Our Top Travel Credit Cards: Types of cards, best perks, & more! (2024)

Looking to travel for free (or cheap)? Read about our top travel credit cards that have saved us thousands on flights and other travel expenses!

We often get asked how we can afford to travel and while there are many things we do to save money to travel and while traveling, one of the biggest things that have helped us travel more while on a budget are travel credit cards.

We know credit cards are a controversial topic, but we believe that if you treat them like a debit card, only spend what you have, and pay them off every single month, they are one of the best travel tools out there!

Ever since we got our first travel credit card, we have been able to travel for significantly less. By taking advantage of the large sign up bonuses and earning lots of points through our normal purchases, we’ve essentially earned free money and have taken many flights for free or for much less out of pocket.

For example, in 2019, we flew to Mexico City, to Arizona, back and forth to Austin for 5 months to build our van (18 one way flights total), to Italy, and to Chicago for a total of around 32 one way flights for around $2,000 total (an average of $63/one way). The majority of the flights were 100% free with credit card points, minus the taxes and fees, while for some we used a combination of credit card points, frequent flyer miles, and money out of our pocket. Pretty crazy!

In this blog we’ll share the different types of travel credit cards, our favorite travel credit cards, how to decide which travel credit card is for you, and helpful resources to check out.

Co-branded travel credit cards are tied to a certain airline or hotel, like United or Hyatt. These cards earn points that can only be used at the specific airline or hotel.

These cards can be great if you’re looking for rewards specific to those brands, such as free nights or upgrades, but they can also limit your options if a certain reward isn’t available when you need to use it, such as award seat availability.

We only recommended getting these if you only (or mostly) stay at these specific chains or fly the same airline.

General-purpose travel cards give rewards that can be used like cash on any airline or hotel brand, such as the Chase Sapphire Reserve or Capital One Venture Card.

These travel cards are best for those who don’t stick to specific airlines or hotels and want the most flexibility for flights and accommodations. While you get more flexibility, the downside is that you typically do not get brand specific perks.

While we have had both co-branded travel cards and general-purpose travel cards, we personally like to keep our flight and accommodation options open by using general-purpose travel cards that aren’t tied to specific airlines or hotels.

Another big differentiator between travel credit cards are Premium vs. Budget cards.

Premium credit cards come with a high annual fee, but earn miles much faster and come with many more perks. Budget credit cards on the other hand, have a much cheaper (or free!) annual fee, but typically earn points at a slower rate and do not come with as many perks.

When deciding between the two, it is important to weigh the perks for each and decide which one you’re going to get the most value out of. It is a balance between how much of a fee you are willing to pay, how fast you want to earn points, and what perks come with it.

We have a mixture of Premium and Budget travel credit cards, but we use our Premium cards much more regularly. For us, the high annual fee has paid for itself many times over with how many points we have accumulated, with the free food and drinks we can get in the lounge, and the additional money we get off Ubers or on travel expenses. However, that annual fee charge does sting every time though!

Here are a few tips to help make sure you get the most value from your travel credit card!

Make sure you hit the minimum spend
To get the most value from a travel credit card, you need to make sure you hit the minimum spend to get the sign up bonus. These requirements differ between cards, but the sign up bonus typically can cover a round trip flight, so missing out on that would be heartbreaking!

We recommend applying for a travel credit card around a big purchase you have to make in order to help earn the sign on bonus. For instance, if you are needing a new laptop, get the credit card then use that card to buy the laptop.

Dinner’s on me!
One thing I have loved doing with our travel cards is picking up the dinner bill for work dinners or out with friends. As long as you trust your employer or friends to pay you back, this is a great way to get extra miles!

Refer a friend
Some cards have offers where if you refer your friends and family to sign up for the card, you get loads of bonus miles for each person that signs up!

Multi-card strategy
If you decide to have more than one travel credit card, you can also be strategic and use specific ones for specific things. For example, if one card gives you 3x the points for dining and travel expenses, you would use that for those purchases.

But if another card has 2x the points for every purchase, you could use that one for any purchase that doesn’t get 3x points. The only downside of this is that then your points are spread out among a few different cards, so you may not have as high of a balance in one account.

Treat it like a debit card
We also highly advise only spending money you have and paying off the balance every month. If you’re carrying a large balance and have to pay the high interest rate, all the benefits you get from these cards is totally erased by the interest that adds up very quickly.

For more information on how a credit card can impact you financially, including your credit score, check out this article by Experian or speak to a financial professional.

Over the years we have had six travel credit cards, which we have signed up for because of the generous sign up bonuses, as well as how fast we can accumulate points and the perks. Below are our favorite travel credit cards and while we no longer use all of these, as some no longer fit our situation, we still highly recommend them all!

For each, we’re sharing important information, like the annual fee, as well as the perks that come along with them.

Chase Sapphire Reserve®

• This fee was a lot less when we signed up, so keep in mind that these fees can change.
• You can avoid the authorized user fee by adding your card to your spouse/authorized user’s Apple Pay account.
• You get a $300 travel credit each year, which we will cover below, so technically the card only costs $250 a year.

• Your points have 50% more value. This is by far our favorite perk! For most travel credit cards, 100,000 points is worth about $1,000 in travel. However, with the Chase Sapphire Reserve, your 100,000 points would be equal to $1,500 in travel if you book through their portal.
• Earn 5X total points on air travel when you purchase travel through Chase Ultimate Rewards® after the first $300 is spent on travel purchases annually. Earn 3X points on other travel, after the first $300 is spent on travel purchases annually.
• Earn 3x points on dining and 1x points on all other purchases. What this means is if you spend $200 on a dinner, you’ll get 600 points. With the 50% bonus, this would be redeem for about 900 points ($9), instead of 600 ($6). Compare this to the Capital One Venture X card, which we will cover below, you’d only get 400 points for this dinner.
• 10X points on hotel and car rental purchases and 5x points on flights booked through Chase Ultimate Rewards®. 1x points per dollar for most other expenses.
• $300 travel credit per year. Every year, you’ll get $300 back for any travel expenses you pay with your card. This includes Ubers/Lyfts, hotels, Airbnb, flights, etc.
• Priority Pass membership. This is another one of our favorite perks! Priority Pass is a program that gives you free access to airport lounges around the world. Not every airport has a Priority Pass lounge and some lounges are better than others, but any lounge is better than none! In the lounge you can get free food, coffee, and alcohol, which can save you a lot of money in the airport.
• TSA Precheck or Global Entry. With your card you can get reimbursed for the application fee for TSA Precheck or Global Entry (up to $100).
• Trip and rental car insurance. Never pay for a rental car’s expensive insurance again! With the Chase Sapphire Reserve, you get auto rental collision damage waiver, trip cancellation/trip interruption insurance, travel and emergency assistance services, and more!
• 1:1 point transfer to many hotel and airline loyalty programs. This includes United, Southwest, JetBlue, KLM, Air France, Emirates, British Airways, and more!
• No foreign transaction fees. Whenever you use your card internationally, you will not have to pay any foreign transaction fees.

Capital One® Venture X Rewards Credit Card

• 2x miles on all purchases. No matter what you’re buying, you’ll get 2x miles! This also means you’ll get 8,000 miles after hitting the sign up bonus since your $4,000 will be worth 8,000 miles.
• 10X miles on hotel and car rental purchases and 5x miles on flights booked through Capital One Travel.
• $300 travel credit per year. You will receive $300 back for bookings throughCapital One Travel.
• 10,000 anniversary miles. This is unlike any of the other premium cards we have listed on this guide and is a huge perk! That equates to $100 of free travel and combine that with the $300 travel credit, you’re basically getting $400 of perks for only $395 a year.
• TSA Precheck or Global Entry. With your card you can get reimbursed for the application fee for TSA Precheck or Global Entry (up to $100)
• Lounge access.You get Priority Pass and Plaza Premium lounge access (with guests!), as well as unlimited visits to Capital One airport lounges, which are smaller in number for now, but growing.
• Transfer miles to other airlines. While you can book any airline with this card, you can also transfer your miles to a specific airline, like Aeromexico, KLM, Air France, Emirates, Air Canada, Qatar, JetBlue, Qantas, and more!
• No foreign transaction fees. Whenever you use your card internationally, you will not have to pay any foreign transaction fees.
• Trip and rental car insurance. You’ll be covered if you have an incident with your rental car and you also get some travel insurance for canceled flights, delays, etc.

For Capital One products listed on this page, some of the above benefits are provided by Visa® or Mastercard® and may vary by product. See the respective Guide to Benefits for details, as terms and exclusions apply

IHG One Rewards Premier Credit Card

• Earn up to 26 total points per $1 spent when you stay at IHG Hotels & Resorts
• 5 points per $1 spent on travel, gas stations, and restaurants and 3 points per $1 spent on all other purchases. This will really help you rack up the points quicker!
• Your 4th night is FREE when you book a 4 night consecutive stay. This is a huge reason why we were able to get so many nights for free.
• Enjoy an Anniversary Free Night at IHG Hotels & Resorts.
• TSA Precheck or Global Entry fee credit of up to $100 every 4 years as reimbursem*nt for the application fee charged to your card.

Capital One® Venture® Rewards Credit Card

• 2x miles on all purchases. No matter what you’re buying, you’ll get 2x miles which is pretty sweet!
• TSA Precheck or Global Entry. With your card you can get reimbursed for the application fee for TSA Precheck or Global Entry (up to $100)
• Lounge access. This card does NOT come with a Priority Pass membership, but you do get 2 complimentary visits per year to a Capital One lounge or Plaza Premium lounge!
• Transfer miles to other airlines. While you can book any airline with this card, you can also transfer your miles to a specific airline, like Aeromexico, KLM, Air France, Emirates, Air Canada, Qatar, JetBlue, Qantas, and more!
• No foreign transaction fees. Whenever you use your card internationally, you will not have to pay any foreign transaction fees.
• Trip and rental car insurance. You’ll be covered if you have an incident with your rental car or your trip will be covered if you used your card to buy your flights.

The Platinum Card® from American Express

• 5x Membership Rewards® Points on airfare and hotels, up to $500,000 per year. The only caveat with this is that the flights must be booked directly with airlines or through amextravel.com and the hotels must be prepaid and booked on amextravel.com. For any other expenses, you get 1x Membership Rewards® Points per dollar.
• Priority Pass + Global Lounge Collection Access. Similar to the Chase Sapphire Reserve, you get access to Priority Pass lounges (enrollment required), but the extra perk (and one of the main reasons we got this card) is to get access to Centurion Lounges and other Global Lounge Collection lounges. These lounges tend to be nicer, have better food options, and more space to spread out and work.
• TSA Precheck or Global Entry. Receive either up to a $100 statement credit every 4 years for a Global Entry application fee or a statement credit up to $85 every 4.5 years for a TSA PreCheck® (through a TSA official enrollment provider) application fee, when charged to your American Express Card. Card Members approved for Global Entry will also receive access to TSA PreCheck at no additional cost.
• Up to $15 in Uber savings per month, which includes both rides and Uber Eats orders, plus up to a $20 bonus in December. You also get Uber VIP status! The catch with this is that you have to put your Platinum Card® from American Express in your Uber account and select “Uber Cash” to pay.
• Up to $200 airline fee credit per year. This means that you can get up to a $200airline fee credit given as statement credits. This includes baggage, incidental fees, in-flight drinks. You do have to choose one airline to get this benefit from though.
• Up to $200 in statement credits each year when booking a stay at Fine Hotels + Resorts® or The Hotel Collection hotels with American Express Travel, when you pay with your Platinum Card. The Hotel Collection requires a minimum two night stay.
• Marriott Bonvoy Gold Elite + Hilton Honors Gold status. Not only do you get Gold status at one major hotel chain, but you get it at both! This will get you perks like room upgrades, free breakfast, early check in and late check out, and more!
• Transfer Membership Rewards® Points to other airlines and hotels. While you can book any airline with this card, you can also transfer your Membership Rewards® Points to a specific airline, like Aeromexico, KLM, Air France, Emirates, Air Canada, ANA, Delta, Hawaiian, and more. You can also transfer to Hilton, Marriott, or Choice Privileges.
• No foreign transaction fees. Whenever you use your card internationally, you will not have to pay any foreign transaction fees.
• Trip insurance. Up to $500 per covered trip that is delayed for more than 6 hours; and 2 claims per eligible card per 12 consecutive month period. Eligibility and Benefit level varies by Card. Terms, Conditions and Limitations Apply. Please visit americanexpress.com/benefitsguide for more details. Underwritten by New Hampshire Insurance Company, an AIG Company.
• $240 Digital Entertainment Credit. Get up to $20 in statement credits each month when you pay for eligible purchases with the Platinum Card® at your choice of one or more of the following providers: Disney+, ESPN+, Hulu, The New York Times, Peaco*ck, SiriusXM, and The Wall Street Journal. Enrollment required.

Alaska Airlines® Credit Card

• $122 companion fare each year. By far the best perk of this card! Not only do you get the companion fare when you sign up, but you also get one companion fare per year. This means you could buy one full price ticket to Hawaii and get the second for $99 (plus $23 in taxes and fees)!
• Free checked bag on every flight. If your bag is too large to carry on or you just want to wander around the airport without lugging it around, this is a great perk! You can also use this perk for up to 6 people in your party.
• 3 miles for every $1 spent on eligible Alaska Airlines purchases. You also get 1 mile per $1 on any other purchase.
• No blackout dates. This means you can redeem your miles anyday!
• Alaska Airlines perks. You’ll get $100 off an annual Alaska Lounge+ Membership and 20% back on inflight purchases.
• No foreign transaction fees. Whenever you use your card internationally, you will not have to pay any foreign transaction fees.

Note: this card does not come with lounge access 🙁

Southwest Rapid Rewards® Priority Credit Card

• 3x points per dollar spent on Southwest purchases.
• 2x points per dollar on select streaming services, ride shares, internet and cable, local transit, and phone services.
• For any other purchases you get 1x points per dollar spent.
• 7,500 Anniversary point bonus. For the Priority card, you get 7,500 points every year on your card anniversary, which can get you a one way flight for some destinations!
• $75 Southwest annual travel credit. This alone makes this card worth it and makes the annual fee more like $74.
• 4 upgraded boardings per year when available. This is a big benefit since Southwest has a more unique boarding process.
• 25% back on inflight drinks and WiFi. And Southwest WiFi is some of the cheapest in the airline industry!
• No foreign transaction fees. Whenever you use your card internationally, you will not have to pay any foreign transaction fees.

If you don’t travel very often (1-2 times a year) or only travel in the US, you may want to stick to one of the lower annual fee cards. That way you’re not spending much out of pocket per year and while you may gain miles a bit slower, you won’t need to redeem them as often.

If you like to take international trips or travel 3+ times a year, we’d highly consider checking out our top three cards: Chase Sapphire Reserve, Capital One Venture X, and Amex Platinum. The benefits will pay for the hefty annual fee!

Are you loyal to a specific airline or hotel? Live near a major airport hub? Then we’d suggest looking into a co-branded airline or hotel travel credit card. If you live in Atlanta for example, there is a good chance you’ll be flying Delta, which would make the Delta credit card (which we didn’t cover) a good option to look at.

As you may have noticed, there are no hotel travel cards on our list, as we are Airbnb lovers. So for us, a hotel card wouldn’t make as much sense. But for someone who loves hotels, a hotel card would be a good one to have in your wallet!

Do you prefer to be flexible and pick whatever airline is cheapest? Go with one of the general-purpose cards, like the Chase, Capital One, or Amex. These will give you the most options when it comes time to book a flight.

PS: Check out our tips for finding cheap flights!

Lounges are one of our favorite perks! We are able to save $20+ at the airport on food and coffee by visiting the lounges instead, so if you travel 3 times a year, with 2 one way flights each time, that’s about $120 saved at airports! They are also a comfortable place to relax before your flight and have many outlets (sometimes a rarity in the terminal!). Some lounges have showers, massages, nap pods, and other benefits too!

Even if your airport does not have a lounge, they may have other perks for Priority Pass holders, like free food! We recently got $30 (each) for free at a restaurant in the Miami Airport as Priority Pass members.

While we have a good amount of experience with travel credit cards and are very loyal to the ones we own, there are many more cards out there to consider and tons of credit card knowledge to soak up. To see even more options, check out this list of cards on MileValue!

We’d also highly recommend reading Nerd Wallet, The Points Guy, and MileValue to learn about more strategies to maximize your travel credit cards, plus other tips!

We hope you found this guide helpful and feel better prepared to choose the right travel card for you. Travel credit cards have improved our travels in so many ways, from free or cheap flights, to free food and coffee, to free checked bags. Without them, we definitely wouldn’t be able to travel as much.

Want to make your credit card points last longer? Learn our tips for finding cheap flights so you can take more free flights with those points you earn!

Editorial Disclaimer: The editorial content is not provided or commissioned by the credit card issuers. Opinions expressed here are the author’s alone, not those of the credit card issuers, and have not been reviewed, approved or otherwise endorsed by the credit card issuers.