The miles and points we’ve collected from travel credit cards have easily saved us over $20,000+ in travel expenses, and they have enabled us to enjoy luxurious experiences like business class flights and luxury hotel stays that we otherwise wouldn’t have been able to afford.

We believe a good travel credit card (or a few) is a tool that all financially responsible travelers should be using. However, knowing which travel credit card(s) to apply for can be confusing.

Between restrictions like Chase’s 5/24 rule and some bonus offers only being available for a limited-time, it’s important to strategize the time and order in which you sign up for new credit cards. To help you prioritize your credit card sign-ups, we update this post every month to include what we believe are the top credit card offers on the market. Since we’re covering what we consider to be the best offers — not just limited time offers — some of the cards on this list may remain consistent from month to month.

If you still need help choosing a card after reading this post, we’d be more than happy to recommend a card (or two) for you! All you need to do is fill out this form.

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At a Glance

Detailed Reviews

1. Chase Sapphire Preferred®

Current offer: 60,000 Ultimate Rewards points after spending $4,000 within the first three months.

Annual fee: $95

Why it’s great: The Chase Sapphire Preferred is a great card to get a tidy sum of Ultimate Rewards points without paying a very high annual fee. Ultimate Reward points are valuable, given their flexibility and ability to use to make an award booking. The points are worth more when redeemed through the Chase Travel Portal, at 1.5 cents each. So your 60,000 bonus points are worth $750 in free travel! You can also transfer your points at a 1:1 ratio to the following airlines: United, Singapore, British Airways, Korean, Southwest, and Virgin Atlantic.

Other benefits worth mentioning:

• No foreign transaction fees
• $50 credit for grocery purchases
• 2x points on travel and dining purchases
• 5x points on Lyft rides (through March 2022)
• Discounts on DoorDash with free DashPass subscription
• Car rental insurance
• Travel accident insurance

2. Chase Sapphire Reserve®

Current offer: 50,000 Ultimate Rewards points after spending $4,000 within the first three months.

Annual fee: $550

Why it’s great: The incredible travel rewards earned from this card more than make up for the high annual fee. One of the best perks is the $300 travel annual credit, which will include gas and grocery purchases until June 2021. This credit all but lowers the annual fee to $250. You’ll also get up to $120 in food delivery credits with DoorDash over the course of 2020 and 2021. Our favorite reward from this card is the free Priority Pass membership that gets the card holder and up to 2 guests free access to over 1,000+ airline lounges around the world! If you’ve ever watched our Youtube videos, you know we put this benefit to use almost every time we fly. This is a service we would gladly pay $250 for every year!

*** Chase Bank only allows you to sign up for one Sapphire card, so you have to choose between the Sapphire Preferred (mentioned below) and the Sapphire Reserve (this card). Given the amount of rewards offered by the Reserve card, I would recommend starting here. 

Other benefits worth mentioning:

• No foreign transaction fees
• 3x points on travel and dining purchases
• 10x points on Lyft rides (through March 2022)
• Complimentary year of Lyft Pink (must register by March 31, 2022)
• Discounts on DoorDash with free DashPass subscription
• $100 application credit for Global Entry or TSA Pre-check
• Lost luggage reimbursement
• Car rental insurance
• Travel accident insurance

3. American Express Platinum Card

Current offer: 75,000 Membership Rewards points after spending $5,000 within the first six months.

Annual fee: $550

Why it’s great: The American Express Platinum Card offers some of the best perks available. The welcome bonus of 75,000 points is an excellent value, and the $550 is completely offset by spending credits. This card earns 10x the points on supermarket and gas spending, as well as 5x the points on select hotel and flight purchases. Of course, our favorite benefit from this card has to be entrance to the American Express Global Lounge Collection, which includes access to the Centurion Lounge. 

Other benefits worth mentioning:

• No foreign transaction fees
• $200 credit for airline fees
• $200 credit for Uber
• Up to $180 credit for PayPal spending
• $100 credit for Saks Fifth Avenue spending
• Global Entry spending credit

4. United Club(SM) Infinite Card

Current offer: 75,000 bonus miles after spending $3,o00 in the first three months

Annual fee: $525

Why it’s great: We love the United MileagePlus program because the points are valuable and the awards are a breeze to redeem. This card is a great opportunity to earn a cache of United points, as well as to earn 4x the points on United spending and 2x on all other travel, restaurant and delivery spending. This card also includes a membership to the United Club, allowing you lounge access any time you fly.

Other benefits worth mentioning:

• $100 rebate on Global Entry/TSA PreCheck application fees
• Get 25% back on in-flight purchases
• No foreign transaction fees

5. British Airways Visa Signature Card

Current offer: 50,000 bonus miles after you spend $3,000 on purchases within the first 3 months of account opening and a companion ticket called the “Travel Together Ticket” after spending $20,000 in total within the first year from your account opening, allowing a second person to fly with you on your award flight for only the prices of the taxes and fees.

Annual fee: $95

Why it’s great: You can get so much value from of British Airways Avios if you learn how to strategically redeem them using British Airways’ distance based award chart. For example, if you wanted to fly from Nashville to Dallas on American Airlines (a Oneworld partner), you would only need to pay 9,000 Avios each way. So with the 50,000 Avios you’d earn from the sign-up bonus, you could fly from Nashville to Dallas 5 times!

Other benefits worth mentioning:

• No foreign transaction fees
• Earn a companion ticket after spending $30,000 in a calendar year
• 10% off British Airways flights starting in the US
• Lost luggage reimbursement
• Car rental insurance
• Travel accident insurance
• Trip cancelation insurance

6. Hilton Honors American Express Surpass Card

Current offer: Get 150,000 Hilton Honors bonus points after spending $2,000 in the first three months.

Annual fee: $95

Why it’s great: The current sign-up bonus is quite generous for a mid-tier hotel credit card. It grants card holders automatic Hilton Gold status, so you’ll get to enjoy perks such as free breakfast during all stays. You’ll also get a free weekend night stay that can be redeemed at any Hilton property around the world in each calendar year that you spend $15,000.

This card also has a $150 statement credit on after your first purchase on the card within your first three months.

Other benefits worth mentioning:

• Earns 6x points for every $1 spent at U.S. supermarkets, restaurants and gas stations
• Priority Pass membership that is good for 10 free airport lounge visits
• No foreign transaction fees
• Earn 12x points for every $1 spent at Hilton properties
• Travel accident insurance
• Zero fraud liability

7. American Express® Gold Card

Current offer: 60,000 Membership Rewards® points after spending $4,000 in the first six months

Annual fee: $250

Why it’s great: The American Express Gold card has great earning potential, including 4x miles on all restaurant and supermarket spending, 3x on booking flights. 

Other benefits worth mentioning:

• Receive up to $120 in dining credits, $10 per month
• A $100 credit on airlines spending
• No foreign transaction fees

8. Marriott Bonvoy Boundless™ Credit Card

Current offer: Get 75,000 Bonus Points after spending $3,000 in the first three months.

Annual fee: $95

Why it’s great: The Bonvoy Boundless card is another great hotel card to pick up. The current bonus will net you 75,000 points, which can be used to book reward stays or can be transferred to a number of airline partner programs, usually at a 3:1 ratio. This card also earns you one free night stay on the anniversary on your account.

Other benefits worth mentioning:

• Earns 6x points for on Marriott spending
• Automatic Silver Status
• No foreign transaction fees
• Travel accident insurance

9. IHG® Rewards Club Premier Credit Card

Current offer: Get 140,000 IHG points after spending $3,000 in the first three months.

Annual fee: $89

Why it’s great: This card has a hefty bonus given its low annual fee. It comes with automatic Platinum elite status, plus an annual award night worth up to 40,000 points. You’ll also always get your fourth night free when you redeem points for stays of four or more nights.

Due to the coronavirus outbreak, existing certificates set to expire March 1, 2020 or later will be extended through Dec. 31, 2020. All new certificates issued in 2020 will be valid for 18 months (instead of 12 months).

Other benefits worth mentioning:

• Earn 25x points total for every $1 spent at IHG properties
• Earn 2x points total for every $1 spent at gas stations, grocery stores and restaurants
• $100 rebate on Global Entry/TSA PreCheck application fees
• No foreign transaction fees

10. Citi® / AAdvantage® Platinum Select® World Elite™ Mastercard®

Visit our airline credit cards page to learn how to apply

Current offer: This card is offering 50,000 AAdvantage miles after spending $2,500 in the first three months.

Annual fee: $99 (waived the first year)

Why it’s great: 50,000 American Airlines miles is enough for two round trip tickets inside of the US. Once you meet the minimum spending requirement, you’ll almost have enough frequent flyer miles for a round-trip ticket to Europe (60,000)! Plus, the annual fee is waived for the first year which makes this an awesome opportunity to earn 50,000 AA miles for $0 in fees!

Other benefits worth mentioning:

• No foreign transaction fees
• Your first checked bag is free on domestic AA flights
• You get preferred boarding on AA flights

That wraps up our review of the top personal travel credit card offers for this month. If you found this post useful, we’d be super grateful if you used our links to start your next credit card application!

Cheers,

Nate (and Kara)