Wells Fargo Propel AmEx: No Longer Available; Still a Valuable Card
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4.9
This card offers excellent rewards to existing customers, and for an unbeatable price. What it lacks, however, are luxury travel perks.
Pros
No annual fee
No foreign transaction fee
Intro APR period on Purchases and qualifying Balance Transfers
Cons
American Express isn’t accepted at as many merchants as Visa or Mastercard
Requires good/excellent credit
Compare to Other Cards
Annual fee$0 | Annual fee$95 |
Regular APR21.49%-28.49% Variable APR | |
Intro APR0% intro APR for 15 months on purchases and balance transfers | Intro APRN/A |
Recommended Credit Score |
Recommended Credit Score |
Detailed review: Wells Fargo Propel American Express® card
» Editor's note
The Wells Fargo Propel American Express® card has not been accepting new applications since 2021, and starting Aug. 4, 2023, existing cardholders won't be able to use the card anymore. Those who currently have the card will be moved to either the Wells Fargo Autograph℠ Card or the Wells Fargo Active Cash® Card.
• • •
The Wells Fargo Propel American Express® card is not accepting new applications. But for existing cardholders, the card still offers a compelling value proposition: triple points in a variety of popular categories — including dining and travel — all for a $0 annual fee. There aren't many cards in its class that can compete with it, and indeed the Propel won three consecutive NerdWallet Best-Of awards, as "Best No-Annual-Fee Travel Credit Card."
Unlike more expensive cards, however, the Propel doesn't offer swanky perks such as travel credits, airport lounge access, travel transfer partners or reimbursement for Global Entry or TSA Precheck. But it does come with some extras like cell phone protection and supplementary rental car insurance. That's a ton of value for a card that costs nothing to carry.
If you're an existing holder of the Wells Fargo Propel American Express® card, here's what it offers you.
Wells Fargo Propel American Express® card: The basics
Card type: Travel.
Annual fee: $0.
Rewards: Earn 3 points per $1 spent on the following categories:
Eat & Drink. This category includes restaurant dining, takeout and bars.
Ride & Drive. This category includes gas stations, rideshares and transit.
Fly & Stay. This category includes flights, hotels, homestays and more.
Watch & Listen. This category includes multiple eligible streaming services, such as Amazon Prime, Audible, Apple Music, Apple TV+, Disney+, ESPN+, fuboTV, HBO Now, Hulu, Netflix, Pandora, Sirius XM Radio, Spotify Premium and more.
All other eligible spending earns 1 point per $1 spent.
Points are worth a penny each and can be redeemed for things like travel, cash back or gift cards through the Wells Fargo Rewards portal. You can book travel using a combination of points and a payment card. For cash back, you can redeem via a Wells Fargo ATM, as long as it's in $20/2,000-point amounts. You can also redeem by phone or online in $25/2,500-point increments, which can be applied directly toward any eligible Wells Fargo account or you can request a check.
You can pool Wells Fargo Rewards among Wells Fargo cards. So if you're a Propel cardholder and also have the Wells Fargo Visa Signature® Credit Card, you can move your points over to the Visa Signature product and take advantage of that card's enhanced redemption value on airfare, a Wells Fargo representative confirmed. The Wells Fargo Visa Signature® Credit Card isn't available via NerdWallet.
Foreign transaction fees: None.
Other benefits:
Cell phone protection of up to $600, minus a $25 deductible, for damage to or theft of your phone (when you use the card to pay your monthly cell phone bill).*
Travel accident insurance and lost luggage reimbursement.*
Auto protection and insurance including roadside assistance and car rental coverage.*
Purchase protections including return protection and extended warranty.*
* Terms and conditions may apply.
Benefits and perks
Widely inclusive reward categories
Unlike some other travel cards, the reward categories for the Wells Fargo Propel American Express® card are both lucrative and broadly appealing. It's not the only travel rewards card to include certain less-considered categories like campgrounds, tolls and taxis. But the Wells Fargo Propel American Express® card also earns triple points on discount travel sites, not to mention homestays and rideshares. The streaming services category is also a differentiator and could be valuable to the right kind of user.
Annual fee of $0
Some of the best rewards cards — especially those that offer generous welcome offers and high ongoing rewards — come with an annual fee. That means that for a card to be worth it, you would have to earn enough value in rewards to break even with the annual fee. That's not an issue with the Wells Fargo Propel American Express® card. It's rare to find a travel rewards card that offers this much ongoing value at no yearly cost (assuming you don't rack up interest charges).
Drawbacks and considerations
Few premium perks
If you're seeking a card with exclusive travel perks and other benefits, you're probably going to have to pay for it. The Wells Fargo Propel American Express® card doesn't come with an annual fee, but it also doesn't come with goodies like Global Entry/TSA PreCheck reimbursement, airport lounge access, or the ability to transfer your rewards to hotel or airline partners.
If your goal is travel rewards plus perks, the Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card is a strong contender. The card earns bonus rewards in various categories, including dining and travel (And through March 2025, it earns 5X the points on Lyft). It has an annual fee of $95, but it also offers a rich sign-up bonus: Earn 60,000 bonus points after you spend $4,000 on purchases in the first 3 months from account opening. That's $750 toward travel when you redeem through Chase Ultimate Rewards®.
The secret sauce with this card is that points take on 25% more value when used to book travel through the Chase Ultimate Rewards® portal. So if you've accrued 10,000 points, you can redeem for $100 cash back, or $125 worth of travel. And because the Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card allows you to transfer points to multiple airline and hotel partners, you might be able to squeeze even more value out of your rewards.
Potentially limited international acceptance
While the Wells Fargo Propel American Express® card doesn't charge foreign transaction fees, American Express isn't as widely accepted outside the U.S. as are Mastercard and Visa. So for overseas travel, this card might not be your best bet.
The Bank of America® Travel Rewards credit card is a solid $0-annual-fee alternative. Cardholders earn an unlimited 1.5 points per $1 spent on all purchases. You also earn 3 points per $1 spent — twice the card's usual rate — at the Bank of America® Travel Center. Rewards can be redeemed for credit against any travel purchase. Those who qualify for the bank's Preferred Rewards program can earn bonuses on their earnings of 25% or more.
If you prize simplicity in a rewards credit card, this is a good option. You get an unlimited 2% cash back on every purchase: 1% when you buy something and another 1% when you pay it off. No categories to remember or track. The annual fee is $0.
How to decide if it's right for you
The Wells Fargo Propel American Express® card is no longer accepting applications, but those who are adamantly opposed to paying an annual fee for a travel credit card might want to consider the newer (but very similar) Wells Fargo Autograph℠ Card. Just know that neither card will deliver the kind of plush perks you'd get from a travel card with an annual fee.
If you're looking for more credit card alternatives, check out NerdWallet's best credit cards page.
Information related to the Wells Fargo Propel American Express® card and the Wells Fargo Visa Signature® Credit Card has been collected by NerdWallet and has not been reviewed or provided by the issuer of this card.
