My first travel rewards credit card was with US Bank. When I started Northwest Airlines was the primary carrier in Travese City and it only made sense to carry their card. I had some minor issues with them when closing an account years ago and have not been back since as the Northwest Airlines connection was taken away with the Delta merger. This will probably not be your primary day to day credit card, but it does have its place.
U.S. Bank FlexPerks® Travel Rewards Visa Signature® card‘s place is charitable donations pay 3 points per dollar. If you make regular contributions to a charity or if you are supporting Kiva.org here is a triple reward for you. Many of you have used Kiva in the past for minimum spends. Here is an easy one with a low minimum spend of $500 in the first three months and no first year fee. The sign up bonus is 15,000 points and it takes 20,000 points for the lowest airline award redemption. You can also earn double points on gas and groceries. Of course if you want a different type of award, you can stop at the 15K level. Personally, I’d keep using it.
The points are worth about two cents each when buying airline tickets. Here is the award chart:
- Air Travel Awards - The FlexPerks Reward Center offers an easy search and booking process. Affiliated with over 150 airlines, you’ll find plenty of flight and carrier options to suit your specific needs.Examples
20,000 FlexPoints = Up to $400 ticket value
30,000 FlexPoints = Up to $600 ticket value
40,000 FlexPoints = Up to $800 ticket value
50,000 FlexPoints = Up to $1,000 ticket value
I have been applying for cards for many years now and am close to running out of options. This may be one more trick in the book for a new card that offers about $300 in value on signup.
Other redemption options include gift cards (bad redemption), statement credits and merchandise. The airline awards offer the highest value.
For those of you old timers looking for a new option, those with too many inquiries or full limits with the other issuers or those of you charitably inclined, take a look at this offering by US Bank.
Deal of the Day
For today’s Deal of the Day American Airlines AAdvantage® has provided 2500 AAdvantage® miles for the best deals, fares, promotions, anything related to American Airlines, their oneworld partners or AAdvantage® partners. Add it to the comments section of this post or this afternoon’s Deal of the Day post (with your first name, last initial, and home airport) to be eligible to win.
