Best Travel Credit Cards
Nowadays, it will be vital for people to find the best travel credit card since more and more credit card with great perks is emerging up. Generous sign-up bonuses, no foreign transaction fees and attractive rewards programs, all of the items mentioned above are the essential composed parts of a good travel credit card. Basically, the rewards points racked up can be redeemed for free or discounted flights, nights, or other expenses. On the whole, choosing a good travel credit card will save a lot on the travel along with attractive promotions, sign-up bonuses or more other rewards.
If you’re a frequent traveler, you’ll definitely like to enjoy the benefits of all these great travel credit cards. To simplify your search, we’ve compared different travel cards available now taking its annual fee, rewards structure, sign-up bonuses and more into consideration. Check out the top picks of the best travel credit cards and choose whatever you like to start your economic and ideal travel now!
- No.1 Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card
- No.2 BankAmericard Travel Rewards® Credit Card
- No.3 Barclaycard Arrival Plus™ World Elite MasterCard®
- No.4 Capital One® Venture® Rewards Credit Card
- No.5 Starwood Preferred Guest® Credit Card from American Express
- No.6 Discover it® Miles
- No.7 Gold Delta SkyMiles® Credit Card from American Express
- No.8 Southwest Rapid Rewards® Premier Credit Card
- No.9 United MileagePlus® Explorer Card
- No.10 Marriott Rewards® Premier Credit Card
No.1 Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card
- Large sign-up bonus
- Flexible rewards
- Foreign travel
Pros
Chase Sapphire Preferred Card, different from other cards tied to a specific airline or hotel brand, can be used in many places. Users will earn 2 points per $1 spent on dining and travel and 1 point per $1 devoted to other purchases. Plus, people will get 50,000 bonus points when spending $4,000 on purchases in the first three months the account opens. Meanwhile, Chase Sapphire Preferred Card comes with the sign-up bonus.
Cons
What makes Chase Card no better than the airline-specific co-branded cards is that it lacks the perks, like free checked bags and priority boarding. This card may be not worth you own if you don’t frequently spend on travel and restaurants though its annual fee is not too much.
Summary
Chase Sapphire Preferred Card will be the best card around if you want the flexibility in redeeming and earning rewards. However, people who’d like to travel had better choose some other co-branded cards since Chase lack such specific benefits.
No.2 BankAmericard Travel Rewards® Credit Card
- No foreign transaction fees
- Great miles bonus
- Travel rewards
- No annual fee for the first year
Pros
BankAmericard Travel Rewards Credit Card will be a great choice for international travelers who don’t want to pay for a bunch of additional expenses when abroad due to no annual fee and no foreign transaction fees. Besides, it offers great perks for people who have the Bank of America account to receive a 10% rewards bonus automatically.
Cons
For people who are not a Bank of America customer, the rewards-earning will be not as good as most travel cards. With this card, people earn 1.5 points per dollar spent. However, several cards provide 2 points per dollar spent on selected purchases.
Summary
The BankAmericard Travel Rewards Credit Card will have the great potential for people with the Bank of America accounts to earn significant rewards. However, for people who are not the Bank of America customer had better choose another travel card which may create more bonuses.
No.3 Barclaycard Arrival Plus™ World Elite MasterCard®
- No foreign transaction fees
- $0 fraud liability protection
- Complimentary online FICO score access
- Sign-up bonus
Pros
Cardholders will earn 50,000 bonus miles when spending $3,000 on purchases in the first 90 days, which equals about $500 expenses on travel. Given the great sign-up bonus, Barclaycard Arrival Plus World Elite MasterCard will be one of the most excellent choices for people who like to travel. This card especially is proper for the international travelers due to the 0 foreign transaction fees.
Cons
People who prefer a card with a lower annual fee had better choose another card, like Capital One Venture Rewards Credit Card. Besides, compared with the Chase Sapphire Preferred Card, the sign-up bonus of the Barclaycard Credit Card is about $125 less when transferring the bonus points into the travel statement credit.
Summary
Users can use the miles on any purchases related to travel with the Barclaycard Arrival Plus World Elite MasterCard. What outshines this credit card is the high rewards rate, with which cardholders can enjoy 5% redemption bonus that boosts the effective rate to 2.1%.
No.4 Capital One® Venture® Rewards Credit Card
- No foreign transaction fees
- Flexible rewards
- Simple redemption process
- Simple earning structure
Pros
As one of the most flexible travel credit cards available, Capital One rewards credit card enables users to earn 2 miles per $1 spent on purchases. Miles can be redeemed for a credit against the expenses related to most travel. This card apart from the miles rewards also comes with low annual fee compared to other travel cards. Furthermore, people can take it abroad easily since there are no foreign transaction costs. Cardholders can enjoy a one-time sign-up bonus of 40,000 miles once spending $3,000 on items bought within three months the moment the account was opened, which equals to $400 in travel.
Cons
Capital One Venture Rewards Credit Card doesn’t provide the perks related to airline-specific items. You had better choose an airline’s co-branded card if you’re loyal to one particular airline.
Summary
Capital One rewards credit cards will defeat other cards when it comes to redemption and easy earning. Pick this card you will enjoy multiple benefits including miles for hotel stays, cab rides or cruises or flights.
No.5 Starwood Preferred Guest® Credit Card from American Express
- High earnings rate
- Starwood hotel stays
- Transferring points to airlines
- Great sign-up bonus
Pros
With the Starwood Preferred Guest Credit Card from American Express, cardholders can get up to 5 Starpoints per dollar spent at SPG locations and 2 Starpoints per dollar spent at Marriott Rewards Properties, another 1 Starpoint per dollar on all other purchases. All the Starpoints can only be transferred up to two dozen frequent flier programs. However, it provides the most dollars per point for the redeeming points for hotel stays. Aside from that, cardholders can also get a good sign-up point of 25,000 bonus Starpoints when spending $3,000 within the first 90 days the moment the account is open.
Cons
This card will almost lose its great value for people who don’t stay at Starwood hotels frequently. Meanwhile, people who often go abroad had better not choose this card since it isn’t widely used worldwide.
Summary
For people who frequently stay at Starwood hotels, this card will be a great choice since people can transfer the points racked up to their favorite flier program at a rate of 1:1. On the whole, the Starwood Preferred Guest Credit Card from American Express with high earning rate and flexible redemption rules make it a solid choice for people who often fly and stay at hotels.
No.6 Discover it® Miles
- No annual fee
- Free FICO score
- No foreign transaction fee
- High rewards rate
- 0% APR
Pros
What attracts people most of Discover it Miles is that it doesn’t have the minimum redemption requirements. People who only have 1 mile left can request a direct deposit of 1 cent if they like. Aside from that, it offers people an valuable sign-up bonus allowing people to match mile for mile. For instance, people will get 80,000 miles if they earn 40,000 miles. Meanwhile, people could get 3 miles per dollar spent on the purchases in the first year. What counts most is that this card has no annual fee.
Cons
For people who are a big spender, the Discover it Miles may not be a good choice since it is proper for people who don’t intend to spend a lot. Many cards like Chase Sapphire Reserve and BankAmericard Travel Rewards credit card are a better deal than the Discover it Miles when it comes to its redemption bonus.
Summary
As a travel card with the most cash back in the short term, Discover it Miles offers users a cash back bonanza in the first year with a double bonus which yields a net 3%. Besides, cardholders can pair this card with Discover it to get another 5% on bonus categories. Therefore, Discover it Miles would be an excellent choice for people who like to travel.
No.7 Gold Delta SkyMiles® Credit Card from American Express
- Sign-up bonus
- No foreign transaction fee
- $0 introductory annual fee
- Great travel benefits
- Points never expire
Pros
With unlimited discounts on airport lounge access, Gold Delta SkyMiles Card is an excellent choice for people who are a frequent traveler. SkyMiles are worth at least $0.075 per mile and often worth $0.01. Remember that the points accumulated in this card can vary at redemption even for the same routes based on different factors, like date, time, season, and more. Aside from that, keep in mind that the points that are raked up will never expire so long as your card remains in the good state. What attracts people most especially for international travelers, there is no transaction fee when using SkyMiles Credit Card.
Cons
The Gold Delta SkyMiles Card comes with an annual fee of $95, which makes it not as good as those fee-free travel rewards cards such as Discover it Miles and Capital One VentureOne Credit Card. Meanwhile, this card offers low point values for non-airfare redemptions.
Summary
Overall, with this Gold Delta SkyMiles Card, cardholders can earn miles for purchases on different items like gas, restaurants, groceries and more others. Furthermore, the miles racked up can be redeemed for bonuses towards travel on Delta and other over 15 airline partners. Meanwhile, there will be no limit for how much you earn.
No.8 Southwest Rapid Rewards® Premier Credit Card
- No foreign transaction fee
- Great rewards program
- Sign-up bonus
- No blackout dates
Pros
The Southwest Rapid Rewards Premier Credit Card gives users access to 6,000 bonus points with no annual spending requirement on the account anniversary. Therefore, the bonus will offset its annual fee. Furthermore, no foreign transaction fees will be another advantage of this card. Meanwhile, it saves cardholders a lot on baggage fees of flying Southwest.
Cons
For most credit cards, the annual fee for the first year will be waived, while it is different with the Southwest Rapid Rewards Premier Credit Card. Besides, it doesn’t offer any luxury perks, like the bonus in airport lounge access and concierge service and more.
Summary
It will be an excellent choice for people who are dedicated to flying Southwest Airlines to use this card due to its robust rewards and generous anniversary bonus. Keep it if you are attracted by the rewards of this card.
No.9 United MileagePlus® Explorer Card
- No foreign transaction fees
- Sign-up bonus
- Good rewards program
Pros
The United MileagePlus Explorer Card provides a free checked bag which will make up for the annual fee. Another great bonus of this card is the 5,000 bonus miles when making a purchase with this card within the first three months of being a cardmember. Moreover, it provides a big bonus of an additional 10,000 miles each year for big spenders after spending at least $25,000.
Cons
Compared to other travel rewards credit cards, like Barclaycard Arrival Plus World Elite MasterCard comes with a lower annual fee than the United MileagePlus Explorer Card. Plus, this card doesn’t allow cardholders to redeem their points for the purchase related to travel.
Summary
The United MileagePlus Explorer Card is also a solid option though it isn’t the best travel reward card here. People who are a dedicated United flyer and don’t like to be checked on the bag, this card will be a good choice to offer some great perks.
No.10 Marriott Rewards® Premier Credit Card
- No transaction fees
- Redeem points for hotels
- Great sign-up bonus
Pros
The great sign-up bonus of the Marriott Rewards Premier Credit Card is one of the most valuable rewards out there. Cardholders will get 80,000 bonus points after spending $3,000 on purchases within the first 90 days as soon as the account is open. For travelers who want a large sign-up bonus and the ongoing rewards, this card will be a solid option.
Cons
For people who frequently try several hotel brands, some other card which allows them to transfer points to multiple loyalty programs may be a good choice.
Summary
Overall, the Marriott Rewards Premier Credit Card is a perfect fit for travelers who prefer Marriott or like to join a hotel loyalty program which offers abundant choices.