The Best Travel Credit Cards
How to turn huge sign up bonuses into free travel, everywhere
Every traveler should be reaping the benefits of a good travel credit card. With this travel hack, we reveal our favorite offers and how you can use the system to save some serious moolah on your next trip. If the idea of over $500 in free travel or a round trip flight to Europe sounds good to you, please continue.
How To Make It Happen
That free flight often comes via the incredible sign up bonuses many travel credit cards are now offering. Depending on the card, you can earn up to 60,000 bonus points within the first three months of approval, which can be used for all types of travel. So, if you’re planning on taking a trip anytime soon, just follow these simple steps:
By following these three steps, you’re on your way to a serious amount of free travel. Just be sure to make all your purchases on the card and you’ll likely hit the minimum spend necessary to earn all of those wonderful bonus points.
Now it’s time to start planning your trip, right? Well, yeah, right. BUT, let’s not stop there. It’s important to consider the complete lifecycle of your travel credit card...
Once you’ve earned the bonus and used your points or miles to go climb Machu Picchu, go wine tasting in Tuscany, or explore the best of Patagonia, you may want to close the account before the end of the year. That’s because, although most of these cards waive the first year account fee (which is often close to $100), they usually don’t waive the second year. And by this time you’ll be lucky to accrue 20,000 points in an entire year, which won’t get you very far (remember, it’s really all about the sign up bonus with these cards).
Now that you know how to make it happen, here's our list of the best travel credit cards of 2016!
- Choose the travel card that best fits your needs (see our recommendations below) - When choosing the card, make sure to pick one with an achievable minimum spend (that is, the minimum amount of money you have to spend in the specified amount of time to receive the miles or points bonus). For example, some cards require you to spend $1,000 dollars in 3 months while others require $4,000 in that same time frame. To figure out if this is achievable, average your monthly budget along with any extra purchases you plan on making over the first three months. Remember, if you don’t hit the minimum spend, you won’t get the big bonus.
- Once you’ve chosen a card that works for you, make ALL of your purchases on the card. Seriously, everything. coffee, groceries, bills, everything.
- Then, when you get your statement each month, pay off the entire balance. We’re not trying to pay interest here. This is about saving money.
By following these three steps, you’re on your way to a serious amount of free travel. Just be sure to make all your purchases on the card and you’ll likely hit the minimum spend necessary to earn all of those wonderful bonus points.
Now it’s time to start planning your trip, right? Well, yeah, right. BUT, let’s not stop there. It’s important to consider the complete lifecycle of your travel credit card...
Once you’ve earned the bonus and used your points or miles to go climb Machu Picchu, go wine tasting in Tuscany, or explore the best of Patagonia, you may want to close the account before the end of the year. That’s because, although most of these cards waive the first year account fee (which is often close to $100), they usually don’t waive the second year. And by this time you’ll be lucky to accrue 20,000 points in an entire year, which won’t get you very far (remember, it’s really all about the sign up bonus with these cards).
Now that you know how to make it happen, here's our list of the best travel credit cards of 2016!
The Best All Around Travel Credit Cards
1. Chase Sapphire Preferred Card
The sign up bonus for this card is probably the best of any card. Spend $4,000 dollars with the Chase Sapphire Preferred card in the first 3 months and get a 50,000 point bonus. Add an authorized user to your account and get an additional 5,000 points. Earn 2x1 points when using the card for dining (restaurants or any food, really) or travel. In addition to all these benefits, potentially the best perk of the Sapphire Preferred card is the ability to transfer points 1:1 to a number of other rewards programs, including United MileagePlus, British Airways Avios, and Marriott.
What that gets you...
By spending $4,000 dollars on this card and adding an authorized user, you can easily accrue 60,000 points, which equates to a $600 statement credit or, by transferring miles to an airline rewards program like United MileagePlus, one round trip ticket to Europe.
2. Capital One Venture Rewards Card
Much like the Chase Sapphire Preferred card, the Capital One Venture Rewards card delivers a huge points bonus after reaching a minimum spend in the first three months. Yet with the Venture Rewards card you only need to spend $3,000 dollars in that time to get a 40,000 point bonus. In the meantime you’ll earn 2x points on every dollar you spend.
What that gets you...
Spend enough to get the bonus and you’ve got 46,000 points in 3 months or less. That’s good for $460 to spend on travel, then simply ‘erase’ that travel purchase from your statement using Capital One’s purchase eraser feature. We flew from Madrid, Spain to Bogota Colombia for over $635 and ended up paying only $35 for both of us.
3. Barclaycard Arrival Plus World Elite MasterCard
The Barclaycard has a 40,000 point bonus after spending $3,000 in the first three months of opening the account, which is a pretty average minimum spend. Along with that sweet bonus, you’ll earn two points for every dollar you spend. By spending enough to earn the bonus, you’ll have 46,000 points in under three months.
What that gets you…
Those 46,000 points are good for a $460 statement credit on travel purchases. You’ll also get 5% miles back when you redeem those points, which is another 2,300 points to use for travel.
The sign up bonus for this card is probably the best of any card. Spend $4,000 dollars with the Chase Sapphire Preferred card in the first 3 months and get a 50,000 point bonus. Add an authorized user to your account and get an additional 5,000 points. Earn 2x1 points when using the card for dining (restaurants or any food, really) or travel. In addition to all these benefits, potentially the best perk of the Sapphire Preferred card is the ability to transfer points 1:1 to a number of other rewards programs, including United MileagePlus, British Airways Avios, and Marriott.
What that gets you...
By spending $4,000 dollars on this card and adding an authorized user, you can easily accrue 60,000 points, which equates to a $600 statement credit or, by transferring miles to an airline rewards program like United MileagePlus, one round trip ticket to Europe.
2. Capital One Venture Rewards Card
Much like the Chase Sapphire Preferred card, the Capital One Venture Rewards card delivers a huge points bonus after reaching a minimum spend in the first three months. Yet with the Venture Rewards card you only need to spend $3,000 dollars in that time to get a 40,000 point bonus. In the meantime you’ll earn 2x points on every dollar you spend.
What that gets you...
Spend enough to get the bonus and you’ve got 46,000 points in 3 months or less. That’s good for $460 to spend on travel, then simply ‘erase’ that travel purchase from your statement using Capital One’s purchase eraser feature. We flew from Madrid, Spain to Bogota Colombia for over $635 and ended up paying only $35 for both of us.
3. Barclaycard Arrival Plus World Elite MasterCard
The Barclaycard has a 40,000 point bonus after spending $3,000 in the first three months of opening the account, which is a pretty average minimum spend. Along with that sweet bonus, you’ll earn two points for every dollar you spend. By spending enough to earn the bonus, you’ll have 46,000 points in under three months.
What that gets you…
Those 46,000 points are good for a $460 statement credit on travel purchases. You’ll also get 5% miles back when you redeem those points, which is another 2,300 points to use for travel.
The Best U.S. Airline Rewards Cards
American Express Gold Delta SkyMiles Card
This card currently offers a 50,000 mile bonus after spending just $1,000 within the first 3 months of opening an account. You'll also get priority boarding and a free checked bag on any Delta flights
What that gets you...
50,000 miles is almost enough for a round trip ticket to Europe and plenty for most round trip flights within the U.S. You can use the points with any Delta partner airline (SkyTeam alliance) and if those 50k miles don't get you all the way to your next destination, buying the extra miles through Delta is usually pretty cost effective. Through this bonus, we plan on booking two one-way tickets to Europe on a Delta partner airline this spring (more on that adventure soon!).
United MileagePlus Explorer Card
United’s MileagePlus Explorer card offers a 30,000 mile bonus when you spend $1,000 in the first 3 months of opening an account. You’ll get 5,000 additional miles for adding an authorized user, which means at least 36,000 miles within the first few months. Other benefits include a free first checked bag, priority boarding, and two United club passes each year you have the card.
What that gets you…
The 36,000 miles you can earn by signing up for this card will get you a round trip flight to any number of destinations within the U.S. and should easily cover a one-way ticket to Europe or other great spots across the globe. We both signed up for this card before our trip around the world and booked miles tickets from Honolulu, HI to Saigon Vietnam and from Buenos Aires, Argentina to San José, Costa Rica, saving hundreds (if not thousands) in air costs.
Citi AAdvantage Platinum Select MasterCard
Just like the United MileagePlus card, the Citi AAdvantage Platinum Select MasterCard offers a 30,000 mile bonus after spending $1,000 in the first 3 months of opening an account.
What that gets you…
The 31,000 miles you’ll have with the AAdvantage card will give you a round trip ticket to any number of locations American Airlines (or their Oneworld alliance partners) flies.
Alaska Airlines Visa Signature
The Alaska Airlines Visa Signature card offers 25,000 bonus miles upon approval and one annual coach companion fare (for $121). There’s no spending requirement either, just sign up and you’ll get 25,000 miles. *Note: The Alaska Airlines Visa Signature card is the only card on this list with an annual fee ($75)
What that gets you…
The 25,000 mile sign up bonus gets you a round trip flight from Oakland to Seattle, a one-way ticket to Maui (where you might just decide to stay forever), or flights to a number of other Alaska (or their partner airlines) destinations. Add the annual coach companion fare and you’re looking at two free flights for your next vacation!
***Please note that this story was written through independent research and personal experience only.
