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Changes to U.S. Bank Altitude® Connect Visa Signature® Card: No more annual fee, points devalued, but maybe more compelling than ever?

Card image of the U.S. Bank Altitude Connect Visa Signature card
U.S. Bank Altitude Connect Visa Signature card

Update September 16, 2024: These changes to the Altitude Connect are now in effect. To get 1 cent of cash back value out of each of your points, you must now redeem for a credit into a U.S. Bank checking account

In mid-2024, cardholders holding the U.S. Bank Altitude® Connect Visa Signature® Card were informed of changes to the card that include the elimination of the card’s annual fee, changes to reward earnings, a devaluation of reward redemptions, and the loss of some benefits.

These changes became effective September 9, 2024.

But although the headline changes involved the loss of benefits and devaluation of rewards, the elimination of the annual fee might make the card more compelling than ever.

Here are all of the changes coming to the U.S. Bank Altitude® Connect Visa Signature® Card and our take.

Summary of changes to the U.S. Bank Altitude® Connect Visa Signature® Card

Previous
(prior to September 9, 2024)
Current
(as of September 9, 2024)
Annual fee$0 intro annual fee for the first year, then $95/year.$0
Reward earning
Rewards are earned as points, redeemable for travel and cash back.
5x points on prepaid hotels and car rentals booked directly in the Altitude Rewards Center.
4x points on travel.
4x points at gas stations and EV charging.
2x points on dining, streaming services, and at grocery stores.
1x on other purchases.
5x points on prepaid hotels and car rentals booked directly in the Altitude Rewards Center.
4x points on travel.
4x points at gas stations and EV charging on your first $1,000 each quarter. Wholesale clubs, discount stores/supercenters and grocery stores are excluded.)
2x points on dining, streaming services, and at grocery stores. (Discount stores/supercenters and wholesale clubs are excluded.)
1x on other purchases.
Reward redemptionReward points can be redeemed for a variety of cash back and travel redemptions at 1 cent per point.Rewards can be redeemed for travel redemptions through the Altitude Rewards center or a statement credit to a U.S. bank checking account at 1 cent per point.

You’ll get only 0.8 cents per point for redemptions of cash back, Real-Time Rewards, U.S. Bank Rewards Cards, Shop with Points at Amazon.com and Pay with Rewards with PayPal.
Redeem rewards for charityYou’ll have the option to redeem points for a charitable redemption and get a 100% contribution match from U.S. Bank.

Points redeemed for charity get redeemed for 1 cent of value each.
Streaming services creditEarn a $30 credit when you charge 11 consecutive months of an eligible streaming services to your card.This benefit is removed entirely.
Cell phone protection benefitCell phone protection offering $600 in coverage, once per year with a $100 deductible.This benefit is removed entirely.
Changes to U.S. Bank Altitude® Connect Visa Signature® Card

My take on the changes to the U.S. Bank Altitude® Connect Visa Signature® Card

I’ve flipped my view of the changes of this card. I think that the changes are on balance positive changes and make the U.S. Bank Altitude® Connect Visa Signature® Card a compelling product for travelers.

The obvious positive change to this card was that the card’s annual fee went from an ongoing $95/year to $0.

  • Cap on the 4x rewards at gas stations and EV charging. This probably won’t hit that many people. Realistically, most people aren’t going to spend $1,000 per quarter on gas or EV charging. If your family drives an Honda Odyssey and fills the tank every week, you’re likely only spending $600-$800 on gas in a quarter.
  • Exclusions on discount stores and superstores. If most of your shopping is at Costco, Sam’s Club, Walmart, Target, or other superstores, there are other cards that you should have in your wallet specifically for those stores.
  • Devaluation of cash back redemptions. Sure, you can’t redeem your points for 1 cent each for a statement credit, but you can get 1 cents of value out of each of them if you redeem for a cash back credit into a U.S. Bank checking account. This becomes annoying if you have credit cards from nearly every bank, but most people bank with only one or two banks and U.S. Bank is a reasonable choice for many people for their primary checking account.
  • Loss of streaming services credit. This credit wasn’t of much use anyway for streaming. There are other cards that are better for streaming services generally, plus cards that offer credits on Disney Plus membership.
  • Cell phone protection benefit. The loss of this benefit might hurt some, but there are plenty of cards with no annual fee that offer cell phone protection. If you need this benefit, you can pick up a card that offers it at no cost.

But what didn’t change is more interesting:

  • 4x points on travel beats many premium credit cards with an annual fee, especially if you don’t want to deal with the complexity of transferring points to partners.
  • Priority Pass Select with 4 complimentary visits meets the needs of most travelers who travel once or twice a year.
  • GigSky global internet complimentary plans are a huge benefit if you travel internationally—you can add an eSIM to your card and get free data in over 125 countries. And we tested it—it works well.
  • Trip Delay Reimbursement is a perk usually reserved for cards with an annual fee and lounge access through SmartDelay for flights delayed 2 hours or more is a great benefit.
  • A Credit for TSA PreCheck or Global Entry enrollment fees is still available.

And the fact that you get all of these benefits on a card with no annual fee? That’s an incredible value.

Bottom line on the changes

The changes that to the U.S. Bank Altitude® Connect Visa Signature® Card are now live. While the card loses a handful of benefits and puts some restrictions on how you use your points, it keeps a bunch of valuable benefits and offers much better value now that the annual fee has been eliminated.

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Read more about the U.S. Bank Altitude® Connect Visa Signature® Card

About the author

  • Aaron Hurd

    Aaron Hurd is a credit card, travel rewards, and loyalty program expert. Over the past 15 years, he has authored over a thousand expert contributions published by leading outlets including WSJ, TIME, Newsweek, Forbes, NerdWallet, The Points Guy, Bankrate, CNET, and many others. He has also served in consulting roles for many of these same outlets, designing content strategy, hiring teams of teams of editors and contributors, developing thought-leadership pieces, and ghost-editing for senior editors. Aaron is well-known in the miles and points community and regularly presents about travel rewards at conferences like the Chicago Seminars and Minnebar. Aaron has enjoyed the game of optimizing credit card rewards since getting his first credit card shortly after he turned 18. He started learning about credit cards and travel rewards from the (now defunct) FatWallet Finance forums and FlyerTalk. He holds more than 40 open credit cards and has first-hand experience with almost every major credit card product.

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