10 Top Travel Credit Cards of 2024 (With No Annual Fee Options)

In case you were asking yourself, “What is the best credit card for travel?” This is it. Yes, the annual fee of the Capital One Venture X Rewards Credit Card seems steep at $395—but when you look through the benefits, you’ll quickly see why it’s well worth the yearly cost:

• 75,000 bonus miles if you spend $4,000 in the first three months.

• 10,000 bonus miles every year (starting on your first anniversary).

• $300 annual travel credits for bookings through Capital One Travel.

The initial bonus offer is worth a minimum of $750—but even without it, the 10,000 annual bonus points and the $300 travel credit will pay for the annual fee. All you need to do is travel somewhere.

This card also has impressive rewards on your purchases:

• 10 miles per dollar on hotels and rental cars booked through Capital One Travel.

• 5 miles per dollar on flights booked through Capital One Travel.

• 2 miles per dollar on every purchase, every day.

Do you sometimes feel like George Clooney’s character in Up in the Air—spending too much of your life in airports? If so, it makes sense to put an airline credit card in your pocket. And the best one (according to our recent review) is the United Quest℠ Card.

Why?

First, you can earn 70,000 bonus miles+ 500 Premier qualifying points after you spend $4,000 on purchases in the first three months your account is open.

Other perks:

• $125 annual United purchase credit (as a reimbursement for a United flight).

• Starting at your first anniversary, earn 5,000 miles if you take a United® operated flight booked with your miles (up to two times every anniversary year).

• 3x miles on United Airlines purchases.

• 2x miles on all other travel, dining, and select streaming services.

• 1x on everything else.

Looking for the best credit cards for traveling abroad? This may not be what you were looking for when you came to this party—but it might just be who you leave with. The $550 fee is an initial turnoff—I get it.

But take a look at what the Chase Sapphire Reserve® has to offer:

• 60,000 bonus points (worth $900 toward travel when you redeem through Chase Ultimate Rewards).

• $300 annual travel credit.

• 10x points on hotels and car rentals (when booked through Chase Ultimate Rewards).

• 5x points on flights (when booked through Chase Ultimate Rewards).

• 3x points on other dining restaurants (and other worldwide travel).

• 1x points on all other purchases.

Check out the pros below, and you’ll see why we rated it as the best credit card for international travel (including Europe).

This is Chase Sapphire Reserve’s more sensible sister. (Not quite as costly, but still comes with benefits.) The Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card is just $95, but has quite a few perks:

• Earn 60,000 points after you spend $4,000 in the first three months (that’s $750 toward travel when redeemed through Chase Ultimate Rewards).

• $50 in statement credits each year for hotel stays bought through Chase Ultimate Rewards.

• 5x points on travel bought through Chase Ultimate Rewards.

• 3x points on dining, select streaming services, and groceries (excluding Target, Walmart, and wholesale clubs).

• 2x points on other travel purchases.

• 1x points on everything else.

This card has excellent bonuses without the enormous annual cost—so it’s perfect for beginners.

Say, you’re a businessperson—constantly on the go, traveling from one side of the country to the other. You’ll want to consider The Business Platinum Card® from American Express.

With this card, you’ll get:

• Upwards of 120,000 rewards points when you spend $15,000 in the first three months.

• 5x points on flights and prepaid hotels booked on AmexTravel.com.

• 1.5x points on construction supplies, electronics, software, and more (there’s a cap on this value).

• 1.5x points on purchases over $5,000 (on up to $2 million of these purchases per calendar year).

• 1x points on all other purchases.

(Terms apply.)

If you’re a student with minimal credit history, you’re probably wondering if there’s any hope of getting a credit card specifically for travel points. Your odds are about as good as Lloyd’s from Dumb and Dumber—about one in a million. (“So you’re telling me there’s a chance?” No, Lloyd, let’s not go there.)

That’s not to say you don’t have a great option—case in point—Capital One SavorOne Student Cash Rewards Credit Card.

Where most student cards barely sport any rewards at all, these are actually quite good:

• 3% back on dining, entertainment, popular streaming services, and at grocery stores.

• 1% back on everything else.

Look on any forum, and you’ll see that many people are approved for $1,000 limits with the Mission Lane card. It’s kind of their thing, along with no activation fees or “over-limit” fees. This card is for people with limited credit or those who need to rebuild their credit.

Think you’re seeing double here? No need to book an eye exam—this is for real.

The Capital One Venture X Rewards Credit Cardis the best rewards credit card for travel for many reasons—but mainly because of the fantastic travel points it offers—

• 10,000 bonus miles every year, starting on your first anniversary.

• $300 annual travel credits for bookings through Capital One Travel.

• 10 miles per dollar on hotels and rental cars booked through Capital One Travel.

• 5 miles per dollar on flights booked through Capital One Travel.

• 2 miles per dollar on all other purchases.

And they’ll likely yield double the value when you transfer these points to a Capital One airline partner—so those 5x miles are like getting 10% back on your spending. That’s an incredible cashback rate.

Why we like it

Chase has many appealing credit cards as of late—and Chase Freedom Unlimited® card is the most impressive. There’s no annual fee, and you could earn an extra $300 with the additional 1.5% cash back in the first year (up to $20,000 of spend) on top of the already stunning rewards offering.

One of the best cards out there for fair credit. And with the cashback, low annual fee, and the 0% foreign transaction fee, it's perfect to take with you on your travels.

Travel credit cards work just like regular credit cards—but they come with better rewards if used for travel (vs. going to the grocery store). Let’s say you’re going to take a trip that includes a flight and a hotel stay.

If you had a travel credit card, you’d likely want to book your trip through your credit card travel portal, which—if you were using the Capital One Venture X Rewards Credit Card—would reward you with 5x points per $1 spent.

The goal is to compile points so you can later redeem them for gift cards, statement credits, or future purchases (like travel).

Read more:

• How Do Credit Cards Work? A Guide for Absolute Beginners

• How to Get a Credit Card: What to Look For and How to Apply

• How Many Credit Cards Should I Have? The Good and the Bad of Owning Multiple Cards

Some credit cards offer miles rewards—others have points. Is there any difference? Not a ton. They work the same way, but you’ll likely get a better redemption rate on travel-related items if you have a credit card that awards miles. (You can often still redeem your miles for non-travel-related items, but they won’t be worth as much.)

Case in point—I have a Capital One Venture card that awards miles. If I want to redeem my 10,000 miles on a flight, it’s worth $100 (at least). If I want to use those points for a gift card—I’ll only get $80. Credit cards that issue points are often more flexible and have more options.

Chase Sapphire Reserve® is a good example of a transferable rewards card. Chase obviously isn’t an airline or a hotel, but points can be redeemed through their rewards portal for free flights, hotel stays, and more. (The points can transfer.)

Airline co-branded cards earn miles for that specific airline. They often offer good rewards, but if you don’t like the airline—or if you don’t fly that often—then an airline credit card isn’t the best option. However, if you’re in love with Delta and won’t fly through any other airline, their airline card likely makes a ton of sense!

The same is true for hotels. Certain hotel chains may offer their own co-branded credit cards with monster rewards if you’re loyal to their brand—but if you want to experience other hotels or vacation rentals while traveling, then a hotel credit card won’t do much for you.

When credit cards offer miles or points, the actual value of the rewards is unclear. As I mentioned before with my Capital One Venture card, points used for travel will buy me more than if I tried to use my points toward gift cards or statement credits. It gets confusing.

A fixed-value credit card has the same redemption value across the board. Whether you want to use your points for travel or to reduce your credit card bill, the value of those points is fixed.

Credit cards like The Business Platinum Card® from American Express were explicitly created for on-the-go business owners. These cards offer maximum points for spending on airfare, hotels, rental cars, and restaurants. They may also offer rewards on large spend items or purchases from certain categories of vendors.

If you’re looking to travel hack, keep your eyes on the far right column. A higher total with travel partners will give you more money back when you transfer your points on your trips.

Here’s the points estimate for each major airline credit card. (There are some slight differences, but nothing earth-shattering).

When getting a hotel credit card, please check the table below. You might think you’re getting huge rewards with, say, Radisson—but since each point is only worth 0.4 cents, it likely doesn’t add up to as much as you think.

On the flip side, the World of Hyatt offers 2.1 cents per point—more than five times that of Radisson!

Do the math—and choose the most valuable card for you.

Many people think a $0 annual fee makes for a great card. Not necessarily. Take a look at the table below—

Which card makes the most sense financially: A or B?

• With Card A, you pay no annual fee and earn $200. Net earnings are $200.

• With Card B, you make $500 and have a $95 fee. Net earnings are $405.

What would you rather have? $405 or $200? Don’t get stuck on only the “no annual fee” credit cards—consider the complete picture instead.

No one intends to have a balance on their credit card—and yet the average credit card balance is $5,221.

So let’s consider the interest rates when getting a credit card:

• An APR% under 16.99% is excellent.

• 17% to 24.99% is average.

• Over 25% is a high interest rate. (Try to avoid rates this high.)

Introductory offers are a one-time thing. Don’t start your decision-making process with this—but if it’s between two or three cards, choosing the card with the best introductory offer might make sense.

Some points to consider:

• Be sure the offer is attainable without any extra spending on your part.

• If the reward is in points, be sure to calculate what those points are worth.

• Consider when you’ll receive the bonus. (Is it immediate? Or do you need to wait a year?)

The introductory rate is like a college fling—it’s great and all, but it’s not going to last. The cashback rate, on the other hand, is marriage material—it’s not changing, and you better be okay with it for life.

When we scored the best travel credit cards, we considered the low and high cashback rates:

• The cashback rate on everything should be no lower than 1%. (That’s average.)

• If your minimum cashback rate is 1.5%, that’s very good.

• The high-end of the cashback rate should be 2% or more. (The best cards have a 5%–10% cash back for travel.)

Some cards offer balance transfers at no cost—but at a standard APR. Other cards have transfer fees (typically between 3% and 5%)—but, they may also have an introductory APR of 0% for a year or more.

If you’re looking to save money on interest by transferring your balance from one card to another, then the introductory rate matters—along with the transfer fee. Often, the best deal you’ll find is a 0% introductory rate and a 3% transfer fee.

Aside from transferring money, the introductory rate shouldn’t mean much to you. (After all, we’re not looking to rack up new credit card debt here. That’s never the goal.)

If you like to travel abroad, you’d better make sure your card doesn’t have foreign transaction fees. For cards with fees, they typically charge 1%–5% per transaction. (It’s best to avoid this wherever possible.)

Here’s a quick summary of foreign transaction fees by credit card issuer (to help you make a more informed decision on your next travel credit card):

• American Express—between 0% and 2.7% (depending on the card).

• Capital One—no foreign transaction fees.

• Chase—between 0% and 3% (depending on the card).

• Citi—between 0% and 3% (depending on the card).

• Discover—no foreign transaction fees.