Travel Rewards Credit Cards Survey 2011
There are more types of reward credit cards that cater to travelers than other types of credit cards. Choosing the right travel rewards credit card is one of the most confusing undertakings. If you are a frequent flier, you can get an airline credit card. If you are a frequent guest member, you can get a hotel credit card. However, with most frequent flyer program being devalued, it increasingly makes more sense for many folks to simply get a no annual fee travel rewards credit card. However, there are cards that have annual fee and those with no annual fees. The ones with annual fees tend to have better benefits and we will highlight many of them here. If you are strictly looking for a travel card with no fees, we have listed our recommended airlines credit cards with no annual fee here.Recommended Travel Credit Credit Cards
Chase Sapphire® Preferred Card - 50,000 Bonus Points - Best Bonus Points
At this very moment, the Chase Sapphire® Preferred Card is probably the card I would recommend regardless because of the great sign up bonus points. You get 50,000 points after you spend $3,000 during the first three months. The are several reasons why this is such a great deal. Though there is an annual fee, it is waived for the first year. And what you do with the card after one year is up to you. Read our review of the Chase Sapphire(SM) Preferred Card
The Starwood Preferred Guest® Credit Card from American Express is one of the most popular credit cards among the really frequent fliers and travelers. This is because it has probably the best hotel reward program, but also allows you to transfer points you earn into miles with their airline partners. Furthermore, you get a 5,000 airmiles bonus if you transfer 20,000 points into miles. Effectively, you only need 20,000 points or miles to get a free domestic flight (since most require 25,000 miles!). Many American Express Centurion and Platinum cardholders also carry this card. The annual fee makes this card a great bargain even if you do not stay at any Starwood Hotel. 
The Premier Gold Card is a great card for folks who travel a lot and are frequent flyer members of a few airlines because you can earn triple points on your airline ticket purchase. Below is the screen shots showing the Membership Rewards Airline Partners. 
3 Ways To Redeem Points
In our survey of the credit card reward programs, we found that they were three main ways that one can redeem reward points for airline flights.
Exchange Points for Flight with Program - This is the traditional way in which credit card reward programs operated. For example, most programs allow you to use 25,000 points or miles to redeem a round trip domestic flight within the continental USA. You have to book the flights with the credit card company (no shopping around for the cheapest deals). There are also several restrictions like
Book Your Own Travel Arrangements - Use Points or Miles to get credit - The disadvantages of the traditional points for flight arrangement was that you have to book through the credit card program's travel agent and you may not get the exact flight you want. These days, more programs are giving cardholders the flexibiliy to book their own travel arrangements through any means (online or off-line). This gives you the flexibility to search for the best deal and potentially save on your points or miles. Examples including Capital One No Hassle Miles Card, the Miles by Discover® Card.
Transfer Points to Frequent Flyer Miles - Some reward programs allow you to transfer points to air miles. For example, the Membership Program from American Express allows you to transfer points to air miles over over 17 airlines. The Starwood Preferred Guest Program allows members to exchange points for miles at 30 airline partners (most at one for one ratio). They even give you 5,000 bonus miles if you convert 20,000 points!
Understanding how you wish to redeem your points and using a reward program that matches the way you operate is a necessary step to determine which program will work best for you. Below is a credit card reward program comparison table.
Credit Card Reward Program Comparison Table
| Reward Program |
Flights Through Program | Points For Own Booking | Points For Frequent Flier Miles |
| Capital One | 12,500 Miles - Up to $150 25,000 Miles - $150.01 to $350.00 50,000 Miles - $350.01 to $600.00 100 X Travel Cost - More than $600.00 |
12,500 Miles - Up to $150 25,000 Miles - $150.01 to $350.00 50,000 Miles - $350.01 to $600.00 100 X Travel Cost - More than $600.00 |
n.a. |
| Membership Rewards | 10,000 points = $100 in ticket value if purchased through American Express | Delta Skymiles Iberia Plus JetBlue True Points Frontier Alitalia Mille Miglia Virgin Atlantic AirTran Air Canada Aeroplan SwissAir Hawaiian Airlines Singapore Airlines Krisflyer Mexicana Frecuenta Miles El Tel MidMat Points Cathay Pacific to Hong Kong and Canada Qantas to Australia and New Zealand |
|
| Discover Miles | Book Own Flights - Use Miles at 10,000 for $100 | ||
| ThankYou Rewards | Flights have to be redeemed with ThankYou, who use Expedia.com. 100 points for $1 in travel. | ||
| Chase | |||
| WorldPoints | 25,000 pts - Continental US (roundtrip) - up to $400 35,000 pts - Canada, Mexico, Panama - up to $600 45,000 pts - Alaska, Hawaii, Caribbean, Bermuda, Bahamas - up to $600 60,000 pts - Europe - up to $800 85,000 pts - International - up to $1150 100,000 additional pts for First Class Upgrade |
Flex Air - Book own flights - 100 pts for $1 in travel cost. | |
| Wells Fargo Rewards | 25,000 pts - Continental US or Alaska - up to $500 40,000 pts - Domestic or International - up to $800 50,000 pts - Domestic or International - up to $1,000 |
||
| National City Rewards | 25,000 Miles for a monetary credit to your Account up to a maximum ticket price of $315.00. You will receive an additional credit of fifty dollars ($50.00) for each additional five thousand (5,000) Miles you redeem, up to the total cost of the airline ticket purchases. |
Features of Travel Rewards Credit Cards
Once you have decided on the reward program, you then have to pick the best travel rewards credit card that has that program to help you earn maximum points. These are some of the things you have to look out for.
Points Formula - This is very important in determining how many points you can earn. Many allow you to earn one point for every dollar you spend on the card. Some cards like allow you to spend double miles on every purchase or on certain items.
Caps on Points - You also want to be aware of any caps on points that you are allowed to earn. Caps aren't necessarily bad if you do not spend above the limit.
Reward Points Expiry - Some reward programs have points that do not expire while some expire after a few years. Be sure to check this out.
Annual Fee - Many reward cards have no annual fee. However, the ones that allow you to earn more points generally charge an annual fee. Very often, a really frequent flyer will find the annual fee worth paying for because of the extra miles earned and the reward program.
By now, you should have a good idea on which reward program will suit you, it is time to choose a specific card. Below is a list of all the reward cards that we have studied and we have put the key features side by side for easy comparison. Good Luck!
List of Travel Rewards Credit Card
| Card | Reward Formula | Intro Bonus | Caps on Rewards | Rewards Expiration | Annual Fee |
| Capital One® No Hassle Points(SM) Rewards | # 5 points per dollar spent at gas stations, major grocery and drug stores # 1 point for every dollar spent on other purchases | 0% APR on purchases for 6 months | Earn Unlimited Rewards | No Caps | No Annual Fee |
| Capital One® No Hassle Points(SM) Rewards - Excellent Credit | # Earn 2 points per dollar spent at gas stations, major grocery and drug stores # 1 point for every dollar spent on other purchases | 0% APR on purchases for 12 months | Earn Unlimited Rewards | No Caps | No Annual Fee |
| Capital One® No Hassle Miles(SM) Rewards | # Earn 2 miles for each dollar of monthly spending above $1,000 # 1 mile per $1 spent on all other purchases | 0% APR on purchases for 12 months | Earn Unlimited Rewards | No Caps | No Annual Fee |
| Capital One® No Hassle Miles(SM) Ultra—For Professionals | Earn double miles - 2 miles per dollar spent on all purchases | 0% APR on purchases for 12 months | Earn Unlimited Rewards | No Caps | $39 |
| Capital One® No Hassle Miles(SM) Rewards - Good Credit | Earn 25% more than regular mileage cards with 1.25 miles for each dollar spent on purchases | 0% APR on purchases for 12 months | Earn Unlimited Rewards | No Caps | $0 |
| Capital One® No Hassle Points(SM) Rewards - Excellent Credit | # Earn 2 points per dollar spent at gas stations, major grocery and drug stores # 1 point for every dollar spent on other purchases | 0% APR on purchases for 12 months | Earn Unlimited Rewards | No Caps | $0 |
| Capital One® Orbitz® Visa® Platinum - Average | # 3 points per $1 spent on eligible Orbitz.com bookings plus bonus points on eligible bookings # 1 point per $1 spent on regular purchases | 0% APR on purchases for 6 months | Earn Unlimited Rewards | No Caps | $0 |
| Capital One® Orbitz® Visa® Platinum - Good | # 3 points per $1 spent on eligible Orbitz.com bookings plus bonus points on eligible bookings # 1 point per $1 spent on regular purchases | n.a. | Earn Unlimited Rewards | No Caps | $0 |
| Capital One® Orbitz® Visa® Signature | # 3 points per $1 spent on eligible Orbitz.com bookings plus bonus points on eligible bookings # 1 point per $1 spent on regular purchases | n.a. | Earn Unlimited Rewards | No Caps | $0 |
| Elite Rewards World Mastercard | Earn 1 point for every dollar spent | Earn 500 bonus points with your first qualifying purchase | 7,500 points a month | 4 Years | $0 |
| Bank of America® Accelerated Rewards American Express® Card | Earn 1.25 points for every dollar spent | 0% APR for 12 months | Earn unlimited rewards | 5 Years | $0 |
| Bank of America Visa Signature® WorldPoints™ Rewards | Earn 1 point for every dollar spent | 0% APR for 12 months | Earn unlimited rewards | 5 Years | $0 |
| Bank of America World MasterCard® with WorldPoints™ | Earn 1 point for every dollar spent | 0% APR for 12 months | Earn unlimited rewards | 5 Years | $0 |
| Bank of America WorldPoints Platinum Plus Mastercard | Earn 1 point for every dollar spent | 0% APR for 12 months | Earn unlimited rewards | 5 Years | $0 |
| Wells Fargo Visa® Platinum Card | Earn 1 point for every dollar spent | 0% APR for 9 months | Earn up to 60,000 points per year | n.a. | $19 |
| National City Bank Travel Rewards Visa | Earn 1 point for every dollar spent | 0% APR for 6 months | Earn up to 60,000 points per year | 4 years | $0 |
| PNC Select Rewards Visa® Platinum | Earn 1 point for every dollar spent | n.a. | Earn unlimited Points | n.a. | $0 |
| PNC Visa® Signature Rewards Card | Earn 1 point for every dollar spent | n.a. | Earn unlimited Points | n.a. | $75, waived upon $20,000 in purchases |
