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The Priceline VIP Rewards™ Visa® Card, issued by Barclays, is aimed at those who regularly use the online discount travel agency and want to earn rewards quickly toward future travel.
Someone looking to squeeze maximum value out of their Priceline bookings will find that this $0-annual-fee card can pile on the points faster than you can say "Kaley Cuoco."
Here are five things to know if you're considering the card:
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1. It earns rich rewards for Priceline loyalists
The Priceline VIP Rewards™ Visa® Card could help stretch your dollar further with its generous rewards for devotees. It earns:
5 points per dollar spent on eligible Priceline.com purchases.
2 points per dollar spent on gas and restaurant purchases.
1 point per dollar spent on all other eligible purchases.
The card's PricePoints feature allows cardholders to redeem their points directly on Priceline. (Prior to September 2022, cardholders could only redeem their points for statement credits against any purchase made on the card.) Plus, cardholders will earn 5 points per $1 spent, even when redeeming rewards. According to Barclays, cardholders will be charged the full amount at time of booking, then receive a statement credit for the point value redeemed within 3-5 business days.
The 5x earning, even on PricePoints redemptions, is unique — most travel programs don't allow you to earn the same rewards or elite night credits on award flights/stays.
New cardholders can also snag this bonus: Earn 10,000 bonus points if you spend $1,000 on purchases in the first 90 days after account opening.
2. Points are worth 1 cent each in statement credits
You can redeem your points as a statement credit against all purchases made on the card, not just Priceline spending. Points are worth a flat 1 cent a piece.
The only difference is that if you're redeeming points to 'erase' a Priceline purchase, the minimum redemption threshold is lower. Redemptions for statement credits start at 2,500 points, worth $25, for Priceline.com purchases. If you want to redeem your points for statement credit against a non-Priceline purchase, the minimum is 5,000 points, worth $50.
You can also choose to redeem your points for gift cards, but that will yield lower value. Redemptions start at 3,000 points to get a $25 gift card, making a point worth about 0.8 cent this way.
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🤓Nerdy Tip
The Priceline VIP Rewards™ Visa® Card also offers up to $100 in credit each year towards Global Entry or TSA PreCheck fees, a rare perk among no annual fee cards. But, you'll only earn that credit potential if you spend $10,000 on purchases each year.
3. You'll get automatic VIP Gold status
The Priceline VIP Rewards™ Visa® Card comes with VIP Gold elite status, otherwise reserved for those with at least 5 completed Priceline trips. VIP Gold status gives you perks like:
Hotel savings up to 50% on over 30,000 hotels.
Up to 20% discounts on car rentals.
8% Express Deal coupon after every completed Priceline trip.
Priority customer service.
In order to make sure your status has been applied, go to your Priceline profile and enter your Priceline VIP Rewards™ Visa® Card account number under payment information.
» MORE: Review of the Hotels.com card
4. It's got the good kind of zeros
The Priceline VIP Rewards™ Visa® Card won't cost you anything to carry or use abroad since it has no annual fee and no foreign transaction fees. It also has a 0% intro APR offer for 15 months on balance transfers made within 45 days of account opening.
There is, however, a balance transfer fee of either $5 or 5% of the amount of each transfer, whichever is greater.
5. You won't want to carry a balance on new purchases
The Priceline VIP Rewards™ Visa® Card's balance transfer offer is top-notch for a rewards card. But you won't get the same break from interest on new purchases. The APR will vary, but it could be as high as 30.49% (as of March 2023).
See NerdWallet's roundup of other rewards cards to determine whether this is the best credit card to apply for.
Information about Priceline VIP Rewards™ Visa® Card has been independently collected by NerdWallet and was not supplied or reviewed by the issuer of this card.
