Travel credit cards often feature generous rewards programs and benefits, including free hotel stays and airport lounge access. How often you travel and what benefits matter the most will determine the number of cards you carry.
Some airline credit cards with attractive benefits such as priority boarding and lounge access may justify high annual fees; but for others, cash-back cards may offer more appealing alternatives.
Frequent Traveler
If you travel frequently, having multiple travel credit cards can bring significant value. For instance, airline cards often earn bonus miles in your favorite loyalty program, enabling you to reach thresholds faster for free flights or hotel stays and increase points balance faster.
Owning multiple hotel cards can make it easier to secure rewards such as free stays and automatic elite status, while many travel cards provide attractive sign-up bonuses and reward rates that could come in handy when earning these benefits.
Before opening any additional cards, it’s essential to consider both your credit score and spending habits carefully. Too many cards could have an adverse impact on your credit utilization while paying excessively high interest could negate the advantages offered by rewards such as airport lounge access or 0% introductory APRs. Furthermore, it may be prudent to carry an emergency backup card just in case your primary one gets lost, stolen, or rejected at an international merchant.
Hotel Rewards
Many travel cards offer bonus rewards on hotel stays, yet calculating their value may be tricky. Cash back cards make this calculation simpler; with hotel and airline points it requires additional calculations to understand exactly the redemption value for each point or mile earned.
An effective way to maximize hotel points is to secure a co-branded card from a brand you enjoy and use it exclusively when making travel purchases. Doing this will enable you to earn bonus rewards with every transaction and amass valuable perks like free hotel stays and checked bags – not only that!
Managing multiple travel cards while carefully overseeing fees, benefits and payments is an excellent way to build up your credit score while taking advantage of unique perks. Just make sure that when applying for cards at different times you spread out your applications so as to minimize any dings on your credit score.
Airline Rewards
If you want to maximize rewards from flight purchases, having multiple airline credit cards may make sense. But be mindful that they often come with annual fees or additional expenses that should be factored into your decision-making.
Airline credit cards accelerate rewards accumulation by earning miles specific to each airline and loyalty program, as well as offering key perks such as priority boarding and airport lounge access.
But if you don’t travel enough to meet thresholds for free flights and hotel nights, then general travel rewards cards may offer better value for your spending. They typically feature higher rewards rates across all spending categories and 0% introductory APRs; plus they often come with global acceptance and zero sign-up bonuses! They may even provide valuable perks such as free checked bags, Global Entry/TSA PreCheck credits and annual travel credits!
Cash Back
Cash back credit cards offer fixed amounts no matter your spending, making multiple cards an ideal solution for anyone wanting to maximize rewards while minimising risk when traveling or having below-average credit (see how to improve your credit score.). It can also help a cardholder with below average credit diversify their card portfolio (see how to improve your credit score.).
