Best travel credit cards of December 2024

The best travel credit cards do more than help you rack up rewards toward your next trip —  they also offer perks to upgrade your entire travel experience. Trip insurance, concierge services and expedited airport security service credits are relatively common benefits, and a number of premier travel cards add on valuable benefits like annual travel credits and airport lounge access. 

Although a card may advertise hundreds of dollars in potential rewards and perk value, you could be leaving money on the table if the card doesn’t fit your needs. Or worse: you could end up losing money on an overwhelming annual fee if you don’t squeeze enough value from the card to justify the price tag.

Finding the right card involves weighing each option’s feature-versus-fee balance and considering which rewards structure best fits your personal spending and travel habits. 

How Bankrate experts chose their travel cards

With this advice in mind, let’s see how our credit card experts made their travel card picks: 

Excellent bang for your buck

When it comes to earning rewards, I’ve typically stuck with cash back cards, preferring the simplicity of knowing exactly how much my rewards are worth and the ease of redeeming for statement credits. Recently, though, I decided I wanted to travel a bit more, and I figured a new travel rewards card could be a great tool to help me earn free trips.

As I explored card options, a few major points of consideration stood out:

• Cost: I didn’t feel like I traveled enough to justify a huge annual fee.
• Simplicity: I wanted to stick with a single, streamlined travel card and not worry about juggling multiple rewards programs or rewards rates.
• Perks: While I didn’t need anything too fancy, I thought it might be nice to have a perk like TSA Precheck included, since I hate waiting in long airport security lines.

To my surprise, the card that stood out most was the Capital One Venture X Rewards Credit Card. Though it carried an intimidating annual fee of $395 (See Rates & Fees), I found this cost was more than worth it once I dug into the details. In fact, its benefits were so valuable, I barely needed to worry about offsetting the cost. 

Two of its annual perks — a $300 Capital One travel credit and 10,000 bonus miles every year on my account anniversary — are valuable enough to offset the fee on their own. This means as long as I take one flight a year, I can basically break even on the card. Any rewards or perks I get beyond that feel like pure upside.

It’s a huge bonus, then, that the card also includes practical benefits like Priority Pass lounge access and a credit of up to $120 toward the cost of Global Entry or TSA PreCheck. While I’ve never frequented airport lounges, I see these privileges as essentially free considering the value of the annual travel credit and bonus miles. So, I figure, why not take advantage? 

For me, the Venture X strikes the perfect balance: A flat rewards rate that makes it easy to earn miles on everything I buy, flexible redemption through Capital One or via transfer to partnering airlines and hotels, and practical perks I know I’ll use when I travel.

I never imagined I’d have a $395 travel card in my wallet, but for me, it’s at worst a coupon for a flight every year. And maybe I need that nudge to take my next trip.

— Nouri Zarrugh, Editor, Bankrate

Simplicity

I need simplicity in my life and my credit cards, so my pick is the Capital One VentureOne. It earns a flat unlimited 1.25 miles per dollar spent, I earn ​​5X miles on hotels and rental cars booked through Capital One Travel and the card doesn’t have an annual fee (see rates & fees). I travel a lot and this card doesn't charge those pesky foreign transaction fees. I can use my miles to book travel or get reimbursed for past trips. I can also transfer my miles to more than 15 airline and hotel partners.

— Benét J. Wilson, Writer, Bankrate

Brand loyalty

As a Southwest loyalist and frequent flyer, my first travel card was the Southwest Rapid Rewards Priority Credit Card. I get rewarded for Southwest purchases, hotels, ride sharing and select streaming services, and I also usually swipe the card for any purchase that doesn’t earn extra rewards with my cash back card. In other words, points are my priority. The welcome bonus, annual bonus and rewards I’ve earned have covered most of my flights in the last two years. Plus, I get a $75 travel credit and four free upgraded boardings a year.

— Katie Kelton, Writer, Bankrate

In the News

Inflation is having a major effect on holiday travel. More than 4 in 5 holiday travelers are changing their plans due to inflation. According to Bankrate senior analyst, Ted Rossman, “While inflation has come down significantly, it's straining holiday travelers even more this year.” Coupled with rising flight and hotel costs, 32 percent of holiday travelers anticipate traveling for fewer days, with more than 1 in 4 holiday travelers taking on debt for their travel needs.

Co-branded travel cards vs. general travel cards

The first step to finding the right travel card is to consider your travel preferences and any loyalty programs you’re a member of. Co-branded cards are linked to a particular airline or hotel chain, making them great options if you travel with certain brands enough to take advantage of loyalty status perks. Meanwhile, general travel cards aren’t affiliated with a specific brand and typically provide perks and rewards that can be used with a variety of different hotels and airlines. 

Here are a few key card feature differences that can make or break your decision to get a co-branded or more versatile travel card.

The value of rewards and perks is one of the biggest factors to consider when choosing a travel card. Many of the best travel cards carry annual fees, so you’ll want to be confident your travel card is worth the fee.

The good news is credit card points and miles are often worth more than cash back since many cards’ points or miles are worth more than 1 cent apiece with the right travel redemption or travel transfer partner. However, many airlines and hotels use dynamic pricing models that continually update airfare and room prices based on factors including where you’re going and when you book. Dynamic pricing can make it hard to know if you’re making the most of your rewards without doing a little math.

Before you redeem, be sure to check the redemption value of your rewards by dividing the cash cost of a plane or hotel booking by its cost in points or miles.

You can also use Bankrate’s latest points and miles valuations to determine if you’re getting a good deal on your redemptions. Bankrate collected data on hundreds of bookings across dozens of airline, hotel and credit card rewards programs and estimated how much each program’s rewards are worth on average. Below, we’ve listed our valuations for the most popular travel rewards programs, plus the general value you can expect from the best travel card perks.

It’s important to know how to maximize your rewards and perks. Otherwise, a travel card could end up being a money pit. Here are a few pointers from our experts for making the most of your travel card: 

• Combine cards to maximize rewards: Knowing how much you spend in different categories and which merchants are eligible for rewards will help you earn more and build an optimized stack of rewards cards. A flat-rate card is often a great starting point to earn the same rate on every purchase you make. But as you build out a rewards strategy, you can incorporate cards with bonus categories to earn even more in your highest spending areas.
• Maximize your rewards value with transfer partners and issuer travel: Travel points and miles often lose value toward non-travel options like cash back, so redeem your rewards for travel through the issuer portal for at least 1 cent per point or mile. However, transferring your rewards to the right airline or hotel partner program is usually worth the extra effort since it could net you even more value.
• Make the most of your travel perks: Travel benefits are one of the main reasons to get a travel card and are often key to making up a card’s annual fee. Be sure to take full advantage of these perks. For example, the right combination of cards for your trip could give you free checked baggage, airport lounge access, priority boarding, in-flight credits, reimburse you for delayed baggage and cover an Uber ride to your hotel. Try to stack as many perks as possible when you travel to give yourself the best possible experience.
• Plan for the sign-up bonus: The best travel cards come with generous welcome offers, but these bonuses may require a high spend in a short timeframe. That’s why it’s important to consider whether the spending requirement fits with your typical spending habits. Just be sure not to overextend yourself just to earn a bonus — interest and fees can easily eat through any value you’d get. Keep an eye out for limited-time offers like extraordinarily high sign-up bonuses, perks with partner services and other reward-earning opportunities to possibly squeeze even more value from your new travel card.
• Track your spending and rewards each account statement: Track your favorite stores’ and services’ merchant category codes (MCCs) to fine-tune your spending habits for maximum rewards. If you notice your expenses changing, this practice may also help you notice whether you need to change which rewards cards you carry.

Have more questions for our credit cards editors? Feel free to send us an email, find us on Facebook, or Tweet us @Bankrate.

When evaluating the best travel cards, we consider a mix of factors, including how cards score in our proprietary card rating system and whether cards offer features that fit the priorities of a diverse group of cardholders, from earning rewards in popular categories to scoring a large sign-up bonus or high-value perks. Whenever possible, we also feature cards that are available at various credit levels and price points.