U.S. Bank Rewards Programs Review

U.S. Bank has two credit card rewards programs, Altitude Rewards, and Cash Back Rewards. These two U.S. Bank rewards programs feature different credit cards, reward currencies, earning rates and redemption options.

U.S. Bank Credit Card Rewards Program Overview

Offers information was collected on June 6, 2025, and is likely to have changed since.

Summary: U.S. Bank Rewards Program Scores by Review Category

How to Earn U.S. Bank Rewards

Category Rating: 56% (17/30)

The credit cards in each U.S. Bank rewards program offer different earning rates, though you will receive at least 1 point per $1 spent or 1% cash back on all purchases.

Earning Rates by Program

• Altitude Rewards: 1 - 5 points per $1 spent, depending on the card

• U.S. Bank Cash Back Rewards: 1% - 5% cash back

Earning Restrictions

The U.S. Bank credit card rewards programs may place restrictions on the rewards you can earn. For example, Altitude Rewards require you to book certain types of travel through U.S. Bank in order to get the most rewards. In addition, U.S. Bank Cash Back Rewards limits the amount of bonus rewards you can earn in certain spending categories.

You can learn more by checking out WalletHub’s individual reviews of the rewards programs.

How to Redeem U.S. Bank Rewards

Category Rating: 40% (8/20)

The best way to redeem U.S. Bank rewards is for travel with the U.S. Bank Altitude Rewards programs and cash back with the U.S. Bank Cash Back Rewards program. Those options give the greatest value for your rewards within their respective programs. Below, you can learn about the different redemption options available for each program.

Cash Back

With all three rewards programs, you can redeem your rewards for cash back in the form of a statement credit or a deposit to a U.S. Bank checking or savings account. U.S. Bank Cash Back Rewards also lets you redeem as a deposit to a U.S. Bank money market account.

Travel

With U.S. Bank Altitude Rewards, you can book new travel online using your points.

Gift Cards

With U.S. Bank Altitude Rewards, you can redeem your rewards for gift cards from various retailers. U.S. Bank Cash Back rewards only lets you get prepaid Visa gift cards.

Merchandise

U.S. Bank Altitude rewards allows you to use your points to buy items online.

Redemption Restrictions

• Minimum redemption amounts: Altitude Rewards has a minimum redemption amount of 2,500 points for cash back. Similarly, U.S. Bank Cash Back Rewards has a minimum redemption amount of $25, and cash back expires 36 months after you earn it.
• No transfer partners: The U.S. Bank Cash Back Rewards and Altitude Rewards programs do not allow you to transfer your rewards to any hotel or airline loyalty programs. Many other top rewards programs do offer this feature.

You can learn more about these restrictions, and see a full list of the different ways to redeem, by checking out WalletHub’s individual reviews of the rewards programs.

U.S. Bank Rewards Value

Category Rating: 100% (30/30)

• Altitude Rewards: 1.16 cents per point
• FlexPerks: 1.18 cents per point
• S. Bank Cash Back Rewards: $1 in rewards = $1 USD

*Varies by card

U.S. Bank Rewards Eligibility and Transparency

Category Rating: 71% (14/20)

Each U.S. Bank credit card rewards program has different cards that participate. Below, you can see your options.

Participating Cards by U.S. Bank Rewards Program

Miscellaneous Details

There are a few other key things that you should know about each of the U.S. Bank credit card rewards programs. You can find highlights below. For the full details, check out WalletHub’s individual reviews of the programs.

Key Things to Know About U.S. Bank Altitude Rewards

• As long as your account is open and active, your points will not expire.

• Redeeming points for a deposit to an eligible U.S. Bank account offers at least 1 cent per point, and travel redemptions can offer more value, depending on your card.

• There is only one card, the U.S. Bank FlexPerks® Gold American Express® Card. You can pay the annual fee with points.

Key Things to Know About U.S. Bank Cash Back Rewards

• Your cash back expires at the end of the calendar month 36 months after you earn it.

• You can only redeem your rewards for cash back (in the form of a statement credit or bank deposit) or prepaid Visa gift cards.
• You can earn bonus rewards in categories of your choice.

U.S. Bank Rewards Programs vs. Other Popular Options

Summary: U.S. Bank Rewards Program Ratings by Category

Methodology

This review of the U.S. Bank credit card rewards programs is a compilation of data from WalletHub’s individual reviews of each program. These individual reviews are based on the same methodology as WalletHub’s annual study on the Best Credit Card Rewards Programs.

Editor’s ratings reflect the sum of each program’s scores across the study’s four major categories, adjusted to a 5-point scale to create a representative distribution of ratings. The four major categories considered were: Earning Policies, Redemption Policies, Rewards Value per $1 Spent and Eligibility & Transparency.