US Bank Increasing Credit Card Offer for the Olympics

For the Summer Olympics in 2012, US Bank launched a promotion for their FlexPerks card that added on to the regular 20,000 point bonus a certain amount of points for all the medals the US Olympic team won. Thankfully, they had quite a lot so it translated to a bonus of 33,150 points – 13,000 over the regular offer. Now, they are doing it again for the Winter Olympics, so one more reason to cheer on the US Team!

US Bank FlexPerks Olympic Offer

So, from January 31 – March 7, if you apply for this card, you will receive the standard 20,000 points plus whatever points the US medal counts translates into. It is tiered by medal so 500 for Gold, 250 for Silver, and 100 for Bronze. You will receive all the bonus points after meeting the minimum spend of $3,500 in 4 months.

The US Bank FlexPerks card is basically another cash back for travel card (like the Capital One Venture card and the Barclay Arrival card). You can redeem their points for merchandise or cash back but they are worse far less than if you use them for travel. Unfortunately, they are not at a fixed rate. The redemption model is tiered and looks like this:

• 20,000 FlexPoints = Up to $400 ticket value
• 30,000 FlexPoints = Up to $600 ticket value
• 40,000 FlexPoints = Up to $800 ticket value
• 50,000 FlexPoints = Up to $1,000 ticket value
• 70,000 FlexPoints = Up to $1,400 ticket value
• 100,000 FlexPoints = Up to $2,000 ticket value
• 150,000 FlexPoints = Up to $3,000 ticket value
• 225,000 FlexPoints = Up to $4,500 ticket value
• 350,000 FlexPoints = Up to $7,000 ticket value
• 500,000 FlexPoints = Up to $10,000 ticket value

So these points can be really useful! The biggest downside is the Up to part. This means that if you have a ticket that costs $603, you will have to use 40,000 points for it, not 30,000. That decreases the actual value of the points from 2 cents per point to 1.5 cents per point. Obviously, your best redemptions will be for travel that is right up to the top amount for that dollar category. I had this happen last year on my Qatar/Emirates/British Airways/American Airlines First Class ticket from Sri Lanka. All of the prices I was looking at were just over the mark that would have required a higher category of points. After a bunch of playing with the routes, I was able to get it $1 under the top value for the points I had – perfect!

The card itself is a decent card. I would personally prefer the Barclay to this one for redemption methods and the simplicity. However, you do not need to choose between the two – you can always get both! 🙂 Depending on the medal count, which I would expect to be high, I think you should definitely go for this card. It can provide a cash value for your travel and not leave you dependent on award availability.

Here are the details about the card:

Application Link – US Bank FlexPerks Visa Card (I do not receive a commission for this card)

• Earn 1 point per dollar spent everywhere

• Earn Double FlexPoints for every $1 spent on gas, grocery or airline purchases – whichever you spend most on each monthly billing cycle – and on most cell phone expenses. (Business Travel cardmembers earn Double FlexPoints for every $1 spent on airline purchases, gas or office supplies.)
• Earn Triple Flexpoints for charitable donations
• $0 fee first year ($49 after that)
• Earn the full bonus after spending $3,500 in 4 months.