The U.S. Bank Altitude Connect is a good travel reward card to explore the world of earning points while also providing value on everyday items around town. It comes with a sign-up bonus of 50,000 points after spending $2,000 within the first 3 months and no annual fee first year. The big downside to this card is that there are no retention offers available, meaning you can’t get any extra points for keeping the card long term.
I signed up for this card last year. My annual fee due date was coming up, and I called up U.S. Bank to see what my options were. I ended up closing this card.
In this blog post, I’ll be discussing my review of this card, and my call to U.S. Bank for retention and cancellation/closing process of the card.
Review
Let’s take a look at what U.S. Bank Altitude Connect credit card has to offer:
- 50,000 points ($500 value) after spending $2,000 in the first 120 days.
- 5X points on prepaid hotels and car rentals booked directly in the Altitude Rewards Center.
- 4X points on travel, at gas stations and EV charging stations.
- 2X points at grocery stores, grocery delivery, dining and streaming services; 1X point on all other eligible purchases.
- 1X point on all other eligible purchases.
- $30 credit for annual streaming bonus and to $100 in statement credits, TSA PreCheck or Global Entry every four years.
- Visa signature benefits.
Aside from not having transfer partners, this card has a lot to offer. If you are someone who is loyal to U.S. Bank and takes 2-3 yearly trips, then this card provides a great value. And if you pay for your streaming services for a year, the effective annual fee becomes $65.00. For the first two years, this card will be net positive.
I was able to utilize the Global Entry statement credit a couple of months after I got it. And I was paying my YouTube subscription with it. However, I did not keep it open long enough to get the statement credit.
I used the sign-up bonus to cover one of my travels, as you can see in the screenshot above.
Why Did I Cancel it?
I would’ve definitely kept this card open if there had been a hotel credit or renewal bonus like Chase Sapphire Preferred. Closing a credit card account is frowned upon in the credit card churning community. However, in my experience, it has not affected my credit score that much. Since I got Venture X and will be using that one as my primary travel card, the Altitude Connect will just sit in my sock drawer. In addition, beyond the second year, this card does not provide any additional credit that will allow me to recoup the annual fee.
Retention Offer/How to Cancel?
I was not able to find any data point on the retention offers for the U.S. Bank Altitude Connect. Three weeks ago, I called U.S. Bank at 800-285-8585 to inquire about retention offers. Because I don’t believe I will be getting enough value to justify the annual fee, I explained that and wanted to know if there was any retention offer. The customer service told me the only option/offer they have is to downgrade to U.S. Bank Altitude Go. Since my wife already has Altitude Go, I was not planning to open it without an intro bonus.
They did not offer the option to product change to any other no annual fee card also. So, that was a bummer.
I told the customer service rep I would think about it and call back. A couple of weeks pass by, and I call customer service again, hoping to get a different rep and a retention offer, or at least to downgrade it. But, alas, the answer was the same.
I asked the rep to close the account. Perhaps I will apply for the US Bank Altitude Go in the future, as it offers a $15 annual streaming credit as well. Currently, I get credited for my Netflix subscription using another method. Using the Altitude Go card to pay for my Netflix subscription would be like getting free money.
I will write a separate blog post on how I get Netflix for free. Be sure to follow me on Twitter or subscribe to the newsletter.
