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Bank of America Premium Rewards Benefits: The $100 Airline Credit Everyone Overlooks
Bank of America Premium Rewards Benefits: The $100 Airline Credit Everyone Overlooks
The Premium Rewards card is quiet. $95 fee, 2% on travel and dining, no flashy coupon book. But it carries two real credits — and both are automatic, which is rarer than it sounds.
What benefits does the Bank of America Premium Rewards card offer?
The Premium Rewards card offers two credits: up to $100 per calendar year in airline incidental statement credits, and a $100 TSA PreCheck/Global Entry credit every four years. The annual fee is $95. Neither credit requires enrollment.
How much is the Bank of America Premium Rewards airline credit?
The Premium Rewards airline credit is worth up to $100 per calendar year. It covers statement credits on checked bags, seat upgrades, lounge day passes, and inflight services. Plane tickets are excluded. No enrollment is needed — qualifying charges just post credits automatically. The $100 resets on January 1 each year.
How to use it: Pay every bag fee, seat upgrade, and inflight purchase with this card. There's nothing to activate, so the only way to miss this money is to pay with a different card out of habit.
How often does the Bank of America Premium Rewards TSA PreCheck credit reset?
The Premium Rewards TSA PreCheck/Global Entry credit is worth $100 every four years. It posts as a statement credit when the application fee is charged to the card. Automatic — no enrollment.
How to use it: When it's time to renew PreCheck or Global Entry, charge it here. One honest note: some older articles say $120, but Bank of America's own listing and current 2026 reviews consistently say $100 every four years. Don't plan on $120.
Is the Premium Rewards card worth the $95 annual fee?
Yes — the $100 airline credit covers the $95 fee by itself if you check a bag even once. Everything else — the 2% earning, the PreCheck credit — is gravy. The card's pitch is simple: it asks nothing of you and covers its own fee.
| Benefit | Value |
|---|---|
| Airline incidentals ($100/yr) | $0–$100 — automatic if you fly |
| TSA PreCheck / Global Entry ($100/4yr) | ~$25/yr |
What are the Premium Rewards traps to watch out for?
The three Premium Rewards traps are paying incidentals with a different card, expecting plane tickets to count, and forgetting the calendar-year reset.
- The credit is automatic, which means it's invisible. There's no enrollment email, no dashboard nudge. If you pay bag fees with a different card, the credit just sits there unused and you'd never know.
- Tickets don't count. This trips people up every year. The airline has to code the charge as an incidental — bags, upgrades, lounge passes, inflight food. A plane ticket gets $0 back.
- Calendar year. The $100 resets on January 1 each year. A December bag fee and a January bag fee are two different years of credit.
How does PerkWatch track Premium Rewards credits?
Two credits, both automatic, both easy to forget precisely because they ask nothing of you. PerkWatch gives each one a progress tracker with a countdown — so the $100 airline credit doesn't quietly expire while you pay bag fees on another card. Free for one card, $2.99/month or $29/year for unlimited.
Benefit details verified October 3, 2026. BofA's official figure for the TSA PreCheck/Global Entry credit is $100 every four years — older sources citing $120 are stale. Card benefits change, so confirm current terms on bankofamerica.com before applying.
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Sources
- PerkWatch card benefits catalog (verified 2026-09-24 across 2026 reviews; BofA official listing for $100/4yr figure)