Best Travel Credit Cards for Points & Miles (updated March 2026)

Photography Tips for Capturing the Red Rock Scenery of Utah and the American Southwest

As I continue my quest to travel on credit card points, my list of personal best travel credit cards is constantly evolving. I’m big on my American Express cards as I get so much value out of them—the AmEx Platinum is my go-to with the Gold a close second—though the Chase Sapphire Reserve is always a top contender, too. That said, the annual fees on these credit cards are spiking dramatically, so you truly need to weigh the benefits you’ll get out of them before you make a choice.

Best Travel Credit Cards for Racking up Points

This post was last updated March 2026.

In the past three years, we used points to take three major vacations to Europe, travel to Thailand and Qatar for three weeks, spend nearly a month in Australia, and take smaller trips to Tucson and Hawaii on points. And our miles continue to mount: We accumulate north of one million points annually, and no that is not the amount we are spending either.

Note: The below information pertains to American travelers, as credit card rewards are specific to the country of residence. If you live in Canada, check out this guide to best credit cards for Canadians.

Quick hits for best credit cards by traveler

Best for your first travel credit card: Chase Sapphire Preferred
Best card for business travelers taking 10+ flights annually: American Express Platinum Card
Best card for foodies who dine out a lot: American Express Gold Card
Best no-fee card for everyday spend: American Express Blue Business Card
For road warriors who log a lot of miles by car: American Express Business Gold Card
For Southwest travelers: Southwest Rapid Rewards Credit Cards

A deep dive into the best travel credit cards

If you’re planning to travel, here’s a closer look at my favorite travel credit cards and how to use them. I recommend choosing cards with no foreign transaction fees—all of those listed below qualify. And if you decide to apply, please use my referral link so we both earn bonus points!

Chase Sapphire Reserve or Preferred

The Chase Sapphire Preferred is the perfect entry point for earning travel rewards. It’s part of the Chase Ultimate Rewards program, meaning you can redeem points across numerous airlines, hotels, and car rental partners. With a low annual fee and the ability to combine points from multiple Chase cards, it’s an easy choice for anyone starting their travel credit card journey.

Benefits of the Chase Sapphire Preferred include:

$50 Annual Chase Travel Hotel Credit, plus more
5X on travel purchased through Chase Ultimate Rewards
2x on other travel purchases
3X on dining, including eligible delivery services, takeout and dining out
3X on online grocery purchases (excluding Target, Walmart and wholesale clubs)
3x on select streaming services

Annual fee: $95

Current sign-up bonus: 75,000 points

And with the Chase Sapphire Reserve, you get additional annual benefits like:

$300 annual travel credit
$300 annual dining credit
$500 credit for stays with The Edit
$120 DashPass membership
$300 in DoorDash promos
$300 StubHub credit
$250 Apple TV+ annual credit
$120 Lyft credit
$120 Peloton credit
8X on travel purchased through Chase Ultimate Rewards
4x on flights booked direct‍
$100 every four years for Global Entry or TSA PreCheck
Access to the Chase Sapphire Lounge by The Club
Complimentary membership to Priority Pass lounges (access to 1,300+ lounges in 500 cities worldwide)

Annual fee: $795

Current sign-up bonus: 125,000 points

Explore current elevated offers here.

Note: You can only have one Sapphire card at a time, so if you’re applying for the Preferred, you’re not eligible for the Reserve. Frequent travelers should still consider comparing the two. The hefty Reserve fee will only make this card worth it for travelers who use every one of the benefits attached to it.

Southwest Rapid Rewards Cards

The Chase Southwest cards are co-branded with Southwest Airlines and tied to its Rapid Rewards program. The lineup includes three personal cards—Plus, Premier, Priority—and two business cards, Premier and Performance. If you fly Southwest regularly, this is a good path for you. If you earn 135,000 points, you get Southwest Companion Pass status, meaning a plus one will fly for free with you for the rest of the calendar year in which you earned it in addition to the following year. What does this mean? You should plan on hitting your sign-up bonus in January and not a minute before!

Some benefits of the Southwest cards (depending on the card):

10,000 Companion Pass points every year
3X per $1 spent on Southwest Airlines purchases
2X per $1 spent on internet, cable, and phone services; select streaming
$75 Southwest annual travel credit
Complimentary Preferred seat at booking
First checked bag free
Extra Legroom seat upgrade

Annual fee: $99 to $299

Current sign-up bonus: between 60,000 and 85,000 depending on the card

Southwest cards are Chase products, but their points go straight to your Rapid Rewards account, not Chase Ultimate Rewards. To earn the Companion Pass through credit cards alone, start with the Southwest Performance Business card, then open a personal card—Plus, Premier or Priority—about 30 days later. Here’s the best strategy to do this.

The Platinum Card® from American Express

This is the gold standard card for those who travel often and well. It’s not for the frugal traveler, as the annual fee is high, but the American Express Platinum is worth it for many, myself included. That said, you absolutely have to go into the benefits section of your dashboard and enable everything to make the fee worth it.

Benefits of the AmEx Platinum include:

$600 Fine Hotels + Resorts credit
$300 Digital Entertainment Credit (included: Disney+, a Disney Bundle, ESPN+, Hulu, NYT, Peacock, WSJ)
$155 Walmart+ credit (monthly Walmart+ membership at $12.95 plus applicable taxes a month)
$200 Airline credit (enroll and choose your airline)
$200 Uber Cash
$100 Saks credit
$120 Uber One credit
$400 RESY credit
$300 lululemon credit
$209 CLEAR® Plus credit
$200 Oura Ring credit
$100 credit for Global Entry or TSA PreCheck every four years

Annual fee: $895

Current sign-up bonus: up to 175,000 points

Yes, $895 is steep, but I easily save over $2,200 a year in credits on purchases I’d make anyway, not counting the value of Gold status with Hilton and Marriott or access to AmEx’s Centurion Lounges. Other perks include a $300 annual Equinox or SoulCycle at-home credit and 5x points on flights or travel booked through AmEx.

Explore current AmEx sign-up bonuses here.

Capital One Venture X Rewards Credit Card

This card offers perks similar to the Chase Sapphire Reserve at a lower fee—plus early access to events like bowl games and concerts. The Capital One Venture X earns 2x points on all purchases, making it a solid everyday card for non-bonus categories like hardware stores, vet visits, or medical bills. If Capital One expands its lounge network, it could climb even higher on my list. The standard Capital One Venture is also a good lower-fee option at $95 with many of the same perks.

10x on hotels and cars booked through Capital One Travel
5x on flights booked through Capital One Travel
2x on all other purchases
Unlimited access to Capital One Lounges
Complimentary access to Priority Pass lounges
$100 credit for Global Entry or TSA PreCheck every four years
Receive a $300 travel credit annually for bookings through Capital One Travel
Get 10,000 miles as your anniversary bonus

Annual fee: $395

Current sign-up bonus: 75,000 points

Explore current Capital One bonuses here.

A few other credit card tips

If you haven’t already considered business cards, they’re a great way to rack up points without paying much at all in annual fees (even if you don’t have an established business yet and are just a freelancer!). Many of Chase’s Ink cards like the Ink Business Cash and Ink Business Unlimited have no annual fee, and you can hold multiple of them, which you can’t do for other popular credit cards like the Chase Sapphires.

Here are a few other words of wisdom to keep in mind as you figure out the best travel credit card for your needs:

Know the 5/24 rule

Points players all create a plan that will keep them under Chase’s 5/24 rule: You can only be approved for five personal credit cards (from any issuer) within a 24-month period. If you’re serious about earning points, track your cards and opening dates in a spreadsheet. Once you’re close to that limit, consider applying for cards from other issuers, like American Express, while you wait for your Chase window to reset.

Having multiple cards alone will not hurt your credit

Contrary to popular belief, holding multiple credit cards will not damage your credit score if you do it right, including not having too many credit inquiries (or hard pulls) in a set amount of time as well as paying off your balance in full every statement cycle so you don’t find yourself paying interest. I repeat: You should only play this game if you have good credit already and can pay off your credit cards monthly. Free travel is awesome, but there’s nothing worth getting into credit card debt over!

Use all the benefits and offers

Cards like the AmEx Platinum and Chase Sapphire Reserve come with steep annual fees, but you can easily offset them by using every available benefit. For example, my AmEx Platinum gives me $1,200+ a year in credits and perks—not including lounge access. Don’t get these cards just for the points; get them if you’ll actually use the perks. And be sure to check your card dashboard regularly for new monthly and quarterly offers to activate.

Many cards offer insurance, so use it

Most of the top travel cards include trip delay, cancellation and baggage insurance, so if you’re stuck overnight or need a last-minute hotel, you can often get reimbursed. They also typically offer primary rental car and cell phone coverage, meaning if you book your travel with these cards and something goes wrong, you can file a claim for reimbursement.

Stay within a flexible points system

The best way to earn flexible, valuable points is through Chase Ultimate Rewards (UR) and AmEx Membership Rewards (MR). UR points transfer 1:1 to airlines like Delta, Southwest, Air Canada, British Airways and United—or you can redeem them directly through the UR portal (just cross-check prices on the airline’s site first). MR points also have strong transfer partners, including Delta, Qantas, Virgin, Singapore Air, and hotel brands like Hilton and Marriott.

Don’t cancel cards, product change them instead

A long credit history helps boost your score, so keep older cards open when possible—even with a $0 balance. For example, if you decide you’d rather use the Chase Sapphire Reserve as your own Sapphire product, don’t cancel the Preferred; call Chase to product change it to a no-fee Freedom card instead.

Sometimes, though, you’ll need to cancel a card to re-qualify for a new bonus, assuming there’s no lifelong language. Most issuers require 24 to 48 months between bonuses, for example the Southwest suite of Chase cards.

Co-branded cards often aren’t worth it

Co-branded cards like Sephora or Delta usually aren’t worth using one of your limited credit slots. If you’re a casual traveler without strong airline loyalty, flexible point cards like the Chase Sapphire Reserve or AmEx Platinum are a smarter choice since you can transfer points to multiple partners.

he main exception is the Southwest card if you’re chasing the Companion Pass—or if you frequently fly with one specific airline. Otherwise, start your points journey with Chase, AmEx or Capital One.

Transfer monthly payments to meet a new SUB

Whenever I open a new card, I move recurring payments—like phone and insurance bills—onto it to help meet the sign-up bonus (SUB) faster. It’s an easy way to earn points on expenses I’m already paying. While you can’t charge your mortgage (though you can put rent on Bilt cards), you can usually pay things like income and property taxes with a credit card—so you might as well earn points on those big payments too.

The value of points depends on what you spend them on

No matter which card you use, point value varies depending on how you redeem them—gift cards and shopping usually offer less value than travel. I find travel redemptions stretch points the farthest, especially with 1:1 transfers to airline or hotel partners. You can also boost earnings during bonus periods, like 5x points on gas or pay-yourself-back promos. Paying attention to these details adds up quickly.

What’s your favorite travel credit card?

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How to Travel for Free: The Best Credit Cards for Travelers

How to Travel for Free: The Best Credit Cards for Traveler

All links above are referral codes, meaning I’ll receive referral points if you sign up. That said, all opinions are my own, and I hold every one of these cards I recommend.