Credit Card of the Week: US Bank Altitude Connect

If you’re a tried and true gas guzzler, whether for daily commutes or road trips, the US Bank Altitude Connect is an excellent option for maximizing your return on the essentials.

While it lacks transfer partners and some of the trimmings of more premium travel cards, it offers 5x points on travel costs like hotels and car rentals and an outstanding 4x points on gas stations. The latter is a rarity. If you’re able to spend $2000 in the first six months of owning the card, you’ll get a 50,000-point bonus. This is used directly on US Bank’s travel portal or can be redeemed as cashback and other things.

Pros

• Strong daily use card

• High return on potentially high-cost expenses like gas

• Solid intro bonus worth $500

• Free for the first year ($95 annual fee after)

• Double points on streaming, restaurants, and groceries

• $30 annual streaming credit 

Cons

• No transfer partners to maximize points

• You can find cards with the same annual fee with more perks