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The Points Guy believes that credit cards can transform lives, helping you leverage everyday spending for cash back or travel experiences that might otherwise be out of reach. That's why we publish a variety of editorial content and card comparisons: to help you find a great card to turn your goals into reality.
Our site may earn compensation when a customer clicks on a link, when an application is approved, or when an account is opened with our partners, and this may impact how or where these products appear. While we don't cover all available credit cards, our editorial team creates and maintains all of the analysis of these cards, and our content is not influenced nor subject to review by any credit card company, bank or partner prior to (or after) publication. Please view our advertising policy and product review methodology for more information.
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How and why you should get two Wells Fargo credit cards
Richard Kerr is a veteran naval officer and founder of the Award Travel 101 Facebook community. He’s one of the foremost experts in points and miles strategy, featured in Forbes, US News, Money Magazine, Kiplinger Personal Finance and presented at #SXSW 2017. Richard has visited over 45 countries, lived in England and Japan, and spends his spare time dissecting loyalty program award charts to maximize the value of points and miles. Richard holds a BBA in International Business and has his wife and two small children in tow for his travels as often as possible.
June 1, 2020 • 7 min read
The cards we feature here are from partners who compensate us when you are approved through our site, and this may impact how or where these products appear. We don't cover all available credit cards, but our analysis, reviews, and opinions are entirely from our editorial team. Terms apply to the offers listed on this page. Please view our advertising policy and product review methodology for more information.Editorial disclaimer: Opinions expressed here are the author's alone, not those of any bank, credit card issuer, airline or hotel chain, and have not been reviewed, approved or otherwise endorsed by any of these entities.
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Quick summary
Two specific travel rewards cards, now closed to new applicants, could be combined to maximize redemption value for flights.
Combining points from both cards allowed users to redeem at a higher rate, especially for flight bookings through the issuer's travel portal.
Households could optimize bonuses by having two people each apply for one card and then pooling points, thanks to flexible point transfer rules.
Strict application rules, including waiting periods between bonuses and approvals, made obtaining both cards challenging for individuals.
What to consider
Both cards are no longer available for new applications, and some offers discussed have expired.
Eligibility for welcome bonuses required spacing applications by at least 15 months, with additional restrictions on receiving multiple bonuses.
Pooling points between trusted individuals was permitted, enabling households to maximize value despite application limitations.
What you'll miss from the article
A detailed walkthrough of how to combine rewards and navigate restrictive application rules to optimize travel redemptions.
Generated by AI with support from our editorial team.
Update: The Wells Fargo Propel American Express® card and Wells Fargo Visa Signature® Card are no longer open to new applications. Some offers mentioned below are no longer available. View the current offers here.
Editor’s note: This post has been updated with the latest credit card information.
The Wells Fargo Propel American Express® card is an intriguing credit card, as it offers what essentially amounts to 3% cash back on travel, dining, gas stations and popular web streaming services. But what takes the card and its rewards structure from intriguing to formidable is the ability to combine Wells Fargo Go Far Rewards points between two different Wells Fargo credit cards and increase their value up to 75%.
The information for the Wells Fargo Propel card has been collected independently by The Points Guy. The card details on this page have not been reviewed or provided by the card issuer.
First, here are the details on each of these two cards, along with their welcome bonuses:
Wells Fargo Propel American Express® card— Earn 20,000 bonus points after you make $1,000 in purchases in the first three months. Earn 3x points on travel, dining (eating out and ordering in), gas stations and select streaming services and 1x points on all other spend. No annual fee.
Wells Fargo Visa Signature® card — Earn 5x rewards points for up to $12,500 spent on gas, grocery and drugstore purchases for the first six months, and 1x points on all other spend. No annual fee.
The information for the Wells Fargo Visa Signature Card has been collected independently by The Points Guy. The card details on this page have not been reviewed or provided by the card issuer.
Go Far Rewards earned with the Propel Amex can be redeemed toward travel at 1 cent per point through the Go Far Rewards travel portal or for cash back. Points earned with the Wells Fargo Visa Signature card can also be redeemed at 1 cent per point toward travel (hotels, cruises, rental cars and so on) but can also be redeemed specifically for flights at 1.5 cents each, which can be boosted up to 1.75 cents per point if you spend $50,000 on the Visa Signature in a year. That means a combination of the Propel Amex and the Visa Signature will earn you between 4.5%-5.25% on travel, dining, gas stations and select streaming services when you redeem the points for flights.
You have a few decisions to make if you’d like both the Wells Fargo Propel American Express and the Wells Fargo Visa Signature in order to unlock up to 5.25% cash back towards flights. At the bottom of every Wells Fargo credit card application is the following language:
That means if you’d like both the 20,000 welcome bonus points when you spend $1,000 in purchases in the first three months from the Propel Amex as well as the Visa Signature sign-up offer of 5x rewards points on selective purchases for the first six months, you’d have to space your applications out by 15 months. You can also only receive one business card introductory offer and one personal introductory offer every 15 months.
Even if you’re willing to forego one of the bonuses, it’s probably still going to be tricky to be approved for two Wells Fargo credit cards in the same day. In addition to the 15-month rule, Wells Fargo also has the following rule on the bottom of the Propel Amex application (although not specifically on the Visa Signature):
“You may not qualify for an additional Wells Fargo Credit Card if you have opened a Wells Fargo Credit Card in the last 6 months.”
Is this rule being enforced? Well, Wells Fargo isn’t the easiest issuer to deal with and it’s hard to find solid data points about how often the bank will approve you for a card. There was also previously an existing relationship rule where Wells Fargo typically wanted you to have at least a checking account with them first before applying for a credit card, but that rule has been dropped for the Propel Amex.
Two Cards for Two People
There is at least one way to take advantage of the higher Visa Signature redemption values and still get both bonuses for one household at the same time. A fantastic aspect of the Go Far Rewards program is the ability to gift points from your account to anyone else’s account. That means my wife can sign up for the Propel Amex and I can sign up for the Visa Signature — we’d each get the bonus points and then we can combine our rewards in one Go Far Rewards account.
These transfers work from any Wells Fargo Go Far Rewards credit card to any other Wells Fargo Go Far Rewards-earning credit card, so if you have any second person you trust and are willing to split rewards with -- such as a spouse or close friend or family member -- you can benefit from the above process.
If you prefer to go it alone, you need to do the math on whether you’re willing to forego a bonus, and if you are, wait six months between applications to be safe. But which bonus should you forego? It depends on how much spending you usually do in six months. If you can max out the 5x categories on the Visa Signature card offer, you’d end up with 62,500 points, so you’d want to apply and be approved for that card first. On the other hand, if you don’t see yourself putting more than $6,000 in spending on those bonus categories in a six-month period, you’d be better off getting the entire 20,000-point Propel Amex bonus for just half the amount of spending (spread across all purchases, not just bonus categories).
By commenting, you agree to our Community Guidelines to help create a positive space for conversation. The responses below are not provided or commissioned by the bank advertiser, our partners, or The Points Guy (“TPG”). They have not been reviewed, approved, or otherwise endorsed by any of these parties. All responses are submitted by individual contributors, and neither the bank advertiser, our partners, nor TPG are responsible for ensuring that all posts and/or questions are answered.
