Top Travel Rewards Credit Cards: Maximize Miles, Points, and Benefits
Pack your bags and earn rewards for traveling. We chose the best cards for airline, hotel and other perks to help you save money.
Lisa Gerstner
We may earn compensation when a customer clicks on a link, when an application is approved, or when an account is opened. We may not cover every available offer. Our relationship with advertisers may impact how an offer is presented on our site but our editorial selection of products is made independently. Terms apply to American Express benefits and offers. Enrollment may be required for select American Express benefits and offers. Visit americanexpress.com to learn more. We calculate a typical annual reward for each card, assuming $36,000 spent annually and less any annual fee. Interest rates, fees, rewards and other terms listed in this article are subject to change. Before you apply for a credit card, check its current terms and conditions with the issuer.
A travel rewards credit card can be an excellent companion, whether you travel often or just take the occasional vacation. With every purchase, you can use a travel card to collect points or miles that you can redeem for flights, hotels, or other travel bookings. Many travel rewards cards come with extra benefits, too, from free entry into airport lounges to statement credits toward application fees for TSA PreCheck and other programs that expedite security screening at the airport.
You may notice that our list of the best cards differs from many other reviewers. That's because we crunch the numbers on a wider variety of cards, such as those issued by credit unions and smaller banks.
If you’d rather have a card that offers cash back or another type of reward, see our article on the best rewards credit cards. If you just want a smoking-hot sign-up bonus for new cardholders, jump to our current travel credit card bonus deals list.
Know what kind of travel card you want? Jump to these sections, below to see our top three picks in each category. We listed cards alphabetically in each category.
- No Annual Fee
- Worth the Annual Fee
- Flexible Travel Redemptions
- Luxury Travel
- Airline Cards
- Hotel Cards
- Dining Cards
- Best Travel Card Bonus Deals Right Now
Best Travel Rewards Credit Cards With No Annual Fee
With these cards, you reap points or miles without paying an annual fee. You will still need to consider foreign transaction fees if you plan to do a lot of international travel.
Chase Freedom Unlimited
U.S. Bank Altitude Connect Visa Signature
Wells Fargo Autograph Visa
Best Travel Cards Worth the Annual Fee
With a high payback on travel spending and some perks on the side, these cards make the annual fee worth paying. Note that Chase, Wells Fargo and American Express offer cards praised for their rental car insurance coverage.
Capital One Venture Rewards Credit Card
Citi Strata Premier℠ Card
PenFed Pathfinder Rewards Visa Signature Card
Best Cards for Flexible Travel Redemptions
Redeem points for travel bookings or transfer them to a broad range of partner airline and hotel loyalty programs.
Chase Sapphire Preferred
Marriott Bonvoy Boundless® Credit Card
World of Hyatt Credit Card
Best Cards for Luxury Travel Rewards
Frequent travelers can more than overcome the high annual fees on these cards by taking advantage of a bevy of perks.
Capital One Venture X Rewards Credit Card
Chase Sapphire Reserve
American Express Platinum Card®
Best Dedicated Airline Cards
If you’re loyal to a certain airline or hotel chain, you may be a good candidate to use a credit card that provides points or miles from your preferred loyalty program. Such cards often provide perks such as complimentary checked baggage or free hotel stays each year, too. See whether our picks of the top airline and hotel rewards cards are a good match for you. And note that if you would rather not pay an annual fee, many of the hotels and airlines mentioned here offer no-fee cards, too, but they come with fewer perks.
Traveling with a friend or loved one? Check out our assessment of the best airline credit card bonuses that come with a free ticket.
Delta SkyMiles Platinum American Express Card
JetBlue Plus Card
Southwest Rapid Rewards Priority Visa
Best Dedicated Hotel Cards
Frequent guests of hotel chains associated with these cards can get great value from them, earning extra points for hotel stays and certain other purchases. Plus, enjoy benefits such as free-night awards and elevated loyalty status.
Best Western Rewards Premium Visa Signature
Hilton Honors American Express Surpass® Card
IHG One Rewards Premier
Best Dining Rewards Cards
Frequent diners can enjoy cash back and other perks using these cards. For other everyday expenses like gas and groceries, see our guide to the best cash back credit cards.
American Express® Gold Card
Capital One Savor Cash Rewards Credit Card
Chase Freedom Unlimited
How Do Travel Rewards Cards Work?
Travel rewards credit cards offer points or miles on your purchases and may also offer other travel-related benefits. There are three main types of travel credit cards, including general travel cards, airline cards and hotel cards.
General travel credit cards
General travel rewards credit cards aren't linked to a specific airline or hotel loyalty program. Instead, you'll earn points or miles with the card issuer's rewards program. Examples include American Express Membership Rewards, Chase Ultimate Rewards and Citi ThankYou Rewards.
General travel rewards programs typically allow you to redeem your rewards for travel through their online portal and may also offer other options, including cash back, gift cards and online shopping. They may even allow you to transfer your rewards to partner airline and hotel programs.
These cards typically won't give you travel perks with a specific airline or hotel brand, but you may get general travel benefits, such as travel credits, airport lounge access and more.
Airline credit cards
These credit cards are co-branded with a specific airline, such as Delta Air Lines or United Airlines. You'll earn miles or points that you can use to book award flights with that airline or for other travel-related purposes.
Airline credit cards also typically offer perks when you fly with a co-branded airline. Examples include priority boarding, free checked baggage, inflight discounts and companion passes.
Hotel credit cards
Like airline cards, hotel cards are co-branded with a particular hotel brand, such as Hyatt or Marriott. You'll earn points with that specific hotel chain's loyalty program, which you can use to book award stays, on-property experiences and other travel.
You'll also typically get perks with that hotel brand, which may include a free anniversary night certificate and elite status, which can come with benefits like room upgrades, late checkout and free premium Wi-Fi.
What are Travel Rewards Worth?
The value of the points or miles you earn with a travel credit card will vary depending on the rewards program and sometimes even the card. General travel programs typically offer predictable redemption rates. For example, you may earn one cent per point on travel bookings, one cent per point on gift cards and half a cent per point for cash back.
With airline frequent flyer programs and hotel loyalty programs, redemption values can vary depending on several variables. With an award flight, for instance, the departure and arrival airports, flight dates and cabin will influence how much your points or miles are worth. With hotel programs, your stay dates, the property category, location and room type can impact your value.
To get an idea of how much value you're getting per point, divide the cash price of an airline ticket or hotel stay by the number of points or miles required to book it. For example, if you can book a $300 flight with 15,000 miles, divide $300 by 15,000, giving you a value of two cents per point. You can also check Bankrate for the estimated value of travel program points or miles.
How to Compare Travel Credit Cards
If you're thinking about a travel credit card, it's important to choose one that's aligned with your travel habits and goals. Here are some of the factors to consider when shopping around and comparing your options:
- Welcome bonus: Consider how much value you can get with the card's upfront bonus and whether you can meet the minimum spending requirement to earn it.
- Rewards rates: Travel credit cards may offer a flat rewards rate on all purchases or a tiered rewards structure, with bonus rewards on certain spending categories. Try to pick a card that allows you to rack up as many points or miles based on where you spend your money.
- Redemption options: Consider how much flexibility you'll get with your rewards. If your goal is to get free flights or hotel stays with a particular airline or hotel brand, pick an airline or a hotel credit card. If you want more options, however, consider a general travel credit card.
- Redemption values: If you're comparing two different cards, one may offer a higher welcome bonus and more points per dollar spent than the other. However, if the value of those points is lower than what you'd get with the second card, you might actually get less value.
- Perks: Think about how you want to use your credit card to elevate your travel experience, then seek out perks that can help you accomplish that objective. And don't forget about trip protections, which can save you some money if things don't go as planned on a vacation. For example, cards issued by Chase and American Express offer some of the best rental car insurance benefits.
- Annual fee: Travel credit cards tend to charge annual fees, but some can run in the hundreds of dollars. Consider how much you're willing to pay each year for a credit card's rewards and benefits.
- International acceptance: If you pick an American Express or Discover credit card, you may have trouble using your credit card abroad. In this case, you can either bring a Visa or Mastercard credit card as a backup or simply get a Visa or Mastercard in the first place.
Is the Annual Fee Too High?
Even if you generally like to avoid credit card annual fees, it can be worth paying one in exchange for great benefits. To determine whether an annual fee is worth it to you, consider the following:
- Calculate the value of the card's welcome bonus to see how many years' worth of the fee it covers.
- Add up the monetary value of the card's benefits, making sure to include only benefits you'll actually use.
- Consider the benefits that are difficult to assign a monetary value — rewards flexibility, trip protections or airport lounge access — and what they're worth to you.
- Estimate how much value you'd get in rewards each year based on your spending habits.
Some travel credit cards offer enough value to cover the cost of the annual fee in benefits alone. If a card charges an annual fee and is scant on perks, it might not be worth the cost.
How to Get the Most Out of Your Travel Card
Once you pick a travel rewards credit card, here are some tips to help you maximize its value:
- Make sure you earn the bonus: You'll typically have three or six months to meet the minimum spending requirement to earn a credit card's welcome bonus. Note, however, that the clock starts when you're approved, not when you receive the card. Track your spending to ensure that you earn the bonus points or miles.
- Use your card for everything: Try to use your credit card for everything that you can use it for. Just be sure to avoid overspending for the sake of earning rewards — the value you get likely won't make up for the extra cost.
- Pay in full every month: Make it a goal to pay off your balance in full every month to avoid paying interest, which can neutralize the value of the rewards you earn.
- Get to know your card benefits: You can find most of the card's benefits on the card issuer's website, but make sure you read through the benefits guide you receive with your card, so you know everything about its perks.
- Research the best ways to redeem: Each program is different in how you can redeem rewards, and some may offer outsized value if you redeem them in a certain way. For example, you may be able to get more value by transferring your general travel points or miles to an airline or hotel loyalty program than if you were to redeem them with the card issuer's rewards program.
- Avoid getting too many cards: Having multiple rewards credit cards can help you maximize different bonus rewards categories and card benefits, but if you get too many cards, it can be difficult to keep track of everything. There's no correct answer to how many credit cards you should have, so it's important to consider your preferences and organizational skills to determine the right amount.
Best Travel Card Bonus Deals Right Now
- Hilton Honors Bonus Offer Worth $780
- Marriott Bonvoy Bonus Offer worth $875
- United Airlines Card Launches $900 Limited-Time Offer
- Wyndham Bonus Offer: 10 Nights Free
- Capital One Venture Rewards Launches $1,000 Bonus Offer
- Chase Sapphire Preferred Launches $750 Bonus Offer
- Best Airline Credit Card Bonuses with a Free Ticket
- Southwest Credit Cards Launch $1,275 Bonus Deal
- Earn Delta SkyMiles Worth up to $1,200
- Jet Blue Credit Card Offer Worth over $650
Or search for a credit card that meets your needs on this tool from Bankrate.
All information about the American Express EveryDay® credit card, the Platinum Card from American Express, the Delta SkyMiles Platinum Card from American Express, the Hilton Honors American Express card, and the American Express Gold Card has been collected independently by Kiplinger. Terms apply to American Express benefits and offers. Enrollment may be required for select American Express benefits and offers. Visit americanexpress.com to learn more. As an independent publication dedicated to helping you make the most of your money, the article above is our view of the best deals and is not the opinion of any entity mentioned such as a card issuer, hotel, airline etc. Similarly, the content has not been reviewed or endorsed by any of those entities.
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