Having the right credit card for the type of travel you enjoy will not only save you money, but also save you from a lot of headaches that sometimes comes along with traveling. First things first, there is no perfect card, all cards have strengths and weaknesses and determining what strengths are most and important to you will help you narrow your list of options and even select which is right. As someone who has gone through the pain of not knowing what to look for or even where to begin, here is the list of important strengths to look for in a travel card to help you get your search going.
Select the right type of card issuer. As you plan foreign travel, Visa and Master Card are widely accepted almost everywhere. Visa getting the slight nod over Master Card but truthfully, I can’t remember a place only accepting Visa and not Master Card or vice versa. American Express (which I’m a huge fan of) and Discover aren’t accepted as frequently overseas. This does include Canada, Mexico and other closer destinations. Discover is the only provider I really wouldn’t recommend, but it is important to note American Express is not accepted as widely as Visa and Master Card.
- A card with no foreign transaction fee. What this is, is paying for goods in a foreign currency that must be converted to your local currency. Let’s say you’re in Spain and you purchase a bottle of wine, some cards will charge you a percentage for changing the total from Euros to USD, or whatever your native currency is. Getting dinged 1-3% currency conversion fee on every purchase adds up quickly. Zero transaction fee is very important piece to make sure is included.
- Sign up bonus. If you’re new to the credit card game, the sign-up bonus of your first card can be significant. Typically, if you spend about $3-4k in your first 3 months of having the card is how you would earn the bonus. Some of the top cards will give you 80-100k points as a sign-up bonus. That’s equivalent to $1000-$1250 in travel credit.
- General Cards vs Co-branded. General cards can be used across multiple airline/lodging/rental companies that partner with the card. The upside are rewards tend to be more consistent and are points earned based on types of spend (2x the dollar amount for hotels or airfare bills) that can be used across all the partner organizations. Co-branded cards bear the name of a large organization. If the card is partnered with Hilton, Delta and Hertz, etc these are examples of co-branded cards. If you are loyal or consistently book with a certain hotel group or airline you may want to consider a co-branded Delta, Hilton, Marriott, United, etc. card. Downside, you only get rewards for that brand and typically only earn bonus rewards when you book stays or flights with those brands. The upside for an airline card is you get certain perks like lounge access, free checked bags, and upgrade status for each of your flights. If it’s a hotel chain, you usually are elevated in status which can earn you more rewards or get you free room upgrades.
- Annual fee. The top cards all have annual fees. Don’t be scared off by the prospect of having to pay one. Typically, the reward you get back is worth what the annual fee ends up cost you.
- Interest rate. All cards have interest rates and travel cards tend to have higher rates, even with great credit scores. Advice for any credit card, don’t spend on the card what you can’t afford to pay off. It’s especially pertinent with these cards to not hold a balance. In fact, the lower the interest rate for the card, the less perks you typically get with it.
Understanding that was a lot to chew on and when you start looking and see the endless options cards it will be overwhelming. This will make your life easier. I’ve done a fair amount of research over the years and here are my top suggestions for cards to consider. The list will have 2 starter cards, 2 premium cards and 2 co-branded cards. I’ll weight my pros and cons, but I will always suggest doing additional research. We each have aspics that are more important to us because we each take vacations differently, but this a very solid narrowed list for you to get the ball rolling.
Starter Cards
- Chase Sapphire Preferred
- Pros:
- 100k point sign up bonus ($1,250 in travel credit)
- No foreign transaction charges
- 1 to 1 point transfer to partnered airline and hotel reward programs
- 3x points on all restaurant purchases and 2x points on all travel purchases
- Modest annual fee of $95
- $100 credit every four years for Global Entry or TSA Pre Check.
- Cons:
- There isn’t the wow factor in the rewards like you get from the premium cards
- The best rewards are if you purchase through the Chase portal. 5x points on travel.
- Pros:
- Capital One Venture
- Pros:
- 60k mile sign up bonus ($600 worth of travel)
- No foreign transaction fees
- $100 credit for Global Entry or TSA Pre check
- Modest annual fee of $95
- Point transfers to 18 partnered airlines and hotels
- 2x on all purchases
- Cons:
- Point transfers aren’t all 1 to 1 like Chase. Some are 2 venture points for 1 partner point. Those add up quickly what you’re moving 100k+ points.
- Like the Chase Sapphire Preferred, no wow factor in the given rewards.
- No potential to upgrade to a Premium Card like the other vendors do.
- Pros:
Premium Cards
- AMEX Platinum
- Pros:
- $100k welcome bonus.
- $200 annual credit to your selected Airline
- $200 annual Uber credit
- 5x points on airfare and hotel bookings (fine text warning with how to book)
- $180 credit to a CLEAR subscription annually which covers the cost of CLEAR
- Airport lounge access including the AMEX Centurion Lounges
- No foreign transaction charges
- Global Entry credit every 4 years when it’s due for renewal. Each additional card holder will also get a credit
- Cons:
- Very high annual rate at roughly $700
- If you aren’t using this card for a lot of travel, it’s hard to get bang for your reward buck
- AMEX is still not as widely accepted as Visa or MasterCard
- Pros:
- Chase Sapphire Reserved
- Pros:
- 60k point sign up bonus
- $300 annual credit for all travel purchases
- Complimentary Priority Pass Lounge membership.
- Global Entry credit every 4 years when it’s due for renewal. Each additional card holder will also get a credit
- 1 to 1 point transfer to a wide variety of airlines and hotels. So, 100k Chase points is equal to 100k airline miles
- An additional 50% point bonus if you book travel on the Chase portal. If you’re cashing in 100k, you get 150k in value.
- No foreign transaction charges
- Cons:
- High annual fee. It has now increased to $550 annually plus an additional $75 for any additional card.
- High variable APR. You don’t have a set interest rate. It may change annually
- Similar to the AMEX Platinum, if you don’t use this card for consistent travel or restaurant purchases, it’s hard to get your bang for reward bucks.
- Pros:
- Capital One Venture X
- Pros:
- 75,00 mile sign up bonus after $4,000 in purchases in the first 3 months ($750 in value).
- $300 annual statement credit for bookings through Capital One travel.
- 10,000 bonus miles reward annual.
- 2x miles on all purchases.
- Priority Pass membership.
- $100 Global Entry/TSA Precheck credit.
- Cons:
- High annual fee, but to be honest it’s very approachable for a premium card.
- Not all travel partners are 1:1 mile transfer.
- No American airlines are travel partners.
- Limited hotel partnerships.
- Need to have excellent credit to receive the card.
- Pros:
Co-Branded
- Delta SkyMiles
- Pros:
- Sign up bonus of 80k Delta Miles and 20k Medallion Qualification miles after $5k in spending in your 3 months.
- Complimentary access to Delta Sky Club lounges.
- Complimentary access to American Express Centurion Lounges.
- Global Entry and TSA Pre Check credit.
- No foreign transaction fees.
- Annual companion pass for both economy and first class.
- Cons:
- $550 annual fee
- 3x bonus rewards are only for Delta purchases. All other purchases are 1x.
- Companion Pass is only for domestic flights.
- Lounge access is only for the card holder.
- Pros:
- Hilton Honors Aspire
- Pros:
- Sign up of 150k Hilton Honors Points after $5k in spending in your first 3 months
- 7x Hilton Honors points on flights and car rentals through AMEX Travel.
- Priority Pass Lounge membership included
- $250 annual airline fee credit
- Instant Hilton Diamond Status
- Cons:
- $450 annual fee
- High annual APR
- Hilton Honors points have a lower value. Meaning you need a lot to utilize free nights.
- Pros:
These are all great cards with their own set of strengths and weaknesses and it’s not simply picking the best overall card. Before you make the decision come to an understanding of the type of travel you’re looking to do. Are you looking to travel regularly or once a year or so as a family trip? Do you really need all the bells and whistles like lounge passes, bonus points structures to justify the additional annual fee or is the base offering enough to provide you what you’re looking for? BUT twist my arm, I’ll tell you what my personal recommendations would be.
Overall, for the for those looking to get started in travel or even those who are experience but want a really, really solid card I would recommend the Chase Sapphire Preferred as the top card. The Capital One Venture is a very close second but here is why I lean Chase. First, I have had Chase cards for 6+ years and I have had nothing but great experiences. From the ability to track spending, utilize points to speaking with customer service to resolve an issue and they’ve always supported me when I’ve had fraudulent charges on my cared. You also get a comparable intro bonus to Capital One and I think overall the travel partners are better with Chase. CapitalOne does have great airlines they partner with, but none are American based airlines, whereas Chase you have United and Southwest as a partner. United has a lot more flight options domestically and particularly globally. They are part of the global Star Alliance partnership so United points can help you book on some of the world’s largest global carriers like Air Canada, ANA, Lufthansa, Swiss Air, Singapore Airlines and many more. The final piece on the travel partners is the 1:1 point transfer being a lock with Chase and not with Capital One. So 100k Chase points is equal to 100k United Miles, where most Capital One partners are 1:1, but not all and that can really eat into your points. The Capital One Venture card truly is a great option and won’t do you wrong, but those are my reasons why I would go with the Chase Sapphire Preferred.
For those of you that can travel a bit more or are comfortable with the higher annual fee and want a premium card, I will say this was a tougher call. If you would have asked me a few months ago prior to the AMEX increase to the Platinum card I would have said AMEX Platinum immediately, but now that it’s almost $700 a year, I go will gladly recommend the card we currently use as our primary card and that is the Chase Sapphire Reserve. The $300 annual travel credit, 1:1 transfer ration to a great set of partners, the Priority Pass Lounge, travel protection and purchase insurance has all been regularly used since the Sapphire Reserve came into existence. They’ve been a great travel partner for us, helped us with a lot of issues and more importantly we’ve earned many free flights, including our Honeymoon to Thailand, 1 year anniversary trip to Italy and our babymoon trip to France and Switzerland. Now, if you have the means and really look at all the AMEX Platinum has to offer, you really can get a lot of bang for the $695 annual fee. It’s a bonafide option and a fantastic card but be prepared for all that comes with it before agreeing to the annual fee. Truthfully, the Capital One Venture X is knocking on the doorstep and could quickly surpass the two major players. They have fantastic partners, lower rates, similar perks, it’s a very good option. To nitpick, there are a few things that lag behind the other two, like the $300 travel credit needing to be Capital One travel purchases and the travel partners not being as solid, but besides that, I would have no hesitation to make the switch. For now, I still remain loyal to the Chase Sapphire Reserved card.
Lastly, and this is short and sweet. I don’t use co-branded cards. I don’t fly a dedicated airline or stay at a dedicated hotel. If you do, they’re a great option to look into. If you’re not, you’ll get much more in return going with one of the other 5 cards I mentioned above.
As a final disclaimer, this can all change. Companies change their point structure, offerings, annual fees constantly. In a year or so, my opinion could change, but that’s the reason why I picked the core 5 cards and the 2 co-branded cards. They’ve had staying power for a long time and even with changes if you pick one of them you won’t have buyer’s remorse in 6-12 months.
Best of luck and reach out if you have any questions.