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You all should know by now that I am a BIG fan of the US Bank Altitude Reserve. But after my most recent award booking, not only did US Banks customer service let me down, but it also shows the flaws in my favorite travel credit card.
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24 comments
It’s same in the case of Chase and citi portals as well. Looking at all these cards , I think it’s better to stick for cards which does purchase erasers like Capital1 venture /BoA travel rewards for cash flights.
Dustin, it appears that real time rewards is rather limited domestic options to whom they have a relationship? This is very depressing. Thinking about this card for 4.5 percent on mobile wallet payments, but this seems like too much of a hassle. It seems like every travel card has its gotcha and this is US bank’s.
Would you still recommend this card I would only use it for statement credits. Looking to get ride of my Citi prestige what are your thoughts
I have had similar issues with the chase portal and the Amex portal. In my experience, Amex portal was terrible. In my opinion, only way to retain the value is by transferring the points to transfer partners
Was debating between this card and Amex green card and think that I have everything that I need to answer the debate.
Please try to re-comparison to this USB-AR & the Chase-CSR as well as their travel portals, if possible!
So glad I saw this video before applying for UAR..
Still going to cancel? If so, find a replacement?
Divas tend to get results!
You're a douchebag
I wish I had seen this video when it came out and apparently, I missed it. The issue that these travel portals have is the same issue you will often run into when trying to buy tickets one on airline through another. Most of the time, the really "GOOD" fares that airlines offer are not made available to third parties in order to persuade you to book directly with them. That's the bottom line. Airlines lose money on specific fare types when they are sold through OTAs or even other airlines within their partner network. So, as much as everyone is convinced that hte travel portals that the credit card companies do business with are out to screw them, the real answer is a bit more comlp8icated than that. I live near Seattle and now belong to Alaska Airlines' loyalty program directly since my work travel is now mostly domestic and AS' mileage program is better for what I need than the bigger three. Back when I was with American and would want to fly AS directly to a city in First, I could NEVER find the "P" or "I" fares with American's booking system. They only ever had "F" — F is FULL FARE first class and super expensive, while P and I fares were usually the same price as some of the higher end coach fares (or at times, way less). It was explained to me one day by a VERY COOL REP, that the airlines usually hold back their most discounted fares (in every fare code) from third parties because it's the least they want to sell that seat for. There are only some fare buckets where the airline doesn't mind losing a few bucks b/c they'll still meet their sales quota for that flight. IMO–this is why redeeming points through travel portals at a rate even as high as 1.5cpp isn't really that great for those of us who are savvy enough to know all these things–your best value is still to transfer to partners (and I feel that even goes for coach). One thing I wish the credit card companies would do is kind of like what Venture does, allow you to pay yourself back or "erase" purchases with points. But–let me do so at a higher rate. 1.5cpp for any travel related purchase WITHOUT making me use that stupid portal?? YES PLEASE!! 😀
TLDR to my previous comment: Those silly travel portals that the cc companies use wont' have access to every fare and thats why the prices you see are different. They are trying to sell you the lowest fare from the inventory to which they have access, there aren't any additional charges or fees added from anyone.
I don’t think 🤔 ur being a diva, they are using sneaky tactics to cheat u
This is the kind of thing that could spur a class action lawsuit. Something like that is already in the works with Marriott and their shady sleight of hand.
I have the US Bank Cash+ card for a month and so far I am regretting getting it. Yes you do get to pick 5% cash back on utilities category, but my electricity payment is made by a 3ed party so I don’t know if I received 5% on that. When you activate the categories it tells you to wait a few days while they process your activation, I don’t like that but hey not that big of a deal. No email or notice on my account app to tell me it’s now processed and active is really disappointing. One main reason I got it was for 2% on gas and the 150 dollar offer for 500 in purchases but I could have received A similar offer through many other creditors. I think I will stick with Discover and Chase from now on and this will be a once a month card.
Those are actually glitches, it happens a lot when redeeming Delta and AA award flights.
US Bank is about the long haul of your total profile. They will give you fantastically outsized value for high value business services, wealth management and the like. But they don’t care about early on value to rewards- even with AR.
You are the bigger man for NOT taking the points though, so you avoided diva status 🙂
Thanks for the update. I was considering this card because my CSR renewal is now $550 but this may change the game for me
Great job putting this to the test. This card is probably better suited to people who can afford not to care.
I’m seeing this same phenomenon with hotel prices, too. 🙁 I’m extremely disappointed.
Can't you purchase the flight then redeem via real time rewards? You get the 1.5x boost if I remember right.
Point values and travel portals kinda confuse the heck outta me. Maybe it's better for me to stick with cash back cards and also chase welcome bonuses on new cards lol
Dustin thank your for your review and I know how you felt. This is a late post but I would say that it is unfortunate that you were not able to get a price match. More than likely us banks travel booking is handled by a 3rd party. This means that they may not be able to provide the best prices all the time. For the price difference in price us bank most likely would have had to pay enough via points which would cost them money. I would have to agree with us bank that there is not much they can do other than contact the 3rd party vendor and try to ensure better pricing going forward. I also think the 5000 points was a good faith attempt that was very valid and worth 75 dollars. I would look at the price difference similar to how you shop airlines or travel portals with points. You may not always get the best deal, you need to try to choose the ones at the time that give you the best. Overall this is a great card and beats most especially as a single card setup for travel.