.

That said, if you’re looking for the most valuable and flexible points, you may want to consider another rewards card to maximize your earnings.

• Rewards

  • 3X points on purchases at restaurants
  • 3X points at gas stations and electric vehicle charging stations
  • 3X points on travel and transit purchases
  • 3X points on popular streaming services
  • 3X points on phone plans
  • 1X points on other purchases
  • Rewards value: 1 cent per point

  Expert Appraisal: Good
  See our expert analysis

• Welcome offer

  • 20,000 bonus points when you spend $1,000 in purchases in the first three months, worth a $200 cash redemption value

  Expert Appraisal: Typical
  See our expert analysis

• 0% intro APR offer

  • 0 percent intro APR for the first 12 months from account opening on purchases
  • 20.24%, 25.24%, or 29.99% Variable APR after that

  Expert Appraisal: Typical
  See our expert analysis

• Rates and fees

  • No annual fee
  • No foreign currency conversion fees
  • Cash advance APR: 29.99 percent
  • Balance transfer fee: Either an introductory fee of $5 or 3 percent of the amount of each qualifying balance transfer (whichever is greater) for the first 120 days from account opening. After that, up to 5 percent of the amount of each balance transfer (minimum $5).
  • Cash advance fee: Either $10 or 5 percent of the amount of each cash advance (whichever is greater)
  • Late payment: Up to $40

  Expert Appraisal: Typical
  See our expert analysis

• Other cardholder perks

  • Cellphone protection: up to $600 per claim against damage or theft when paying your monthly cellphone bill with the card (up to two claims per year, minus a $25 deductible)
  • My Wells Fargo Deals
  • Auto rental collision damage waiver coverage
  • Visa Signature® perks, including Visa Signature® Concierge service and Luxury Hotel Collection privileges

  Expert Appraisal: Typical
  See our expert analysis

The Wells Fargo Autograph card is an excellent fit for people who spend a lot in typical everyday categories. You’ll earn bonus points in various categories, making this a solid option for a standalone card.

Rewards: A terrific mix of everyday bonus categories

The Autograph card carries an excellent variety of bonus categories that earn unlimited 3X points. While other rewards cards feature some of the Autograph’s bonus categories, which include gas, restaurants, phone plans, popular streaming services, travel and transit, the Autograph card is one of the only rewards cards that earn points in all of these lucrative categories year-round at the same rate.

The My Wells Fargo Deals program is a nice addition to the Autograph. You can earn additional points on purchases with eligible retailers by activating deals in your Wells Fargo account or app.

Wells Fargo rewards are also fairly flexible. The card offers a good variety of cash rewards redemption options and allows you to redeem points at the same value whether you opt for cash rewards or travel.You can also transfer to any of Wells Fargo’s six travel partners for added flexibility and value.

Welcome offer: Solid value for no annual fee

The Autograph card’s current welcome offer of 20,000 bonus points (after you make $1,000 in purchases in your first three months) is worth about $200 in cash rewards.That’s similar to the value you'll find on the best no-annual-fee rewards cards. While the Autograph card’s bonus spending requirement is higher than many competitors, spending a little over $333 per month for three months should be easy enough if you use the card for most of your everyday spending.

Though it offers solid rewards rates and a nice mix of bonus categories, the Autograph card is missing useful premium travel benefits like airport lounge access and credits for expedited security screening. It also may not be the best choice if you want to maximize your rewards on flight or hotel bookings. The Autograph card's intro APR offer is also shorter than what you’ll find on competing rewards cards.

Perks: Limited value for travelers

Although the Autograph card earns rewards at a solid rate on both everyday and travel purchases, its other benefits are a bit lacking — especially for frequent travelers. In fact, the card doesn’t include any notable travel perks other than commonVisa Signature® features.

The Autograph card comes with Visa Signature® Concierge service, which gives you complimentary 24/7 assistance in booking travel, event tickets and dinner reservations, as well as Luxury Hotel Collection perks, including automatic room upgrades (when available), complimentary in-room Wi-Fi, breakfast for two, a $25 food and beverage credit and more.

Although the travel protections attached to this card can be useful, they’re only beneficial when something goes wrong, like collision damage waivers for auto rentals, pay-per-use roadside dispatch and other travel and emergency assistance services (Terms apply).

However, like all Wells Fargo cards, the Autograph offers some of the best available cellphone protection among all cards. Ifyour phone is damaged or stolen, you can be reimbursed up to $600 for the cost of repair or replacement (up to $1,200 per 12-month period, subject to a $25 deductible per claim). To use this benefit, you must consistently use the Wells Fargo Autograph Card to pay your monthly cellphone bill.

Redemption: Limited value for travel bookings

The Wells Fargo Autograph’s redemption options are all worth one cent per point. Many competing no-annual-fee travel cards make your points less valuable when you redeem them for cash rewards. Plus, the Autograph is also one of the only rewards cards that lets you withdraw rewards from an ATM or automatically redeem rewards.

That said, though the Autograph card offers a nice mix of redemption options, including the ability to transfer to Wells Fargo’s travel partners, Wells Fargo Rewards points carry limited value when redeemed for travel. For other cards, points typically get a slight boost in value when you redeem points for travel rather than cash back. This drags down the card’s overall value compared to other travel-oriented rewards cards.

It’s also worth noting that several redemption options require you to earn a minimum number of points before redeeming. You can manually redeem for several rewards options starting at just 1 point, but automatic cash reward and paper check redemptions have to be in $25 cash rewards increments (2,500 points). Similarly, Wells Fargo ATM cash reward withdrawals can only be completed in $20 cash rewards increments (2,000 points).

APR: Subpar introductory offer

The Autograph Card comes with a 0 percent introductory APR on purchases for 12 months from account opening (20.24%, 25.24%, or 29.99% Variable APR after that). While this is a welcomed feature, the intro APR length is a bit short when compared to other cards.

The Autograph card also doesn’t have an intro APR offer on balance transfers, so it won’t help you chip away at existing debt. If that’s your goal, the Wells Fargo Reflect® Card would be a better fit since it offers one of the longest intro APR periods on the market.

On the bright side, the Autograph card’s fees are relatively low. There are no annual fees or foreign currency conversion fees, which is great for traveling abroad.

Longtime Wells Fargo member and Bankrate credit cards writer Re’Dreyona Walker finds the issuer’s cards valuable for earning rewards on everyday spending and building positive credit history.

This card can be an excellent choice for Wells Fargo bank members like me. I already hold Wells Fargo’s flat-rate cash rewards card, but if I up my travel spending, I’ll definitely consider this one thanks to its practical mix of bonus categories and travel perks, which can help you save while you work on building even better credit.

— Re’Dreyona Walker, Writer, Credit Cards

With no rewards limits and no annual fee, the Wells Fargo Autograph Card could be a great addition to your wallet. It offers a great mix of practical bonus categories and a simple rewards program that makes it an ideal choice for anyone.

But it’s not the best choice if you’re interested in a long intro APR since competing cards carry far better offers. And though the card’s bonus categories are a key part of its appeal, frequent travelers will likely find that Wells Fargo’s rewards program and perks don’t measure up to Chase, American Express or Citi in terms of rewards value or travel features.

The Autograph is a great card to add to your collection if you’re looking for broad category coverage and a simple reward structure. However, if you’re looking for more travel benefits, you might benefit more from a dedicated travel card.

Dig deeper:Is the Wells Fargo Autograph worth it?

We rate credit cards using a proprietary card scoring system that ranks each card’s estimated average rewards rate, estimated annual earnings, welcome bonus value, APR, fees, perks and more against those of other cards in its primary category.

Each card feature is assigned a weighting based on how important it is to people looking for a card in a given category. These features are then scored based on how they rank relative to the features on other cards in the category. Based on these calculations, each card receives an overall rating of 1-5 stars (with 5 being the highest possible score and 1 being the lowest).

We analyzed over 150 of the most popular rewards and cash back cards to determine where each stacked up based on their value, cost, benefits and more. Here are some of the key factors that influenced this card’s overall score and how the score influenced our review:

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