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BankAmericard Travel Rewards for Student
REVIEW

Advertiser Disclosure
Picture of Bank of Ameica® Travel Rewards Credit Card for Students
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Introduction

The BankAmericard Travel Rewards for Student is meant for students who would like to earn points which can be redeemed for travel. It is also a great card for US students who study abroad or who intend to do a semester or two abroad because this card does not charge any foreign transaction fee. Those with a Bank of America checking or savings account can also earn 10% extra points.
 

Card Details

Annual Fee: $0

Intro APR: 0% APR on purchases for 12 months

APR: 15.74% to 24.74%*(v)

Foreign Transaction Fee: 0%

Rewards: Earn 1.5X points for every dollar you spend. Points can be redeemed for statement credits on travel expenses. You can purchase any airline ticket, hotel, cruise, car rentals, vacation packages and even baggage fees and there are no blackout dates.

Sign Up Bonus : Earn 20,000 points after spending $1,000 within first 90 days. 20,000 points can be redeemed for $200 in statement credits or travel.

FICO Score Monitoring: FICO from TransUnion
 

Peer Comparison

Card Annual Fee
APR
FX Fee
Rewards
Score
BankAmericard Travel Rewards Student Annual Fee = $0
APR = 15.74% - 23.74%
FX Fee = 0%
Rewards = 1.5X
Score Monitoring - FICO TU
BankAmericard Cash Rewards Student Annual Fee = $0
APR = 13.74% - 23.74%
FX Fee = 3%
Rewards = 3% on gas and 2% on grocery & wholesale club for first $2500 in these spending a quarter
1% on everything else
Score Monitoring = FICO TU
BankAmericard Student Annual Fee = $0
APR = 12.74% - 22.74%
FX Fee = 3%
Rewards = N.A.
Score Monitoring = FICO TU
Citi ThankYou Preferred Student Annual Fee = $0
APR = 14.74% - 24.74%
FX Fee = 3%
Rewards = 2X dining out and entertainment
1X everything else
Score Monitoring = N.A.
Capital One Journey Annual Fee = $0
APR = 20.74%
FX Fee = 0%
Rewards = 1.25% Cash Back
Score Monitoring = Vantage 3.0 TU
Discover it Student Annual Fee$0
APR = 13.74% - 22.74%
FX Fee = 0%
Rewards = 5% rotating categories
1% everything else
Score Monitoring = FICO TU
Discover Chrome Student Annual Fee = $0
APR = 13.74% - 22.74%
FX Fee = 0%
Rewards = 2% gas and dining
1% everything else
Score Monitoring = FICO TU
Wells Fargo Cash Back College Annual Fee = $0
APR = 11.9% - 21.9%
FX Fee = 3%
Rewards = 1% cash back
Score Monitoring = Bankcard Score 2 - Experian
State Farm Student Visa Annual Fee = $0
APR = 12.24% - 19.24%
FX Fee = 3%
Rewards = 1X for every $2
3X for State Farm Insurance Payments (up to $4000 a year)
Score Monitoring - N.A.
SelfScore Classic Annual Fee = $0
APR = 19.74%
FX Fee = 0%
Rewards = N.A.
Score Monitoring = N.A.
SelfScore Achieve Annual Fee = $0
APR = 19.74%
FX Fee = 0%
Rewards = 1% Cash Back
Score Monitoring = N.A.


The BankAmericard Travel Rewards for Students is clearly geared towards college students who want to earn reward points that can be redeemed for travel. The points are meant to be redeemed for travel rewards and because these are not specific airline miles or hotel points, there are no blackout dates and you can redeem for any flights, hotels etc. It is hard to compare the rewards with other cards because like we said, this card is all about travel rewards. But from a points earning view, it is competitive (1.5X) with it's peers.

Bank of America also takes advantage of the fact that they are a bank and encourages you to open a checking account because you can earn 10% more points if you have an active checking account. Most issuers simply do not compete that way.

Another nice feature about the card is that there is no foreign transaction fee. And I expect that given that this is a travel rewards card. This feature is great for students who are studying abroad full-time or just a semester.

This card also gives you the ability to check and monitor your fico score. Other cards like Discover it and Chrome offer it and it is good that BankAmericard offers this to all of their card holders.The FICO score is from Experian whilst Discover's is from TransUnion.

Overall, I would say that compared to it's peers, this card is very competitive.
 

Pros and Cons

Pros
  • 1.5X for every purchase
  • No foreign transaction fee
  • Free FICO Score
  • 0% APR on purchases for 12 months

 

Our Take

The BankAmericard Travel Rewards is one of the better student credit cards around. It is especially suited for students who are studying abroad or who intend to do a semester abroad because they do not charge any foreign transaction fees. You also earn reward points which you can redeem for travel expenses.

If you decide to get this card, we would suggest that you open a Bank of America checking and savings account because you can earn 10% more points simply by having an active account. If you do so, you can also manage both your bank account and your credit card from one website and app. From there, you can also check and monitor your FICO score.