I got mine just to chase the bonus and be eligible for Altitude Reserve, which I was heavily considering at the time. That was just a little over three years ago. I was one of a number of people here at that time who strangely got approved for a $500 limit with a profile that would support far more, and at that time you did not know your limit until you received the physical card.
That was an easy recon call. The underwriter pulled up my report and sounded as bewildered as I was on the approval amount. He asked how much I wanted and I just went with $15k (average revolving limit at the time was just north of $25k so not at all unreasonable), he said he didn't see that being an issue at all but he would have to put it into the system and I should know in a few days. Called the automated line the next day and my credit line was $15,000 (also a quirk at that time was that Visa Signature products did not show a limit in online accounts just two dashes (--) next to the limit; they changed that a few months later).
I used the card the first month and got my SUB. Since this was the days of earning SPG and spending Marriott and getting about 8% back across the board for me, I had no use for a 5% card, then they gave me a BT offer that I took advantage of and with the 3% fee it put me at just over 50% utilization. Then I was in NYC and got the call just to make sure I had booked a hotel room in Indiana through Priceline and purchased a few hundred dollars worth of Sonic Drive-In gift cards. Definitely not me, so they closed the card and sent me out a replacement with a new number, and no worries about the charges.
The next month, I saw the new account with the same opening date replace the existing one on my EQ and TU reports, but the new one sat there next to the original one on my EX report - and since it wasn't updating I had a card at over 50% utilization that wasn't going down at all. After a few months of it not going away, I called US Bank. They had me physically mail them a letter and copy of my credit report with the duplicate accounts noted. Crickets. I called back and got nowhere. Eventually I did a CFPB complaint, and USB not only removed the original account, but the duplicate one as well - and to this date has never appeared again on EX. They did mail me an apology letter as well noting that they had removed the duplicate account. Eventually, if the card reaches my AAoA I might contact them to ask them to add it back to Experian.
Those were my only hiccups with USB. The $500 SL happened to a lot of people at that time, and the fluke with the fraud and reporting error could have happened with any lender I'm sure. And I have not heard of others having to deal with that.
I ended up grabbing Altitude Reserve and love it. After the BT was paid off on Cash+, the Starwood and Marriott merger was complete, Amex and Chase changed the earnings on the cards around, and 8% back on all spend was no longer reality. So I began using it for 5% categories and it's been great for utilities. A few SP CLIs have me sitting at $24,500 on the card, which is far more than I need for a quarterly 5% card.
If you think the card might make sense for you, I'd definitely give it a glowing recommendation.
@Anonymous I found that the card has the most value if the categories truly fit in with your setup, but that are also not affected by changing circumstances (such as c19). Before I PC'd to the Altitude Go, my selected categories were gyms and wireless, as those were higher monthly bills. When gyms shut down here in CA (which they are again), that category became unreliable so I switched to internet services, but my local ISP for whatever reason doesn't code for the 5% eligibility. The ability to change quarterly choices is nice, but when you look at the list, there are going to be things that just won't be applicable (like movie theaters, or other categories like department stores and sporting goods that you might not need all the time).
I was one who got the $500 approval a few years ago, though it was easily reconned to a more respectable amount. Thanks to the 5% utilites and cable, I rack up a steady chunk of rewards every month. Rarely use it for anything else, though once in a while they'll send out offers to earn more for everyday spend. No complaints, it's an indespensable card for me. And service the few times I've had to use it has been pleasant.
Not sure if they still offer it, but there at least used to be an additional bonus if you redeemed your first cash back of $100 or more (i.e. after the SUB posts) to a prepaid debit card.
