Bank of America® Travel Rewards credit card for Students review

If you’re a wayfaring college student, you may have noticed that credit cards are expensive to use abroad. Most credit cards charge extra fees on foreign transactions. The Bank of America Travel Rewards credit card for Students is one of the few cards for students to offer no foreign transaction fee. Along with some very valuable travel rewards, this makes it a good card for student travelers.

High rewards value

The card offers a generous sign-up bonus among student cards. You get 25,000 points (redeemed for a $250 statement credit toward travel) for spending $1,000 in the first 90 days. Combining this with a high rewards rate of 1.5 points per every dollar spent, the Bank of America Travel Rewards credit card for Students offers the highest rewards value out of any student card. The drawback is that the points are only applicable to travel. If you prefer cash-back or other types of rewards, you will need to shop for another card.

Flexible redemption options

Still, if you are strictly interested in travel rewards, Bank of America offers one of the best and most flexible programs for students. You can book travel however and whenever you please, with no blackout dates or restrictions. There are no point limits and you can redeem points for a variety of items, including flights, hotels, vacations, cruises, rental cars and baggage fees.

Primarily designed for travelers

The list of card features is fairly limited, but the lack of a foreign transaction fee is particularly useful for frequent travelers. There are a few other features that cardholders may find useful, such as mobile banking and text alerts and accessing your FICO® Score for free.

Lengthy introductory offer

The card offers a 0% Intro APR for 15 billing cycles for purchases and 0% Intro APR for 15 billing cycles for any BTs made in the first 60 days. A fee of 3% for 60 days from account opening, then 4% will apply.. Thereafter a 18.74% - 28.74% Variable APR on purchases and balance transfers applies. This is a generous introductory APR period and may prove handy for a student who wants to finance a large purchase, or who simply needs to pay down some debt. However, you should note there is a 3% balance transfer fee that applies to all balance transfers for the first 60 days your account is open (after which, the fee for future balance transfers is 4%).

Some high costs in the fine print

The regular APR for this card starts on the high side. On top of this, a penalty APR kicks in once you miss a payment (plus a late payment fee- See Terms). This could be a huge pitfall for novice cardholders, who could get over their heads in penalties and fees if they end up carrying a balance.

For this reason, we recommend this card for students who will be disciplined in paying off their balance. Specifically, we think this card is best for cardholders who travel frequently who are interested in some very valuable travel rewards.

Why get the Bank of America Travel Rewards credit card for Students?

• You’re primarily interested in travel rewards.
• You’re a frequent traveler looking for a card that you can use abroad without racking up tons of fees.
• You’re a disciplined spender, who won’t carry a balance or miss payments.
• You want to finance a large purchase with a generous intro APR offer (and you have the discipline to pay it off before the ongoing APR kicks in).

How to use the Bank of America Travel Rewards credit card for Students:

• Be sure to pay off your balance before the intro APR offer expires. The regular interest rate – once it kicks in – is high.
• You can book travel how and where you want and redeem your points for statement credits.

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