The Wells Fargo Autograph Journey℠ Card is a travel credit card that has what it takes to compete with the top cards in this class. It has a generous welcome offer, earns rewards points at a high rate and allows you to transfer rewards points to partner travel loyalty programs.
If you're looking for your next travel card, CNBC Select has the details you need to know to decide if the Autograph Journey card is right for you.
The Wells Fargo Autograph Journey℠ Card offers generous rewards on travel and dining purchases, along with flexible redemption options, all for a modest annual fee.
- Excellent rewards rate for hotel, airfare and travel
- Strong welcome bonus
- Access to all of the Wells Fargo transfer partners including Flying Blue (Air France/KLM) and Virgin Red
- Easy-to-use airline credit; Built-in cell phone protection
- Fewer transfer partners than comparable programs
- No intro APR offer
Highlights
Highlights shown here are provided by the issuer and have not been reviewed by CNBC Select's editorial staff.
- Select Learn More to take advantage of this offer and learn more about product features, terms and conditions.
- Earn 60,000 bonus points when you spend $4,000 in purchases in the first 3 months – that's $600 toward your next trip.
- Earn unlimited 5X points with hotels, 4X points with airlines, 3X points on other travel and restaurants, and 1X points on other purchases.
- $95 annual fee.
- Book your travel with the Autograph Journey Card and enjoy Travel Accident Insurance, Lost Baggage Reimbursement, Trip Cancellation and Interruption Protection and Auto Rental Collision Damage Waiver.
- Earn a $50 annual statement credit with $50 minimum airline purchase.
- Up to $1,000 of cell phone protection against damage or theft. Subject to a $25 deductible.
- Find tickets to top sports and entertainment events, book travel, make dinner reservations and more with your complimentary 24/7 Visa Signature® Concierge.
Balance Transfer Fee
3% intro for 120 days from account opening, then up to 5%, min: $5
Foreign transaction fee
None
Wells Fargo Autograph Journey℠ Card review
Welcome bonus
New Wells Fargo Autograph Journey Card members can earn 60,000 rewards points after spending $4,000 on purchases with the card in the first three months of account opening. You can currently redeem Wells Fargo rewards points for one cent per point (though they'll likely be worth more when you can transfer them to travel loyalty programs) which means the bonus is worth at least $600.
Benefits and perks
The Wells Fargo Autograph Journey Card has a $50 annual airline credit, which you'll earn when you make an eligible purchase of at least $50. This easy-to-use benefit applies to anything from airfare to baggage fees. If you take the airline credit at face value, it makes the card's effective annual fee $45 (down from $95).
Cardholders will also appreciate this card's travel protections, which include:
- Travel and emergency assistance
- Rental car coverage (secondary in U.S.)
- Lost baggage reimbursement
- Roadside Dispatch
- Trip cancellation and interruption protection
- Travel accident insurance
- Cell phone protection
As a Visa Signature® card, you can use Visa Signature Concierge and book stays with the Visa Signature Luxury Hotel Collection. The concierge services can help you get travel, entertainment and dinner reservations. And when you reserve a stay through the Visa Signature Luxury Hotel Collection, you'll receive benefits such as free breakfast for two, room upgrades (when available) and a $25 food and beverage credit.
How to earn and redeem rewards
Earning
The Wells Fargo Autograph Journey Card is one of the most rewarding cards for booking hotels and flights. A nice convenience with this card is that you don't need to book through a specific site or travel portal to earn the following high rates on your purchases:
- 5X points with hotels
- 4X points with airlines
- 3X points on all other travel
- 3X points on restaurants
- 1X points on all other purchases
Redeeming
You can redeem Wells Fargo Rewards in many ways, including gift cards, travel (booked through Wells Fargo), statement credit and ATM withdrawals. All of these redemptions provide a value of one cent per rewards point, so 10,000 points are worth $100.
In April 2024, Wells Fargo Rewards became much more versatile with the introduction of travel transfer partners. The initial lineup of partners is:
- Choice Privileges®
- Air France-KLM
- Flying Blue
- Avianca LifeMiles
- British Airways Executive Club
- AerClub
- Iberia Plus
Wells Fargo plans to announce new transfer partners, but this is a useful starting group. With these partners, you can book flights with every major airline alliance and most of the biggest U.S.-based airlines.
If you're interested in flights on domestic U.S. airlines, you can book American Airlines and Alaska Airlines flights through British Airways, with flights under 650 miles in distance for just 7,500 points and flights under 1,151 miles for just 9,000 points. You can reserve flights on United Airlines through Avianca for as little as 7,500 miles one-way. And if you want to book a flight on Delta, you can book through its partner Air France-KLM.
Let's say you want to visit Europe — you could transfer the 60,000 points you earn from the welcome bonus to Avianca and book a round-trip award from almost anywhere in the U.S. to your European destination. Avianca often charges fewer miles for certain trans-Atlantic flights, so you could have points left over after visiting Europe
If you want to fly in style, Iberia offers one-way business-class awards from cities such as Chicago, Boston and New York to Spain for only 34,000 miles each way. That's a great deal for a ticket that can easily cost more than $3,500.
Rates and fees
The Wells Fargo Autograph Journey Card charges a $95 annual fee. It has no foreign transaction fees.
Card comparison
Wells Fargo Autograph Journey℠ Visa® Card vs. Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card
The Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card packs a punch for a $95 annual fee card, offering annual travel credits, comprehensive travel protections and more.
- You can transfer rewards to all of Chase's travel partners including World of Hyatt, Southwest Rapid Rewards and many more
- Long list of travel and shopping protections
- $50 annual Chase Travel hotel credit
- Has an annual fee
- Requires a high credit score
Highlights
Highlights shown here are provided by the issuer and have not been reviewed by CNBC Select's editorial staff.
- Earn 75,000 bonus points after you spend $5,000 on purchases in the first 3 months from account opening.
- Enjoy benefits such as 5x on travel purchased through Chase TravelSM, 3x on dining, select streaming services and online groceries, 2x on all other travel purchases, 1x on all other purchases
- Earn up to $50 in statement credits each account anniversary year for hotel stays through Chase TravelSM
- 10% anniversary points boost - each account anniversary you'll earn bonus points equal to 10% of your total purchases made the previous year.
- Count on Trip Cancellation/Interruption Insurance, Auto Rental Collision Damage Waiver, Lost Luggage Insurance and more.
- Complimentary DashPass which unlocks $0 delivery fees & lower service fees for a min. of one year when you activate by 12/31/27. Plus, a $10 promo each month on non-restaurant orders.
- Member FDIC
Balance transfer fee
Either $5 or 5% of the amount of each transfer, whichever is greater
The Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card (see rates and fees) is similar to the Wells Fargo Autograph Journey Card. Both cards have a $95 annual fee, travel protections and offer a variety of redemption options (including points transfers).
However, the Sapphire Preferred stands out in a few ways. It has a more robust list of travel protections including, trip delay reimbursement, primary rental car insurance, purchase protection and extended warranty protection. Unless you need cell phone coverage, the Sapphire Preferred has a better set of built-in insurance benefits compared to the Autograph Journey.
The Autograph Journey card earns more for most travel purchases, but the problem is Wells Fargo currently has a much smaller list of transfer partners. You can transfer the points you earn with Chase to 14 airlines and hotels including, Hyatt, Marriott, Southwest, Air Canada, Virgin Atlantic and United. As Wells Fargo adds more partners it may catch up, but right now Chase Ultimate Rewards points have a higher potential value and provide more versatility.
Wells Fargo Autograph Journey℠ Visa® Card vs. Capital One Venture Rewards Credit Card
The Capital One Venture Rewards Credit Card has a reasonable annual fee and earns flexible travel rewards, which makes it a great travel card for beginners or heavy travelers.
- Valuable welcome offer worth at least $750 in travel
- You can transfer miles to over 15 Capital One partners, including Emirates Skywards, Choice Privileges and Singapore Airlines KrisFlyer
- No foreign transaction fees
- Lacks ongoing travel benefits such as statement credits or lounge access
- Limited bonus spending category that only applies to certain Capital One Travel bookings
Highlights
Highlights shown here are provided by the issuer and have not been reviewed by CNBC Select's editorial staff.
- Earn a one-time bonus of 75,000 miles once you spend $4,000 on purchases within 3 months from account opening, equal to $750 in travel
- Earn unlimited 2X miles on every purchase, every day
- Earn 5X miles on hotels, vacation rentals and rental cars booked through Capital One Travel
- Miles won't expire for the life of the account and there's no limit to how many you can earn
- Receive up to a $120 credit for Global Entry or TSA PreCheck®
- Use your miles to get reimbursed for any travel purchase—or redeem by booking a trip through Capital One Travel
- Enjoy a $50 experience credit and other premium benefits with every hotel and vacation rental booked from the Lifestyle Collection
- Transfer your miles to your choice of 15+ travel loyalty programs
- Top rated mobile app
Balance transfer fee
$0 at the Transfer APR, 4% of the amount of each transferred balance that posts to your account at a promotional APR that Capital One may offer to you
Foreign transaction fee
None
If you don't spend much on travel or dining, the Capital One Venture Rewards Credit Card can be more rewarding because it earns at least 2X miles on every purchase. That means you could earn double the rewards on any purchases that fall outside of the Autograph Journey's bonus categories.
Capital One has 18 travel partners and direct access to all of the programs partnered with Wells Fargo except for Aer Lingus and Iberia. However, both of those airlines are part of the Avios program and you can transfer your Capital One miles from British Airways to Aer Lingus and Iberia. The only clear advantage the Autograph Journey has in the points transfer department is a better 1:2 transfer ratio to Choice Hotels. Unless you base your travel plans around using Choice points, the Venture Rewards card may be a stronger option for consumers who don't spend heavily on travel and dining.
Is the Wells Fargo Autograph Journey℠ Card right for you?
It won't be hard for anyone interested in travel to justify having and holding the Wells Fargo Autograph Journey Card. The points you'll earn for hotel (5X) and airline (4X) purchases are stunningly high and apply to any purchase in those categories. Even if you didn't earn bonus rewards points with hotels and airlines, you could make a strong case for getting this card because of the 3X points it earns for general travel and dining purchases. Plus, the $50 annual airline credit shouldn't be hard to use and helps offset more than half of the card's $95 annual fee.
However, if you want to earn rewards on spending other than dining and travel, other cards might be a better fit.
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