PenFed Pathfinder Card
$95
50,000 PenFed Points
$3,000 initial spend
($360 net value, .12/$)
Signup Bonus Chart4x Travel (≈3.6%)
1.5x Everything Else (≈1.35%)
No Foreign Transaction Fee
The PenFed Pathfinder card can be a "money-maker". Even though the card has no annual fee for PenFed checking account holders, it comes with a $100 TSA credit and an annual $100 airline incidental credit.
Collecting the Signup Bonus
We value PenFed points at .9 cents each. PenFed has a full range of redemption options, but you can't see the details without having an account. Redemptions for Gift Cards are priced at .85 cents per point. When you book airfares through the website, you can get slightly more value than that.
You can get up to 1.27 cents in value when you use your points to purchase pre-paid hotel rooms through PenFed. If you can find room rates that are competitive with what you can find elsewhere, this is the most lucarative way to use your points.
It is worth signing up for this card, just to collect the signup bonus. The typical signup bonus is 50,000 points, valued at $450 (at .9 cents per point). In addition, the card comes with a $100 airline incidental credit. But since it can be hard to get full value from this credit, we only value it at 50% of its face value.
After subtracting the opportunity cost of using the card for $3,000 of spending, the calculated net value for the initial year is $360 (12 cents per dollar spent). Your value may be higher or lower, depending on how much you value the points and the credit.
Notable Benefits
- Annual $100 airline incidental credit. The credit can only be used for incidental expenses such as baggage fees, flight change fees, and inflight food and beverage purchases, and only with US-based airlines. Like other incidental credits, it might get applied to $50 gift cards and very inexpensive flights, even though it is not supposed to. Get Full Value from Your Airline Incidental Credits.
- $100 TSA fee credit. Every five years, you can receive an automatic reimbursement of your Global Entry or TSA PreCheck application fee (up to $100).
Bonus Categories
- To get the full value from using the card for your travel spending, you'll need to be a "PenFed Honors Advantage Member". To qualify, you'll either need to have a checking account or be an active member of the military.
- Without this bonus, the bonus category reward rate on this card is lower than other no-annual-fee options. For example, the Costco card gives you 3% cash back on travel (and 4% on gas). Best Credit Cards for Travel Spending.
- Even with the bonus, there are many cards that earn higher rewards on travel spending. But, with the exception of the somewhat complicated Wells Fargo Combo, they all require annual fees. Most people would earn more rewards with one of the premium cards that earns 2-3x Ultimate Rewards, Membership Rewards, or ThankYou points on their travel purchases. But, if you don't spend that much on Travel, and don't value the other benefits of these premium cards, the Pathfinder card can be your best option.
- You don't want to use this card for your everyday spending. You'll earn higher rewards from a good general-purpose reward card. Get a Great General Purpose Reward Card and Use It for All of Your Spending.