One of the most popular travel rewards credit cards from Bank Of America is the Bank of America® Travel Rewards Visa® credit card.This travel rewards credit card has several ways to maximize your rewards, including their popular double points earnings when you book travel through the Bank of America® Travel Center.
While these rewards are great, one of the biggest rewards boost come from having 1 or more investment accounts with Merrill.The more money you have in those accounts, the better as it offers bigger rewards to card holders.
Here’s how you can make the most out of Bank Of America’s travel rewards.
Be Sure To Use The Travel Center
The Bank of America® Travel Rewards Visa® credit card accelerates your rewards up to 3 points per $1 spent when you book your travel through the Bank of America® Travel Center.This would include your flights, hotel nights and rental cars.Now, this does not include insurance.Even better, there’s no limits on the extra points you can earn, so you can really rack up using the travel center.
How can it get better than that?Your card also has a cool sign-up promotion, so you want to make sure you spend enough so you qualify for bonus.All you need to do is make at least $1,000 in purchases within the first 90 days of opening your account.If you do, you’re going to receive 25,000 online bonus points.That can be used for a $250 credit toward future travel.
Some of you may be wondering, “I’ve seen other reward cards offer a lot more points.”While that is true, other reward cards usually have fees, so this is a good deal to take advantage of.
2 more big perks that we love about the Bank of America® Travel Rewards Visa® credit card is the fact that it doesn’t have an annual fee and it doesn’t charge you foreign transaction fees.
You Can’t Beat The Interest Rate Break
Another big benefit for new cardholders is that they get an interest rate break: you pay 0 percent on purchases for 12 billing cycles.Once that cycle is through, your APR would range from 16.74% – 24.74% Variable APR.For the first 12 months, you get to rack up a ton of points without ever having to worry about interest adding up.
Now, this introductory rate doesn’t apply to transferred balances, so be sure to keep that in mind.Your ongoing interest rate is going to depend on your credit rating.
Redeem Rewards On Your Bank Of America® Travel Rewards Visa® Credit Card
While Bank Of America makes it easy to obtain points, they also make it easy redeem points as you earn them.
When you make a travel-related purchase on your card, you can redeem the points for a statement credit to offset your purchase.
Your points are worth 1 cent apiece when redeemed for travel.Believe it or not, but there’s a lot of different “travel” purchases that qualify under the Bank of America® Travel Rewards Visa® credit card.Their definition of travel is often broader than other travel cards’, such as:
Art Gallery
Circus
Zoo
Amusement Park
Aquarium
No Other Travel Rewards Card Is More Flexible
Having the ability to redeem your credit against your travel purchases on the spot is super flexible, it doesn’t get better than this.
You get to book your travel the way you want, you get to fly on the airline you want, stay at the hotel you want to stay at.Honestly, few travel rewards cards have this type of flexibility.Plus, there’s no blackout dates or restrictions.That’s what I call a grade A travel rewards credit card.
Now, you can redeem your points for gift cards or you can make a cash deposit into your Bank of America®, Merrill Edge® or Merrill Lynch accounts®.When you do this, your value per point is going to be lower, just be aware of this before you do so.
Despite that, with the bonus percentages included, you can earn nearly as much as the best reward credit cards on the market.
Credit Shout is a community of personal finance experts dedicated to helping you save money and make smart financial decisions. Learn how to master your credit card rewards, improve your credit score and start eliminating your debt.
