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Best Travel Credit Cards for March 2023

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Excellent/Good (670+)Fair (669 - 580)Poor (Below 579)Limited or None
Earn an additional 1.5% cash back your first year

Chase Freedom Unlimited®

On Chase's secure site
Rewards Rate
Enjoy 5% cash back on travel purchased through Chase Ultimate Rewards®, our premier rewards program that lets you redeem rewards for cash back, travel, gift cards and more; 3% cash back on drugstore purchases and dining at restaurants, including takeout and eligible delivery service, and 1.5% on all other purchases
Welcome Offer
Earn an extra 1.5% on everything you buy (on up to $20,000 spent in the first year) — worth up to $300 cash back. That's 6.5% on travel purchased through Chase Ultimate Rewards®, 4.5% on dining and drugstores, and 3% on all other purchases.
0% Intro APR
Enjoy 0% Intro APR for 15 months from account opening on purchases and balance transfers, then a variable APR of 19.49% - 28.24%.
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The Platinum Card® from American Express

On American Express's secure site
Terms Apply
Rewards Rate
5X Membership Rewards® Points for flights booked directly with airlines or with American Express Travel up to $500,000 on these purchases per calendar year, and 5X Membership Rewards® Points on prepaid hotels booked with American Express Travel.
Welcome Offer
Earn 80,000 Membership Rewards® Points after you spend $6,000 on purchases on the Card in your first 6 months of Card Membership.
Airport Perks
American Express has expanded The Centurion® Network to include 40+ Centurion Lounge and Studio locations worldwide. There are even more places your Platinum Card® can get you complimentary entry and exclusive perks.
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Chase Sapphire Reserve®

On Chase's secure site
Rewards Rate
5x points on flights and 10x points on hotels and car rentals through Chase Ultimate Rewards®
Welcome Offer
Earn 60,000 bonus points after you spend $4,000 on purchases in the first 3 months from account opening. That's $900 toward travel when you redeem through Chase Ultimate Rewards®
Travel Perks
Access to 1,300+ airport lounges worldwide after an easy, one-time enrollment in Priority PassTM Select and up to $100 application fee credit every four years for Global Entry, NEXUS, or TSA PreCheck®
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Earn 60,000 bonus points after you spend $4,000 on purchases in the first 3 months

Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card

On Chase's secure site
Rewards Rate
Enjoy benefits such as a $50 annual Ultimate Rewards Hotel Credit, 5x on travel purchased through Chase Ultimate Rewards®, 3x on dining and 2x on all other travel purchases, plus more.
Welcome Offer
Earn 60,000 bonus points after you spend $4,000 on purchases in the first 3 months from account opening. That's $750 when you redeem through Chase Ultimate Rewards®.
Chase Ultimate Rewards®
Get 25% more value when you redeem for airfare, hotels, car rentals and cruises through Chase Ultimate Rewards®. For example, 60,000 points are worth $750 toward travel.
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Why Should You Use a Travel Credit Card?

Travel credit cards are one of the most popular types of credit cards and for good reason. Travel cards offer reward points on everyday purchases that can pay for your next vacation. These cards are well known for offering substantial welcome bonuses that often cover the cost of vacation flights or extended hotel stays.

Travel cards go beyond rewards points to offer cardholders perks to help make their vacations easier. Notable benefits include TSA PreCheck and access to priority lounges to make your airport experience more pleasurable before flight.

For the international travelers, many of these cards offer no foreign transaction fees which is typically 3% of each purchase made abroad. You won’t need to worry about using your card internationally as these cards have partnered with the best international networks - like Visa and Mastercard - to ensure you can use your card effortlessly anywhere.

There are plenty of variations of travel rewards credit cards. Finding the best card for your will depend on what kind of traveler you are. Consider how often you fly, if you are planning on going internationally, and if you tend to pay for premium travel experience.

If you don’t want to manually analyze your spending yourself, you can sign up for a free BestCreditCard account. BestCreditCard’s AI estimates the rewards value you are likely to receive in the first year after account opening for each card. BestCreditCard uses your opt-in transaction data securely shared via Plaid (also used by Venmo) to personalize your credit card recommendations based on your spending. You can compare cards quantitatively by their value to you and take the guesswork out of finding the best card for you.

Co-branded Travel Cards

Airline cards are a popular credit card offering for frequent travelers. The primary difference between an airline card and a travel rewards card is earning and redeeming points. Airlines cards offer frequent flier miles that are typically redeemable only with a single partnered airline. Travel rewards credit cards, however, are usually redeemable with not only any airline but also many hotel and resort brands.

One of the main benefits of an airline branded card is in-flight benefits. Usually these cards will come with complimentary priority boarding, free entertainment, and refreshments to make your time in air more enjoyable. These benefits make most sense if you are loyal to a particular airline. For example, if you live in a city that is a major hub for a particular airline then it might make more sense to open one of their cards. The downside of airline cards is you will have more limited redemption options than a travel regards card because you will only be able to use your frequent flier miles with that specific carrier.

Redeeming Rewards

Travel rewards are becoming easier to redeem for a variety of different travel benefits. For most bank offerings, you can redeem your points for hotel stays, flights, and even cash equivalents. This has made opening a travel rewards card make more sense than ever. Keep an eye out for promotional welcome bonuses as well which can pay for your next vacation or cover an annual fee for multiple years. If you’re confused about what a mile or rewards points means, typically these are converted on a 1-to-1 basis with one cent. In other words, a 60,000 miles welcome bonus is the equivalent of $600 when redeemed. One note to keep in mind is that some travel rewards do expire so it’s important to use your rewards while they are still active.

Considerations

Some travel cards come with annual fees while others don’t. Making sense of which travel card is the best fit for you comes down to understanding your spending habits. Just because a card comes with an annual fee doesn’t mean the rewards won’t offset it or that it could be your best option.

The simplest way to understand which card will be most rewarding to you is to make a free BestCreditCard account, where the AI does all the value estimations for you using your own spending data.

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Approval Odds
BestCreditCard calculates your approval odds by comparing your credit profile to other BestCreditCard members who were approved for this product. These approval odds are estimates only and do not guarantee approval. Credit card issuers use a variety of different types of credit scores and criteria to make credit decisions. The TransUnion credit score we provide is based on the VantageScore 3.0 model and may not be the credit scoring model used by financial institutions presenting offers on our website.