Got a paper mailer from US Bank. The Altitude Reserve has had Mobile Real Time Rewards redemptions available for non-travel categories, although I think those non-category redemptions are 1c per point value. Not a good redemption option.
They added Airlines, Hotel and Rental cars as available categories, and it appears this gives the 1.5c redemption rate per point on those categories. Prior to this, you had to book the Airline, Hotel or Rental car through the US Bank travel portal to use the points. This switches it to more of a purchase eraser.
While this pre-booking method was OK, when I looked at booking through the US Bank portal recently, the one-way flight I wanted on Delta was available, but was going to put me in Basic Economy, rather than Economy, with no means to update that to buy Economy. With Silver Medalion status, Basic Economy has no upgrade path to First Class. Economy does have the upgrade path. So I ended up buying the Economy ticket on that flight directly from Delta on the Delta AMEX.
This Mobile Real Time Rewards should work more like Capital One and other cards. When you sign up for categories ( I added Airlines only ), and a charge in that category shows up on your Altitude Reserve card, you get a text with the option to redeem Altitude points to erase the charge. From the promo literature, this shows 25,000 points for a $375 airline ticket, meaning it applies the 1.5c per point. This will make the use of the Altitude points much easier, as I can book through the airline portal for the exact class of service I want, and then erase the charge.
You do need to book directly with the airline, hotel, or car rental company, so if you go through some other travel portal it probably won't work. The minimum presumed redemption for car rental is $250, and for hotel is $500, so I did not activate those categories. And of course you probably need all the Altitude points to cover the charge.
There is also a 500 point promo for just going through the sign up process, so another $7.50 toward future travel 
That’s good to hear. As a fellow Altitude card holder this is great news. Not quite as good as being able to transfer points to partners but with the points being worth 1.5C I think the card still is very competitive.
Good option to be able to buy higher class tickets and see use points. Will have to sign up for it. I wonder if I can get the 500 point bonus for FlexPerks and Altitude. I saw it listed for both accounts.
The Altitude when paired with a FlexPerks card gives you some great returns on purchases. You get the mobile wallet bonus plus the flex perks bonuses and can transfer points between the cards. I basically get 3% to 4.5% return on every swipe I make.
I’ve been debating getting a Samsung phone with MST just to maximize the mobile pay when I travel overseas but I’m worried about getting shut down by USB and also the cashiers thinking I’m up to no good. A lot of the Caribbean people have no idea it’s possible to pay with your phone.
Good option to be able to buy higher class tickets and see use points. Will have to sign up for it. I wonder if I can get the 500 point bonus for FlexPerks and Altitude. I saw it listed for both accounts.
The Altitude when paired with a FlexPerks card gives you some great returns on purchases. You get the mobile wallet bonus plus the flex perks bonuses and can transfer points between the cards. I basically get 3% to 4.5% return on every swipe I make.
I’ve been debating getting a Samsung phone with MST just to maximize the mobile pay when I travel overseas but I’m worried about getting shut down by USB and also the cashiers thinking I’m up to no good. A lot of the Caribbean people have no idea it’s possible to pay with your phone.
So you are transferring points between FlexPerks and Altitude? I heard that was a speculated possibility last year, but nothing definite.
I may need to look into a FlexPerks card.
The ApplePay / Mobile Wallet is nice, except that Chase Freedom is taking over my Apple Pay this first quarter. I can't decide whether I want Chase to continue to offer that on a regular basis, or I prefer the Altitude Apple Pay. 
As of right now, you can only transfer FlexPerks to Altitude and not vice versa but that will probably change very shortly with the fixed points at 1.5CPP on FlexPerks now.
In regards to chase. If you actually earn 5 UR points ( don’t have a CF, only have CSP) with the bonus categories then it’s a better return then Altitude at just 1CPP but it’s even better if you have a CSP/CSR where instead of each point being just 1CPP they become 1.25/1.5 CPP with the potential to be even higher if you can transfer to partners and get a higher value then the travel portal.
For what’s a better rewards program all comes down to your travel patterns and personal preferences.
If you don’t travel very often on chases travel partners and have to use the portal to redeem travel or if your just redeem for economy/domestic flights where your not able to get a redemption rate higher then 1.5CPP the Altitude wins.
But if your able to transfer points to a travel partner and get higher then 1.5CPP that way then the CSR wins.
In regards to chase. If you actually earn 5 UR points ( don’t have a CF, only have CSP) with the bonus categories then it’s a better return then Altitude at just 1CPP but it’s even better if you have a CSP/CSR where instead of each point being just 1CPP they become 1.25/1.5 CPP with the potential to be even higher if you can transfer to partners and get a higher value then the travel portal.
For what’s a better rewards program all comes down to your travel patterns and personal preferences.
If you don’t travel very often on chases travel partners and have to use the portal to redeem travel or if your just redeem for economy/domestic flights where your not able to get a redemption rate higher then 1.5CPP the Altitude wins.
But if your able to transfer points to a travel partner and get higher then 1.5CPP that way then the CSR wins.
Correct, and with the CSP I got in January, I got some 3c Hyatt redemptions last weekend. Looking at 3c United redemptions, so Altitude is a nice backup for earning rewards for general travel spend.
I've got lots of points in different programs, so travel during the last two years, and looking out to the next two years, is reduced cost. Altitude just adds another dimension to that with the nice 4.5% general return on Apple Pay items, added to the SUB. I've also got it defaulted for Hertz rentals personal and business, and used Lyft recently paid through Apple Pay charging Freedom.
The cafeteria at work switched a year or so ago, allowing most mobile payments. Once the main cashier figured out that it works, she gives me static if I try to use a credit card not AP.
A surprisingly high percentage of people use cash or a debit card at the same terminals. I just smh.
A surprisingly high percentage of people use cash or a debit card at the same terminals. I just smh.
Update on the mechanics of “Real Time Rewards” for the Altitude Reserve.
I paid for a Delta Comfort+ upgrade fee. Text for the redemption came through, calculated at 1.5c per point. I did not get to it until more than 24 hours later. Ability to redeem had expired. Redemption Fail.
I bought a one-way Hawaiian Air inter-island flight. $59 for the seat, $10 for an upgrade to more leg room, early boarding. Purchased both together. Hawaiian Air handled it as two charges, so I got two sequential texts for the $59, then for the $10. Real Time Redemption only lets you REDEEM respond to the very last text, so I was only able to redeem for the $10. Next time will think about buying the seat first, then a separate transaction to upgrade, to ensure time to redeem. Learning Opportunity.
Bought a ticket on Delta, and learned the Delta apps do not allow you to apply those gift cards, even to a regular flight ticket. That must be done on the full browser. Applied two $50 gift cards, remainder paid with Altitude. Text came through, quick like a bunny texted REDEEM back, redemption success. ( I had recently learned that Delta Comfort+ cannot be paid for with gift cards because it is considered a fee )
Resolved to always REDEEM even if I didn’t particularly intend to apply the reward to that purchase, because I would just transfer the cash equivalent into my Future Travel Savings. That gets the points out of the Altitude account whenever possible, still making them technically sequestered if it is something like work reimbursed travel.
Got it a little wild and checked more boxes on the Redemption list, including groceries. Got a text yesterday, noticed it just now, inside of 24 hours since the text, something like 22 hours, followed my rule, REDEEM back, and only after redeeming did I check the charge. Groceries. 1c per point. Only $38, but will now go in to dial back the Real Time Rewards to Travel options only. Timing success, redemption value disappointment.
I use this card a lot. My DGF wanted to pay for breakfast today with her debit card. I could not let her, as the cashier took Apple Pay.
If it is different flights, not a round trip for example, I would expect the airline to keep those in the “shopping cart” as separate transactions. I suggest completing them, releasing them to authorize one at a time, else you may get them all separately in a quick rush and cannot respond to each one.