Priceline Rewards™ Visa® Card Review

The Priceline Rewards™ Visa® Card is a travel rewards credit card with no annual fee and a rewards program built for Priceline.com customers. This card earns 5 Priceline rewards points for every $1 spent on Priceline.com (with exceptions). It earns 1 point per $1 spent on everything else, including purchases at competing discount travel booking sites. Compare these earning rates to popular competitor cards such as Chase Sapphire Preferred Card.

When you redeem your points for statement credits against most Priceline.com purchaes, they’re worth 50% more – producing returns as high as 7.5% on Priceline spending. An attainable sign-up bonus further sweetens the deal. Plus, points never expire, unless your account slips into delinquency.

The rewards program isn’t the only reason to love Barclaycard Priceline Rewards Visa Card. It also boasts a category-leading 0% APR introductory balance transfer promotion and a nice lineup of Visa-backed benefits for travelers and non-travelers alike.

Intrigued? Let’s take a closer look at what to expect from Barclaycard Priceline Rewards Visa Card.

Key Features

Sign-up Bonus

When you make a single purchase or balance transfer within 30 days of opening your account, you get 5,000 bonus Priceline rewards points. That’s worth up to $75 when redeemed for Priceline purchases and up to $50 when redeemed for non-Priceline travel purchases.

Earning Priceline Rewards Points

Most Priceline purchases earn unlimited 5 points per $1 spent. Exceptions include certain car rentals, hotel rooms, and cruise bookings. All other purchases earn unlimited 1 point per $1 spent.

Redeeming Priceline Rewards Points

You can redeem your accumulated points for statement credits against Priceline travel purchases, non-Priceline travel purchases, and general purchases, starting at a minimum redemption threshold of $25 (normally 2,500 points). Non-Priceline statement credit redemptions generally value points at $0.01 apiece. You can also redeem points for gift cards and general merchandise, at a per-point value of roughly $0.008.

1.5% Redemption Value on Priceline Purchase Statement Credits

To get the best value for your accumulated points, redeem them for statement credits against eligible Priceline purchases within 120 days (4 months) of the initial purchase date. You’ll get an immediate 50% boost to the value of your points, producing a per point redemption value of $0.015 and dropping the number of points required to redeem to just 1,667. The categories exempted from the 5-point-per-$1 tier are also exempted from the 50% redemption boost.

10% Rebate on Priceline and Travel Purchase Redemptions

Every time you redeem your accumulated points for statement credits against Priceline purchases or non-Priceline travel purchases, you get a 10% rebate. For instance, when you redeem 25,000 points, you get a 2,500-point kickback, for a net redemption of 22,500 points.

Virtually every type of travel purchase qualifies for this rebate, including less-common types such as timeshares, ferries, and campgrounds. Local transportation options, including taxis and rideshare, also qualify.

Introductory APR

There is a 15-month, 0% APR on balance transfers, beginning on the day you open your account.

Regular APR

Following the conclusion of the 15-month balance transfer promotion, the balance transfer APR rises to 16.49%, 21.49% or 26.49%, depending on your creditworthiness and prevailing interest rates. The purchase APR falls in the same range from the day you open your account. The cash advance APR is 26.74%, also from the day you open your account.

Important Fees

There is no annual fee or foreign transaction fee. Cash advances cost the greater of $10 or 5%, while balance transfers cost $5 or 3%. Late and returned payments cost up to $37.

Concierge Service

This card comes with complimentary concierge services that offer hands-on assistance with hard-to-get dining and travel reservations, local recommendations, logistical advice, and on-the-road troubleshooting.

Credit Required

This card requires good to excellent credit.

Advantages

1. No Annual Fee. The Barclaycard Priceline Rewards Visa Card has no annual fee. That’s great news for frugal travelers who don’t spend enough to offset a recurring charge. And, considering the healthy return on investment that you get on Priceline spending, the lack of an annual fee is a major motivator for regular Priceline customers.
2. Excellent Earning Rate on Priceline Purchases. With the exception of a few less common purchase categories, all Priceline purchases earn 5 points per $1 spent. If you travel regularly and do most or all of your travel booking with Priceline, you stand to save hundreds of dollars per year from this benefit alone. Most competing travel rewards cards earn 2 to 3 points per $1 spent and boast similar redemption values, keeping their returns on spending below 5%.
3. Points Worth $0.015 When Redeemed for Most Priceline Purchases. When you redeem your accumulated points for statement credits against eligible Priceline purchases within 120 days, you get an immediate 50% boost to the value of your points. This raises your per-point redemption rate to $0.015 – increasing a 20,000-point redemption’s cash value from $200 to $300. Thanks to the bonus, your overall return on Priceline spending rises to 7.5% on all purchases. That rate of return is equivalent to the most generous airline and hotel rewards credit cards, and far exceeds most general-purpose travel cards.
4. Every Priceline and Travel Redemption Comes With a 10% Rebate. Whether it occurred on Priceline or not, every travel purchase against which you redeem reward points earns you a 10% rebate. For instance, a 20,000-point travel redemption earns a 2,000-point rebate, resulting in a net loss of 18,000 points. Priceline purchases eligible for the 50% point-value boost are also eligible for the 10% redemption bonus, further reinforcing this card’s status as the best vehicle for financing Priceline.com purchases.
5. 15-Month Introductory Balance Transfer Promotion. This card’s 15-month 0% APR introductory balance transfer promotion is among the best in the travel rewards category. If you need to transfer an existing high-interest credit card balance to a no-annual-fee travel rewards card, it’s hard to think of a better option.
6. No Foreign Transaction Fee. This card has no foreign transaction fee, which is great news for overseas travelers. Some competing no-annual-fee travel cards charge foreign transaction fees as high as 3%.
7. Sign-Up Bonus Is Highly Attainable. Though this card’s sign-up bonus isn’t the most generous around, it’s extremely easy to attain: you just have to make a single purchase or balance transfer within 30 days of opening your account. It’s also noteworthy that it applies to balance transfers, as most sign-up bonuses are reserved for purchases only.
8. Points Don’t Expire. Once earned, Priceline rewards points don’t expire unless your account becomes delinquent. As long as you use your credit allowance responsibly and make your payments on time, you should be able to redeem your accumulated points indefinitely.

Disadvantages

1. Some Priceline Purchases Ineligible for Higher Redemption Rate. Though most Priceline purchases qualify for the 5-point-per-$1 tier, some don’t. If you regularly rent a car, book a cruise, or purchase Pay When You Stay hotel reservations through Priceline.com, you need to budget for lower point earnings. If you don’t want to deal with the headache, consider a travel rewards card without such exceptions.
2. Non-Statement Credit Redemptions Have Limited Value. Though you can redeem your accumulated points for gift cards, general merchandise, and certain other items, it’s not in your best financial interest to do so, as per point redemption values for these categories sit well below $0.01. When you can achieve a return on spending of up to 7.5% on Priceline purchases, there’s no reason to throw good money after bad on sub-par redemption options.
3. Low Baseline Earning Rate. This card’s baseline earning rate is 1 point per $1 spent. That’s lower than many competing travel cards, including the Capital One Venture Rewards Credit Card (2 points per $1 spent on all purchases). If you purchase travel from a variety of sources, look for a more equitable option.
4. $25 Minimum Redemption Threshold. You need to accumulate points worth at least $25 before you can redeem for statement credits, gift cards, or anything else. For eligible Priceline purchases, that means at least 1,667 points. For regular statement credits, that means 2,500 points. And for gift cards and general merchandise, it means at least 3,000 points. In any case, this is a drawback relative to travel cards that allow you to redeem in any amount.

Final Word

It’s noteworthy that the Priceline Rewards™ Visa® Card doesn’t harshly penalize cardholders who use it to book travel on other discount sites such as Expedia and Orbitz. The travel booking niche is highly competitive, and many site-branded cards explicitly exclude competitor purchases from their rewards programs. So do branded cards in other competitive categories – for instance, popular gas credit cards often exclude gas purchases made at superstores such as Walmart and Costco.

That said, this card doesn’t entice you to go out of your way to spend with Priceline’s competitors, and its reward program is set up to favor heavy spending on Priceline.com. If you’ve got a keen eye for exclusive travel deals available only through direct booking with specific airlines or hotels, or simply like to shop around, it makes more sense to apply for a travel rewards card that doesn’t discriminate.