Best cards that earn U.S. Bank points
Every open US card in our database that pays out in U.S. Bank points — 5 of them — ranked by what a dollar of spending is actually worth back: the printed rate times our conservative 1.00¢ value, not the raw multiplier.
There is no clear winner among U.S. Bank points cards. U.S. Bank Altitude Connect Visa Signature Card and U.S. Bank Altitude Go Visa Signature Card both land on exactly 4.0¢ back per dollar, which is inside the error bar on any point valuation — so calling either one the best would be inventing a result the data doesn't support. Decide on the annual fee, the caps and where the rest of your spending actually goes.
Reviewed: Data verified 2026-09-15 · Credit Upside editorial · Updated 2026-09-16 · How we rank
Featured cards
All 5 cards that earn U.S. Bank points, with what each one is actually best at. Tap any card to jump to its row.
- 1 U.S. Bank Altitude Connect Visa Signature Card — Best overall for earning U.S. Bank points: 4x on travel, no annual fee — 4.0¢ back per dollar
- 2 U.S. Bank Altitude Go Visa Signature Card — 4x on dining up to $2,000/quarter, no annual fee — 4.0¢ back per dollar
- 3 U.S. Bank Business Altitude Connect Visa Signature Card — Best for business spending: 4x on travel up to $37,500/quarter, $95 a year — 4.0¢ back per dollar
- 4 U.S. Bank Business Altitude Power Visa Signature Card — 2x on everything, $195 a year — 2.0¢ back per dollar
- 5 U.S. Bank Business Leverage Visa Signature Card — 1x on everything, $95 a year — 1.0¢ back per dollar
Ranked by real value, not multiplier
| # | Card | Headline rate | Real value | Annual fee |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | U.S. Bank Altitude Connect Visa Signature Card
U.S. Bank |
4x on travel | 4.0¢/$ | None |
| 2 | U.S. Bank Altitude Go Visa Signature Card
U.S. Bank |
4x on dining | 4.0¢/$ | None |
| 3 | U.S. Bank Business Altitude Connect Visa Signature Card
U.S. Bank · business |
4x on travel | 4.0¢/$ | $95 |
| 4 | U.S. Bank Business Altitude Power Visa Signature Card
U.S. Bank · business |
2x base rate | 2.0¢/$ | $195 |
| 5 | U.S. Bank Business Leverage Visa Signature Card
U.S. Bank · business |
1x base rate | 1.0¢/$ | $95 |
Headline rate is each card's best bonus rate that pays anywhere in its category. A rate that only pays at one brand or through one portal (14x at Hilton, 8x on United fares, 5x via Chase Travel) is printed in grey and excluded from the ranking — it is a loyalty rate, not a category rate. Real value is the headline rate × 1.00¢.
What U.S. Bank points are worth
We value U.S. Bank points at a conservative 1.00¢ per point — the same number the optimizer scores your charges with, and deliberately not the best-case figure a points blog would quote. U.S. Bank points are the bank's own points — redeemable for travel or cash, but they do not transfer out to airline and hotel partners. Above a penny, so a point here beats a cash-back point — if you redeem near that value.
Which one should you carry?
On paper U.S. Bank Altitude Connect Visa Signature Card earns the most per dollar at its headline rate, and it charges no annual fee. A headline rate only pays on the category it names, so the card that earns you the most U.S. Bank points is the one whose bonus categories match your actual spending — which is the whole reason we built the optimizer instead of a top-ten list.
How we rank
One arithmetic rule, applied by code to our maintained card database. There is no editorial pick, no hand-ordering and no sponsored slot.
- Printed earn rate. Each card's best non-portal bonus rate — its headline rate — as printed by the issuer. Where a card has no bonus category, its base rate is used instead, and the table says which.
- Conservative point value. Every rate is multiplied by our conservative 1.00¢ value for U.S. Bank points, the same number the optimizer scores real spending with. Because every card here earns the same currency, that value cannot change the order — it sets the scale, and it is what lets you compare this page against a guide for a different currency. Every point value we use, published →
- Annual fee. Printed against every card and used to break ties. The best fee-free earner is U.S. Bank Altitude Connect Visa Signature Card at 4.0¢ per dollar.
- Caps and limits. Where a headline rate stops after a spending cap, the cap is on the card's own page. Check it before treating a high rate as your everyday rate.
- Pool and cutoff. 221 open US cards are in our database; 5 of them pay out in U.S. Bank points and qualify. All 5 are ranked above; there is no cutoff on this page.
- Rotating and pick-your-own categories. Kept out of the headline ranking, because they only pay in the right quarter or with the right election. Issuer-travel-portal-only rates are excluded for the same reason: they pay only if you book through the portal.
- Commission. The ranking code has no access to which cards pay us a commission — the ordering function never reads the affiliate file. Any apply link is attached after the order is already fixed, so it cannot move a card up or down. How that works.
Full methodology, including how each point value is set: how we value points and rank cards →
Common questions
Which credit cards earn U.S. Bank points?
5 open US cards in our database earn U.S. Bank points: U.S. Bank Altitude Connect Visa Signature Card, U.S. Bank Altitude Go Visa Signature Card, U.S. Bank Business Altitude Connect Visa Signature Card, U.S. Bank Business Altitude Power Visa Signature Card, U.S. Bank Business Leverage Visa Signature Card. Ranked by real value — the printed rate times our 1.00¢ per point valuation — U.S. Bank Altitude Connect Visa Signature Card and U.S. Bank Altitude Go Visa Signature Card both land on exactly 4.0¢ back per dollar, so neither is clearly the best; choose on the annual fee and on which bonus categories match your spending.
How much is a U.S. Bank point worth?
Credit Upside values U.S. Bank points at 1.00¢ per point, a conservative mid-range estimate and the same figure the optimizer scores real spending with.
Which U.S. Bank points card has no annual fee?
U.S. Bank Altitude Connect Visa Signature Card from U.S. Bank charges no annual fee and earns 4x on travel, worth 4.0¢ per dollar. It ranks #1 of the 5 cards here.
Is a big U.S. Bank points multiplier better than plain cash back?
Often, yes — at 1.00¢ a point, U.S. Bank points are worth more than a cash-back cent, so the same multiplier earns more here. That only holds if you redeem near that value; redeem for a gift card at half a cent and the advantage disappears.
Do these rankings depend on commissions?
No. The code that orders this page reads printed earn rates, our point values, annual fees and caps — it has no access to which cards pay us a commission. Brand-locked and portal-only rates are excluded from the headline rate, because they only pay at one brand or through one portal — they are listed separately on this page with where each one pays.
Which card should this spending actually be on? The demo re-scores a year of realistic spending against every card in a wallet — free, no signup. See it on sample data →
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Every guide on this site is built by the same code from the same card database, so the numbers on one page mean exactly what they mean on another. Jump sideways:
All 70 best-card guides → · Best card for a specific store or bill →
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