#travel rewards credit cards #

5 Best Travel Reward Credit Cards

Wise Bread Picks

There are few things as alluring as the promise of free travel to exotic destinations. The banks know this, and have long offered travel rewards to their customers for using their credit cards. In turn, savvy credit card users maximize their rewards to travel in comfort and style well beyond their means. (See also: How Travel Rewards Credit Cards Really Work )

Recently, I was explaining this to an European executive sitting next to me in Lufthansa's Airbus A380 business class while returning home from a vacation in Italy. I told him that my family and I could not possibly have paid for our three $7,000 tickets for this flight. But thanks to my travel rewards credit cards, my journey was all but free after some taxes and fees. Through careful selection and use of rewards, these kinds of trips have become an annual occurrence for my family. While there are innumerable ideas, tips, and tricks to be gleaned from endless hours of research, my mission is to do the work for you and deliver only the most valuable advice to busy people who lack the time and patience to discover and decipher these deals. (See also: Cash Back vs Travel Rewards: Pick the Right Card for you )

Choosing The 5 Best Travel Rewards Credit Cards

It would be nice to pick the best travel reward cards in a purely empirical manner, the way one would choose a card with the lowest interest rate. Unfortunately, each travel rewards card offers a unique mix of benefits and drawbacks, and rarely is one card ideally suited for everyone's travel aspirations. I have read thousands of blog and forum posts, written hundreds of credit card reviews, and personally held dozens of different travel rewards cards over the last twenty years. In the end, I judge these cards based on three criteria:

• Value: The return in cents per dollar spent
• Flexibility: Cards that offer the most opportunities for redemptions no blackout dates, a variety of partners, etc.
• Costs And Fees: If fees are justified by its rewards and benefits

Of all the travel rewards cards currently offered, these are the ones I find most rewarding.

Chase Sapphire Preferred Card

Chase Sapphire Preferred cardholders are able to transfer their points to Chase travel partners at full value 1,000 Chase points equal 1,000 partner miles/points. For most cards, some value gets lost during the transfer. Or get 20% off travel booked through Chase's site. Get double points for dining and travel transactions (1 point per $1 on other purchases). There are no foreign transaction fees. The annual fee of $95 is waived for the first year.

Sign up offer: Earn 50,000 bonus points when you spend $4,000 on purchases in the first 3 months from account opening. That's $625 in travel when you redeem through Chase Ultimate Rewards. Earn 5,000 bonus points after you add the first authorized user and make a purchase in the first 3 months from account opening.

Capital One Venture Rewards Credit Card

The Capital One Venture Rewards Credit Card is a simple travel rewards card that offers two miles per dollar spent on all purchases. Earn unlimited miles and redeem them for statement credit on travel purchases, allowing you to choose any airline or hotel, and earn miles on your travel rewards. There is no annual fee for the first year. It's $59 thereafter.

Sign up offer: Get 40,000 miles once you spend $3,000 on purchases within the first 3 months, equal to $400 in travel.

Click here to learn more and apply for the Capital One Venture Rewards Credit Card

BankAmericard Travel Rewards Credit Card

The BankAmericard Travel Rewards credit card offers 1.5 points per $1 spent on every purchase, with no limit to the points you can earn and no expiration date on the points. If you're a Bank of America customer, you get an additional 10% customer points bonus on every purchase when you have an active checking or savings account with Bank of America. Points can be redeemed as a statement credit to pay for flights, hotels, vacation packages, and more with no blackout dates and restrictions. This card has no annual fee and no foreign transaction fees.

Online exclusive bonus offer. Get 20,000 online bonus points if you make at least $1000 in purchases in the first 90 days -- redeemable for a $200 statement credit that you can put towards travel purchases. New cardmembers will get to enjoy a 0% introductory APR for 12 billing cycles on all their purchases, which then becomes a 14.99%-22.99% variable APR after the offer period.

Capital One VentureOne Rewards Credit Card

The Capital One VentureOne Rewards Credit Card offers unlimited 1.25 miles per dollar on every purchase. While the rewards are lower, the APR range is also lower than most cards (0% intro APR on purchases until December 2016; 11.9%-21.9% variable APR after that. Capital One cards also offer their Credit Tracker tool which allows you to see your monthly credit score any time. There are no foreign transaction fees and no annual fee .

Sign up bonus: 20,000 miles after spending $1,000 on purchases within the first 3 months equal to $200 in travel!

Click here to learn more and apply for the VentureOne Rewards Card today!

Discover it Miles - Double Miles your first year

A new travel rewards card from Discover offers good rewards and flexibility in redemption. With Discover it Miles - Double Miles your first year. you earn 1.5x miles on every dollar spent on purchases. At the end of your first year, you'll get a huge bonus Discover will double all the miles you've earned. Essentially, that's 3x miles on all purchases for a whole year!

Miles can then be redeemed for statement credit on travel expenses, or deposited as cash into an account you designate. As an additional benefit, you can get up to $30 a year of in-flight Wi-Fi fees credited back to your account. You'll also get your recent FICO credit scores for free in a chart on your monthly statements and online. There are no foreign transaction fees, and there is no annual fee.

Click here to learn more and apply for the Discover it Miles today!

Conclusions

No discussion of rewards credit cards is complete without the warning that these products are only best for those who always pay their balances in full and never incur interest. Everyone else should use the card with the lowest APR. That said, if you do pay your balance off every month, and you love to travel, then you have much to gain by applying for and using one of these top travel rewards cards. Join me in the exciting world of those who regularly travel for free.

My wife and daughter on one of our trips earned through travel rewards cards :

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Editorial Note: Any opinions, analyses, reviews or recommendations expressed in this article are those of the author’s alone, and have not been reviewed, approved or otherwise endorsed by any bank, card issuer, airline or hotel chain.