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Wells Fargo has unveiled a refreshed version of its popular Wells Fargo Propel American Express® card. The Wells Fargo Propel Amex card features a 20,000 point welcome bonus after spending $1,000 in the first 3 months, and revamped bonus categories including 3x points per dollar on travel, dining, and music streaming services such as Spotify and Apple Music, plus cell phone protection when you use the card to pay your monthly bill. All of this with an annual fee of $0.
- Earn 3X points on eating out and ordering in
- Earn 3X points on travel including flights, hotels, homestays and car rentals
- Earn 3X points on gas stations, rideshares and transit
- Earn 3X points on popular streaming services
- Earn 1X points on other purchases
The Wells Fargo Propel Amex earns Go Far Rewards points worth a penny apiece as cash-back equivalent. Alternatively, if you (or a friend or family member) hold a Wells Fargo Visa Signature® Card, you can transfer points earned on the Wells Fargo Propel Amex to the Wells Fargo Visa Signature and redeem for flights through the Go Far Rewards travel portal at 1.5¢ per point.
It’s worth pointing out that Wells Fargo has the most generous transfer rules of any provider we’ve encountered, allowing Go Far Rewards members to transfer points between each other free of charge, with no rules restricting transfers to family members or members of the same household. Points will expire 60 months after the transfer, so just use them within 5 years. 😉
Wells Fargo Propel Amex Welcome Bonus
The Wells Fargo Propel Amex earns 20,000 Go Far Rewards points after spending $1,000 in the first 3 months. Redeemed as $200 cash back, that is an excellent bonus for a rewards card touting no annual fee. Transferred to an account holding a Wells Fargo Visa Signature card, those same points are instantly worth 1.5¢ per point towards airfare, increasing the value of the welcome offer to $300!
If you hold both the Wells Fargo Propel Amex and the Wells Fargo Visa Signature, you can get the same rate on fixed-value redemptions as the Chase Sapphire Reserve®, and you save $550 a year in annual fees!
Wells Fargo Propel Amex Points Earning & Redeeming Potential
Possibly the most exciting change to the Wells Fargo Propel Amex is the revamped bonus categories. The card previously earned 3x points at gas stations, 2x points at U.S. restaurants and 1 point per dollar everywhere else. The refreshed version of the card earns:
- 3x on travel – including services such as VRBO homestay
- 3x on dining – including delivery websites like GrubHub
- 3x on streaming services – including Spotify, Apple Music, Netflix, etc
- 3x at gas stations
- 1x on all other purchases
The increased 3x points on travel & dining is an exciting addition to the Wells Fargo Propel Amex, placing it in the same earning category as many premium rewards cards charging astronomical annual fees. You can redeem Go Far Rewards earned on the Wells Fargo Propel Amex for 1¢ per point as cash back and towards other merchandise, but the real value lies in pairing this card up with the Wells Fargo Visa Signature and Wells Fargo Cash Wise Visa® card.
Where the Wells Fargo Propel Amex earns just 1 point per dollar on non-bonus purchases, the Cash Wise Visa earns 1.5% cash back on everyday spend, and points transfer free of charge between cards/accounts. Add the Wells Fargo Visa Signature to the mix, and you can combine points earned across all three cards at 1.5¢ per point towards flights through the Go Far Rewards travel portal, or 1.75¢ per point if you spend $50K per year on the card, providing an epic value without paying a single annual fee.
Potential Challenges with Wells Fargo Go Far Rewards
There are some potential downsides to a 2 or 3 card Go Far Rewards strategy to be aware of.
- You can’t transfer points to airline or hotel partners to leverage award chart sweet spots like Ultimate Rewards, Membership Rewards, or ThankYou Rewards, so this strategy will best suit folks interested in discount international economy and domestic fares.
- Wells Fargo has rather stringent application restrictions (listed below) that prevent people applying for multiple cards each year, making it difficult to pull together a Go Far Rewards combo of cards spanning the right bonus categories and redemption options.
Team up with a partner, friend, or family members to apply for different cards in the Go Far Rewards lineup of rewards cards, transferring the combined points to the account holding the Wells Fargo Visa Signature for redemption to maximize your earnings. Just be sure you're in this as a team with a common goal.
Wells Fargo Propel Amex Feature Benefits
The Wells Fargo Propel Amex features a substantial list of perks for a no annual fee card, including access to free FICO scores, Cell Phone Protection, and top-earning rates in bonus categories.
- Unlimited 3x Points on Travel (including Gas) & Dining – For most folks in the points and miles hobby, travel and dining make up a significant portion of their annual spend, and earning 3x points or 3% back, with the ability to increase the value of the points via transfer is a top benefit of holding this card. Earning 3x back on streaming services is a plus, but unless you have a voracious appetite for streaming music and movies, it’s unlikely to present a massive annual return.
- Cell Phone Protection – Pay your monthly cell phone bill with your Wells Fargo Propel Amex, and you’re protected in the case of damage or theft for up to $600 (with a $25 deductible).
- Free FICO Score 9 Experian Credit Score – Monitor your FICO score free of charge, one of the easiest ways to keep on top on new card approvals and your 5/24 count.
- No Annual Fee – No annual fee cards are often positioned as companion cards for high annual fee premium cards. However, in the case of the Go Far Rewards trio mentioned above, you’ll pay no annual fees at all, a big plus in our books.
Application Restrictions
Similar to Chase’s 5/24 policy and other bank restrictions on new card applications, Wells Fargo credit card applications include some specific policies and restrictions you should be aware of before applying for a new rewards card.
One card every 6 months – The T&C’s state you may not qualify for more than one card in a six month period:
“You may not qualify for an additional Wells Fargo credit card if you have opened a Wells Fargo credit card in the last 6 months.”
One bonus offer per 15 months – You’ll only qualify for the introductory or bonus offers on Wells Fargo cards once every 15 months:
“Eligibility for introductory rate(s), fees, and bonus rewards offers
You may not be eligible for introductory annual percentage rates, fees, and/or bonus rewards offers if you opened a Wells Fargo Credit Card within the last 15 months from the date of this application, and you received introductory APR(s), fees, and/or bonus rewards offers, even if that account is closed and has a $0 balance.”
Final Thoughts
Featuring a stellar welcome bonus of 20,000 points after spending $1,000 in the first 3 months, 3X points for eating out, gas stations and travel, cell phone protection, and no annual fee, the Wells Fargo Propel Amex is a standout rewards card. Thanks to Propel, Go Far Rewards has become a viable alternative to the big flexible rewards programs (at least for the domestic economy flyer).
The comments on this page are not provided, reviewed, or otherwise approved by the bank advertiser. It is not the bank advertiser's responsibility to ensure all posts and/or questions are answered.
Hi – I have Chase and Citi credit cards, Chase Sapphire and Citi Prestige as well as two hotel cards. I spend a lot on credit cards. I am not a US citizen although I have a US address, bank accounts and am in the USA several times each year. Am I eligible to apply for this WF card?
Per the card details, “You must be a citizen or a permanent resident alien of the U.S. to qualify for this credit card.”
Can the bonus miles with this card be combined with the miles in other American Express accounts?
Only Wells Fargo cards.
Does the signature card ever offer lucrative sign up bonuses that I’m at risk for losing out on by just doing product change? Just got their other cash back card so too early to apply for propel.
Over at Citi they kept trying to get me to product change from Diamond to thank you preferred, I said no way. I finally bit when it was to switch to double cash since it sounded like 0 interest on new purchases is all I’d be missing.
Not that I can recall.
I’ve been with WF for 5 years with Checking, Savings, Business Checking and mortgage. You guys make me want to switch banks now. I do prefer to use Chase credit cards. Should I switch to Chase banks?
Like anything, I think you need to look at the pros/cons.
For me, personally, I use a local credit union for my day to day banking, but use the big banks for my credit cards due to the rewards offered.
My 82 year old father went in to withdraw some cash and a WF representative asked if he had a WF credit card. He said he didn’t need or want one. She signed him up anyway for a card. She took advantage of an elderly man. We don’t do business there anymore.
They did the same thing to my father but signed him up for a savings account and moved $2k from his checking to the new savings. Then he proceeded to bounce a bunch of checks because the money wasn’t there to cover it and I had to come in and pay all the bounced check fees.
I got approved for the card. They pull experian and transunion in california. Got a stingy limit but it will do.
This will pair nicely with the visa signature card 🙂
Now I need a no fee card that’s good for groceries.
That’s great, paired with the Visa Signature makes for a great rewards combo. We’ve put together our top cards for groceries here – https://awardwallet.com/blog/best-credit-cards-for-supermarkets-groceries/
This is a good option for those of us that have been in the game for a while and have less card options to apply for.
This is a great card. I like the angle you have pointed out with the cashwise and visa signature card. I have the visa signature card already and and I just applied the WF propel card would be a good first addition. I may get the cashwise card eventually for non bonus spend as I was relying on the spg card for non bonus spend. But it won’t be useful from August.
If you have too many tries at opening credit cards and fall under the 5/24 rule, am I understanding that you will not be able to apply for this card? Can you put pressure on your local Wells Fargo Bank where you bank?
Thank you
Each situation is unique — you can and should attempt to work with a local banker if you apply and don’t like the results.
Are there foreign transaction fees?
There are none.
Regarding the $50k of spend to book flights at 1.75 cpp , does that need to be spent on the Signature card? Or spent on the Propel/Cash Wise card?
It needs to be on the signature card.
I don’t think that I have ever had a Wells Fargo credit card. They must not be a big player in the credit card market.
My understanding is that it may be harder to get a Wells Fargo card than some others if you had recent credit report inquiries and new card openings.
I don’t trust wf
nothing exciting with Wells Fargo
From the issues that Wells Fargo had, do you feel that they are making enough changes to be worth it to get anything with them?
My mind is having issues with the issues they had with employees opening accounts to meet quota, etc.
Personally, I wasn’t impacted and I won’t hold a grudge. Plus, I think there is a ton of value to be had with this card and their card products.
3 x points on travel / dining will do for me, I also like the generous sign up bonus so thank you.
I still dont trust the business practices of Wells Fargo so I will pass on this.
Not a fan of WF. They sold off all their branches in my city. Don’t feel this would be a good card to have.
I don’t have a single Chase, American Express or Citibank branch within a few hundred miles of where I live — doesn’t stop me from giving my business to them. I wouldn’t let that dictate how you do business, unless you’re partial to local business only, which means you’d using only credit unions?
Thanks, this is an interesting option I hadn’t previously considered.
Still a no go as it is WF and can’t transfer to airline miles.
Quite a nice sign up offer and the card certainly looks ok.
Bank of America Cash Rewards card gives you $200 back after only $500 spent in 3 months.
Really don’t like the shady business practices of WF… so I have chosen to suspend all business dealings with their company.
You are right, this is one of the very few issuers that I’ve avoided all these years