Travel Rewards Credit Cards Reviews and Editor's Recommendations

List of Travel Rewards Credit Cards

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.

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 American Express® 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. Like the Chase Ultimate Rewards and Starwoood program, Membership Rewards allows you to transfer points to airline and hotel partners.

For fans of Citibank, their Citi ThankYou® Preferred Rewards Card - $150 Gift Cards is one of their rewards card. Citi has a reward program called ThankYou where you can exchange the points you earn for travel, merchandise and gift cards (plus what Citi calls Experiential rewards). Unlike other cards mentioned, you will earn one point for every dollar that you spend on this card.

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

• You have to book 21 days in advance
• You must stay a Saturday night
• Tickets must be non-refundable
• Your stay can only be 30 day max
• There is usually a ticket price cap


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

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