| Card Details and Application Link |
|---|
U.S. Bank Altitude Reserve Visa Infinite Card Information about this card has been collected independently by Frequent Miler. The issuer did not provide the details, nor is it responsible for their accuracy. FM Mini Review: With points worth 1.5 cents each towards travel, this card offers an excellent signup bonus. For ongoing use, this card is a winner for those who spend a lot on mobile payments (at 3X, rewards are worth 4.5%) Click here for our complete card review Earning rate: 5x prepaid hotel & car rental through Altitude Rewards Center ✦ 3X travel and mobile wallet payments Card Info: Visa Infinite issued by USB. This card has no foreign currency conversion fees. Noteworthy perks: $325 in travel/dining credits per membership year ✦ Points worth 1.5 cents each towards travel ✦ Real Time Mobile Rewards (redeem points at full value at time of purchase) ✦ Priority Pass Select airport lounge access (8 per year) ✦ Primary car rental coverage ✦ No foreign transaction fees ✦ Free authorized user cards |
Overview
The Altitude Reserve card is US Bank’s challenge to the Chase Sapphire Reserve. Like the Sapphire Reserve, the Altitude Reserve is a Visa Infinite card that offers 3X on travel; and points can be used to purchase travel for 1.5 cents value per point. Unfortunately, unlike the Chase card, the Altitude Reserve’s points cannot be transferred to loyalty programs.
The Altitude Reserve Card is an ultra-premium travel rewards card that offers an excellent return on spend within its bonus categories and very good travel protections. This card’s killer feature is that it offers 3X rewards for travel and mobile wallet payments. The latter part is key: anywhere you can pay in-person with Apple Pay, Samsung Pay, Google Pay, or LG Pay you’ll earn 3X doing so. And with points worth 1.5 cents each, that’s like getting a 4.5% rebate nearly everywhere.
Even though the annual fee is quite high ($400), it is very easy to earn the card’s annual $325 travel & dining credits and so the net fee after rebates is very reasonable. If you value the rebates at full face value, your annual net cost is only $75. That’s less than most decent rewards cards (many charge about $95 per year) and yet it has better earning power and travel protections than most.
The Altitude Reserve card’s Achilles heel, in my opinion, is the fact that points are not transferrable to airline or hotel loyalty programs. Unlike with transferable points programs where it’s possible to seek out high value rewards through transfer partners, with the Altitude Reserve there is no way to get more than 1.5 cents per point value.
Here is everything you need to know…
U.S. Bank Altitude Reserve Summary
- Standard Intro Bonus: 50,000 points after $4,500 spend in 90 days
- $400 Annual Fee
- Cardholders may redeem 35,000 points to cover the annual fee
- $325 in annual travel/dining credits automatically applied to account for travel & dining (including take-out and delivery) purchases charged to card. In this context, “annual” means the cardmember’s membership year.
- Points worth 1.5 cents each when used to purchase travel through the Altitude Rewards Center (flights, hotels, car rentals)
- Real Time Mobile Rewards: Redeem points for 1.5 cents each for travel purchased directly with the US merchants. See: US Bank Real-Time Mobile Rewards. What works where?
- Earn 3X points per dollar for travel and mobile wallet spend; 5X points per dollar on prepaid hotels & car rentals booked through the Altitude Rewards Center; 1X elsewhere
- There is no cap on 3X earnings
- Airport Lounge Access via Priority Pass Select (8 free passes per year)
- Travel coverage: Emergency Evacuation and Transportation Coverage; Trip delay and trip cancellation reimbursement.
- Primary car rental collision damage waiver (No benefit is provided for vehicles rented in Israel, Jamaica, the Republic of Ireland, or Northern Ireland)
- Rental car benefits:
- National Rental Car Emerald Club Executive membership and “and save up to 25% when you rent with National® Car Rental”
- Avis Preferred Plus membership + save up to 30% on qualifying rentals with Avis®
- Hertz: “Enjoy special savings, faster service, extra hours on returns and Hertz Gold Plus Rewards® bonus points.”
- Silvercar: Save up to 30% (register at silvercar.com/partners/vinfinite )
- Global Entry or TSA Pre Fee Credit
- No foreign transaction fees
- Free authorized user cards: None
- Issued as Visa Infinite
- Card composition: Engraved stainless steel
- Guide to benefits: found here.
Key perks not supported by this card
- Priority Pass Select membership covers 8 free visits per year which can be used by the cardholder and/or guests.
- No ability to transfer points to loyalty programs
Getting the card
| Card Offer |
|---|
Information about this card has been collected independently by Frequent Miler. The issuer did not provide the details, nor is it responsible for their accuracy. |
- You no longer need to be a US Bank customer to get the card. When the card launched, you needed an existing relationship with US Bank in order to apply, but that is no longer the case.
- You can apply online or in-branch
Earning the 50,000 point intro bonus
- You must spend $4,500 within 90 days in order to earn the intro bonus
- When does the clock start? Upon approval.
- Does the $400 annual fee count towards the minimum spend requirement? No! In general, fees imposed by your credit card do not count towards spend bonuses.
- Can I buy gift cards to meet the spend bonus? It is not recommended. Some have had their accounts shut down when using mobile wallet payments to buy gift cards.
- Do you have advice on how to meet the spend requirements? Yes, please see: Manufactured Spending Complete Guide.
- What about the $325 travel credit? Will that increase the spend requirement? Suppose you spend exactly $4,500 within 3 months and receive $325 in travel credits (because some of your spend was on travel expenses). Will you then have to spend $325 more to meet the spend requirements? I don’t know for certain. I recommend spending $325 more just in case.
“Travel” Defined
It’s important to note that US Bank has two different definitions for travel. To earn up to $325 in statement credits for travel purchases and to earn 3X points, they use one definition. To get 1.5 cents per point value, they use another.
Earning 3X; up to $325 in travel credits; and redeeming via Real Time Mobile Rewards (“travel” defined)
For these purposes, travel is defined as: airlines, hotels, car rental companies, taxis, limousines, passenger trains and cruise lines.
For practical info about which types of purchases work with Real Time Mobile Rewards, see: US Bank Real-Time Mobile Rewards. What works where?
Redeeming points for travel at 1.5 cents per point value (“travel” defined)
For this purpose, travel is defined as airfare, hotel stays, and car rentals booked through US Bank’s Rewards Center.
Mobile Wallet Defined
The Altitude Reserve card earns 3X points for mobile wallet purchases. Specifically, the card earns 3X points when it is used with a mobile device to pay through Apple Pay, Google Pay, Samsung Pay, and LG Pay.
Also note that Samsung Pay MST (AKA LoopPay) payments will earn 3X rewards.
Info about Authorized User cards
- Annual fee: None
- $325 travel & dining credit? Authorized users do not get their own credits. Travel & dining purchases made on authorized user cards do get reimbursed but it comes out of the same $325 per year bucket as the primary card.
- Airport Lounge Access? Authorized users will not get their own Priority Pass membership.
- Primary car rental collision damage waiver? Yes
Details About Altitude Reserve Points
Redeem points for flights, hotels, and car rentals in order to get 1.5 cents per point value. Points can be redeemed for cash, but only at 1 cent per point value. You can also redeem 35,000 points for the card’s annual fee, but that only results in 1.14 cents per point value.
Points can be transferred to other Altitude Reserve cardmembers for no fee. There is a 20,000 point cap per year on such transfers.
Points are not transferable to any airline or hotel programs.
You can buy Altitude Reserve points for 3 cents each, but I’m not sure why you would want to.
Card Perk Details
Points worth 1.5 cents each towards travel
With most bank programs, points are worth 1 cents each. For example, usually a $300 car rental would cost 30,000 points. With the Altitude Reserve card, though, points are worth 50% more when used to purchase travel through the Altitude Rewards Center (flights, hotels, car rentals) or when you pay for travel directly and use Real Time Mobile Rewards. So, a $300 car rental would cost only 20,000 points.
Real Time Mobile Rewards
Enroll in US Bank’s Real Time Mobile Rewards program in order to redeem points for purchases made directly with merchants. When paying for travel this way, you get the full 1.5 cents value per point. Keep in mind these restrictions:
- Works only with US merchants
- Minimum hotel charge: $150
- Minimum car rental charge: $150
- Minimum for other types of travel (airfare, Uber, etc): $10
- You must have enough points in your account to cover the charge to be eligible to pay with points.
See also: US Bank Real-Time Mobile Rewards. What works where?
$325 in travel/dining credits per year
- $325 in travel or dining credits is available each cardmember year.
- Authorized user travel & dining charges are reimbursed, but they count towards the same $325 credit per account. In other words, you cannot get more than $325 back in total by adding authorized users.
- Any charge that codes as travel or dining will be automatically reimbursed (up to $325 per cardmember year, total). See “Travel” Defined, above.
- Both large and small travel purchases count. Small purchases will be reimbursed until a total of $325 has been reimbursed in a calendar year. Large purchases will be reimbursed up to $325.
Global Entry or TSA Pre Fee Credit
- Simply pay the $100 Global Entry application fee or $85 TSA Pre application fee with the Altitude Reserve card and the fee will be automatically reimbursed.
- You can get reimbursed once every 4 years
- You can gift the once per 4 year fee credit to another person, but they would have to be an authorized user on your account, or you would have to let them use your credit card number to pay for their application.
Airport Lounge Access
- Cardholders are granted membership to Priority Pass Select.
- This membership covers8 free visits per year that can be used for cardholders or guests.
- After the 8 free visits within your Priority Pass Select membership year (not cardmember year), cardholders must pay $32 per person for lounge access.
Rental car privileges and discounts
- Primary auto rental collision damage waiver
- National Rental Car Emerald Club Executive membership and “and save up to 25% when you rent with National® Car Rental”
- Avis Preferred Plus membership + save up to 30% on qualifying rentals with Avis®
- Hertz: “Enjoy special savings, faster service, extra hours on returns and Hertz Gold Plus Rewards® bonus points.”
- Silvercar: Up to 30% off rentals of 2 days or more
Travel Protections
As detailed in our Ultra-Premium Credit Card Travel Insurance Benefits page, the Altitude Reserve card’s travel protections are pretty good, but not as good as those that come with the Chase Sapphire Reserve or Chase Ritz cards.
- Primary Auto Rental Collision Damage Waiver
- Trip Cancellation & Interruption (up to $2K per trip)
- Trip Delay: Covers delays of 6 hours or more (max $500 per claim)
- Lost Luggage Reimbursement
- Travel Accident Insurance
- Emergency Evacuation & Transportation: Up to $10,000
Purchase Protections
- Return Protection: 90 Days, $300 Per Item.
“If You are disappointed with an item, within ninety (90) days from the date of purchase, and the retailer will not accept a return, You can be reimbursed for the purchase price, up to three hundred dollars ($300.00) per item of personal property, and an annual maximum of one thousand dollars ($1,000.00), per Account.” - Extended Warranty Protection: 1 Year Extra Protection.
“Your warranty coverage can be extended by one (1) additional year on eligible warranties of three (3) years or less.”
Personal Identity Theft
“Personal Identity Theft provides reimbursement up to $10,000 for covered expenses You incur to restore Your identity as a result of a Covered Stolen Identity Event.”
Coverage includes:
Costs to re-file applications for loans, grants, or other credit or debt instruments that were originally rejected by the lender solely on the basis of incorrect information the lender received as a result of a Covered Stolen Identity Event
Costs to report a Covered Stolen Identity Event or to amend or correct records with Your true name or identity as a result of a Covered Stolen Identity Event: including costs incurred for notarizing affidavits or other similar documents, costs for PERSONAL IDENTITY THEFT long-distance telephone calls, and costs for postage
Costs for maximum of four (4) credit reports requested as a result of a Covered Stolen Identity Event from any entity approved by the Benefits Administrator
Actual lost wages for Your time away from Your work premises solely as part of Your efforts to amend or rectify records as to Your true name or identity as a result of a Covered Stolen Identity Event
Reasonable fees for an attorney appointed by the Benefits Administrator and related court fees approved by the Benefits Administrator for suits brought against You by a creditor or collection agency or similar entity acting on behalf of a creditor for nonpayment of goods or services or default on a loan as a result of a Covered Stolen Identity Event
Visa Infinite Benefits
US Bank lists the following Visa benefits:
- ID Navigator
- Concierge
- Visa Infinite Luxury Hotel Collection
- Food & Wine experiences
- Visa Infinite Golf Benefit by Troon (access high-end, private clubs around the country and join Troon Rewards ® to receive 15% off golf fees and merchandise at over 95 courses)
- Silvercar Car Rental Discount
- Hertz, Avis, and National Car Rental Discounts
- Relais & Chateaux Benefits (VIP welcome and complimentary breakfast daily)
- NetJets private jet travel
- Visa Offers
Details about the above can be found here.
Questions?
Have questions about the U.S. Bank Altitude Reserve? Please comment below.
The membership covers 8 free visits per year. Any one knows if I can use all of them at once, me + 7 guests or if there is a limit ? Does the membership cover 8 visit per calendar year or cardmember year?
Yes, you can.
If have premium travel cards in all the major banks. It seems like it doesn’t beat many of the other cards because of how you can get so much more value from being able to transfer points. Am I struggling to see how it stands out. You might gain a point on mobile tap but then lose it when you can’t transfer.
Is priority pass restaurant access supported or not? I believe it is but it is listed under items NOT supported.
As far as we know it still is. The Priority Pass with 8 visits should be in the “supported perks” list. We think that the bullet is listed in the wrong place.
I can confirm that it does and always has. Since theirs is limited to 8 visits I don’t think they have as much incentive to end this and follow Chase, Cap1, Amex, but we’ll see.
Makes sense. Ty!
How hard is it to get accepted for this card? I have great credit but do open quite a few cards per year and I hear that they can be tough to get an approval on since they are inquiry sensitive? Any tips to improve approval odds?
In my experience, no harder than any other. I don’t put much stock in the “inquiry sensitive” label. I remember hearing that about a bank that was my 13th card in a calendar year. I just don’t think that the reason for being denied for a card is ever so simple as “number of inquiries”.
So far every time I’ve rented a car, let’s say they hold $300 ($150 rental cost and $150 security hold), I can redeem points for the full $300. At the end of the rental, the security hold comes off, and I am only charged $150. This works out great because I’m buying statement credits at $0.015. But is this the normal/intended functionality of Real Time rewards?
I mean, it works. Good enough.
I had read that (at least at one point) you could use this card to sign up for Priority Pass in the name of someone other than the primary cardholder. This is a handy perk for those that already have PP through other cards – can essentially ‘gift’ PP to a friend/family member.
Has anyone been through the PP enrollment process with this card recently? Can you still choose the name/address of the PP cardholder and can this be different to the Altitude Reserve cardholder?
Thanks!
FrequentMiler has the best resources — as always!!
One update plz: please indicate that for travel protections the entire fare must be purchased on the USBAR (whereas CSR/Ritz are just ANY portion).
Thanks!! This will help other readers (and probably me when I inevitably forget this 18 months from now and need to search again).
I don’t think that’s true though. See our summary post here: https://frequentmiler.com/ultra-premium-credit-card-travel-insurance/
Awesome — thanks, as always!! That was the exact resource I needed. 🙂
Does the Priority Pass benefit on this card include restaurants?
Same question I’m trying to confirm
I believe it does.
I can confirm that it does include restaurants. I used it this past week.
Can confirm, yes. They also don’t seem incentivized to change this since it’s already limited to only 8 redemptions per year.
Yes it does.
Hi there, I recently applied for this card based on FM recommendations, but I hadn’t read the part about needing to have an existing US Bank relationship. Interestingly, I have had US Bank credit cards in the past but have no currently open accounts, but I was approved for the Altitude Reserve right away.
Same! I had a Korean Air biz card years ago but my login still worked and I got approved today.
Thanks for the reminder about this. We’ve updated this page to say the following:
Hey Greg, I had a quick question with regards to authorized users on the altitude reserve card. First, is there currently a fee for adding an authorized user (I’ve heard conflicting reports on this). Secondly, what are the benefits for authorized users on this card? Thanks in advance. -Brian
Is it just me or did they quietly lower the minimum purchase amount preset for the “lodging” and “car rental” categories recently?
I logged in to my RTR settings and the message now says the following:
Select merchandise categories below and set a minimum dollar amount to trigger a text alert on your mobile device. When you receive the alert you can redeem your points immediately. You’ll see a credit for that purchase on your next statement.
Categories not available for redemption are gas stations and restaurants. Minimum purchase amounts for the following categories are preset as follows:
Car Rental $150Lodging $150
It’s not just you. Thanks for the heads up! I’ve updated this post.
I know the mobile wallet category includes in-app and website purchases with Apple Pay on an iPhone, but does it also include in-app and website purchases with Apple Pay on an iPad or Mac?
I don’t know for sure, but I expect that would work
@Greg- I am assuming that mobile wallet payments only work from in-app and website purchases on a phone. I recently tried to pay a gas bill with google pay via the desktop and I did not earn 3X. Are there any other data points for desktop purchases on websites or will only website purchases work if using safari or chrome via a phone? Just trying to figure this out to see what exactly in-app and websites that accept mobile wallet works. Thanks
Oh, good to know! Thanks for that info!
DP on this particular passage:
This happened instantly transferring points from my spouse’s Altitude Reserve account to my own.
[…] By Nick Reyes – December 1, 2020 24 Update 12/18/20: This post originally announced that the US Bank Altitude Reserve was no longer taking applications. However, the card is back and available for application once again. No word as to why it was pulled in the first place. The original post follows, but note that the card is now available again (H/T: reddit). Find more information and a link to apply here. […]
Quick update: I got this card the second time, after 3 years. I was not given the 50k points bonus as per the terms mentioned below: Did anyone get the bonus second time?
One-time 50,000 bonus Points will be awarded if you are approved for a new U.S. Bank Altitude Reserve Visa Infinite Card and eligible Net Purchases totaling $4,500 or more are made to your Account within 90 days after Account opening. Points are earned on eligible Net Purchases. Net Purchases are purchases minus credits and returns. Rewards are earned based on eligible net purchases. Not all transactions are eligible to earn rewards, such as Advances, Balance Transfers, and Convenience Checks; upon approval, see your Cardmember Agreement for details. Please allow 1-2 billing cycles for your bonus Points to be credited to your Account. The bonus is not available to Cardmembers who currently have, or had, a U.S. Bank Altitude Reserve Visa Infinite account. Use of the Card is subject to terms and conditions of the U.S. Bank Altitude Reserve Visa Infinite Cardmember Agreement, which is provided at Account opening and may be amended from time to time. This offer may not be combined with any other bonus offer.
Thanks for sharing this. I didn’t know about that limitation
[…] offers 4X for US restaurants and 4X for US supermarkets (up to $25K per year spend, then 1X); and US Bank Altitude Reserve which offers 3X for travel and mobile wallet purchases (e.g. Apple Pay, Samsung Pay, […]