How often and what types of rewards matter most when selecting the ideal travel credit card can depend on both how often and what kind of travel rewards are most valued by you. NerdWallet assesses cards offering competitive points/miles rates on travel purchases as well as helpful perks, like reimbursement of application fees for Global Entry or TSA PreCheck applications.
1. The Chase Sapphire Preferred Card
The Chase Sapphire Preferred Card is an all-around powerhouse, offering both an attractive rewards program and valuable travel perks and protections. It could make an ideal companion for beginners as well as veterans, though maximizing its potential will require careful strategy.
The Sapphire Preferred card provides many attractive benefits, such as an impressive welcome bonus, airport lounge access and travel statement credits. Furthermore, this card earns three times as many points on travel and dining than competing cards compared with two times. Furthermore, there is a broad array of transfer partners and generous promotions which may add extra value.
This card provides premium travel perks that include trip cancellation and interruption insurance, auto rental collision damage waiver coverage and lost luggage reimbursement. Furthermore, foreign transaction fees are waived to save 2.7%-3% when making international purchases; plus Chase Offers gives you the chance to earn extra points or cash back through various partners.
2. The American Express Platinum Card
American Express’ Platinum Card is widely recognized as being one of the highest-end travel cards on the market, offering access to airport lounges, hotel elite status and travel protections – with an annual fee of $695 being an extremely steep cost of ownership.
However, the benefits of credit cards may outweigh their costs for some travelers. For instance, one card gives travelers access to a $200 airline fee credit that can go toward incidental fees charged by any airline they choose; another gives $100 towards TSA PreCheck/NEXUS/Global Entry costs each year.
Additionally, this card offers premium benefits for dining and entertainment such as Uber ride-and-eat credits and membership to Amex Fine Hotels + Resorts or The Hotel Collection programs for free. In addition, CLEAR reimburses its annual $189 fee with this benefit; some might see this as enough compensation to offset its annual fee altogether. Note: Rewards on this card do have an expiration date; for some this could be enough of an incentive.
3. The Barclaycard Arrival Plus World Elite Mastercard
Barclaycard Arrival Plus is an impressive travel rewards card with a standout sign-up bonus and comprehensive benefits package. Earn 2 miles for every $1 spent when making purchases with it and 5% rebate when redeeming miles for travel – increasing the effective earning rate to 2.1% cash back, which far outshines other travel credit cards on offer.
Redeeming miles for travel is straightforward and you can use them for airfare, hotel stays, timeshares, rental cars, cruises, discounted travel sites and more. Arrival Plus miles are worth one cent each towards travel redemptions without blackout dates or restrictions imposed by airlines.
Another excellent aspect of this card is that miles never expire if your account remains open – an advantage over many airline and hotel loyalty programs with 12- to 24-month expiration policies.
4. The Bank of America Travel Rewards Credit Card
Bank of America Travel Rewards Credit Card is an ideal choice for people seeking straightforward travel rewards without all the bells and whistles provided by other cards. There’s no annual fee and 0% introductory APR on purchases and balance transfers for 15 billing cycles – plus 1.5 points per dollar spent, which you can redeem toward statement credits towards travel purchases or dining, cash back, gift cards or statement credits from bank. And if you qualify for Preferred Rewards tier you could even earn 25% to 75% more rewards!
Bank of America Travel Rewards card may be ideal for occasional travelers without annual fee commitment, though its features may not match up to those offered by more specialized cards like Global Entry/TSA PreCheck applications fee credit or airline incidental credits every year. For example, this card provides $100 of airline incidental credits every year or provides Global Entry/TSA PreCheck application fee credit every four years – something no other card does!
