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The PNC points Visa Credit Card has an offer for 50,000 PNC bonus points when you spend $750 within the first three billing cycles. While that might seem like a great welcome offer, we value these points to be worth only around $100. For a no-annual-fee card, that’s still not a bad deal. The Capital One VentureOne Rewards Credit Card has comparable spending requirements. See our list of credit card offers.
PNC points also offers seemingly generous rewards: four points for every dollar you spend. But dig a little deeper and you’ll find that each point is actually not worth much.
Fortunately this rewards card comes with a PNC relationship bonus, which gives a 25% to 75% boost if you qualify. At the highest tier, those four points for every $1 jumps to seven. So the PNC points card is only worthwhile if you also bank with the issuer.
*Check out PNC Bank bonuses for Checking & Savings accounts.
| Bonus Available | Get 50,000 bonus points after you make $750 in purchases during the first 3 billing cycles following account opening. This offer is only valid when you apply directly with PNC. |
| Bonus Value* | $100 |
| Ongoing Rewards/Benefits | Earn 4 points per $1 spent on every purchase. Receive 25% to 75% bonus points for qualifying PNC Bank accountholders. |
| Foreign Transaction Fees? | 3% |
| Annual Fee | $0 |
*Bonus value is an estimated value calculated by MoneysMyLife and not the card issuer. Read our card review for more details.
View our latest valuations here.
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PROS
- No annual fee
- Welcome bonus
- PNC relationship bonus
CONS
- Good-Excellent credit needed to qualify
- Limited availability
- Low points value
- Points expire
- Foreign transaction fees
CAPITAL ONE® VENTUREONE® REWARDS CREDIT CARD
The Capital One® VentureOne® Rewards Credit Card has an offer for 20,000 bonus miles after you spend $500 on purchases within 3 months. We value these 20k bonus miles at around $280.
This card has no annual fee. The annual fee version of this card is the Capital One® Venture® Rewards Credit Card, with better features.
The VentureOne Rewards card offers unlimited 1.25X miles on all purchases. You can redeem for statement credits for travel and gift cards. Another option is to transfer miles to airline partners. Read more on this here.
PNC Points Card 50,000 Bonus Points Offer
Take advantage of the PNC points card’s 50,000 PNC bonus points offer. My valuation puts these 50k points at around $100 (more on that below).
To qualify, charge at least $750 to your card within the first 3 billing cycles after opening your account.
Here are some ideas on meeting the spending requirement:
What Are PNC Points Worth?
Like many other points-based cards, the value of your rewards depends on how you use them. According to my calculations, each PNC point is worth around $0.002. That’s way below the industry average of $0.01 per point.
When you’re ready to redeem your PNC points, you have a variety of options, including:
- Cash back
- Travel
- Gift cards
- Merchandise
To get the best value for your PNC points, use them for cash back or travel redemptions.
Your points do expire, so make sure to redeem them before their 48-month deadline.
PNC Points Card Relationship Bonus
The PNC points card gives a 25%, 50% or 75% bonus on base points, depending on the type of banking relationship you have with PNC.
Get a 25% boost in points when you receive a statement for your PNC Virtual Wallet account.
| Percent boost | 25% |
| Additional rewards | 1 PNC point / $1 |
| Total rewards | 5 PNC points / $1 |
| Return | 1.25% |
Receive a 50% boost in points when you have a PNC Performance Checking Account or a PNC Virtual Wallet with Performance Spend, and you meet the following requirements:
- Maintained an average monthly balance of at least $2,000 in that account,
- Had a qualifying monthly direct deposit of at least $2,000 made to that account, or
- Maintained a combined monthly balance of at least $15,000 in that account and any linked consumer accounts.
| Percent boost | 50% |
| Additional rewards | 2 PNC points / $1 |
| Total rewards | 6 PNC points / $1 |
| Return | 1.5% |
Earn a 75% boost in points when you have a PNC Performance Select Checking account or a PNC Virtual Wallet with Performance Select, and you meet the following requirements:
- Maintained an average monthly balance of at least $5,000 in that account and any linked consumer Standard Checking or Performance Select Checking account,
- Had a qualifying monthly direct deposit of at least $5,000 made to that account, or
- Maintained a combined monthly balance of at least $25,000 in that account and any linked consumer accounts.
| Percent boost | 75% |
| Additional rewards | 3 PNC points / $1 |
| Total rewards | 7 PNC points / $1 |
| Return | 1.75% |
PNC Points Card Availability
The PNC points card is limited to within PNC’s network. That includes:
- Alabama
- Delaware
- District of Columbia
- Florida
- Georgia
- Kentucky
- Indiana
- Illinois
- Maryland
- Michigan
- Missouri
- New Jersey
- New York
- North Carolina
- Ohio
- Pennsylvania
- South Carolina
- Virginia
- West Virginia
- Wisconsin
If you reside elsewhere, you’ll have to consider other credit card options.
Bottom Line
PNC points could be a decent no-annual-fee rewards card, if you meet the relationship bonus requirements. But for a much simpler rewards program, you might want to consider the PNC Cash Rewards card. It offers just as much value, along with the same low cost.
What’s The Competition?
Below are some of the top competitors to the PNC points Visa credit card you should consider.
CHASE SAPPHIRE PREFERRED® CARD
The Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card currently has an offer for 60,000 bonus points after you spend $4,000 on purchases in the first 3 months from account opening.
Redeeming the 60,000 bonus points through the Chase Ultimate Rewards program, which is praised by users, will get you $750 in value towards travel. The 60K bonus points are worth $750 because you get 25% more value whenever you redeem for airfare, hotels, car rentals and cruises through Chase Ultimate Rewards.
Even better, strategize with Chase Ultimate Rewards points transfer partners to potentially get even more value. Each point can be worth up to 2 cents apiece (60k points = ~$1,200). Read more on this here.
CAPITAL ONE® VENTUREONE® REWARDS CREDIT CARD
The Capital One® VentureOne® Rewards Credit Card has an offer for 20,000 bonus miles after you spend $500 on purchases within 3 months. We value these 20k bonus miles at around $280.
This card has no annual fee. The annual fee version of this card is the Capital One® Venture® Rewards Credit Card, with better features.
The VentureOne Rewards card offers unlimited 1.25X miles on all purchases. You can redeem for statement credits for travel and gift cards. Another option is to transfer miles to airline partners. Read more on this here.
CAPITAL ONE® QUICKSILVER® CASH REWARDS CREDIT CARD
The Capital One® Quicksilver® Cash Rewards Credit Card will earn a $200 bonus when you spend $500 on purchases within the first 3 months. The bonus offer is comparable to its top competitors, but this card earns a respectable 1.5% cash back on every purchase with no limit on how much you can earn. There are no spending categories to keep up with and the cash back won’t expire while the account is open.
People like this card because of the cash back rate, the flexibility to redeem your cash back for any amount, and there’s no annual fee.
CAPITAL ONE® SAVORONE® CASH REWARDS CREDIT CARD
The Capital One® SavorOne® Cash Rewards Credit Card has a $200 bonus when you spend $500 on purchases within 3 months of account opening. This card has no annual fee. The annual-fee version of this card is the Capital One® Savor® Cash Rewards Credit Card.
This SavorOne card earns unlimited 3% cash back on dining and entertainment spending. Grocery store spending earns 2% cash back. All other purchases earn 1% cash back. There are no rotating categories to worry about and the cash back won’t expire while the account is open.
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Editorial Disclaimer: Opinions expressed here are author's alone, not those of any bank, credit card issuer, hotel, airline, or other entity. This content has not been reviewed, approved or otherwise endorsed by any of the entities included within the post.
Disclaimer: These responses are not provided or commissioned by the bank advertiser, credit card issuer, hotel, airline or other entity. Responses have not been reviewed, approved or otherwise endorsed by any of the entities included within the post. It is not the bank advertiser's or any other entity's responsibility to ensure all posts and/or questions are answered.