Best Credit Cards for Travel Spending (2019)
Make sure to read the tips and general advice in our Optimize Rewards by Using Different Cards for Different Purchases guide.
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Card suggestions (for most people)
Most people are going to want at least one premium credit card (like the Chase Sapphire Reserve, Citi Prestige, or Amex Platinum card), in order to get free access to airport lounges and other valuable benefits. And most of these premium cards also offer great reward rates on travel purchases. A few of them also provide free travel insurance when you use them to pay for your tickets. Which Premium Reward Card is Right for You?
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The simplest option is to stick with the Sapphire Reserve card. It earns 3x Ultimate Rewards points, valued at 5.1 cents per dollar, on every type of travel purchase, including ground transportation and cruises; and provide the best travel insurance available from any credit card. After adjusting for its $300 travel credit and $60 DoorDash credit, the effective annual fee is $190-250. In addition, the card (or the Sapphire Preferred) is also a critical part of the Chase Unlimited combo. If you want to keep things simple, you can stick to this card to use for all of your travel and restaurant purchases. But, if you spend a lot of money on airfare and restaurants, or decide on a different approach than the Chase Unlimited combo for your everyday spending, you might be better off using one of the other cards for your travel spending. | |
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The Amex Platinum card earns the most valuable rewards on airfare. It earns 5x Membership Rewards points, valued at 7.5 cents per dollar, on flights booked directly with the airline or through Amex Travel, and offers travel insurance (but not baggage delay insurance). You only get travel insurance if you book a round-trip itinerary, but you can pay independently for different segments. For most people, the effective annual fee on the Platinum card is too high to justify the card just for the airfare rewards and other benefits. But, if you are collecting signup bonuses or highly value some of Platinum card's benefits, you could easily wind up having one of the several different varieties of the Amex Platinum cards, at least for a year at a time. If so, you should probably use it to earn extra points on your airfare purchases. Just be sure you are comfortable using the resulting Membership Rewards points for booking frequent flyer tickets. The Platinum Card also provides 5x Membership Rewards points for pre-paid hotel bookings bought through Amex Travel. But, when you book this way, you won’t get any credit or benefits with the hotel’s loyalty program, and you often won’t get the best room rates. So, this is only a good option when you are staying at a non-chain hotel, the rates are pre-paid (but possibly cancellable), and Amex’s prices happen to be good. | |
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The Citi Prestige is another option with every high reward rates on airfare and online travel agencies.. It earns 5x ThankYou points, valued at 7.5 cents per dollar, on both airfare and purchases on online travel agencies, and 3x ThankYou points, valued at 4.5 cents per dollar, on hotels and cruises. You may prefer to settle for Chase's 3x Ultimate Rewards points because they come with built-in travel insurance, are easier to redeem, and man not require an extra annual fee. And if you already have the Platinum card, you are generally better off earning 5x Membership Rewards points on airfare with that card instead. The Membership Reward points are generally more valuable and you'll get at least some travel benefits. However, if you are deciding between the Amex Platinum and Citi Prestige card to earn extra airfare rewards, you might prefer the Prestige card's 5x reward rate on restaurants and purchases with online travel agencies, unique 4th night free benefit, simpler travel credit, and more generous Priority Pass membership to the Platinum card's larger lounge network and other benefits. Just remember that you won't get free travel insurance. The Prestige card has $495 annual fee. A $250 automatic travel credit drops the effective annual fee to $245. | |
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The U.S. Bank Altitude Reserve card can be your best option if you don’t want to mess around with frequent flyer points, or you don’t travel enough to warrant getting a more expensive card. It earns 4.5 cents per dollar on all travel purchases (as well as on anything bought with a mobile wallet). There are a few no-annual-fee credit cards that offer good bonus rewards on travel, but for most people, the limited lounge access, and other benefits you’ll get from the Altitude Reserve, make it worth paying what amounts to $75 per year. For people who can't get the Sapphire Reserve, the Altitude Reserve provides the highest reward rate of any card that includes extensive travel insurance benefits. |
Recommended cards (other options)
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If you can deal with some extra complexity, the Wells Fargo "Combo" is the best no-annual-fee option. It earns 4.5% on travel, without any annual fees. The trick is that you need to have two different Wells Fargo cards. And because you can only get one Wells Fargo card every 15 months, it will take some time to put this plan into action. The Wells Fargo Propel card earns 3x points on Travel (and Restaurants, Gas, and Streaming Services). Normally these points are only worth 1 cent each. But, if you also have the Wells Fargo Visa Signature card, you can redeem points at 1.5 cents each, for airfare purchases through the Wells Fargo portal. That works out to 4.5 cents per dollar. | |
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If you frequently travel on Amtrak, the Amtrak World card offer perhaps the best rewards on travel spending. It earns 2x Amtrak points on all travel purchases, which can then be redeemed for 5.8 cents on Amtrak travel. Points are extremely easy to redeem, and people who travel on Amtrak frequently enough to use up all the points they earn, are likely to prefer 2x Amtrak points to 3x ThankYou points, or even 3x Ultimate Rewards points. | |
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The Synovus Travel Rewards card is another good option (if you live in the Southeast). It earns 5x points, valued at 6 cents per dollar, on your first $5,000/year of travel purchases, and 3x points, valued at 3.6 cents per dollar, on one other category of your choice. $50 annual fee. To get this card, you’ll need to have an account with one of Synovus banks in the Southeast US. |
Quick comparison
The point values used in the table below are estimates based on a typical traveler. They may need to be adjusted for your individual preferences and travel patterns. For example, if you highly value premium cabin award tickets and are willing and able to build up large point balances, Ultimate Rewards, Membership Rewards, and ThankYou points are much more valuable and you should earn as many of those types of points as you can. If you have trouble finding good frequent flyer redemptions, you might want to focus on cards that earn points that can be used more like cash. Deciding What Type of Points to Earn
The annual costs in the table below reflect the annual fee minus any travel credits. For travel credits that are harder to redeem, we value the credit at 50% of the maximum credit amount. We value the Amex Airlines Incidental Credit at only 25% of the maximum credit amount. If you are willing to do the work or are otherwise able to get full value from these credits, the effective annual fee can be considerably lower.
Some cards waive the annual fee for the first year. But the table focuses on what you would pay in the longer term.
| Value | Earns | Included Purchases | Includes Insurance | Annual Cost |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Fairwinds Visa Signature Card | ||||
| 7.5% | 5x Points | All travel | Yes | $249 |
| Amex Platinum Card | ||||
| 7.5% | 5x MR | Airfare and prepaid hotels booked through Amex | Yes | $400 |
| Citi Prestige | ||||
| 7.5% | 5x TY | Airfare and Online Travel Agencies | - | $245† |
| Synovus Travel* | ||||
| 6% | 5x | All travel (up to $5,000 per year) | - | $50 |
| Amtrak Credit Card | ||||
| 5.8% | 2x | All travel | - | $79 |
| Chase Sapphire Reserve | ||||
| 5.1% | 3x UR | All travel | Yes | $190-250 |
| Ink Preferred (Business card) | ||||
| 5.1% | 3x UR | All travel | Yes | $95 |
| Priceline Rewards card | ||||
| 5% | 5x | Prepaid hotels rooms at Priceline and Cruises | - | $0 |
| Wells Fargo Propel Card (with Wells Fargo Visa Signature) | ||||
| 4.5% | 3x GoFar | Flights, hotels, car rentals, transit, homestays | - | $0 |
| US Bank Altitude Reserve | ||||
| 4.5% | 3x | All travel | Yes | $75 |
| Amex Green Card | ||||
| 4.5% | 3x MR | All Travel | - | $150 |
| Amex Gold | ||||
| 4.5% | 3x MR | Airfare | - | $30-250 |
| Citi Premier | ||||
| 4.5% | 3x TY | Airfare and hotels | - | $95 |
| BOA Premium Rewards / BOA Travel Rewards | ||||
| 2-4.1% | 2-4.1x# | All travel | Yes | $45 |
| Amex Everyday Preferred (with 30 transaction bonus) | ||||
| 3.75% | 2.5 MR | Airfare and prepaid hotels booked through Amex | - | $95 |
| Penfed Pathfinder (for account holders) | ||||
| 3.6% | 4x | All travel purchases | - | $0 |
| Chase Sapphire Preferred | ||||
| 3.4% | 2x UR | All travel | Yes | $95 |
| Hyatt Card | ||||
| 3.4% | 2x | Airfare and car rentals | Yes | $75 |
| Amex Everyday (with 20 transaction per month bonus) | ||||
| 3.3% | 2.2x MR | Airfare and prepaid hotels booked through Amex | - | $0 |
| CNB Crystal Infinite | ||||
| 3.3% | 3x | Most Travel | Yes | $150 |
| Morgan Stanley‡ (for Morgan Stanley customers only) | ||||
| 3% | 2x MR | Airfare and car rentals | - | $0 |
| Uber | ||||
| 3% | 3% | Airfare, hotels, and vacation home rentals | - | $0 |
| AAA (available to anyone) | ||||
| 3% | 3% | All travel | - | $0 |
| Costco / Sam's Club | ||||
| 3% | 3% | All travel | -/- | $0 |
| Southwest Plus | ||||
| 2.8% | 2x miles | Southwest, plus hotels and car rentals | - | $69 |
* The Synovus card is only available to people that live within their territory in the Southeast.
† Citigold customers save an extra $100 on the annual-fee.
‡ This card has a foreign transaction fees of 3%, making it a bad choice for booking foreign hotels and sometimes airfares.
# Cardholders with more than $20,000 in combined balances at BOA / Merrill Lynch earn bonus rewards, maxing out at 3.5 points on travel purchases with the Premium card, and 2.625 points with the Travel Rewards card. But, with both cards you'll earn a base rate of 3 points on purchases made through BOA's travel booking site. With the relationship bonus, this can be boosted as high as 4.125%.
Free travel insurance when you use your card
Several premium credit cards offer good reward rates on travel purchases and provide free travel insurance benefits when you use them to purchase travel. The Citibank cards used to have the best travel insurance benefits of any card, but as of September 2019, no longer provide this coverage.
| Chase Premium | Other Chase | Amex Premium | BOA Premium Rewards | Altitude Reserve |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Covers award flights | ||||
| Yes | Yes | Yes | ||
| Trip Cancellation & Interruption | ||||
| $10,000 | $5,000 ($10,000 Sapphire Preferred) |
$10,000 | $5,000 | $5,000 |
| Trip Delay (max. amount) | ||||
| $500 | $500 | $500 | $500 | $500 |
| Trip Delay (min. hours) | ||||
| 6 hours | 12 hours | 6 hours | 12 hours | 6 hours |
| Baggage Delay (max. amount) | ||||
| $500 ($100/day) |
$500 ($100/day) |
$500 ($100/day) |
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| Baggage Delay (min. hours) | ||||
| 6 hours | 6 hours | 6 hours | ||
| Lost / Damaged Bags (per passenger) | ||||
| $3,000 | $3,000 | $3,000 | Yes | $5,000 ($2,000/bag) |
| Travel Accident (Death and Dismemberment) | ||||
| $1,000,000 | $500,000 | Yes | $1,000,000 | |
| Emergency Evacuation | ||||
| $100,000 | None | Unlimited (Platinum only) | Yes | $10,000 |
| Emergency Medical | ||||
| $2,500 | None | |||
| Auto Rental Coverage | ||||
| Primary | Primary* | Secondary | Secondary | Secondary |
* For Sapphire Reserved and some other Chase cards. On Ink Preferred, rental must be for business purposes.
A few additional tips:
- The Amex Platinum card gives you emergency evacuation coverage, just by having the card. You don’t have to use it to buy your airfare. So, you can use it along with any other coverages.
- Trip cancellation and interruption insurance only covers expenses that were paid for by the card. With Chase, you need to pay for any portion of the cost, including award ticket fees. With Amex, the entire cost of the component needs to have been purchased with the card or with Membership Reward points. So, if you want your Platinum card's trip insurance to cover non-refundable hotel and other travel expenses, you need to charge them to your Platinum card and not use a card that earns more valuable rewards on non-airfare spending.
- Amex's travel insurance requires round-trip travel. You can purchase each segment separately, but all segments must be purchased with your card, and you must wind up in the same city you left from.
- Chase only covers family members on the same itinerary as you, not other travelling companions. Amex covers both family members and travelling companions
When to use your hotel or airline card instead
If you have a hotel or airline branded credit card, it will earn bonus rewards when you make purchases from that hotel company or airline. However, you can usually still earn more valuable rewards from one of the cards above, (such as the Citi Prestige or Sapphire Reserve card), rather than the hotel or airline’s own card. You’ll also get more flexibility when redeeming your points, and often some additional travel protections.
- If you have the Citi Prestige or American Express Platinum card, they earn the highest rewards on airfare purchases. No airline card comes close.
- The Chase Sapphire Reserve, the Altitude Reserve, and the Citi Prestige / Premier cards, (almost) always earn higher rewards than the hotel’s or airline’s card. The only exceptions are the Hilton Aspire Credit Card, Hilton Surpass Credit Card, Hyatt Credit Card, Best Western Credit Card, JetBlue Plus Credit Card, and (probably) the Frontier Credit Card.
- If you are just using a general-purpose reward card that earns 2-2.5%, you’ll always get more valuable rewards by using the hotel or airline card instead. Just make sure that you are likely to have a good chance to redeem whatever points you earn with a given hotel or airline program—it is often easier to take advantage of general bank points (or cash back), than the points you might earn separate hotel or airline programs.
