U.S. Bank Altitude Points: Earning, Caps and Redemption

Programme and scope

Altitude Points sit inside U.S. Bank's credit card line-up: the bank's credit card index presents the three Altitude products alongside its cash-back and secured cards. [3] The creditor and issuer of U.S. Bank credit cards is U.S. Bank National Association, under separate licenses from the card networks. [1] The Altitude cards on that index are available to United States residents only. [3]

Each card also has its own Cardmember Agreement and its own Program Rules, which U.S. Bank directs cardholders to read in the online Rewards Center after logging in to usbank.com. [3] The same disclosure states that the account must be open and in good standing, meaning not past due or overlimit, on the closing date of the billing cycle in order to earn and redeem rewards and benefits. [3] U.S. Bank adds that it may change APRs, fees and other account terms in future under the Cardmember Agreement and applicable law, so the rates below describe the terms as published on 18 October 2026. [3]

Earning on each card

Altitude Connect. The card earns 5 points per $1, made up of 1 base point and 4 bonus points, on prepaid car and hotel reservations bought in the online Travel Center. [3] Those Travel Center bookings are not classified as travel category merchant transactions, so they do not also earn the travel bonus. [3] Travel category purchases earn 4 points per $1, with purchases made directly with airlines, hotels, car rentals, taxicabs, limousines, passenger trains and cruise lines given as examples. [3] Gas station and electric vehicle charging purchases earn 4 points per $1 on the first $1,000 each quarter. [3] Restaurants, fast-food restaurants and bars, grocery stores and supermarkets, and qualifying streaming subscriptions earn 2 points per $1, and all other eligible purchases earn 1 point per $1. [3]

Altitude Go. Restaurant, fast-food restaurant and bar purchases earn 4 points per $1 on the first $2,000 each quarter. [3] Grocery stores and supermarkets, gas stations and EV charging stations, and qualifying streaming subscriptions earn 2 points per $1, and everything else eligible earns 1 point per $1. [3]

Altitude Go Secured. The secured card uses the same earning structure as Altitude Go, including the $2,000 quarterly restaurant cap. [3] It is a secured product: a refundable security deposit of $300 to $5,000 sets the credit limit. [3]

Merchant type matters inside the bonus categories. Grocery store and supermarket purchases at discount stores or supercenters such as Target and Walmart, and at wholesale clubs, earn only 1 point per $1, and the same limit applies to gas station and EV charging purchases made at wholesale clubs, discount stores or supercenters, or at grocery stores and supermarkets. [3] U.S. Bank refers readers to the Program Rules for the official list of qualifying streaming services merchants. [3]

New-account bonuses and statement credits

U.S. Bank advertised a one-time 20,000 bonus points on the Altitude Connect and on the Altitude Go, awarded when an applicant is approved for a new card and makes $1,000 or more in total eligible Net Purchases within 90 days of account opening, with 1 to 2 billing cycles allowed for the bonus points to be credited. [3] Existing or previous cardmembers of the same product are not eligible if they have received a new account bonus for that product in the last five years, and the offer may not be combined with any other bonus offer. [3] The credit card index shows no new-account bonus for the Altitude Go Secured, so none is reported here. [3]

Altitude Go and Altitude Go Secured both carry an automatic $15 statement credit per 12-month period, applied within two statement billing cycles after 11 consecutive calendar months of eligible streaming service purchases such as Netflix, Hulu or Apple Music, provided the account is in good standing. [3] U.S. Bank reserves the right to adjust or reverse any part of that streaming credit for unauthorized purchases or transaction credits. [3]

Redeeming Altitude Points

They do describe one redemption route in general terms. U.S. Bank says Real-Time Rewards is a redemption method offered on several U.S. Bank credit cards, and that once a cardmember is enrolled, a purchase triggers a text message offering the chance to redeem points toward it, with a reply of "REDEEM" completing the redemption. [3] The member must hold enough points to cover the entire purchase before the text is sent. [3] Points are then deducted from the points balance and redeemed as a credit on the monthly billing statement. [3] U.S. Bank directs readers to the Program Rules for further detail and does not say on that page which Altitude cards offer the feature. [3]

Exceptions and limits

• What does not count as a Purchase. Convenience checks, balance transfers, advances including ATM withdrawals, wire transfers, traveler's checks, money orders, foreign cash transactions, betting transactions and lottery tickets, interest charges and fees, credit insurance premiums, and transactions to fund certain prepaid card products, buy currency from the U.S. Mint or buy cash-convertible items are excluded from rewards earning. [3]
• Merchant category codes. Each merchant's business is identified by a category code established by Visa, and a purchase does not earn additional rewards if that code falls in a category that is not eligible for bonus earning; U.S. Bank says it does not determine the codes applied to merchants and reserves the right to decide which purchases qualify. [3]
• Quarterly caps. Altitude Connect earns 4 points per $1 on gas station and EV charging station purchases only on the first $1,000 each quarter, and Altitude Go and Altitude Go Secured earn 4 points per $1 on restaurant, fast-food restaurant and bar purchases only on the first $2,000 each quarter. Each card's general base rate is 1 point per $1 on Net Purchases. [3]
• Account standing. Rewards and benefits are earned and redeemed only while the account is open and in good standing on the closing date of the billing cycle. [3]
• Fees and expiry. The credit card index lists an annual fee line for each Altitude card without a figure in the material checked, and it does not publish expiry rules for Altitude Points, so no fee or expiry term is quoted here. [3]

Related pages

Terms: flexible points, fixed-value points, cents per point, transfer ratio. Guides: cobranded cards vs transferable points, first card application plan. Glossary: all terms.

Sources

Sources accessed on 18 October 2026. Other U.S. Bank card rewards programmes, and other banks' points currencies, are not covered here; where the sources are silent on transfer partners, point value, fees or expiry, this page says so rather than inferring an answer.

1. U.S. Bank personal banking and credit cards home page, checked 18 October 2026
2. U.S. Bank credit cards index, including Altitude card terms and footnotes, checked 18 October 2026