U.S. Bank Altitude Connect Visa Signature Card

Rewards by category

Our take

The Altitude Connect is U.S. Bank's rare combination of a premium-sounding earn table and no annual fee at all: 4x points on travel, 4x at gas stations and EV charging stations, and 2x on dining, streaming and groceries. Points are worth a cent apiece toward cash or travel, so the 4x rates read as a straight 4%.

The catch is the fuel cap, and it is the number worth memorizing. The 4x at gas and EV charging applies to your first $1,000 each quarter across both categories combined — roughly $4,000 of fuel a year at the full rate — and every dollar past it earns 1x. Prepaid hotels and car rentals booked in the U.S. Bank Travel Center earn 5x, the card's highest rate, but only through that portal.

That cap is why this card does not lead our gas ranking. The rotating 5% cards beat it whenever their quarter includes fuel, and the Sam's Club Mastercard's 5x is worth about 4.5% even after valuation. What the Altitude Connect offers instead is a rate that needs no activation, no membership and no annual fee to justify — plus a Global Entry or TSA PreCheck credit and no foreign transaction fees.

The math

Run $250 a month of hotels through this card and you're earning about $150 a year at our conservative valuations. There's no annual fee to earn back — everything above the 1x base rate is pure upside.

Key benefits

• TSA PreCheck or Global Entry application fee credit
• No foreign transaction fees

Common questions

Does U.S. Bank Altitude Connect Visa Signature Card have an annual fee?

No — U.S. Bank Altitude Connect Visa Signature Card has no annual fee.

What does U.S. Bank Altitude Connect Visa Signature Card earn on hotels?

5x on hotels (book via u.s. bank travel center).

What rewards does U.S. Bank Altitude Connect Visa Signature Card earn on everything else?

1x on all other purchases, in U.S. Bank Rewards.

Does the 4x gas rate really stop partway through the year?

Yes. The 4x covers your first $1,000 each quarter at gas stations and EV charging stations combined, then drops to 1x. If you spend more than about $335 a month on fuel, the extra earns the base rate, which is where a flat 2% card quietly does better.

Is this the best gas card in SwipeCaddy?

No, and we would rather say so. Rotating cards like Chase Freedom Flex and Discover it pay 5% whenever their active quarter includes gas, and the Sam's Club Mastercard is worth roughly 4.5%. The Altitude Connect's appeal is that it pays a strong rate year-round without activation, a warehouse membership, or an annual fee.

Related reading

• How we value points and miles (and why our numbers are lower than everyone else's)SwipeCaddy ranks cards by reward rate × a conservative cash value per point: 1¢ for cash back and transferable points (Chase, Amex, Citi, Capital One, Bilt), 1.1–1.3¢ for airline miles, 0.4–1.4¢ for hotel points, and 0.8–0.9¢ for store currencies. Optimistic transfer values are recorded for context but never ranked, because most people never achieve them.