A Free $400 Flight with a US Bank FlexPerks Credit Card

Last week I gave a brief overview of how US Bank’s FlexPerks program works. Ultimately, it is a tier based redemption program with the lowest tier allowing you to redeem 20,000 points for a flight up to $399.99.

As I mentioned in the previous post, you can earn FlexPoints with five different credit cards. For the purpose of this post, I am only listing four of them as one of the cards has a horrible earning potential and I am not recommending it. You are better off with the cards I have listed here. Since there are many card options that earn FlexPoints, I wanted to detail out the benefits and differences of all of them.

U.S. Bank FlexPerks personal card options:

• U.S. Bank FlexPerks® Select+ American Express® Card:
  • Sign up bonus: 10,000 points when you spend $1,000 in purchases within the first 4 months of account opening
  • Points earned per dollar spent: You will earn 1x points on ALL purchases, there are no category
  • Extra perks: None
  • Spend bonus: None
  • Annual fee: $0
• U.S. Bank FlexPerks® Travel Rewards American Express® Card:
  • Sign up bonus: 20,000 points when you spend $3,500 in purchases within the first 4 months of account opening
  • Points earned per dollar spent: You will earn 3x points on charitable donations, 2x points on gas, groceries, or airline purchases (whichever you spend the most on each monthly billing cycle), 2x points at restaurants, fast food, and most cell phone expenses, and 1x points on all other purchases
  • Extra perks: $25 airline allowance reimbursements for up to $25 per air travel award ticket – this can go towards baggage fees, in-flight food, in-flight WiFi, etc.
  • Spend bonus: Receive 3,500 bonus FlexPoints each cardmember year you spend $24,000 in purchases
  • Annual fee: Waived for the first year then $49/year
• U.S. Bank FlexPerks® Travel Rewards Visa Signature® Card:
  • Sign up bonus: 20,000 points when you spend $3,500 in purchases within the first 4 months of account opening
  • Points earned per dollar spent: You will earn 3x points on charitable donations, 2x points on gas, groceries, or airline purchases (whichever you spend the most on each monthly billing cycle), 2x points on most cell phone expenses, and 1x points on all other purchases
  • Extra perks: $25 airline allowance reimbursements for up to $25 per air travel award ticket – this can go towards baggage fees, in-flight food, in-flight WiFi, etc.
  • Spend bonus: Receive 3,500 bonus FlexPoints each cardmember year you spend $24,000 in purchases:
  • Annual fee: Waived for the first year then $49/year

U.S. Bank FlexPerks business card options:

• U.S. Bank FlexPerks^® Business Edge™ Rewards Card: 
  • Sign up bonus: 20,000 points when you spend $3,500 in purchases within the first 4 months of account opening
  • Points earned per dollar spent: You will earn 3x points on charitable donations, 2x points on gas, groceries, or airline purchases (whichever you spend the most on each monthly billing cycle), 2x points on most cell phone expenses, and 1x points on all other purchases
  • Extra perks: $25 airline allowance reimbursements for up to $25 per air travel award ticket – this can go towards baggage fees, in-flight food, in-flight WiFi, etc.
  • Spend bonus: Receive 3,500 bonus FlexPoints each cardmember year you spend $24,000 in purchases:
  • Annual fee: Waived for the first year then $49/year

Main differences between the cards… There are a few main differences between the cards:

1. The sign up is half the amount on the Select + card, although there is no annual fee. The problem with only applying for this card is that you need to put some decent spend on the card ($10,000) to then get to the 20,000 point mark where you can redeem for a free ticket. In my opinion, the Select+ card is a good card to get in addition to the other cards to continue to increase your point balance.
2. The Travel Rewards Visa Signature Card and Business Edge card give the exact same sign up bonus an category bonuses. The only difference between these two cards is that one is a personal card while the other is a business card.
3. The Travel Rewards Visa Signature Card and the Travel Rewards American Express Card are almost identical, except a small nuance with the category bonuses. While both cards give 3x points on charitable donations, 2x points on the category you spend more on between gas, groceries, or airline purchases, and 2x points on most cell phone expenses; the American Express version of the card also gives 2x points at restaurants and fast food where the Visa Signature card does not.

For the personal card, for a small $49 fee (which is waived the first year), I’d recommend either the Travel Rewards Visa Signature Card and the Travel Rewards American Express Card (for personal cards). Aside from the small difference in category bonuses which I described in #3, the major deciding factor is if you prefer a Visa Signature card or an American Express credit card. Having a Visa Signature card is always good as there are various promotions (i.e., movie discounts, etc.) and you can use the Visa Signature Luxury Collection hotels site which I’ve written about previously. However, if you already have a Visa Signature credit card (which I assume most do), you might not need another one. American Express cards have some of the best benefits, in my opinion, with their return protection, purchase protection, and extended warranty protection. Also, this card will allow you to earn even more statement credits by taking advantage of the Amex Offers that I absolutely love!

Keep in mind though that U.S. Bank is one of the harder card issuers to approve credit cards. If you recently applied for one of their cards, i.e., Club Carlson, I would hold off probably 6 or so months to apply. Also, if you just did a big round of applying for cards with other banks (Chase, Amex, Citi, etc.), I would wait a few months as well. Of course, there is no set in stone rule, but this is just based on peoples experience.