Bank of America Travel Rewards

The Bank of America Travel Rewards card keeps the rules simple. Points redeem as a statement credit toward travel and dining purchases at a flat 1 cent each, and Bank of America says there are no blackout dates and that points do not expire while the account is open. You book whatever trip you want, however you want, then redeem points as a statement credit toward the purchase. It carries no annual fee and no foreign transaction fee, runs on Visa Signature, and asks for good credit, roughly 670 or higher. Earning is an unlimited 1.5 points per $1 on all purchases, and because points are worth 1 cent each as a statement credit toward travel and dining, 1.5x works out to 1.5% in plain terms. The welcome offer is 25,000 online bonus points after $1,000 in purchases in the first 90 days, redeemable for a $250 statement credit toward travel and dining purchases, a modest spending target. Bank of America's BofA Rewards program (previously called Preferred Rewards) adds a 10% to 75% bonus to the rewards you earn, depending on the qualifying balances you hold with the bank, and the Premier tier ($1,000,000 in qualifying balances) takes the 1.5x base to about 2.62x. There is no annual fee to earn back, and the 0% intro APR runs 15 billing cycles on purchases and on balance transfers made within 60 days of opening. That 60-day condition is easy to overlook. The intro balance transfer fee is 3% for those first 60 days, then 5%. The ongoing rate is 17.74% to 27.74% variable, and the standard warning applies with extra force on a card like this: interest at those rates can outweigh the 1.5x you earn, which makes the rewards secondary for anyone revolving a balance. This is not a card for people who want to redeem points for more than a flat 1 cent each, since points redeem as a statement credit toward travel and dining purchases at that fixed value. It also offers less to people who bank elsewhere, since a higher earn rate requires a BofA Rewards tier. Where it fits is narrow but real: a Bank of America customer who travels a few times a year, wants no annual fee, values simplicity over optimization, and needs a card that adds no surcharge to purchases made abroad.