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The Bank of America® Premium Rewards® Elite Credit Card launched in November 2021, marking Bank of America's entry into the premium travel credit card space. With a $550 annual fee, the card is priced similarly to popular premium cards such as The Platinum Card® from American Express and the Chase Sapphire Reserve®.
Let's walk through the Bank of America Premium Elite Card‘s earning rates, welcome offer, and other benefits to see if it's right for you.
- 2 points for every dollar spent on travel and dining purchases
- 1.5 points per dollar on all other purchases
Bank of America Premium Elite Card Pros
- Statement credits help offset the annual fee.
- Priority Pass Select membership that includes airport lounges and non-lounge experiences.
- Bank of America Preferred Rewards members can earn up to 75% more points on purchases.
Bank of America Premium Elite Card Cons
- Most redemptions are only worth 1 cent per point.
- Lackluster earning rates.
- High $550 annual fee.
Bank of America Premium Elite Card Welcome Bonus
With the Bank of America Premium Elite Card, you can earn 75,000 bonus points after you make at least $5,000 in purchases in the first 90 days of account opening.
If you redeem for anything other than airfare, this bonus is worth $750. That's because points are worth 1 cent for all other redemptions.
You'll get a better deal on airfare. When you book through Bank of America's Travel Center and pay with points, you'll get a 20% discount on the price of airfare. That means your points are worth 1.25 cents apiece, and your welcome bonus is worth about $938. In our opinion, this is the best way to redeem your points, as it is the only option that does better than 1 cent per point.
Bank of America Premium Elite Card Benefits
Statement credits that help offset the annual fee
With a $550 annual fee, you should expect the card to come with a slew of perks that justify its cost. While it has fewer statement credits than the Amex Platinum, the Bank of America Premium Elite Card can provide up to $475 in annual value. That makes up most of its annual fee. Statement credits include:
- Annual airline incidental credit — Receive up to $300 each calendar year when you use your card on certain U.S. domestic airlines to pay for incidentals like preferred seating upgrades, ticket change/cancellation fees, checked baggage fees, in-flight entertainment, onboard food and beverage charges, and airport lounge fees. This perk is unavailable for Allegiant Air, Spirit Airlines, and Sun Country Airlines.
- Annual lifestyle credit —Use your card to pay for qualifying rideshare, food delivery, streaming service, and fitness transactions with your card and be reimbursed up to $150 per calendar year. These are not monthly credits. Thus, they are easier to use.
- Trusted Traveler Program credit — Use your card to pay the enrollment fee for either Global Entry or TSA PreCheck and be reimbursed up to $100. This credit is good once every four years (an annual value of $25).
Reimbursement can take two to three weeks for each of the statement credits.
Priority Pass Select membership
Like many other premium travel cards, the Bank of America Premium Elite Card includes a Priority Pass Select membership that grants access to over 1,300 airport lounges and experiences to you and your accompanying guests. Lounge access can be well worth it, depending on how often you travel. And the membership includes non-lounge experiences, including restaurants and spas, which several other premium cards have removed.
Bank of America allows enrollment of up to four people as members in the Priority Pass Select program without charging a membership fee. This means you can enroll yourself plus three others. The others do not need to be authorized users on your credit card. Keep in mind that each individual's enrollment is for the life of the account, so you cannot change it to someone else at a later date.
Other benefits
The Bank of America Premium Elite Card offers the following additional perks:
- Full-service concierge — A concierge available 24/7 can help you make restaurant reservations, get tickets to sporting or entertainment events, and even book travel for you.
- Visa Infinite Luxury Hotel Collection — Receive late checkout, free daily breakfast for two, and room upgrades when you book through Visa Infinite.
- Visa Infinite Car Rental — Enjoy elite status with multiple car rental companies and access to Visa Infinite discount codes.
- Travel insurance — Protections include trip delay reimbursement, trip cancellation/interruption insurance, baggage delay and lost luggage reimbursement, and primary auto rental collision damage waiver.
- No foreign transaction fees.
The trip delay reimbursement is among the best available, with coverage kicking in after a delay of just six hours or any delay that requires an overnight stay. This provides a lot of peace of mind when traveling.
Related: Top Credit Cards for Trip Interruption & Trip Cancellation Insurance
Bank of America Premium Elite Card Earning Rates
The Bank of America Premium Elite Card‘s earning rates are very straightforward but not very exciting. You'll earn:
- Unlimited 2 points for every dollar spent on travel and dining purchases.
- Unlimited 1.5 points per dollar on all other purchases.
Points don't expire as long as your account is open.
The one thing that might boost these lackluster earning rates is the bonus for Bank of America Preferred Rewards members. Depending on your Preferred Rewards tier, you can earn 25% to 75% more points on your purchases. If you qualify for the Platinum Honors tier, you'll earn 3.5 points on travel and dining and 2.625 points on all other purchases.
It's worth noting that the Preferred Rewards program also applies to no-annual-fee Bank of America travel cards like the Bank of America® Travel Rewards credit card. Although you won't earn as many points per dollar spent, you won't pay an annual fee, so don't have the out-of-pocket expense as part of your rewards card portfolio.
Redeeming Points With the Bank of America Premium Elite Card
For most uses, your points are worth just 1 cent apiece. Redemption options include travel, cash back, statement credits, distinctive experiences booked through a concierge, or gift cards.
This low redemption value makes the card's earning rates look even more lackluster. Not only do other credit cards offer much better earning rates, but their points are also worth much more.
Take the Chase Sapphire Reserve®, for example. It earns 3x Chase Ultimate Rewards points on travel and dining. On average, AwardWallet users redeem Chase points for 1.95¢ cents apiece, putting your real return on spending north of 5%. This is a stark contrast to the 2% return for most users with the Bank of America Premium Elite Card.
The only additional value you can get with the points from the Bank of America Premium Elite Card is when you redeem for airfare. Cardholders get 20% savings on airfare paid for with points through the Bank of America Travel Center or the concierge, for an effective redemption value of 1.25 cents per point.
That means Bank of America Platinum Honors members receive a real return of 4.375% when redeeming points for airfare (1.25 cents per point x 2 points per dollar on travel purchases x 75% bonus earning rate).
Application Restrictions
If you're wondering whether you should apply for the Bank of America Premium Elite Card, you'll want to familiarize yourself with Bank of America's credit card application rules.
First, most cardholders are allowed no more than four Bank of America cards at any given time. Second, Bank of America has a 2/3/4 rule for new applications. You can be approved for a maximum of two new cards in any two-month period, three new cards per rolling 12-month period, or four new cards per rolling 24-month period.
The good news is that you can receive a new card member bonus on Bank of America cards more than once. You just typically need to wait 24 months after canceling a card.
Moreover, applications are reviewed differently depending on whether you have a banking relationship with Bank of America. If you have a banking relationship, your credit card application will be denied if you have more than seven new credit cards in the past year showing on your credit report. This limit drops to three new credit cards in the past year for those without a banking relationship.
Related: Understanding Credit Card Application Rules and Restrictions
Cards That Compete With the Bank of America Premium Elite Card
- If you want a premium card with great benefits but a lower annual fee, check out the Capital One Venture X Rewards Credit Card. This premium card offers many of the same benefits like lounge access, a $300 annual travel credit, an up to a $120 Trusted Traveler Program credit, and travel insurance, but with a much smaller $395 annual fee. Capital One's Priority Pass membership no longer includes non-lounge experiences, but you'll receive access to Capital One Lounges and Plaza Premium lounges. You'll earn at least 2 miles per dollar on all purchases — a fantastic everyday earning rate — with up to 10 miles per dollar for purchases in the travel portal. See our full review of the Capital One Venture X for more details.
- If you want a card with better earning rates on travel and dining, consider the Chase Sapphire Reserve®. The card earns 5x points when you book flights through Chase Travel℠ and an even higher 10x points when you book hotels and rental cars. Plus, it earns 3x points on all other travel and dining. You'll receive a flexible $300 annual travel credit, plus a complimentary Priority Pass membership with this card that includes unlimited access to Chase Sapphire Lounges, though Chase's Priority Pass also no longer includes non-lounge experiences. The annual fee is $550. Check out our review of the Sapphire Reserve to learn more.
- If you want a Bank of America travel card with a lower annual fee, look into the similarly named Bank of America® Premium Rewards® credit card. The little sibling of the Bank of America Premium Elite Card offers the same earning rates of an unlimited 2 points per dollar spent on travel and dining purchases and an unlimited 1.5 points for every dollar spent on all other purchases. However, the annual fee is much lower at $95. Benefits are fewer but include up to $100 annual airline incidental credit, up to $100 Trusted Traveler Program credit, and no foreign transaction fees. Our review of the Bank of America Premium Rewards Card has more details.
- 10X miles per $1 on hotels and rental cars booked via Capital One Travel
- 5X miles per $1 on purchases through Capital One Entertainment (through 12/31/2025)
- 5X miles per $1 on flights when booking via Capital One Travel
- 5X miles per $1 on vacation rentals booked via Capital One Travel
- 2X miles per $1 on all other eligible purchases
- 10X points on hotels and car rentals purchased through Chase Travel℠
- 10X points on Chase Dining (including prepaid reservations and prepaid takeout purchased through Chase)
- 5X points on airfare purchased through Chase Travel℠
- 3X points on all other travel
- 3X points on dining at restaurants
- 1X points on all other purchases
- 2 points for every $1 spent on travel and dining purchases
- 1.5 points per $1 spent on all other purchases
Related: Comparison of Premium Travel Rewards Credit Cards
Bottom Line
All things considered, the Bank of America Premium Elite Card falls short of the competition. The welcome offer becomes more compelling when redeemed for airfare. But, with its lackluster earning rates, the ongoing return just doesn't cut it.
So many other cards offer a better return, including ones with a much lower (or $0) annual fee. The annual credits and other benefits help offset the $550 annual fee, but many will find that the card doesn't offer enough value to justify its annual fee. If you're a high-tier Bank of America Preferred Rewards member, the Bank of America Premium Elite Card may be an excellent fit. For most others, you can likely do better.
- 2 points for every dollar spent on travel and dining purchases
- 1.5 points per dollar on all other purchases
For rates and fees of the cards mentioned in this post, please visit the following links: Chase Sapphire Reserve® (Rates & Fees)
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