Bank Of America Travel Rewards Credit Card Review 2024 – Forbes Advisor – Technologist

Rates

• Regular APR: 18.49% – 28.49% Variable APR on purchases and balance transfers
• Purchase intro APR: 0% Intro APR for 15 billing cycles for purchases
• Balance transfer intro APR: 0% Intro APR for 15 billing cycles for any balance transfers made in the first 60 days

Fees

• Annual fee: $0
• Balance transfer fee: 3% for 60 days from account opening, then 4%
• Foreign transaction fee: None

Bank of America Travel Rewards Credit Card Credit Requirements

A good credit score will go a long way toward approval for any credit card, including the Bank of America Travel Rewards card. Lenders and banks often use the FICO scoring model to make credit decisions, with scores that range from a low of 300 to a perfect score of 850. A “good” score typically falls between 670 and 739. However, your credit score isn’t the only factor that lenders consider.

Banks will also look at your income and employment history to ensure you can pay your credit card bills. A steady income and low debt may help strengthen your application, even if your credit score is on the lower end of the “good” range.

Earning Rewards

The Bank of America® Travel Rewards credit card earns 1.5 points per dollar on all purchases.

Bank of America Preferred Rewards members earn a 25% to 75% bonus on all points earned, depending on program qualification level. The entry-level of the program requires a balance of $20,000 or more in eligible Bank of America or Merrill accounts, with the highest tiers requiring a balance of at least $100,000.

The Bank of America Travel Rewards Card offers a one-time welcome bonus of 25,000 online bonus points after spending $1,000 in purchases in the first 90 days of account opening.

Redeeming Rewards

Points earned through the Bank of America® Travel Rewards credit card can be redeemed for statement credits starting at 2,500 points to pay for flights, hotels, vacation packages, cruises, rental cars, baggage fees and restaurants, including takeout. Each point is worth 1 cent when redeemed this way.

Other ways to redeem rewards include for gift cards and cash back, but these redemptions have lower rates. Each point redeemed for cash is worth 0.006 of a cent (2,500 points = $15). Gift card redemptions vary in value per point.

Rewards Potential

To determine the reward potential of a credit card, we look at its reward categories and calculate what an average household might spend in those areas. Forbes Advisor uses data from various government agencies to determine baseline income and spending averages across various categories. The 70th percentile of wage-earning households brings in $118,438 annually and has $39,337 in annual expenses that can reasonably be charged to credit cards. We base our calculations on these numbers.

Bank of America® Travel Rewards credit card Rewards Potential

Members of the Bank of America Preferred Rewards program can do even better.

• Gold (25% points boost): 73,756 points (equivalent to $737.57 in travel redemption credits)
• Platinum (50% points boost): 88,508 points (equivalent to $885.08 in travel redemption credits)
• Platinum Honors and Diamond (75% points boost): 103,259 points (equivalent to $1,032.60 in travel redemption credits)