Bank of America Premium Rewards

Premium Rewards is effectively two different cards depending on how much money you keep at Bank of America. On its own it is a mid tier travel card: $95 a year, 2x on travel and dining, 1.5x on everything else, and a 60,000 point welcome bonus after $4,000 of spending in 90 days, which Bank of America values at $600. Layered with the Preferred Rewards program, the same plastic pays up to 2.62% on every purchase, a stronger flat rate than mainstream no fee cash back cards deliver. Whether this card makes sense turns almost entirely on which of those two versions you qualify for. The relationship math deserves to be spelled out. At the base 1.5x, general spending trails a plain 2% cash back card, so you are earning less while also paying $95, and only the travel and dining multiplier plus the annual airline incidental credit pull it back toward even. At the top Preferred Rewards tier the picture inverts: 2.62% against 2% is 0.62 points of extra return, so roughly $15,300 of annual spending covers the fee and everything above that is profit. Reaching that tier requires holding a large combined balance across Bank of America and Merrill accounts, which is a decision about where your savings and investments live rather than a decision about a credit card. The costs are modest and easy to read. The $95 fee is the only recurring charge, and an annual airline incidental credit offsets part of it for anyone who flies. The welcome bonus, 60,000 points for $4,000 in 90 days, is worth $600 by the issuer's own valuation, which covers more than six years of the fee if you keep the card that long. Points redeem simply, with no transfer partners to learn and no award charts to decode, which is a genuine advantage for people who found the points hobby tiring and want a card that just pays. The APR runs 19.49% to 27.49% variable with no introductory promotion, so any balance you carry accrues from the first statement and at rates that erase a 2.62% return many times over. Bank of America looks for good to excellent credit, roughly 700 or higher. Do not take this card if your banking sits elsewhere and you have no intention of moving it, because the version you would receive is worse than free alternatives. Do not take it if you would revolve a balance. And do not expect a premium travel product at $95: this is a return on spending card with a couple of travel conveniences attached, not a lounge and status card.