US Bank Altitude Reserve Visa (USBAR) Review: The Most Underrated Travel Card?
In 2024, there are a plethora of credit cards on the market, with all of them promising the works of benefits, spending credits, and perks. However, it seems that despite the variety, 90% of the blog posts and YouTube videos on the subject exclusively talk about credit cards from just American Express and Chase Bank. While both banks offer some excellent credit cards with great benefits (see the Chase Sapphire Preferred and AmEx Gold), this narrow focus often results in some excellent cards not getting the attention they deserve.
In this article, we’re reviewing one of those cards that flies under the radar: the US Bank Altitude Reserve Visa Infinite (USBAR). We are going to discuss the pros and cons of this card and see where it ranks among some of the typical big-hitter travel credit cards. No one card will make sense for everyone, so at the end of the article, we break down which groups of users this unique card makes the most sense for, and how individuals can get the most from the USBAR card.
Without further delay, let’s jump into the review!
Review of the USBAR Credit Card
This US Bank Altitude Reserve Visa Infinite is a relatively new entrant into the credit card market and is designed for individuals who want an all-encompassing travel card. While US Bank isn’t often known for producing premier travel cards, the USBAR is the company’s first real entry to compete with American Express, Chase, and Capital One.
Before we get too far into the review, let’s review the basics of the USBAR card:
Annual Fee: $400
Sign-on Bonus: 50,000 bonus points after spending $4,500 in the first 90 days of holding the card
Spending Rewards: 5x points on hotels and car rentals booked through the Altitude Rewards Center, 3x points on all travel purchases, 3x points on mobile wallet spending (e.g., Apply Pay, Google Pay, Samsung Pay), 1x points on all other spending
Other Benefits: $325 annual credit for travel/dining/food delivery, Priority Pass airline lounge membership, $100 towards TSA Precheck/Global Entry every four years, points are worth 1.5% when booking travel through the Altitute Rewards Center, VISA Infinite perks (e.g., premium concierge)
The US Bank Altitude Reserve Visa Card
Benefits of the USBAR
While there are a variety of benefits of the USBAR, the card is truly designed around three main perks:
3x points on travel and mobile wallet spending: The two most interesting spending rewards of the USBAR are for travel and mobile wallet spending. While many cards (both with and without annual fees) offer 3x points/3% back on travel, with the additional 1.5% when redeeming US Bank points for travel, the card nets out on effectively 4.5x points for travel!
3x points back on mobile wallet purchases: this spending reward is one of the most unique credit card benefits on the market today. The ability to pay with a mobile wallet/contactless form of payment (e.g., Apply Pay, Google Pay, Samsung Pay) continues to become increasingly common across the US and is the standard in countries like the UK. Many common merchants now accept contactless/mobile wallet payments in the US, such as grocery stores, pharmacies (e.g., CVS, Walgreens), bars, Costco, Target, and more. However, it will be much easier to get the value on these mobile wallet purchases if you live in a city (where mobile payments are more widely accepted) compared to if you live more rurally. Overall, the USBAR’s mobile wallet spending reward is an incredibly powerful benefit, and allows its holders to get 3x points on an extremely wide variety of goods and services that most cards would only return 1x points. However, it gets even better: with Apple recently announcing that Apple Pay is coming to browsers this year, the value of the USBAR as a main spending card is going to increase dramatically—imagine getting 3x points on all your online shopping! Plus, with the 1.5% bonus value of US Bank points when used for travel, these mobile wallet purchases can essentially return 4.5x points.
$325 annual travel/dining credit: There’s no way around it: the USBAR card has a massive annual fee ($450). However, in a similar manner to how the Capital One Venture X offers a sizeable annual credit to help offset the fee and encourage use, the USBAR offers the same premise with a $325 credit for travel and dining spend. However, unlike the Venture X’s credit, the USBAR’s credit does not require the use of any portal. Simply use the card for any travel or dining purchases, and the credit is automatically applied.
Downsides of the USBAR
The biggest downside of the USBAR card is the lack of traditional point transfer partners. Unlike other popular cards that offer the ability to transfer your points directly to your favorite hotel/airline, US Bank requires you to use the points to either pay yourself back or book travel through their portal. This makes it borderline impossible to take advantage of any travel status and results in the card being largely incompatible with other bank’s cards. Plus, there have been reports that some international flight purchases don’t trigger US Bank’s Real-Time Rewards platform—if you’re booking a flight outside the USA, we recommend using another card if possible.
As well, even if you use the full annual credit, there is still an annual fee of $75 left for each year you hold the card. If you don’t spend at least ~$1700 in travel and mobile wallet purchases annually (which includes accounting for the 1.5% extra from redeeming points for travel), you are not going to come away from holding the card at a net positive.
Finally, the USBAR is notoriously difficult to get approved for, with US Bank seemingly approving and denying people at almost random.
Summary
In conclusion, the USBAR card is an incredibly unique card that can provide excellent value for many people. With the perk of allowing you to earn bonus points from using a mobile wallet, this card can provide an almost universal 4.5x points on your spending. While the USBAR provides a variety of spending rewards and benefits, we recommend the card for three main groups:
People who don’t enjoy “playing the points game” and want to use reward points in an easy and simple manner. While the USBAR card does give travel rewards, the lack of transfer partners makes this card inferior to most AmEx cards and Chase cards for frequent travelers, those with any airline/hotel status, and those who are looking for business/first-class upgrades.
People who want a “daily driver” card and frequently use their mobile wallet. With the USBAR’s rewards for mobile wallet (and soon online shopping) and travel spending, the USBAR card can be used for the majority of your purchases if you live somewhere that accepts mobile wallet payments. However, if you don’t frequently use your mobile wallet, we recommend pairing this card with one that gives rewards on food/restaurant spend (such as the AmEx Gold)
Score: 4.7/5.0
We hope this review was helpful! If you’re interested in other credit cards, check out our reviews of the World of Hyatt Credit Card, the Chase Sapphire Preferred, and the BILT Mastercard. And if you’re interested in credit card hacks, check out our tutorials for combining your Chase and AmEx points and your Chase and Capital One points!
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