Update (March 20, 2024): This card is now available nationwide online and in‑branch
With the release of the Wells Fargo Autograph card back in November, it's been well known that they were planning on launching a new, mid-tier travel credit card to compete with the likes of the Chase Sapphire Preferred® or the Capital One Venture X Rewards Credit Card.
The Wells Fargo Autograph Journey Card has promising potential to really challenge the existing incumbents with its fantastic earning structure, insurance benefits, and more. This article will cover the new WF Autograph Journey set to release on March 09, 2024.
The Welcome Bonus: Very Standard, Almost Not Special?
This new card has a pretty standard welcome offer for what it is worth, basically matching that of its direct competitors from Chase and Citi. Notably, the Capital One Venture Rewards Credit Card typically has a welcome offer of 75k miles, with the potential to even get 100k miles.
I'm a bit surprised the card isn't even offering a larger sign-up bonus for its initial release. When the Capital One Venture X Rewards Credit Card first released, it had a massive sign up bonus of 100k miles and some credits—it's almost necessary nowadays with how many credit cards are on the market.
Excellent Spending Multipliers
When it comes to general spending, the Autograph Journey absolutely crushes the competition:
- 5x points on hotels (direct bookings, not portal!)
- 4x points on airlines (direct bookings, not portal!)
- 3x points on travel and dining
- 1x points on all other purchases
It is unheard of to see a card offer 5x on hotels and 4x on travel without enormous annual fees.
5x Points On Hotels
Earning 5x points per $ on hotels without needing to use a travel portal is arguably better than any other option on the market right now, regardless of whether or not it is cobranded hotel card.
This might seem like an audacious statement, but if look at the numbers, 5x points on hotels is absolutely insane:
- The World of Hyatt Credit Card: 4x on direct Hyatt hotel bookings
- IHG One Rewards Premier Credit Card: 10x on direct IHG bookings
- Marriott Bonvoy Brilliant® American Express® Card: 6x on direct Marriott purchases
While Hyatt points are worth a lot, 5x Wells Fargo points might be worth more than 4x Hyatt points. IHG and Marriott points are barely worth anything in comparison to Wells Fargo points (we'll see WF's transfer partners shortly). In short: I wouldn't be surprised if I see people putting all their hotel spend on the Wells Fargo card in the future.
4x Points On Airlines
While 4x points on airlines is amazing, it's not going to be industry leading. However, for the annual fee, it is definitely the top option for flight bookings in its general space.
The Platinum Card® from American Express earns 5x on flights booked directly with airlines, but also requires an enormous annual fee. Likewise the American Express® Gold Card and the Chase Sapphire Reserve® both earn 3x on flights as well, but also carry larger annual fees than the Wells Fargo Autograph Journey card.
Transfer Partners: Limited, But Just The Beginning?
This card has a smaller set of transfer partners that are known to be widely affiliated with other cards:
- Air France-KLM Flying Blue
- Avianca LifeMiles
- British Airways
- Iberia Plus
- Aer Lingus
- Choice Privileges
While transfers are set to go live on April 4, this list is quite short. However, we think that this is just the beginning. And if anything is telling, based on where the Bilt card has been able to go, this card might be able to get some similar, unique transfer partners (cough: Hyatt??? American Airlines???).
$50 Airfare Statement Credit Each Year
The card is set to give up to $50 in statement credits for airfare purchases. This benefit seems quite fantastic, as it only drops the effective annual fee to $45 per year. Considering all the spending potential, that's well worth it.
Insurance Benefits
While we don't know the exacts of this card's travel insurance offerings, the release press says this:
Travel protection benefits, including trip cancellation, which allows you to get reimbursed up to $15,000 for lodging, flights, and activities if the trip is canceled for a covered reason
Given the no annual fee Wells Fargo Autograph card already has auto rental collision waivers and phone insurance, it seems like the WF Autograph Journey will take a further step forward and provide a more comprehensive level of insurance.
Our Thoughts
This is quite the competitive offering coming in from Wells Fargo, even from a skeptic like me.
Regarding the categorical spend multipliers: I expect this card to be extraordinarily popular with people who spend a lot of $ on travel (looking at you, business travelers). These earn rates are unprecedented for a $95 annual fee card (or $45 if you count the up to $50 airfare statement credit).
Although the transfer partners are limited, I am hopeful that Wells Fargo will continue to expand this. My gut feeling is that they decided that they wanted to launch this card as soon as possible, even with a list of incomplete transfer partners. Only time will tell where things go, but again, if we take any inspiration from Bilt, there is a lot of potential for some incredible transfer partners.
I'm curious if Wells Fargo will change some of these benefits once it sees how popular this card is, or if any competitors will react accordingly and improve their offerings.
