Navy Federal Overhauls Its Flagship Card: Higher Earning Rates, Airline Credit, and Higher Annual Fee

Navy Federal just announced a refresh of its Visa Signature^® Flagship Rewards Credit Card, and the changes go well beyond a new name. The card is now called Flagship Premier, comes in a metal design (a first for Navy Federal), and gives more rewards on travel and dining.

The annual fee is going up, too, so members will want to weigh what they’re gaining against what they’re paying.

What Changed With the Navy Federal Flagship Card?

Annual Fee

The annual fee is jumping from $49 to $95. That is nearly double, but it is still well below what the big-name premium travel cards charge, and Navy Federal is adding perks to help justify the increase.

Earning Rates

The old earning structure was 3x points on travel and 2x on everything else. The refresh moves it to 4x points on travel, 3x on dining, and 1x on other purchases.

There are clear winners and losers with this change.

If you spend heavily on travel and restaurants, the new structure earns more. If your spending is spread across everyday categories that don’t fall into travel or dining, you will actually earn less than before, because that flat 2x on everything was one of the more generous non-category earn rates on the market.

The definition of travel is still broad. Airfare, hotels, car rentals, cruises, vacation rentals, timeshares, rideshare, parking, buses, tolls, and trains all count.

Metal Card

The Navy Federal Flagship card is the credit union’s first metal card. It’s not a functional benefit, but the kind of thing cardholders tend to notice.

Amazon Benefit Removed

The outgoing version of the Navy Federal Flagship card offers a complimentary Amazon Prime membership. That’s going away.

What’s Not Changing?

The Global Entry or TSA PreCheck statement credit of up to $120 every 4 years carries over, and Visa Signature cardholder perks also remain.

Moreover, the card will still offer $100 back each year on airline purchases. It is a smaller version of the airline fee credits offered by more expensive premium cards, but at a $95 annual fee, it effectively wipes out the cost of holding the card if you use it in full.

A spokesperson for NFCU also confirmed that the card’s complimentary 3 GB GigSky global data plan isn’t being removed.

Existing Cardholder Conversions

If you already carry the Navy Federal Flagship card, you can switch to the refreshed version without submitting a new application, which avoids a fresh hard pull on your credit report.

Who Can Get a Navy Federal Credit Card?

Navy Federal is not open to the general public. To apply for any Navy Federal credit card, you first have to be a member of the credit union, and membership is limited to a few specific groups.

You qualify if you are active duty, a veteran, or retired from any branch of the armed forces, including the Army, Marine Corps, Navy, Air Force, Space Force, Coast Guard, National Guard, or Reserves. Department of Defense civilian employees, DoD contractors assigned to DoD installations, and Coast Guard civilian employees are also eligible. Family members of anyone in those groups can join too, including parents, grandparents, spouses, siblings, children, grandchildren, and household members.

If you fit into any of those buckets, you can open a Navy Federal membership with as few as $5 in a savings account, and from there, you’re eligible to apply for the Navy Federal Flagship card and the rest of the credit union’s lineup. If you do not, this card is not an option, regardless of how attractive the refresh looks.

Final Thoughts

This refresh is a mixed bag. Travel and dining spenders come out ahead thanks to higher category multipliers and the airline credit, and the metal card is a fun upgrade that makes the card feel more prestigious.

But the fee is nearly doubling, non-bonused spending drops from 2x to 1x, and there’s a question about whether the free mobile data is going away.

Whether the new version is worth it will depend on how much of your spending falls into travel and dining, and how you feel about losing that flat 2x earning rate on everything else.