The allure of a travel adventure can be a strong. Who doesn’t dream about getting away from their life for a while and going some place new and exotic and amazing? Even a relaxing and pampering weekend travel adventure has appeal when the work is piled up mid-week. Travel credit cards promise to take you there. In exchange for your credit card charges, you’ll receive rewards on all things related to travel – cruises, rental cars, hotel stays and airfares.
Although some credit cards offer airline miles or hotel points, others offer reward miles from banks that can be redeemed for statement credits towards travel expenses. The benefit of these programs over others is that customers can redeem their miles for any travel purchase they want, and even earn travel rewards from their trip. So for June, we are looking at the best travel reward cards in America, other than those that offer airline miles, which we awarded last November.
How to Choose a Travel Reward Credit Card
Travel reward credit cards can be appealing, especially if they come with a large, sign-up bonus, making a travel dream attainable with just a few swipes of a credit card. But study the rewards structure of that travel credit card carefully.
For example, take a close look at that sign-up bonus. Do you get the bonus just for signing up? Or are there spending requirements that you will need to meet before all those bonus points will be credited to your account? How much is the annual fee charged on the card? And is the annual fee waived in the first year? What is the rate of rewards? And how many bonus points will you need to accumulate for your desired travel adventure? How long will it take you to earn enough points to be taking off on a travel vacation? How easy is it to book your travel reward?
Furthermore, if you’ll be traveling with your credit card outside the U.S. you may want to choose a card without foreign transaction fees. Some issuers charge these fees on credit card purchases made outside the U.S. These fees, which are typically 3%, can really add up, especially if you are traveling abroad for a week or more. Also, the ideal way to use a rewards credit card is to pay the balance in full every month so you don’t incur interest charges, which can chip away at the rewards that you earn. If you plan to carry a balance on this card, you may want to consider instead using a low-interest credit card.
Also, before you apply for a travel rewards credit card, check the issuer’s credit guidelines and see if you meet them. If you don’t know what your credit score is, there are many ways to get your credit scores for free — including through Credit.com — so that you know how to target your search to cards you’re more likely to get approved for.
We reviewed dozens of credit card offers to find the best travel credit cards out there. After weighing the costs of benefits, we’ve narrowed the results to a winner and two runners-up. And here’s the winning card…
The Barclaycard Arrival Plus World Elite MasterCard
This card continues to lead the pack of travel credit cards by offering the most value per dollar spent. To start with, applicants receive 40,000 miles as a sign-up bonus after spending just $3,000 on their card within the first 90 days of opening the account. Cardholders also receive two miles for every dollar they spend on purchases, and each mile is worth one cent in statement credit toward travel expenses made in the past 120 days — plus a 10% rebate on all mileage redeemed. Because this card is part of the World Elite MasterCard program, it offers many travel and shopping discounts.
As for costs, the $89 annual fee for this card is waived the first year, and it has no foreign transaction fees.
Want to see the others? Check out the rest of the Best Travel Credit Cards in America on Credit.com.
Related Articles
- The Best Airline Mile Credit Cards in America
- The Best Hotel Rewards Credit Cards
- Is a Rewards Credit Card a Good Fit for You?
- Tip for Paying Off Credit Card Debt
This article originally appeared on Credit.com.
This article by Jason Steele was distributed by the Personal Finance Syndication Network.
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