US Bank FlexPerks are a different type of currency. It’s similar to booking through the Chase Ultimate Rewards mall or Citi ThankYou portal in that you are using your points directly for flights, so the amount of points that you use are directly tied to the cash price of the ticket.
The trick with FlexPerks is that there are “tiers” for your flights
So if you book a $400 ticket, it costs 20,000 FlexPoints, while a $401 ticket will cost 30,000 points, though there are a few tricks you can use. Note that when I (and the US Bank website) talk about redeeming for up to $400 “ticket value” – you have to book it through their travel portal. I believe it’s powered by Travelocity so it should typically find as good a deal as anywhere else.
(SEE ALSO: Simple trick to redeem Flexperks Travel Rewards on cheaper Southwest flights)
So the key is to use these for a ticket that costs as close to the target value as possible – you’ll end up getting (close to) 2 cents per point in value. I don’t know if I’m the only one, but this actually makes it a bit harder to redeem because I just “can’t” book something unless it gets the maximum value.
US Bank FlexPerks Olympic bonus
The regular signup bonus for this card is 20,000 FlexPoints, but for the past few Olympic Games, US Bank has offered a bonus based on the number of medals that the US team gets. The 2016 Rio Olympics are no different – here is a link to the promotion page.
With a rash of gold medals in the last day or two, the final USA medal count is 46 golds, 37 silvers and 38 bronzes. Doing the math leads to a 14,800 FlexPoint bonus (in addition to the 20,000 FlexPoints you’ll get by signing up and spending at least $2,000 in the first 4 months.
Those 34,800 points are worth at least $600 in travel, so definitely worth consideration for your next application. The link to apply is here (not an affiliate link) and you have to apply by Septmber 3rd to get the Olympics bonus
(H/T: MileNerd, even if he did get me all excited about the bonus being 30K instead of 15K :-D)
Have you applied (or are you going to apply) for the US Bank FlexPerks card with the Olympic bonus?
This site is part of an affiliate sales network and receives compensation for sending traffic to partner sites, such as thepointsguy.com. This may impact how and where links appear on this site. Responses are not provided or commissioned by the bank advertiser. Some or all of the card offers that appear on the website are from advertisers and that compensation may impact on how and where card products appear on the site. Any opinions expressed in this post are my own, and have not been reviewed, approved, or endorsed by my advertising partners and I do not include all card companies, or all available card offers. Terms apply to American Express benefits and offers and other offers and benefits listed on this page. Enrollment may be required for select American Express benefits and offers. Visit americanexpress.com to learn more. Other links on this page may also pay me a commission - as always, thanks for your support if you use them
User Generated Content Disclosure: Points With a Crew encourages constructive discussions, comments, and questions. Responses are not provided by or commissioned by any bank advertisers. These responses have not been reviewed, approved, or endorsed by the bank advertiser. It is not the responsibility of the bank advertiser to respond to comments.
Dan Miller travels with his wife and 6 (SIX!) children. He loves to help families travel for free / cheap, especially larger families. If you are looking for help, drop him an email at 
I can’t find where their search engine allows you to book economy plus. Is their a way?
is there an annual fee? waived first yr?
I don’t remember and I’m on my phone so can’t check, but I’m sure the link I posted in the article says 🙂