Bank of America® Premium Rewards® Credit Card

Our review

The Bank of America® Premium Rewards® Credit Card is a category rewards card from Bank of America, running on the Visa network. The Bank of America® Premium Rewards® Credit Card earns up to 2x on dining and travel, so it pays you the most exactly where you already spend. It carries a $95 annual fee, so the real question is whether its rewards, credits, and perks clear that bar for the way you spend. New cardholders can earn 60,000 online bonus points after $4,000 in 90 days.

It lands in the mid tier: a modest annual fee in exchange for stronger earn rates and a meaningful welcome offer. The right call depends on whether your spending and the perks clear that fee each year.

Our 6.9 out of 10 rating

Each score weighs the rewards rate, value after the annual fee, welcome offer, points flexibility, and perks, with every point valued at a flat 1 cent. This is our editorial assessment to help you compare cards, not a guarantee of approval or of the value you will get.

Rewards: how it earns

Where the Bank of America® Premium Rewards® Credit Card earns its rewards is its bonus categories: 2x on dining (about $60 a year on the $3,000 a typical household spends there) and 2x on travel (about $36 a year on the $1,800 a typical household spends there). Across a full year of average household spending, the card returns roughly $461 in rewards before any welcome bonus, so the more your spending overlaps those categories, the better it does.

The fine print on rates: Points are fixed value at 1 cent and do not transfer to airline or hotel partners. The Preferred Rewards boost requires a qualifying Bank of America banking or investment relationship.

Every point and mile above is valued at a flat 1 cent, the same honest standard we use for every card. Run your own spending through the calculator to see what this card would actually return for you.

Pros and cons

The welcome bonus

The current welcome offer is 60,000 online bonus points, earned after you spend $4,000 in 90 days. Valued honestly at a flat 1 cent per point, that is worth about $600. Stacking the welcome offer on top of a typical year of rewards and accounting for the $95 annual fee, the first year is worth roughly $966.

Is it worth the annual fee?

Here is the honest math on the $95 fee: the card hands you up to $100 a year in airline incidental credits, so if you fly even once and put a bag or a seat on it, the credit alone erases the fee. That is the exception to my usual rule. Where most annual-fee cards are really a year-one play built around the welcome bonus, this one keeps paying for itself as long as you actually use that $100 credit, and it gets better if you bank with Bank of America and unlock the Preferred Rewards boost. If you will not touch the airline credit, take the bonus and downgrade to a no-fee BofA card after year one.

First-year value vs ongoing value

The welcome bonus makes year one the high point: roughly $1,166 in value once you count the bonus, this card’s rewards, and its credits, minus the $95 fee. After that, the honest figure is about $566 a year, so judge whether it earns its keep on the ongoing number, not the first-year headline.

*First-year value counts the welcome bonus, estimated rewards, and annual credits, minus the annual fee; ongoing value is a typical year after. Every point at a flat 1 cent, on average spending.

Benefits and protections

Beyond the rewards, the perks and protections worth knowing about include:

• 2 points per dollar on travel and dining, 1.5 points on everything else
• Up to $100 per year in airline incidental credits for bags, seats, and lounge day passes
• Global Entry or TSA PreCheck application fee credit once every four years
• No foreign transaction fees
• Preferred Rewards members earn 25% to 75% more points, up to 3.5x travel and dining

Statement credits

• Up to $100 airline incidental fee credit annually
• Global Entry or TSA PreCheck fee credit (up to $100 every 4 years)

Who should get it, and who should skip it

It is best for people who spend heavily on dining and travel and will earn back the $95 fee through those bonus categories and the card's perks.

Skip it if your spending does not line up with its bonus categories, or if you would rather not think about where you swipe at all.

Frequently asked questions

Best-card guides featuring this card