U.S. Bank Altitude Reserve Card No Longer Accepting Applications

As of November 11, 2024, U.S. Bank has made the decision to stop accepting applications for the U.S. Bank Altitude^® Reserve Visa Infinite^® Card. As of now, this doesn’t affect existing cardholders.

Here is a look at what this means for current cardholders and what replacement card options you have going forward.

U.S. Bank Altitude Reserve Card No Longer Accepting Applications

The U.S. Bank Altitude Reserve card has long been an underrated card option, thanks to its ability to earn 3x points per $1 spent on all mobile wallet purchases. You could then redeem those points to offset travel expenses at a rate of 1.5 cents per point.

This resulted in the card earning 4.5% back on all purchases using mobile wallets like Apple Pay, which is now widely accepted in many places.

Effective November 11, 2024, U.S. Bank stopped accepting new applications for the U.S. Bank Altitude Reserve card.

What If You Currently Have the U.S. Bank Altitude Reserve Card?

At the moment, U.S. Bank has not released any details on what current cardholders of the U.S. Bank Altitude Reserve card can expect.

For the time being, you should be able to continue using your card as normal. It is possible that U.S. Bank could allow existing cardholders to continue using the card indefinitely. Alternatively, it also would be possible for the card to be completely phased out, with all current cardmembers being product changed to another active card in the U.S. Bank portfolio.

Alternative Card Options to the U.S. Bank Altitude Reserve Card

While the U.S. Bank Altitude Reserve card isn’t an option if you’re looking for a new credit card, U.S. Bank has launched a new card that many will be excited about: the U.S. Bank Smartly™ Visa Signature^® Card.

With the U.S. Bank Smartly card, you can earn up to an industry-leading 4% cash-back on up to $10,000 of purchases each billing cycle. That said, you will have to jump through a few hoops in order to do so.

All cardholders will earn unlimited 2% cash-back at the base level on all purchases. You will be able to boost this cash-back rate based on the amount of deposits you hold with eligible U.S. Bank checking accounts at these rates:

• Earn a 25% bonus, boosting your cash-back rate to 2.5% on all purchases, with a qualifying balance between $10,000 to $49,999.99
• Earn a 50% bonus, boosting your cash-back rate to 3% on all purchases, with a qualifying balance between $50,000 to $99,999.99
• Earn a 100% bonus, boosting your cash-back rate to 4% on all purchases, with a qualifying balance of $100,000 or more

Eligible accounts for your overall balance level include Smartly^® Checking and/or Safe Debit. Savings accounts, money market accounts, CDs, and IRAs do not qualify.

While hefty deposits are required, earning 4% cash back on up to $10,000 of purchases each billing cycle from a no-annual-fee card is unprecedented and indeed industry-leading.

On the other hand, if you liked the U.S. Bank Altitude Reserve card for its travel perks — like its annual travel credit, Priority Pass membership, rental car insurance, and more — then you should consider replacement cards like the Chase Sapphire Reserve^®, The Platinum Card^® from American Express, or the Capital One Venture X Rewards Credit Card.

Final Thoughts

While it is disappointing to see a great card stop accepting applications, hopefully, those who already have the card will continue to be able to use it uninterrupted. If not, it is great that there are other good card options on the market that can help replace what the U.S. Bank Altitude Reserve card offered. It’s also worth noting that this isn’t the first time the card stopped applications, so here’s hoping that this (like last time) is temporary.