With the proper credit card, your trip abroad can go from one where you watch every dollar spent to one where you enjoy the trip and earn perks while spending. The key lies in finding the best travel credit cards. Keeping in mind that what might be best for one person is not necessarily best for someone else, here are a list of the top cards.
Chase Sapphire Preferred Card
This card has it all: great bonus points, a relatively low spending minimum, and a way to take the rewards even further. Card holders receive a whopping 2 points for every dollar spent on travel and restaurant expenses, and 1 point for for all other kinds of expenses. The sign-up bonus is 40,000 bonus points if you spend $3,000 within the first 3 months. It's hard to beat that. And perhaps best of all, the card holder receives a 7% dividend for points at the end of the year on all points, not just those unspent.
Capital One Quicksilver Cash Rewards Credit Card
Capital One is one of the easiest companies to obtain a credit card from, as they are known for approving quite a few people, even those with lower credit scores. Their travel card includes a $100 bonus after spending $500 on purchases within the first three months, and a 1.5% cash back bonus on every single purchase, no matter the day. Plus, there's no annual fee; it's the perfect starter card.
Starwood Preferred Guest Credit Card
This card is distributed by American Express and is great for use with Starwood and a number of partnered airlines. It includes 10,000 bonus points on sign-up, plus another 15,000 if you spend $5,000 within the first six months of owning the card. It provides double the points on Starwood purchases and a single point on all others. If you transfer 20,000 Starpoints to a frequent flyer program, you can receive an additional 5,000 bonus points, but only if you transfer them in 20,000 point increments. There is a $65 annual fee after the first year.
Citi Platinum Select AAAdvantage World Mastercard
This card is the perfect travel card for those who take a lot of domestic flights in the United States. Cardholders get their first checked bag for free, plus priority boarding and up to 35% savings on in-flight purchases. The sign-up bonus is 50,000 American AAAdvantage miles if you spend $3,000 within the first three months of owning the card, and you receive 2 AAdvantage miles for every $1 spent on American Airlines purchases, plus 1 mile per dollar on everything else.
Just by looking at these four cards, you can see the potential benefits of owning a travel card. With the expenses of day to day life, you could build up a massive number of miles that make constant travel easy!
