Despite its name, the new Bank of America® Premium Rewards® credit card isn't exactly on the level of premium cards such as the American Express Platinum Card® or the Chase Sapphire Reserve®, which come laden with extra perks but also carry annual fees in the hundreds of dollars. Its closest competitors are on the next tier down. And the best-known of those competitors is the venerable Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card.
Deciding between two rewards credit cards often is just a matter of comparing the rewards you'll earn on each. But the Bank of America® Premium Rewards® credit card and the Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card are similar enough that perks and features beyond rewards rates could tip the scales. Want points you can transfer? Want your checked-bag fees covered? Your answers to such questions will guide your decision.
That said, if you have significant balances in checking, saving or investment accounts at Bank of America® and Merrill, your choice gets a whole lot easier, since the Bank of America® card offers generous bonuses.
How the cards compare
Annual fee
Sign-up bonus
Reward rates
- 2 points per dollar spent on travel and dining.
- 1.5 points per dollar on all other spending.
- 5 points per dollar spent on travel booked through Chase.
- 3 points per dollar spent on eligible dining; eligible online grocery purchases; gas and EV charging; select streaming services; and select vacation rentals.
- 2 points per dollar spent on all other travel.
- 1 point per dollar on all other spending.
Point transfer partners
Rewards accelerators
Other perks
- Up to $100 a year in credit for airline incidental fees.
- Up to $100 credit every four years for TSA PreCheck or Global Entry.
- Up to $100 statement credit each year on hotel stays booked through Chase.
- Up to $120 credit every four years for TSA PreCheck, Global Entry or Nexus.
Learn more
Annual fee
It costs the same to carry either of these cards. However, the Bank of America® Premium Rewards® credit card gives you an airline incidentals credit that, if you use it, more than makes up for the fee every year. The Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card does something similar with up to $100 in credit each year on hotel stays booked through Chase.
Rewards rates
The Bank of America® Premium Rewards® credit card has an easier-to-remember rewards structure, and also a higher rate on non-bonus-category spending (aka, "everything else"). Still, it tops out at 2x unless you're a member of BofA Rewards™. More on that in a bit.
The Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card, meanwhile, offers the ability to earn 2x, 3x and 5x in an array of categories, as long as you don't mind keeping track of them. Also, points with this card can be worth more than the standard 1 cent per point when you redeem them for travel booked through Chase or transfer them to partners, while points on the Bank of America® card are worth 1 cent apiece regardless of how you redeem. (See our review of the Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card for details on redemption values.)
Transfer partners
The Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card allows you to transfer your points to a variety of airline loyalty programs, usually at a 1:1 ratio (the exception is Hyatt at 4:3):
Full list of Chase transfer partners
Airlines
Aer Lingus (1:1 ratio).
Air Canada (1:1 ratio).
Air France-KLM (1:1 ratio).
British Airways (1:1 ratio).
Iberia (1:1 ratio).
JetBlue (1:1 ratio).
Singapore (1:1 ratio).
Southwest (1:1 ratio).
United (1:1 ratio).
Virgin Atlantic (1:1 ratio).
Hotels
Hyatt (1:1 or 4:3 ratio; varies by card).
IHG (1:1 ratio).
Marriott (1:1 ratio).
Wyndham (1:1 ratio).
The Bank of America® Premium Rewards® credit card offers no such transfers.
Travel credits
The Bank of America® Premium Rewards® credit card gives you up to $100 in statement credit for incidental airline fees such as checked bags, seat upgrades, in-flight food and beverages, and lounge passes. Earn the full credit — which you could do on a single round trip with two people each checking a bag each way — and the card effectively pays you $5 a year after the annual fee. The Bank of America® Premium Rewards® credit card also reimburses you up to $100 every four years for the application fee for TSA PreCheck or Global Entry program.
The Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card has benefits that parallel, or in some cases surpass, those on the Bank of America® card. It offers a hotel credit rather than an airline credit. You get up to $100 a year for hotel stays booked through Chase. There's also a potentially larger credit for the application fee for trusted traveler programs: up to $120 every four years, and it applies not only to TSA PreCheck and Global Entry, but also Nexus. You also get free DashPass food delivery benefits on eligible orders for at least 12 months (and a maximum of 24 months) after activation.
BofA Rewards® program makes a big difference
The secret weapon of any Bank of America® credit card is the bank's BofA Rewards program. If you are a Bank of America® checking account holder, you earn bonus rewards:
Program tier | Required balance | Rewards bonus |
|---|---|---|
Member | None. | 10%. |
Preferred Plus | $30,000 to $99,999. | 25%. |
Preferred Honors | $100,000 to $999,999. | 50%. |
Premier | $1 million or more. | 75%. |
If you're not a BofA Rewards member, your effective rewards rates on the Bank of America® Premium Rewards® credit card are the standard 2% for travel/dining and 1.5% for everything else. BofA Rewards members earn 2.2% and 1.65%, respectively. At the Preferred Plus level, those rates rise to 2.5% and 1.875%. At Preferred Honors, they're 3% and 2.25%. At Premier, they're 3.5% and 2.625%.
Bottom line: If you're a BofA Rewards member, the Bank of America® Premium Rewards® credit card is your winner.
Making the choice
These are two excellent cards, so there's no "bad" choice. Cardholders who travel regularly should get plenty of value with either one. If you're a BofA Rewards customer, you can't beat the rewards you'll earn with this card — at least, not for an annual fee of $95. For everyone else, it boils down to the rewards math and which features matter most.
