Applying for the right travel rewards credit card can be tricky. There are so many credit cards in the market right now, and each has its own offers and promotions. It is difficult to sort through all of them and decide which cards to use for everyday spend.
If you can’t pay off your current credit card bills in full, do not apply for new credit cards. Pay off all your existing debt first. The interest you will save far outweighs any miles and benefits you may receive.
There’s a lot of information going around saying that applying for credit cards can ruin your credit score. This is clearly false. With proper credit card utilization, your credit score will increase over time. To learn more how your credit score works, click here
The following are cards I personally recommend for everyday spending. I myself use many of these cards, and when my family and friends ask for recommendations, I direct them to this page because I believe the cards listed below provide a great value for travel.
If you are not tied to a specific carrier and have to pick just one card, the Chase Sapphire Preferred Card is my favorite personal card for travel.
This is one of the few cards that earn Chase Ultimate Reward points, which can be converted at anytime to miles at different airline partners such as United, Southwest, and British Airways (whose points can be used to book award travel on American Airlines).
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Fly the Singapore Airlines suite class for only 57,000 miles one way from New York to Frankfurt.
This is a huge plus as this allows you to search for award space on three major US airlines, instead of being tied to a single airline.
Unlike airline miles, Chase Ultimate Reward points never expire, which gives you complete flexibility on when you want to use your miles.
Not only that, you earn 2x points on both travel and dining purchases, which is quite valuable if you’re a frequent flyer. The card also comes with a plethora of other benefits including primary car rental insurance and purchase protection.
The current highest public offer available online is 50,000 Chase Ultimate Reward points.
While I can’t directly link to the current Chase Sapphire offer, you may find it below if you decide to apply.
View additional travel airline credit card offers here
If you own a small business, you may also want to consider the Chase Ink Plus Card, which also earns Chase Ultimate Reward points.
You earn 5x points on purchases at office supply stores and phone, landline, internet, and cable TV services and 2x points on purchases at gas stations and hotels.
The card also comes with the similar card benefits as the Chase Sapphire card with the exception of primary car rental insurance.
The current highest public offer available online is 60,000 points.
While I can’t directly link to the current Chase Ink Plus offer, you may find it below if you decide to apply.
View additional travel airline credit card offers here
The Starwood Preferred Guest® Card from American Express is currently one of the best daily spender cards. The main draw of the card is its ability to earn Starpoints®, one of the most versatile points currency out there, with over 20 airline partners to choose from. Starwood transfer partners include American Airlines and Alaska Airlines, which has the best award chart for first class travel.
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Fly Cathay Pacific’s first class suite for only 70,000 miles from Los Angeles to Hong Kong
Another advantage is the 25% transfer bonus you receive each time you transfer 20,000 miles to another airline. This essentially allows you to earn 1.25x points per $1 spent.
There is an annual fee of $95, waived for the first year.
The card also has numerous benefits including primary car insurance, complimentary Boingo Internet access, and purchase protection.
The current highest public offer available online is 25,000 SPG points.
If you run a business, I highly recommend applying instead for the business version of the Starwood Preferred Guest® Card from American Express as it also provides complimentary lounge access at any Sheraton hotel at no additional charge.
The current highest public offer available online is 25,000 SPG points.
If you value a premium card that provides lounge access and other benefits, there’s no better card than the Citi Prestige card. The card comes with a $450 annual fee, but in most cases the benefits are worth the annual fee many times over.
The most unique benefit of the Citi Prestige card is if you stay at any hotel for at least four nights, the last night is free. There is no limit on the value of the 4th night, so if you are booking a hotel that costs $100 a night for the first three nights, and the 4th night is $200, you would still get the $200 credited back to your account. If you travel abroad often and frequently have hotel stays lasting more than a few days, you can easily save thousands of dollars on hotel costs alone.
The best part is all elite member benefits apply to bookings made with a Citi Prestige card.
Having used this benefit numerous times in the past year, I’ve been able to save hundreds of dollars on hotel rooms alone.
In addition, the Citi Prestige card comes with both complimentary Priority Pass & AA Admirals club membership, which allows you to utilize an extensive lounge network within the US and abroad. Typically, a Priority Pass membership alone would cost $250, while an American Admirals club membership costs $500.
However, it gets even better as the Citi Prestige has a $250 air travel credit each year. This means if you apply in middle of the year and use your card for $250 worth of air travel expenses and do it again the following year, you get enough credit to pay off your 1st year annual fee and essentially earn $50.
Finally, the Prestige card has numerous side benefits including three free rounds of golf each year and price match, which automatically checks the price of items you’ve previously bought. If Citi finds a lower price within the first three months of purchase, you’ll receive a price adjustment.
The current highest public offer available online is 50,000 points.