Prime Visa Review: Earn 5% back at Amazon with a Prime membership

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Amazon is the go-to site for just about any product, and the ability to earn 5% back on your purchases could be enticing if you're a frequent shopper.

The Prime Visa (see rates and fees) has no cap on the rewards you can earn and comes with helpful travel perks, like auto rental coverage, lost luggage reimbursement and no foreign transaction fees. The card also technically doesn't have an annual fee, but there's one catch: You must be a Prime member to qualify for the card.

In this review, CNBC Select breaks down the benefits, rewards and fees of the Prime Visa and whether it's a good addition to your wallet.

The Prime Visa offers a $150 Amazon Gift Card instantly upon approval, exclusively for Prime members. Better yet, there's no minimum spending requirement to earn the bonus.

The Prime Visa features a well-rounded mix of shopping and travel protections that can help increase the card's value. Benefits include:

• Auto rental coverage: Secondary coverage in the U.S. provides reimbursement for theft and collision damage for most rental vehicles. Outside the United States, the coverage provided is primary.
• Baggage delay insurance: If your baggage is delayed for over six hours, you'll be reimbursed up to $100 per day for up to three days for essential purchases.
• Extended warranty protection: Eligible warranties of three years or less can be extended for an additional year, up to a maximum of four years from the purchase date.
• Lost luggage reimbursement: Get reimbursed up to $3,000 per covered traveler to repair or replace carry-on luggage that's lost, damaged or stolen during a covered trip.
• Travel accident insurance: When you pay for your air, bus, train or cruise transportation with your card, you are eligible to receive up to $500,000 in accidental death or dismemberment coverage.
• Travel and emergency assistance: Get legal and medical referrals as well as other emergency assistance services while abroad.
• Purchase protection: Your eligible new purchases are covered for up to $500 against theft or damage.
• No foreign transaction fees: You won't pay extra fees for making purchases overseas.

The Prime Visa offers an interest-free equal monthly payment feature for Amazon purchases and at eligible retailers with Amazon Pay. You can choose between earning 5% rewards or taking advantage of a 0% promo APR for six months on purchases of $50 or more or 12 months on purchases of $250 or more. A variable APR of 18.74% to 27.49% applies after the fact.

Since Chase issues the Prime Visa, you'll also gain access to Chase Offers. This program lets you activate additional savings at select stores when you use your eligible card.

Overall, the Prime Visa offers some helpful perks, but how much value they generate depends on how you use them. If you enjoy traveling internationally, the rental coverage and lack of foreign transaction fees might be useful. But if not, you'll derive most value from rewards on spending.

Earning

The Prime Visa has some of the highest rewards rates at Amazon and offers elevated returns in several other spending categories. With the card, you can earn:

• 5% back on your Amazon.com purchases with an eligible Prime membership
• 5% back at Whole Foods Market online or in-store
• 5% back on your purchases at Audible.com with an eligible Prime membership
• 5% back on Chase Travel purchases with an eligible Prime membership
• 2% back at gas stations
• 2% back at restaurants for dine-in or take-out
• 2% back on local transit and commuting, including rideshare
• 1% back on all other purchases

Eligible Prime cardholders can also earn 10% back or more on a rotating selection of items and categories on Amazon.com.

Redeeming

Redeeming the points you earn with your Prime Visa is simple. Each point is worth 1 cent regardless of the redemption method. You can use your points for eligible purchases at Amazon.com or redeem them through Chase.com for cash back, gift cards and travel.

There's no minimum balance required to redeem your rewards at Amazon. If you prefer to redeem your points via Chase, you can opt for cash back in any amount, gift cards in $25 increments or a travel option through Chase Travel. Unfortunately, you can't combine the Prime Visa rewards with Chase Ultimate Rewards® Points.

While the Prime Visa technically doesn't charge an annual fee, you must maintain an eligible Prime membership, which costs $14.99 per month or $139 annually. (Discounted plans are available for young adults, students and those on government assistance.)

The card charges a late fee (up to $39), a returned payment fee (up to $39) and a balance transfer fee of $5 or 4% of the amount of each transaction, whichever is greater. Cash advances also incur a fee of $5 or 4% of the amount of each transaction, whichever is greater.

There are no foreign transaction fees, and there is no extra charge to add authorized users to your card.

Prime Visa vs. Blue Cash Everyday Card from American Express

The Blue Cash Everyday® Card from American Express is worth looking into if you're a less frequent Amazon shopper. It offers bonus rewards at a wider range of supermarkets and online retailers, not just Whole Foods and Amazon, plus a higher return on gas purchases. Your cash back is earned as Rewards Dollars, and you can redeem them for a statement credit or eligible Amazon products.

As a cardmember, you can get up to $84 in annual statement credits on a Disney Bundle subscription (subject to auto-renewal) with your Blue Cash Everyday® Card (enrollment required). The card also includes a $180 Home Chef Credit, up to $15 per month, when you purchase a Home Chef meal kit subscription (subject to auto-renewal; enrollment required).

The Blue Cash Everyday has no annual fee (see rates and fees) and offers an introductory APR period on purchases and balance transfers.

Prime Visa vs. Citi Double Cash Card

The Citi Double Cash® Card is a simpler alternative if you're not interested in juggling bonus cash back categories. This no-annual-fee card offers a flat 2% back on all purchases (1% when you buy and 1% when you pay). It also earns 5% total cash back on hotel, car rentals and attractions booked with Citi Travel.

Your rewards come in the form of Citi ThankYou® Points, redeemable for cash back, gift cards, travel or Amazon.com purchases. They can also be transferred to a limited number of travel partners, albeit at sub-par transfer ratios, unless you pair it with a card like the Citi Strata Premier^® Card (see rates and fees).

Apart from extended warranty coverage, the Citi Double Cash's purchase protections are more limited, and it charges a 3% foreign transaction fee.

Alternative cards in the Amazon family

If you're looking for an Amazon credit card but don't have a Prime membership, you could consider the Amazon Visa.

This card offers a slightly lower cash back rate of 3% at Amazon, Amazon Fresh, Whole Foods and Chase Travel, but the same rewards return on other purchases. The welcome bonus is also slightly lower, but the card comes with the same additional benefits as the Prime Visa and requires no annual fee or Prime membership.

The Prime Visa could be a great fit for those who shop at Amazon and Whole Foods frequently. If you already have a Prime membership, you can earn a solid return on your spending alongside some valuable travel and shopping perks.

However, if you don't regularly shop on Amazon.com or aren't willing to pay for Prime, other cards with broader earning categories, such as the Citi Double Cash® Card or Blue Cash Everyday® Card from American Express, might better suit your spending habits.

At CNBC Select, our mission is to provide our readers with high-quality service journalism and comprehensive consumer advice so they can make informed decisions with their money. Every credit card review is based on rigorous reporting by our team of expert writers and editors with extensive knowledge of credit card products. While CNBC Select earns a commission from affiliate partners on many offers and links, we create all our content without input from our commercial team or any outside third parties, and we pride ourselves on our journalistic standards and ethics. See our methodology for more information on how we choose the best credit cards.

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For rates and fees of the Blue Cash Everyday® Card from American Express click here

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