Travel Rewards Credit Cards

Advertiser Disclosure

We dive into fine print of 110 travel credit cards to help you estimate how much value in rewards you can get for the 1st year with a card. We consider annual fees, sign-up bonus offer, rewards for spending, spending categories and rotating categories for some banks.

I want miles/points for
American Airlines
Any loyalty program
Flexible points
American Express
Chase Ultimate Rewards
Citi ThankYou
Starwood Preferred Guest
Airline miles/points
Aegean Airlines
Aeroflot
Aeroméxico
Air Canada
Air China
Air India
Air New Zealand
airberlin
Alaska Airlines
Alitalia
American Airlines
ANA - All Nippon Airways
Asiana Airlines
Avianca
British Airways
Cathay Pacific
China Eastern
China Southern
Copa Airlines
Delta
El Al
Emirates
Ethiopian Airlines
Etihad Airways
EVA Air
Finnair
Garuda Indonesia
Hainan Airlines
Hawaiian Airlines
Iberia
Japan Airlines
JetBlue
KLM Royal Dutch Airlines
Korean Air
LATAM
Lufthansa
Malaysia Airlines
Qantas
Qatar Airways
Royal Jordanian
S7 Airlines
SAS
Singapore Airlines
South African Airways
Southwest Airlines
SriLankan Airlines
TAP Portugal
Thai Airways
Turkish Airlines
United
Virgin Atlantic
Virgin Australia

My credit is
Good (680-719)
Excellent (720+)
Good (680-719)
Fair (620-679)
Poor/No Credit (up to 619)
and I spend
monthly

Tell us about your spending habits, and we’ll find the most rewarding credit cards for you.

Some cards give you more rewards for spending in a particular category, such as gas or dining. By learning what you spend the most on, we can estimate the rewards value for each credit card more accurately.

7 cards found
The Starwood Preferred Guest® Credit Card from American Express photo
The Starwood Preferred Guest® Credit Card from American Express photo
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The Starwood Preferred Guest® Credit Card from American Express
This card earns Starpoints that can be transferred to AAdvantage Miles (AAdvantage) with 1:1 ratio Other transfer options
Rewards for spending
Annual Fee
Bonus Offer
Rewards in 1st year
2-6 AAdvantage Miles per $1
$95
waived first year
75k points
worth 75k AAdvantage Miles
 123,000 miles
  • Card Details
  • Earn 75,000 Bonus Points after you use your new Card to make $3,000 in purchases within the first 3 months.
  • $0 intro annual fee for the first 12 months, then $95.
  • Use your Card and earn 6 Starpoints® for every dollar spent on eligible purchases at participating SPG® and Marriott Rewards® hotels.
  • Earn 2 Starpoint for all other eligible purchases.
  • Receive 1 Free Night Award every year after your Card account anniversary. Award can be used for one night (redemption level at or under 35,000 points) at a participating hotel. Select hotels have resort fees.
  • No Foreign Transaction Fees.
  • Receive complimentary Silver Elite status with your Card. Earn Gold Elite status after spending $30,000 or more in eligible purchases on your Card in a calendar year.
  • Receive free in-room, premium Internet access while staying at participating SPG® and Marriott Rewards ® hotels.
  • Pros
  • Generous signup bonus
  • High rate of rewards
  • No foreign transaction fees
  • Cons
  • Has annual fee
  • Good to excellent credit score required

Our Take

Whatever aspects of The Starwood Preferred Guest® Credit Card from American Express you might consider, the only one that really matters is the incredible value of Starpoints®. Earning two of them per dollar is one of the best travel card offers that ever existed.

Starwood Preferred Guest® Business Credit Card from American Express photo
Starwood Preferred Guest® Business Credit Card from American Express photo
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Starwood Preferred Guest® Business Credit Card from American Express
This card earns Starpoints that can be transferred to AAdvantage Miles (AAdvantage) with 1:1 ratio Other transfer options
Rewards for spending
Annual Fee
Bonus Offer
Rewards in 1st year
2-6 AAdvantage Miles per $1
$95
waived first year
75k points
worth 75k AAdvantage Miles
 123,000 miles
  • Card Details
  • Earn 75,000 Bonus Points after you use your new Card to make $3,000 in purchases within the first 3 months of Card Membership.
  • Earn 6 points for every dollar of eligible purchases on the Card at participating SPG® and Marriott Rewards® hotels.
  • Earn 4 points at U.S. restaurants, at U.S. gas stations, on wireless telephone services purchased directly from U.S. service providers, and on U.S. purchases for shipping.
  • Earn 2 points for all other eligible purchases.
  • No Foreign Transaction Fees.
  • Redeem Starpoints for free nightsat over 1,300 hotels and resorts in over 100 countries with no blackout dates. Terms Apply.
  • $0 annual fee for the first 12 month, then $95.
  • Premium On-property Internet Access + Boingo Wi-Fi.
  • Pros
  • High rewards rate
  • No foreign transaction fees
  • Cons
  • Has interest charges

Our Take

For a moderate annual fee, you get a business card that earns points at a rate that’s fair, if not remarkable. Of course, you have to be a somewhat frequent Marriott/SPG guest in order to take the most advantage of both the card’s rewards rate and the hotel-related perks that it offers.

Starwood Preferred Guest® Luxury Card photo
Starwood Preferred Guest® Luxury Card photo
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Starwood Preferred Guest® Luxury Card
This card earns Starpoints that can be transferred to AAdvantage Miles (AAdvantage) with 1:1 ratio Other transfer options
Rewards for spending
Annual Fee
Bonus Offer
Rewards in 1st year
2-6 AAdvantage Miles per $1
$450
75k points
worth 75k AAdvantage Miles
 123,000 miles
  • Card Details
  • Earn 75,000 Bonus Points after you use your new Card to make $3,000 in purchases within the first 3 months.
  • Earn 6X points on eligible purchases at participating SPG® and Marriott Rewards® hotels.
  • Earn 3X points at U.S. restaurants and on flights booked directly with airlines.
  • Earn 2X points on all other eligible purchases.
  • Enjoy up to $300 in statement credits each year of Card Membership for eligible purchases at participating SPG® or Marriott Rewards® hotels.
  • Receive 1 Free Night Award every year after your Card account anniversary. Award can be used for one night (redemption level at or under 50,000 points) at a participating hotel. Terms apply.
  • Enjoy complimentary Gold Elite status with your Card. Earn Platinum Elite status after making $75,000 in eligible purchases on your Card in a calendar year.
  • No foreign transaction fees.
  • Redeem points for free nights at over 6,500 participating SPG® and Marriott Rewards® hotels across 29 brands. Plus, redeem points for flights or car rentals with Air+Car, or transfer your points for travel program rewards with over 40 airline partners.
  • Pros
  • Generous signup bonus
  • 6X points per $1 spent on hotels
  • 0% purchase intro APR
  • No foreign transaction fee
  • Cons
  • High annual fee
CitiBusiness® / AAdvantage® Platinum Select® World Mastercard® photo
CitiBusiness® / AAdvantage® Platinum Select® World Mastercard® photo
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CitiBusiness® / AAdvantage® Platinum Select® World Mastercard®
This card earns AAdvantage Miles (AAdvantage program by American Airlines)
Rewards for spending
Annual Fee
Bonus Offer
Rewards in 1st year
1-2 miles per $1
$99
waived first year
70k miles
 94,000 miles
  • Card Details
  • Earn 70,000 American Airlines AAdvantage® bonus miles after spending $4,000 in purchases within the first 4 months of account opening.
  • No Foreign Transaction Fees.
  • Earn Double Miles on all eligible American Airlines purchases and on purchases in select business categories.
  • Earn 2 AAdvantage® miles for every $1 spent on American Airlines purchases and on purchases at telecommunications, car rental merchants and at gas stations.
  • Earn 1 mile for every $1 spent on other purchases.
  • First checked bag is free.
  • Preferred boarding on American Airlines domestic flights.
  • Receive employee cards at no additional cost plus, earn AAdvantage® miles for purchases made on employee cards and set a unique credit limit for each employee.
  • Receive a 25% savings on eligible inflight food and beverage purchases when you use your card on American Airlines flights.
  • Travel & Purchase protection.
  • Pros
  • Sign-up bonus
  • High rewards rate
  • No Foreign Transaction Fees
  • Travel & Purchase protection
  • Cons
  • Has annual fee
AAdvantage® Aviator® Red World Elite Mastercard® photo
AAdvantage® Aviator® Red World Elite Mastercard® photo
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AAdvantage® Aviator® Red World Elite Mastercard®
This card earns AAdvantage Miles (AAdvantage program by American Airlines)
Rewards for spending
Annual Fee
Bonus Offer
Rewards in 1st year
1-2 miles per $1
$95
50k miles
 74,000 miles
  • Card Details
  • Earn 50,000 bonus miles after making your first purchase in the first 90 days and paying the annual fee.
  • Earn 2X miles on eligible American Airlines purchases, and 1X miles on all other purchases. Terms Apply.
  • Get 10% of your redeemed miles back. Note, 10,000 miles maximum per calendar year.
  • Earn $3,000 Elite Qualifying Dollars after spending $25,000 on purchases each calendar year.
  • First checked bag free. Terms Apply.
  • Preferred boarding for the primary cardmember and up to 4 companions on your reservation when traveling on domestic itineraries operated by American Airlines.
  • No foreign transaction fees.
  • Receive 25% inflight savings on food and beverages.
  • 0% intro APR for the first 15 billing cycles following each balance transfer that posts to your account within 45 days of account opening.
  • Pros
  • Sign-up bonus
  • High rate of rewards
  • 10% of your redeemed miles back
  • No foreign transaction fees
  • 0% intro APR for the first 15 billing cycles following each balance transfer that posts to your account within 45 days of account opening
  • Cons
  • Has annual fee
Citi® / AAdvantage® Platinum Select® World Elite™ Mastercard® photo
Citi® / AAdvantage® Platinum Select® World Elite™ Mastercard® photo
Apply
Citi® / AAdvantage® Platinum Select® World Elite™ Mastercard®
This card earns AAdvantage Miles (AAdvantage program by American Airlines)
Rewards for spending
Annual Fee
Bonus Offer
Rewards in 1st year
1-2 miles per $1
$99
waived first year
50k miles
 74,000 miles
  • Card Details
  • Earn 50,000 American Airlines AAdvantage® bonus miles after making $2,500 in purchases within the first 3 months of account opening.
  • Earn 2 AAdvantage® miles for every $1 spent on American Airlines purchases. Earn 1 AAdvantage® mile for every $1 spent on other purchases.
  • No Foreign Transaction Fees.
  • First checked bag is free on domestic American Airlines itineraries for you and up to four companions traveling with you on the same reservation.
  • Fly to great destinations on American Airlines operated flights and save your AAdvantage® miles for another trip. Terms Apply.
  • Receive a 25% savings on eligible inflight food and beverage purchases.
  • Enjoy preferred boarding on American Airlines domestic flights.
  • Travel & Purchase protection.
  • Citi® Cards with Apple Pay®.
  • Pros
  • Sign-up bonus
  • Double miles
  • No Foreign Transaction Fees
  • First checked bag is free
  • Preferred boarding
  • Cons
  • Annual fee is waived for the first 12 months, then $95
Citi® / AAdvantage® Gold  World Elite™ Mastercard® photo
Citi® / AAdvantage® Gold  World Elite™ Mastercard® photo
Apply
Citi® / AAdvantage® Gold World Elite™ Mastercard®
This card earns AAdvantage Miles (AAdvantage program by American Airlines)
Rewards for spending
Annual Fee
Bonus Offer
Rewards in 1st year
1 mile per $1
$50
waived first year
25k miles
 49,000 miles
  • Card Details
  • 25,000 American Airlines AAdvantage® bonus miles after $750 spent on purchases within the first 3 months, that's enough for a round trip domestic MileSAAver® award (plus government fees of $5.60 per one-way trip).
  • 1 AAdvantage® mile for every $1 spent on purchases.
  • Receive a 25% savings on eligible in–flight food and beverage purchases when you use your card.
  • No blackout dates on award travel on American Airlines and American Eagle® carriers.
  • $0 Annual Fee for the first 12 months, thereafter $50.
  • Redeem your AAdvantage® miles for a domestic round–trip flight award on American Airlines and American Eagle® carriers for as little as 25,000 AAdvantage® miles.
  • Citi® Cards with Apple Pay®.
  • Travel & Purchase protection.
  • Pros
  • Sign-up bonus
  • 1 AAdvantage® mile for every $1 spent on purchases
  • Travel & Purchase protection
  • Cons
  • Has annual fee
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