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Best Travel Rewards Credit Cards

Top Picks & Travel Rewards Calculator
Unlock the potential of your travel rewards with the best credit cards designed to maximize your benefits and savings.
By Robert Flowers III - 2023-12-30
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When it comes to choosing a credit card for travel rewards, the best option is one that offers the highest return on rewards that can be used towards travel expenses.

Here are our top credit card picks for earning travel rewards:

Get Matched With The Best Credit Cards.

Quickly find the perfect credit card tailored to your unique spending habits and financial needs.

Input your monthly and yearly spend amounts into our calculator tool and be on your way to earning more rewards today!


Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card

Best For Flexible Travel Rewards
  • Earning Rate: Earn 5X Ultimate Rewards points on travel purchases through Chase Ultimate Rewards, 3X on dining, online grocery purchases, and select streaming services, 2X on other travel purchases, and 1X on everything else.
  • Annual Credits: $50 credit towards hotels booked through Chase Ultimate Rewards portal.
  • Main Highlights: 10% bonus points annually based on how much you spent the prior cardmember year and a 25% boost to point value when redeemed for travel through Chase Ultimate Rewards.
  • Top Transfer Partners: Hyatt Hotels, United Airlines, Southwest Airlines, JetBlue Airways, Marriott Hotels, British Airways, Singapore Airlines, and Emirates. (View All Chase Partners)
  • Intro Bonus: Earn 60,000 bonus points after you spend $4,000 on purchases in the first 3 months from account opening. That's $750 when you redeem through Chase Ultimate Rewards®.
  • Annual Fee: $95.
  • Summary: This is one of the most well-rounded travel cards in the market. Great earning rates, easy redemption value of 1.25 cents towards travel, and the ability to transfer points to a handful of airline and hotel partners for higher value. Solid alternative to the Sapphire Reserve.

Capital One Venture X Rewards Credit Card

Best Premium Card For Unlimited Miles On Purchases
  • Earning Rate: Earn 10X Venture Miles on car rentals and hotel booked through Capital One Travel, 5X miles on airfare booked through Capital One Travel, and an unlimited 2X miles on all other purchases.
  • Annual Credits: $300 annual credit for bookings through Capital One Travel and 10,000 bonus miles annually (worth $100 towards travel).
  • Main Highlights: Complimentary access to Capital One Lounges and Priority Pass Lounges, up to $100 towards Global Entry or TSA PreCheck application, and no foreign transaction fees.
  • Top Transfer Partners: Wyndham Hotels, Air Canada, Aeromexico, Air France-KLM, Qantas, Singapore Airlines, Cathay Pacific, Emirates, and British Airways. (View All Venture Partners)
  • Intro Bonus: Earn 75,000 bonus miles when you spend $4,000 on purchases in the first 3 months from account opening, equal to $750 in travel.
  • Annual Fee: $395.
  • Summary: The $300 annual credit and the 10,000 anniversary points wipes out the annual fee. This leaves the excellent 2X-10X earning rates and lounge access which, at a cost of $0, is an absolute deal. On top of that, points can be transferred to partners which can give you significantly more value than the standard 1 cent per point.

American Express® Gold Card

Best For Restaurants & U.S. Supermarkets
  • Earning Rate: Earn 4X Membership Rewards points on restaurant purchases worldwide, 4X at U.S. supermarkets (up to $25,000 per year, then 1X), 3X points on airfare purchased direct or through American Express Travel, and 1X points on all other purchases.
  • Annual Credits: Up to $120 in annual dining credit ($10 per month) and up to $120 in annual Uber Cash ($10 per month).
  • Main Highlights: Book hotels through The Hotel Collection with American Express Travel and receive a $100 hotel credit and room upgrade upon arrival (when available) when booking at least a two consecutive night stay.
  • Top Transfer Partners: Delta Airlines, Marriott Hotels, Hilton Hotels, Air Canada, Aeromexico, Virgin Atlantic, British Airways, Qantas, and Singapore Airlines. (View All AMEX Partners)
  • Intro Bonus: Earn 60,000 Membership Rewards® points after you spend $6,000 on eligible purchases with your new Card within the first 6 months of Card Membership.
  • Annual Fee: $250. (See Rates and Fees)
  • Summary: With points being transferable at a 1:1 ratio to a large handful of airline and hotel partners, being able to earn 4X on restaurant and U.S. supermarket purchases is fantastic. The annual fee can be difficult to swallow, but if you use the annual credits or at least spend moderately across the card, you'll offset the fee in no time.

The Platinum Card® from American Express

Best For Lounge Access & Luxury Travel
  • Earning Rate: Earn 5X points on airfare booked direct or through American Express Travel (on up to $500,000 of these purchases per year) and 5X points on prepaid hotel bookings through American Express Travel. All other purchases will earn you 1X.
  • Annual Credits: Up to $300 in Equinox statement credits, up to $240 in digital entertainment statement credits, up to $200 in airline fee statement credits, $200 in Uber Cash (up to $15 per month and up to $35 in December), up to $200 in statement credits for purchases made with Fine Hotels + Resorts® or The Hotel Collection credit on 2 night minimum bookings, $189 CLEAR® Plus statement credit, $155 Walmart+ statement credit (up to $12.95 per month, subject to auto-renew), and up to $100 in statement credits for Saks Fifth Avenue ($50 credit bi-annually).
  • Main Highlights: Global lounge access (Centurion lounges, Delta SkyClub lounges, Airspace lounges, Escape lounges, and Priority Pass lounges), superb purchase insurance, complimentary elite status with Hilton and Marriott, and up to a $100 statement credit every 4 years for Global Entry or up to $85 statement credit every 4.5 years for TSA PreCheck application fee.
  • Top Transfer Partners: Delta Airlines, Marriott Hotels, Hilton Hotels, Air Canada, Aeromexico, Virgin Atlantic, British Airways, Qantas, and Singapore Airlines. (View All AMEX Partners)
  • Intro Bonus: Earn 80,000 Membership Rewards® points after you spend $8,000 on purchases on the Card in your first 6 months of Card Membership.
  • Annual Fee: $695. (See Rates and Fees)
  • Summary: The annual fee is a big one, but the card is stacked to the brim with top-notch travel perks and offers over $1,400 in annual credits. If you travel often, can make use of the lounge access, and can use at least half the credits, the card is more than worth it.

Chase Sapphire Reserve®

Best For High Value & Travel Benefits
  • Earning Rate: Earn 10X points on Chase Dining and both hotel and car rental purchases through Chase Ultimate Rewards, 5X on airfare through Chase Ultimate Rewards, 3X on dining and other travel purchases, and 1X on everything else.
  • Annual Credits: $300 travel credit.
  • Main Highlights: Priority Pass Select membership, up to $100 towards a Global Entry or TSA PreCheck application, top-notch travel insurance, and a 50% boost to point value on travel redemptions made through Chase Ultimate Rewards.
  • Top Transfer Partners: Hyatt Hotels, United Airlines, Southwest Airlines, JetBlue Airways, Marriott Hotels, British Airways, Singapore Airlines, and Emirates. (View All Chase Partners)
  • Intro Bonus: Earn 60,000 bonus points after you spend $4,000 on purchases in the first 3 months from account opening. That's $900 toward travel when you redeem through Chase Travelâ„ .
  • Annual Fee: $550.
  • Summary: Hefty annual fee, but very easy to squeeze lots of value out of the card. If you utilize Chase Dining and book travel through Chase Ultimate Rewards, you'll earn exceptional value on your spend with points being worth a minimum of 1.5 cents each. There's also lots of high-value transfer partners including Hyatt which is an easy 2 cents in value per point. Lounge access and superb travel insurance is also a big plus.

Capital One Venture Rewards Credit Card

Best For Unlimited 2X Miles
  • Earning Rate: Earn 5X miles on hotels and car rentals booked through Capital One Travel and an unlimited 2X miles on all other purchases.
  • Main Highlights: Up to $100 towards Global Entry/TSA PreCheck and no foreign transaction fees.
  • Top Transfer Partners: Wyndham Hotels, Air Canada, Aeromexico, Air France-KLM, Qantas, Singapore Airlines, Cathay Pacific, Emirates, and British Airways. (View All Venture Partners)
  • Intro Bonus: Earn 75,000 bonus miles when you spend $4,000 on purchases in the first 3 months from account opening, equal to $750 in travel.
  • Annual Fee: $95.
  • Summary: If you don't need the extras offered on the Venture X, the Venture Card is an excellent alternative. You'll still earn 2X on all purchases along with bonus miles booking through Capital One Travel. Unlike the Venture X through, you'll need to spend enough on the card to make up for the annual fee since there's no annual credits to offset it each year.

Citi Premier® Card

Best For Everyday Spending & Travel
Citi Premier® Card
  • Earning Rate: Earn an unlimited 3X points on restaurant, supermarket, gas station, air travel, and hotel purchases and 1 point per $1 spent on all other purchases.
  • Annual Credits: $100 hotel credit when you book a $500+ hotel stay through thankyou.com.
  • Main Highlights: Grants the ability to transfer ThankYou Rewards points to Citi's full list of airline and hotel partners.
  • Top Transfer Partners: JetBlue Airways, Wyndham Hotels, Qatar Airways, Singapore Airlines, Qantas Air, and Cathay Pacific. (View All Citi Partners)
  • Annual Fee: $95.
  • Summary: When it comes to earning points across everyday purchases at a great rate, it's hard to beat the Citi Premier. Points can be redeemed directly through Citi towards travel or they can be transferred to a large handful of airline and hotel partners for higher value. Citi partners with some of the best airlines for first and business class travel including Qatar, Singapore, and Cathay Pacific.

Travel Rewards Calculator: Which Card Is Best For You?

Use the Travel Rewards calculator to find out which cards will earn you the most points and miles based on the spend amounts you enter.

Results will consist of top-rated travel credit cards from our partners. They will be sorted by net return which is the average value of the total rewards earned, plus annual credits, and minus annual fees.

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Calculator Options
What Type of Rewards Do You Want To Earn?
This calculator can output the best credit cards for a general rewards type or compile a list of the best credit cards for earning rewards with a specific loyalty program.
Frequent Flyer Programs
Select the frequent flyer program that you want to earn rewards for. Results will include all co-branded credit cards offered by the selected airline and all credit cards partners that allow you to transfer rewards to the selected airline.
Hotel Loyalty Programs
Select the hotel loyalty program that you want to earn rewards for. Results will include all co-branded credit cards offered by the selected hotel program and all credit cards partners that allow you to transfer rewards to the selected hotel program.
Other Loyalty Programs
Select the program that you want to earn rewards for. Results will include all credit cards offered by the selected program and all credit cards partners that allow you to transfer rewards to the selected program.
Personal Or Business?
Are you looking for personal (consumer) credit card or business credit cards? You can also include both in the results.
Include Intro Bonuses?
If set to yes, intro bonuses will be included for a card's calculation ONLY IF you have met the monthly spend criteria based on what's entered into the tool.
Do note that we do not have intro bonuses for all credit cards and we cannot calculate intro bonuses for some cards due to the complexity of some spend requirements.
Enter Your Monthly & Yearly Spend Amounts
Resets all fields in the Category Spending section for all columns. Also clears all saved spend values that carry from calculator to calculator.
Deletes all categories in the Category Spending section so you can start fresh.
Add Categories
Search for categories and click 'Add Category' to add it to the calculator. If you want to be more specific, you can specify domestic or international spend.
Type at least 3 characters.
Category Currently Selected:
Spend Region:
About Spend Region: Some credit cards feature categories that only earn rewards when spending in a certain region. Changing this category to Domestic or International spend will calculate such for those cards, otherwise it's assumed by Default.

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Results

These estimates are to help guide you towards making the best decision when it comes to picking up a rewards credit card. They should be used for illustrative purposes only.