20 Best Travel Credit Cards of 2023 (Earn Free Flights)

Top 10 Travel Credit Cards For 2023

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The Best Travel Credit Card Overall—Capital One® Venture X® Rewards Credit Card

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Why we like it

In case you were asking yourself, “What is the best credit card for travel?” This is it. Yes, the annual fee of the card_name seems steep at $395—but when you look through the benefits, you’ll quickly see why it’s well worth the yearly cost:

• 75,000 bonus miles if you spend $4,000 in the first three months.
• 10,000 bonus miles every year (starting on your first anniversary).
• $300 annual travel credits for bookings through Capital One Travel.

The initial bonus offer is worth a minimum of $750—but even without it, the 10,000 annual bonus points and the $300 travel credit will pay for the annual fee. All you need to do is travel somewhere.

This card also has impressive rewards on your purchases:

• 10 miles per dollar on hotels and rental cars booked through Capital One Travel.
• 5 miles per dollar on flights booked through Capital One Travel.
• 2 miles per dollar on every purchase, every day.

Best Credit Card For Airline Miles—United Quest^SM Card

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Why we like it

Do you sometimes feel like George Clooney’s character in Up in the Air—spending too much of your life in airports? If so, it makes sense to put an airline credit card in your pocket. And the best one (according to our recent review) is the card_name.

Why?

First, you can earn 70,000 bonus miles + 500 Premier qualifying points after you spend $4,000 on purchases in the first three months your account is open.

Other perks:

• $125 annual United purchase credit (as a reimbursement for a United flight).
• Starting at your first anniversary, earn 5,000 miles if you take a United® operated flight booked with your miles (up to two times every anniversary year).
• 3x miles on United Airlines purchases.
• 2x miles on all other travel, dining, and select streaming services.
• 1x on everything else.

The Best Credit Card For International Travel—Chase Sapphire Reserve® Card

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Why we like it

Looking for the best credit cards for traveling abroad? This may not be what you were looking for when you came to this party—but it might just be who you leave with. The $550 fee is an initial turnoff—I get it.

But take a look at what the card_name has to offer:

• 60,000 bonus points (worth $900 toward travel when you redeem through Chase Ultimate Rewards).
• $300 annual travel credit.
• 10x points on hotels and car rentals (when booked through Chase Ultimate Rewards).
• 5x points on flights (when booked through Chase Ultimate Rewards).
• 3x points on other dining restaurants (and other worldwide travel).
• 1x points on all other purchases.

Check out the pros below, and you’ll see why we rated it as the best credit card for international travel (including Europe).

The Best Travel Card For Beginners—Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card

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Why we like it

This is Chase Sapphire Reserve’s more sensible sister. (Not quite as costly, but still comes with benefits.) The card_name is just $95, but has quite a few perks:

• Earn 60,000 points after you spend $4,000 in the first three months (that’s $750 toward travel when redeemed through Chase Ultimate Rewards).
• $50 in statement credits each year for hotel stays bought through Chase Ultimate Rewards.
• 5x points on travel bought through Chase Ultimate Rewards.
• 3x points on dining, select streaming services, and groceries (excluding Target, Walmart, and wholesale clubs).
• 2x points on other travel purchases.
• 1x points on everything else.

This card has excellent bonuses without the enormous annual cost—so it’s perfect for beginners.

The Best Business Travel Credit Card—The Business Platinum Card® from American Express

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Why we like it

Say, you’re a businessperson—constantly on the go, traveling from one side of the country to the other. You’ll want to consider card_name.

With this card, you’ll get:

• Upwards of 120,000 rewards points when you spend $15,000 in the first three months.
• 5x points on flights and prepaid hotels booked on AmexTravel.com.
• 1.5x points on construction supplies, electronics, software, and more (there’s a cap on this value).
• 1.5x points on purchases over $5,000 (on up to $2 million of these purchases per calendar year).
• 1x points on all other purchases.

(Terms apply.)

The Best Travel Credit Card For Students—Capital One SavorOne Student Cash Rewards Credit Card

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Why we like it

If you’re a student with minimal credit history, you’re probably wondering if there’s any hope of getting a credit card specifically for travel points. Your odds are about as good as Lloyd’s from Dumb and Dumber—about one in a million. (“So you’re telling me there’s a chance?” No, Lloyd, let’s not go there.)

That’s not to say you don’t have a great option—case in point—card_name.

Where most student cards barely sport any rewards at all, these are actually quite good:

• 3% back on dining, entertainment, popular streaming services, and at grocery stores.
• 1% back on everything else.

Best Credit Card For Bad Credit—Mission Lane Cash Back Visa Credit Card

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Why we like it

Look on any forum, and you’ll see that many people are approved for $1,000 limits with the Mission Lane card. It’s kind of their thing, along with no activation fees or “over-limit” fees. This card is for people with limited credit or those who need to rebuild their credit. 

Best Travel Points Credit Card—Capital One® Venture X® Rewards Credit Card

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Why we like it

Think you’re seeing double here? No need to book an eye exam—this is for real.

The card_name is the best rewards credit card for travel for many reasons—but mainly because of the fantastic travel points it offers—

• 10,000 bonus miles every year, starting on your first anniversary.
• $300 annual travel credits for bookings through Capital One Travel.

• 10 miles per dollar on hotels and rental cars booked through Capital One Travel.
• 5 miles per dollar on flights booked through Capital One Travel.
• 2 miles per dollar on all other purchases.

And they’ll likely yield double the value when you transfer these points to a Capital One airline partner—so those 5x miles are like getting 10% back on your spending. That’s an incredible cashback rate.

Best Travel Credit Card With No Annual Fee—Chase Freedom Unlimited®

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Why we like it

Chase has many appealing credit cards as of late—and Chase Freedom Unlimited® card is the most impressive. There’s no annual fee, and you could earn an extra $300 with the additional 1.5% cash back in the first year (up to $20,000 of spend) on top of the already stunning rewards offering.

Best Travel Credit Card For Fair Credit—Capital One® QuicksilverOne® Card

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Why we like it

One of the best cards out there for fair credit. And with the cashback, low annual fee, and the 0% foreign transaction fee, it’s perfect to take with you on your travels.

Other Notable Travel Credit Cards

Perhaps your travel interests are more specific—you’re more interested in free flights, an excellent airport experience, or swanky hotel stays.

These cards might have what you’re looking for—

• card_name—Best vacation credit card
• card_name—Best credit card for Europe travel and work travel
• card_name—Best credit card for free flights and travel hacking
• card_name—Best luxury travel credit card with lounge access
• Citi Premier® Card—Best travel credit card with no foreign transaction fee and with a sign-up bonus
• Hilton Honors American Express Surpass® Card—Best credit card for hotels
• card_name—Best for flexible redemption
• card_name—Best credit card for dining out
• card_name—Best business card for travel insurance

Methodology

How did we choose the top 10 best travel credit cards? (And how did we come up with other top credit cards above?) We love nerding out over credit cards (and the savings they can provide). We especially enjoy figuring out the best travel hacks and the associated credit cards that can help you save a bunch of extra money on travel.

For this piece, we compared the best-of-the-best travel cards (72 of them, to be exact). All the above options came out on top.

We laid out the following stats: annual fee, regular interest rate, introductory APR, introductory offer, standard cash back, high-end cash back, transfer fee, foreign transaction fee, and the recommended credit score. Then we set them all against each other.

To score each card, we analyzed and graded them on these specific categories:

• Annual fee
• Regular interest
• Introductory offer
• Standard cash back rate
• High-end cash back rate

No card got a perfect 5.0 out of 5.0 (apparently we have high standards). If a card got a score of 4.5—that’s considered very good.

What Is a Travel Credit Card?

It’s pretty obvious—travel credit cards are for everything related to travel. They often come with trip insurance, priority boarding, and lounge access—but they also likely earn points when you make travel purchases (flights, hotels, rental cars, and the like).

How do travel credit cards work?

Travel credit cards work just like regular credit cards—but they come with better rewards if used for travel (vs. going to the grocery store). Let’s say you’re going to take a trip that includes a flight and a hotel stay.

If you had a travel credit card, you’d likely want to book your trip through your credit card travel portal, which—if you were using the card_name—would reward you with 5x points per $1 spent.

The goal is to compile points so you can later redeem them for gift cards, statement credits, or future purchases (like travel).

Read more:

What is the difference between points and miles, and how do they work?

Some credit cards offer miles rewards—others have points. Is there any difference? Not a ton. They work the same way, but you’ll likely get a better redemption rate on travel-related items if you have a credit card that awards miles. (You can often still redeem your miles for non-travel-related items, but they won’t be worth as much.)

Case in point—I have a Capital One Venture card that awards miles. If I want to redeem my 10,000 miles on a flight, it’s worth $100 (at least). If I want to use those points for a gift card—I’ll only get $80. Credit cards that issue points are often more flexible and have more options.

Co-Branded Travel Cards vs. General Travel Cards

What does it mean for a travel card to be co-branded? Let’s look at an example— Chase usually partners with Visa for their credit cards—Chase is the issuer, and Visa is the network. Without any other branding, it would be a general travel credit card.

Occasionally, you might have an airline, a hotel, or a restaurant that wants to offer their own travel card (say, United). They do it through a network and issuer, but now they also put their brand on the card. This creates a co-branded Chase United card through the Visa network.

Types of Travel Credit Cards

Not all travel credit cards are alike. What types are there? 

Transferable rewards credit cards

card_name is a good example of a transferable rewards card. Chase obviously isn’t an airline or a hotel, but points can be redeemed through their rewards portal for free flights, hotel stays, and more. (The points can transfer.)

Airline credit cards

Airline co-branded cards earn miles for that specific airline. They often offer good rewards, but if you don’t like the airline—or if you don’t fly that often—then an airline credit card isn’t the best option. However, if you’re in love with Delta and won’t fly through any other airline, their airline card likely makes a ton of sense!

Hotel credit cards

The same is true for hotels. Certain hotel chains may offer their own co-branded credit cards with monster rewards if you’re loyal to their brand—but if you want to experience other hotels or vacation rentals while traveling, then a hotel credit card won’t do much for you.

Fixed-value credit cards

When credit cards offer miles or points, the actual value of the rewards is unclear. As I mentioned before with my Capital One Venture card, points used for travel will buy me more than if I tried to use my points toward gift cards or statement credits. It gets confusing.

A fixed-value credit card has the same redemption value across the board. Whether you want to use your points for travel or to reduce your credit card bill, the value of those points is fixed.

Business credit cards for travel

Credit cards like card_name were explicitly created for on-the-go business owners. These cards offer maximum points for spending on airfare, hotels, rental cars, and restaurants. They may also offer rewards on large spend items or purchases from certain categories of vendors.

Travel Points Valuations

I have a job for you and your friend. I agree to pay you each 100 dollars. You sweat, you toil—and you complete the task. I hand you 100 Hong Kong dollars, and give your bestie 100 United States dollars.

Same thing, right? Not quite.

Your 100 Hong Kong dollars are worth about $13 US dollars. Oops. Points are like this.  They’re all worth different amounts depending on the card.

So, when you see a card that offers 12x points vs. another that only offers 5x points—it doesn’t necessarily make it better. The first may transfer at 0.5 cents per point, and the second might transfer at 2 cents (so the lower point offer is actually more valuable).

Confused? No worries, the tables below should clear things up—

Point values by credit card

If you’re looking to travel hack, keep your eyes on the far right column. A higher total with travel partners will give you more money back when you transfer your points on your trips.

Point values for airline credit cards

Here’s the points estimate for each major airline credit card. (There are some slight differences, but nothing earth-shattering). 

Point values by hotel

When getting a hotel credit card, please check the table below. You might think you’re getting huge rewards with, say, Radisson—but since each point is only worth 0.4 cents, it likely doesn’t add up to as much as you think.

On the flip side, the World of Hyatt offers 2.1 cents per point—more than five times that of Radisson!

Do the math—and choose the most valuable card for you.

How to Compare Travel Credit Cards

When we compared and ranked the top travel cards, we considered:

• Annual fees
• Interest rates
• Introductory offers
• Cashback rates (both the low and high sides)

We also noted the introductory interest rates, transfer fees, and foreign transaction fees.

Annual fees

Many people think a $0 annual fee makes for a great card. Not necessarily. Take a look at the table below— 

Which card makes the most sense financially: A or B?

• With Card A, you pay no annual fee and earn $200. Net earnings are $200.
• With Card B, you make $500 and have a $95 fee. Net earnings are $405.

What would you rather have? $405 or $200? Don’t get stuck on only the “no annual fee” credit cards—consider the complete picture instead.

Interest rates

No one intends to have a balance on their credit card—and yet the average credit card balance is $5,221.

So let’s consider the interest rates when getting a credit card:

• An APR% under 16.99% is excellent.
• 17% to 24.99% is average.
• Over 25% is a high interest rate. (Try to avoid rates this high.)

Introductory offers

Introductory offers are a one-time thing. Don’t start your decision-making process with this—but if it’s between two or three cards, choosing the card with the best introductory offer might make sense.

Some points to consider:

• Be sure the offer is attainable without any extra spending on your part.
• If the reward is in points, be sure to calculate what those points are worth.
• Consider when you’ll receive the bonus. (Is it immediate? Or do you need to wait a year?)

Cashback rates

The introductory rate is like a college fling—it’s great and all, but it’s not going to last. The cashback rate, on the other hand, is marriage material—it’s not changing, and you better be okay with it for life.

When we scored the best travel credit cards, we considered the low and high cashback rates:

• The cashback rate on everything should be no lower than 1%. (That’s average.)
• If your minimum cashback rate is 1.5%, that’s very good.
• The high-end of the cashback rate should be 2% or more. (The best cards have a 5%–10% cash back for travel.)

Transfer fees

Some cards offer balance transfers at no cost—but at a standard APR. Other cards have transfer fees (typically between 3% and 5%)—but, they may also have an introductory APR of 0% for a year or more. 

Introductory rates

If you’re looking to save money on interest by transferring your balance from one card to another, then the introductory rate matters—along with the transfer fee. Often, the best deal you’ll find is a 0% introductory rate and a 3% transfer fee.

Aside from transferring money, the introductory rate shouldn’t mean much to you. (After all, we’re not looking to rack up new credit card debt here. That’s never the goal.)

Foreign transaction fees

If you like to travel abroad, you’d better make sure your card doesn’t have foreign transaction fees. For cards with fees, they typically charge 1%–5% per transaction. (It’s best to avoid this wherever possible.)

Here’s a quick summary of foreign transaction fees by credit card issuer (to help you make a more informed decision on your next travel credit card):

• American Express—between 0% and 2.7% (depending on the card).
• Capital One—no foreign transaction fees.
• Chase—between 0% and 3% (depending on the card).
• Citi—between 0% and 3% (depending on the card).
• Discover—no foreign transaction fees.

Should You Get a Travel Card? Pros and Cons

Do you need a travel card or not? Let’s see the pros and cons to decide if a travel credit card is right for you.

Pros

• Free or discounted travel.
• Elite perks and benefits—lounge access, hotel elite status, and credits for travel-related programs.
• No foreign transaction fees.

Cons

• The best cash back, discounts, and perks are travel-related—if you don’t travel, the rewards are limited.
• You’ll find the best value by redeeming points with the card’s travel partners—specific airlines. (You won’t get as much cashback value if you don’t fly with the card’s partnered carrier.)

Our rule of thumb is that if you travel more than twice a year, it’s likely worth it to own a travel credit card.

Note:

Life And My Finances has partnered with CardRatings for our coverage of credit card products. Life And My Finances and CardRatings may receive a commission from card issuers.

For rates and fees of The Platinum Card® from American Express, please see the table of rates & fees.

For rates and fees of The Business Platinum Card® from American Express, please see the table of rates & fees.

For rates and fees of the American Express Blue Business Cash™ Card, please see the table of rates & fees.

For rates and fees of the American Express Gold Card, please see the table of rates & fees.

Editorial Disclosure: Opinions, reviews, analyses & recommendations are the author’s alone, and have not been reviewed, endorsed or approved by any of these entities.

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