Pros
- 60,000 bonus points offer
- 2 points per $1 spent on travel and dining
- Extra points for Bank of America Preferred Rewards® clients
- $0 foreign fee
- Up to $200 in air travel credits
Cons
- $95 annual fee
- Very high regular APR
- Requires excellent credit
Bank of America® Premium Rewards® credit card
- Earn unlimited 2 points for every $1 spent on travel and dining purchases and unlimited 1.5 points for every $1 spent on all other purchases. No limit to the points you can earn and your points don't expire as long as your account remains open.
Receive 60,000 online bonus points - a $600 value - after you make at least $4,000 in purchases in the first 90 days of account opening.
Rewards Details
- Receive 60,000 online bonus points - a $600 value - after you make at least $4,000 in purchases in the first 90 days of account opening.
- Earn unlimited 2 points for every $1 spent on travel and dining purchases and unlimited 1.5 points for every $1 spent on all other purchases. No limit to the points you can earn and your points don't expire as long as your account remains open.
- If you're a Bank of America Preferred Rewards® member, you can earn 25%-75% more points on every purchase. That means you could earn 2.5-3.5 points on travel and dining purchases and 1.87-2.62 points on all other purchases, for every $1 you spend.
- Redeem for cash back as a statement credit, deposit into eligible Bank of America® accounts, credit to eligible Merrill® accounts, or gift cards or purchases at the Bank of America Travel Center.
- Get up to $100 in Airline Incidental Statement Credits annually and TSA PreCheck®/Global Entry Statement Credits of up to $100, every four years.
Additional Info
- Travel Insurance protections to assist with trip delays, cancellations and interruptions, baggage delays and lost luggage.
- No foreign transaction fees.
- Low $95 annual fee.
- This online only offer may not be available if you leave this page or if you visit a Bank of America financial center. You can take advantage of this offer when you apply now.
- More Details & Reviews About Bank of America® Premium Rewards® credit card
Is the Bank of America Premium Rewards credit card Worth It?
The Bank of America® Premium Rewards® credit card is worth it for people who spend a lot on travel and dining and have excellent credit. It offers 2 points per $1 spent on travel and dining, and 1.5 points per $1 on all other purchases, plus an initial bonus of 60,000 points for spending $4,000 in the first 90 days.
There’s more to this deal, too, including up to $200 in air travel credits, banking bonuses, flexible redemption and a 0% foreign transaction fee. But this package of perks isn’t free. The Bank of America® Premium Rewards® credit card charges a $95 annual fee. Still, that’s worth paying if you’re a big-spender who plans to make this your everyday credit card.
What You Need to Do to Make the Bank of America Premium Rewards credit card Worthwhile
To make the Bank of America Premium Rewards credit card worthwhile, you should spend at least $4,000 in the first 90 days to earn the initial bonus of 60,000 points. That will cover the cost of the annual fee for multiple years by itself.
Without considering the initial bonus or any of the card’s supplemental perks, you’d have to spend around $4,700 to $6,300 in a normal year to break even on the annual fee, depending on what you buy, and assuming you redeem your points for travel at a rate of 1 cent each. You can minimize the amount you need to spend by being a Bank of America Preferred Rewards® member, which gets you a 25% to 75% rewards bonus.
You should also pay your balance in full every month, as the card’s APR is 20.24% - 27.24% Variable, and you don’t want interest to outweigh the value you get from rewards.
Bank of America Premium Rewards credit card Highlights
- $600 initial bonus: If you’re going to spend $4,000 in 90 days anyway, why not get paid $600 to do it? That’s what the Bank of America Premium Rewards card gives you, in the form of 60,000 bonus points. The average rewards card with points or miles gives you just 30,381 points/miles.
- 1.5+ Points per $1 Spent: You will earn at least 1.5 points for every $1 in purchases charged to the card. So already you’re ahead of the game, considering the 1.25 points per $1 you’d get from the average card. And that’s just the Premium Rewards card’s base earning rate. You’ll also get 2 points per $1 spent on travel and dining purchases, which are defined pretty broadly. Dining purchases include: restaurants, fast food, and drinking establishments like bars and taverns. Travel purchases include: airlines, hotels (and other lodging), car rentals, boat rentals, cruises, trains, buses, tourist attractions and even more.
- 25%+ Preferred Rewards Bonus: Every purchase you make with the Bank of America Premium Rewards card will yield at least 25% more points if you enroll in the Bank of America Preferred Rewards® program. It’s free to join, but there are some requirements. Most importantly, you need $20,000 or more in a Bank of America checking or savings account, or a Merrill investment account. And the more money you have on deposit, the bigger your bonus will be, up to 75%.
- Up to $100 per Year for Airline Incidentals: The Premium Rewards offers a credit of up to $100 statement credit per calendar year for certain air travel purchases. They include fees for checked bags, changing or cancelling a ticket, and airport lounge access. Seat upgrades qualify, too, as do in-flight entertainment, food and beverage. The charge just has to be separate from your plane ticket.
- $100 Expedited Airport Screening: If you choose to apply for Global Entry or TSA PreCheck®, Bank of America Premium Rewards will refund your application fee. And you’ll get this perk every four years as statement credit.
- $0 Foreign Transaction Fee: This saves you 1.56% on every purchase processed internationally, compared to the average card. That’ll be a help if you travel abroad or buy something from an internationally based merchant while you’re in the U.S.
Bank of America Premium Rewards credit card Lowlights
- Requires Excellent Credit: Bank of America Premium Rewards offers very generous terms, so it makes sense that you need top-tier credit to get it. But it does mean disappointment for most people. So it’s a good idea to check your latest credit score before you apply. You’ll likely need a score of at least 750 for good approval odds.
- Very High Regular APR: On average, credit cards that require excellent credit for approval charge interest at a 18.01% annual rate. Even a perfect credit score won’t get you a rate that low from the Premium Rewards card. For additional context, the card's highest APR is above the average among credit cards for fair credit (26.59%) and just below the store-card average (30%).
Other Things to Consider About the Bank of America Premium Rewards credit card
- Lots of Redemption Options : You can redeem your Bank of America Preferred Rewards® points for a statement account, a deposit to a BofA checking or savings account, a deposit to a Merrill account, travel booked through Bank of America, or gift cards. And points are worth a penny apiece with each method.
- Minimum Redemption Requirements : You need at least 2,500 points to redeem. And you’ll lose any points that you’ve yet to redeem when you close your account.
Bank of America Premium Rewards credit card vs. The Competition
The Bank of America® Premium Rewards® credit card is one of several stand-out travel rewards cards on the market right now. You can see how it compares to some of the most notable alternatives below.
Bank of America® Premium Rewards® credit card Review Methodology
This Bank of America® Premium 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® Premium 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® Premium 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 Premium 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 Premium 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.
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