As the new year approaches, it’s helpful to see which are the best credit cards to travel with. If you’re like many points and miles travelers, you’re always on the lookout for how to maximize your points earning with every dollar that you spend.
What’s awesome about the current state of travel credit cards is that you have plenty of options. Whether it’s personal or business cards, each issuer offers cards with a number of bonus categories like grocery stores and restaurants.
Best Credit Cards for Travel: American Express
The Membership Rewards program continues to innovate with its best credit cards for travel lineup. Whether it’s increasing credit card earn rates, or adding benefits and perks, American Express continues to push the envelope.
The American Express Platinum, American Express Gold, and American Express Green cards are the ones to check out. The Platinum earns 5X in airfare, the Gold earns 4X at restaurants and US grocery stores, and the Green earns 3X at restaurants and travel.
Business owners should consider the American Express Business Platinum. This card earns 5X on airfare and offers a 35% points rebate when you book an award flight.
Best Credit Cards for Travel: Capital One
Capital One recently burst onto to the points and miles scene in a big way. The bank now offers a number of personal and business cards that earn miles that can be redeemed for an award flight.
The Capital One Venture (Learn More Here) and Capital One VentureOne (Learn More Here) are 2 personal cards to consider. The Venture earns 2X miles per transaction. You’ll earn 1.25X miles per transaction with the VentureOne. Both cards 10X miles at hotels.com until January 2020.
Capital One Spark Miles for Business (Learn More Here) is the card for business owners to check out. This card earns 2X miles per transaction. In addition, the card is currently offering a monster sign up bonus of 200,000 miles if you can hit the spending requirements.
Best Credit Cards for Travel: Chase
Chase has not continued to move the needle at the pace of American Express. However, that doesn’t mean Chase falls short in terms of the best credit cards for travel. In fact, Chase offers the best line up of business credit cards amongst transferable point programs.
The Chase Sapphire Reserve and Chase Sapphire Preferred are the 2 best Chase personal cards. The Reserve earns 3X points on restaurants and travel. The Preferred earns 2X points on restaurants and travel. An effective annual fee of $150 for the Reserve versus $95 for the Preferred is the main difference between these cards.
Business credit cards are where Chase shines. The Chase Ink Business Preferred earns 3X on travel, among other categories. The Chase Ink Business Cash earns 5% cash back at office supply stores and the Chase Ink Business Unlimited earns 1.5% cash back per transaction.
The key with the Business Cash and Business Unlimited is that you need to pair these cards with an Ultimate Rewards card. Pairing allows you to convert cash back into Chase points to book a hotel or flight with points.
Chase has 1 Ultimate Rewards business credit card in the Business Preferred. You can also convert cash back into points with the Reserve or Preferred, both of which are Ultimate Rewards cards.
Best Credit Cards for Travel: Citi
Citi kills it when it comes to the best personal credit cards for travel. It has a personal credit card with the best earn rate on non bonus category spend. Citi also has 2 cards that are ideal for those who spend regularly on airfare, gas, restaurants, and travel.
The Citi Double Cash is THE card to use for your non bonus category spend. It earns 2% cash back per transaction. The Citi Prestige earns 5X points on airfare and restaurants. You’ll earn 3X points on gas and travel with the Citi Premier. Double Cash cardmembers can convert cash back earned into Citi points if they also hold the Prestige or Premier.
Best Credit Cards for Travel: Marriott
Marriott has updated its portfolio of credit cards into the last couple of years. As of today, there are 3 personal and 1 business credit card in its lineup. American Express and Chase both issue Marriott personal credit cards with American Express as the sole issuer of the Marriott business card.
The Marriott Bonvoy Brilliant comes with a $300 hotel statement credit, 1 free award night at a property requiring up to 50,000 points, and 15 elite night credits. It also earns 6X points at Marriott. Marriott Bonvoy Boundless comes with 1 free award night at a property requiring up to 35,000 points and 15 elite night credits. This card earns 6X points at Marriott.
Business should consider the Marriott Bonvoy Business card. This card comes with 1 free award night at a property requiring up to 35,000 points and 15 elite night credits. It earns earns 6X points at Marriott. Unfortunately, the elite nights are not stackable. This means that if you multiple cards that come with elite night credits you’ll only receive 15 elite nights in total.
Conclusion on the Best Credit Cards for Travel
Knowing the best credit cards for travel will help to unlock a ton of value. Whether it’s award flights of hotel stays, the points that you earn from these cards will help reduce your cash exposure in 2020.
What about you? Which cards make your best credit cards for holiday shopping list? Do you have a credit card that you recommend for your holiday spend? Please let me know in the comments below or by sending me an email on my contact page.
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