Credit cards with travel rewards can bring significant points and miles to you; however, getting maximum value from them requires careful thought.
Airlines and hotel loyalty programs often offer co-branded cards with elite status, lounge access and free nights as rewards. General travel cards with transfer partners provide more flexible redemption options.
The Capital One Venture X Rewards Credit Card
The Venture X card offers an attractive earning rate on travel bookings made through Capital One travel portal and 2X point earnings on all other purchases – which far outstrips most competing cards’ disappointing earning rates.
Capital One also offers many valuable perks, including up to $300 in annual statement credits towards travel booked through its Capital One Travel Portal, 10,000 bonus miles each account anniversary and access for cardholder and one guest to over 1,300 Priority Pass airport lounges. Furthermore, Visa Infinite benefits such as purchase/travel/lost luggage protection as well as trip cancellation/interruption coverage are included with this card.
But for some cardholders, its relatively high annual fee (Rates & Fees) might outweigh these potential value-adds; that is why some savvy points travelers may prefer upgrading from an existing Capital One Venture card to its Venture X version instead.
The Chase Sapphire Preferred(r) Card
Chase Sapphire Preferred is one of the most widely held travel rewards cards available, boasting high bonus points in dining and travel categories, airport lounge access and other luxurious travel benefits. Although other credit cards may offer greater bonuses for dining and travel categories or more luxurious amenities such as airport lounge access, this mid-tier card still stands out. Offering an generous sign-up bonus of 60,000 Ultimate Rewards points when spending $4,000 within three months and redeemable travel at 1.25 cents each, as well as transferability to airline and hotel partners that provide added value redemption options that offer even greater redemption value when redeeming travel rewards cards or airline miles/points loyalty program rewards program;
Benefits such as trip cancellation and interruption insurance, primary auto rental collision damage waiver and trip delay reimbursement make this card stand out as one of the top cards available and make it an attractive choice for travelers who value rewards without incurring costly annual fees. It has long been considered one of the premier credit card offers available today and travelers looking for rewarding travel rewards should strongly consider applying.
The Chase Sapphire Reserve(r) Card
If you want top-tier travel rewards and benefits, the Chase Sapphire Reserve card may be the perfect fit. Offering an attractive sign-up bonus and generous redemption opportunities – up to 1.5 cents per point when redeeming points through Chase’s travel portal alone! Furthermore, points transferred can also be applied towards various airline and hotel loyalty programs at 1:1 ratio for maximum value.
This card provides an annual $300 travel credit in the form of statement credits for eligible travel purchases, and an exclusive Priority Pass Select membership that allows access to more than 1,300 airport lounges worldwide. Furthermore, this card provides numerous purchase and travel protections, such as trip cancellation or interruption insurance and collision damage waiver.
The Sapphire Preferred is an ideal alternative for travelers who don’t require all of the luxury travel perks associated with luxury cards but still want excellent travel rewards and purchase and travel protections. Both cards don’t incur foreign transaction fees and reward travelers with two points for every dollar spent on travel purchases and three for dining and grocery spending.
The Bank of America Travel Rewards Credit Card
At first glance, the Bank of America Travel Rewards card may seem unassuming; however, this credit card packs plenty of power. With unlimited 1.5X points earned on all purchases (with additional rewards for purchases made through Bank of America Travel Center) plus no annual or foreign transaction fees and never expiring points – you won’t find many better travel credit cards out there than this one!
Your points can be redeemed for statement credits to cover eligible travel and dining expenses, such as flights, hotel bookings, car and vacation rentals, baggage fees and restaurant takeout. Their value varies depending on how you redeem them – for travel purchases they’re worth one cent each while cash statement credits or gift cards offer less value per point redeemed.
This card is ideal for travelers looking for a flexible earning and redemption structure, or those with banking or investing accounts at Bank of America who could potentially boost their earnings by 25-75% if eligible to participate in its Preferred Rewards program.
