Travel credit cards help you enjoy your travel more with flight upgrades, free hotel stays, and travel and overseas purchase protection. You can even score free flights using the points you earn for traveling frequently.
Travel credit cards can be beneficial, only if the perks outweigh the annual membership fee. Many credit card users will balk on paying a yearly fee but for frequent travelers, the travel privileges and benefits are worth it.
When choosing your travel card, think about what’s more important to you and if each card offered benefits can be really utilized considering your travel frequency. To help you decide, here are my top three favorite travel credit cards with their big signup bonuses, travel benefits, and competitive rewards.
Chase Sapphire Preferred Card
It’s no surprise that Chase Sapphire Preferred Card has been widely recognized as the best travel credit card by many travelers. It has an excellent sign-up bonus offer of 60,000 points after spending $4,000 in the first three months of account opening. This automatically translates to $750 in value that can be redeemed through their reward points system. This particular card also has a solid rewards rate: 5X points on Lyft rides, 2X points on dining and travel, and 1 point per $1 spent on all other purchases. All this for a low annual fee of only $95.
The best-known travel perk of Chase Sapphire Preferred Card is the auto rental collision damage waiver that covers the cardmember, and permitted driver by the rental car agreement, for vehicle damage due to accident or theft. This insurance kicks in before your auto insurance and is quite generous.
Capital One VentureOne Rewards Credit Card
Its straight forward rewards earning scheme makes VentureOne perfect for travel beginners and budget-conscious travelers. VentureOne waives the fee for the first year and charges a $95 annual fee after that. The card also offers a sign-up bonus of 20,000 miles after spending just $1,000 in the first three months. You also earn unlimited 1.25 miles per dollar on every purchase, and no transaction fee when purchasing outside the United States, unlike the eBay Mastercard.
While this is a benefit that, hopefully, you’ll never use, the VentureOne offers travel accident insurance getting up to $250,000 worth of coverage when you use your credit card to purchase the fare.
The Platinum Card from American Express
Its annual fee of $550 might be considered high when compared to other travel credit cards, but with The Platinum Card‘s amazing annual credits, you can easily recoup the cost. Offering 5X on airfare and prepaid hotels booked directly with American Express Travel, $200 statement credits annually for checked baggage and in-flight refreshments, a total average value of $550 for hotel stay benefits, and up to $200 in annual Uber credits – the perks are truly unapparelled.
The best thing about The Platinum Card is the 1,200 airport lounges access across 130 countries. You can relax and enjoy complimentary food and beverages on The Centurion Lounges, Delta Sky Club Lounges, and Priority Pass Select lounges.