April 1, 2025: The Wells Fargo Autograph Journey℠ Card is a premium travel credit card offering transferable points and great rewards at hotels, on airlines, at restaurants, and on other travel purchases.
Our review of the Wells Fargo Autograph Journey
Cards and Points Rating: 4.5/5.0
Read more about our star ratings.
In 2024, Wells Fargo launched its Wells Fargo Autograph Journey Card, to much fanfare, intending to take on the dominance Chase built in the travel rewards card space with the Chase Sapphire Preferred.
The Autograph Journey’s 5x points on hotels and 4x points on airlines mean that the card is a compelling alternative to most hotel and airline cards. In many cases, you’ll earn more points than a brand’s own card and your points can be redeemed for cash or transferred to partners. And, unlike even high-end cards like the Chase Sapphire Reserve and Venture X, you don’t have to book through a bank’s portal to earn these rewards—you’ll get these earning rates when you book directly.
We also like that the card has an easy-to-earn $50 credit for airline bookings. If you’re getting this card, you’re almost certainly booking at least one airline ticket a year, meaning that this credit will cut the card’s effective annual fee in half.
When it comes to benefits, the card is…interesting. The trip cancellation and interruption protection and the cellular phone protection beat most other cards—even premium cards—hands-down. And the Auto Rental Collision Damage Waiver and Lost Baggage Reimbursement are offer decent coverage that competes well with other cards. But the card conspicuously does not include trip delay insurance or essential consumer insurance benefits like extended warranty and purchase protection.
If you want good rewards as transferable points on direct bookings of airline tickets and hotel stays and don’t want to spend a ton in annual fees, the Autograph Journey can be a great choice.
Likes
- 5x points on hotels.
- 4x points on airlines.
- Points can be redeemed for cash back or transferred to partners.
- Stellar cell phone protection benefit.
- Easy $50 annual airline charge credit.
Dislikes
- No extended warranty or purchase protection.
- No trip delay protection.
- Travel transfer partner selection is limited.
Wells Fargo Autograph Journey card at a glance
Annual fee: $95
Foreign transaction fee: None
The Wells Fargo Autograph Journey Card is Wells Fargo’s entry into the premium travel card space, meant to compete with cards like the Sapphire Preferred.
Sign-up bonus
Best sign-up bonus: Earn 60,000 bonus points when you spend $4,000 in purchases within the first 3 months.
Learn how to apply.
This bonus is earned as Wells Fargo Autograph points, which can be redeemed for cash back or transferred to travel partners loyalty programs.
Rewards
- 5x on hotels.
- 4x on airlines.
- 3x on other travel.
- 3x on restaurants.
- 1x on other purchases.
Rewards are earned as points, which can be redeemed for cash back or transferred to travel transfer partners.
Benefits
Consumer benefits
- Cellular Telephone Protection.
Travel benefits
- Worldwide Automatic Common Carrier Travel Accident Insurance.
- Lost Baggage Reimbursement.
- Trip Cancellation and Interruption Protection.
- Auto Rental Collision Damage Waiver.
- Travel and Emergency Assistance Services.
- Roadside Dispatch®
Statement credits
- $50 annual airline purchase statement credit. Requires an airline purchase of $50 or more.
Welcome offer: Earn transferable points
Annual fee: $95
Best sign-up bonus: Earn 60,000 bonus points when you spend $4,000 in purchases within the first 3 months.
Learn how to apply.
This bonus is earned as Wells Fargo Autograph points, which can be redeemed for cash back or transferred to travel partners loyalty programs.
Wells Fargo Autograph Journey rewards
With the Autograph Journey, you’ll earn points that can be transferred to airline and hotel partners. And the card earns particularly generous rewards on hotels and airlines booked directly. Here are the details.
- 5x on hotels.
- 4x on airlines.
- 3x on other travel.
- 3x on restaurants.
- 1x on other purchases.
Redeeming Wells Fargo Autograph Journey rewards
Wells Fargo Autograph Journey rewards points can be redeemed for a variety of cash and travel redemptions:
- Cash redemption
- Physical and electronic gift cards
- Charitable donations
- Travel
- Merchandise
- Pay with Rewards (PWR) at PWR Merchants
- Points Transfer to partners
Transfers to travel partners
Wells Fargo offers point transfers to a small number of airline and hotel transfer partners. Here’s the transfer partner list:
- Aer Lingus Aer Club
- Air France KLM Flying Blue
- Avianca LifeMiles
- British Airways Executive Club
- Choice Privileges
- Virgin Atlantic Flying Club and Virgin Red
- Iberia Plus
Benefits: Some market-leading travel benefits
The Autograph Journey offers some of the best Trip Cancellation and Interruption Insurance you’ll find on a credit card, but notably lacks trip delay protection, extended warranty, and purchase protection benefits. Here’s what you’ll get with the Autograph Journey.
Consumer benefits
- Cellular telephone protection can cover the cost of repairing or replacing your phone if it is damaged or stolen when you pay your monthly cell phone bill with your card. The coverage with your Wells Fargo Autograph Journey Card will cover up to two claims within 12 months, up to $1,000 per claim, and $2,000 per year, subject to a $25 deductible per claim.
Travel benefits
- Auto rental collision damage waiver protects you against damage to or theft of your rental vehicle. For coverage to apply, you need to reserve and pay for your vehicle using your card and decline your car rental company’s collision damage waiver. The coverage provided by your Autograph Journey card is secondary to your personal auto insurance within the United States.
- Lost baggage reimbursement offers reimbursement if your bags are lost, damaged or stolen while traveling on a common carrier. Coverage is included up to $3,000 total for all travelers on a covered trip.
- Roadside dispatch service provides a single number that you can use to get connected to local providers for roadside services like towing, lockout service, tire changes, fuel delivery, and more. Services are provided for a pre-negotiated, per-service fee.
- Trip cancellation and interruption insurance can reimburse you for prepaid travel expenses when your trip is canceled or interrupted for a covered reason. The Autograph Journey trip cancellation and interruption insurance covers up to $15,000 per covered traveler, per trip for most types of expenses you’d prepay for through a travel supplier.
- Travel accident insurance pays set benefit amounts for loss of life or limb while traveling, as long as you book your common carrier tickets with your card. Chase travel accident insurance provides coverage both while being transported by a common carrier and during your trip.
Statement credits
- You’ll get a $50 airline credit when you use your card for your first airline purchase of $50 or more. This credit will be automatically be applied to your account within 1-2 billing cycles.
Complements: Cards that pair well with the Autograph Journey
If you choose the Autograph Journey as your travel credit card, a few other credit cards can dramatically increase the value you get from your wallet. Here are the cards you should consider:
- For general spending, get the Wells Fargo Active Cash® Card. You’ll double your point on “everywhere else” purchases. That alone is probably enough to warrant getting the card, but Wells Fargo will also let you transfer your Active Cash rewards to your Autograph Journey card, giving you the option to use your Active Cash rewards for point transfers to travel partners.
- For more rewards in niche categories, the Wells Fargo Attune® Card can be a good choice. You’ll earn 4x points in a wide variety of niche categories, which can really help you boost your points balance if the card’s categories align with your spending. Like the Active Cash, you’ll be able to transfer your Attune points to your Autograph Journey card.
- For consumer insurance benefits, pick up another card with extended warranty and purchase protection to use for purchases of expensive electronics and similar items. We like the Chase Freedom Unlimited® as a no-annual-fee option, but there are plenty of other good cards that offer an extended warranty.
Bottom line: Good value premium travel card
The Wells Fargo Autograph Journey Card offers a compelling alternative to hotel and airline credit cards, since you’ll earn transferable points—and often more points—than using a brand’s own card. And considering that you’ll almost certainly earn a $50 airline charge statement credit without thinking, the Wells Fargo Autograph Journey’s effective price makes it a great value premium travel credit card.
