The Best Travel Rewards Credit Cards Of 2018

best 2018 travel credit cards
Looking for the best travel credit card, I’ve ranked all the credit card offers out there by their welcome bonus and perks using my latest valuations. I’ve started separating best offers between personal and business cards. Here are the best Travel Credit Cards based on my valuations — a star (⭐) next to an offer indicates a card that’s offering, for a limited time, its highest ever publicly available welcome bonus.

As you will see in the table below, the bulk of the value comes from the bonus itself — I used my latest valuations to calculate a dollar amount for each offer. From there, I added in the value of perks such as annual travel credits and lounge access. 250 for these perks.

Yes, the cards do offer Priority Pass lounge access as well, but this benefit is available through many cards so I opted to leave this — along with Global Entry/TSA PreCheck application fee credits — out of my calculations. Also, a few of these cards offer tiered bonuses. 5,000, I focused on the value you’d get by meeting the lowest spending requirement.

20,000 on the card in your first account year. Before diving into the list, make sure to check out these posts for information on how applying for new cards affects your credit score, what to know about credit scores, mistakes to avoid and more. With that out of the way, here’s my detailed list of the best travel credit card offers available right now.

As always, head to the All Cards Hub to see every credit card currently available. Here’s how each of our top picks stack up against each other. Annual fee waived the first year. Bonus value is an estimated value calculated by TPG and not the card issuer. Now, let’s take a look at the details of each of these cards and offers, including their bonus values and some of the ways I’ve been able to put the cards’ benefits to use.

5,000 in the first three months. Standout Benefits: Earn 5x points on airfare booked directly with the airline or Amex Travel and prepaid hotels purchased through Amex Travel. You can transfer the Membership Rewards points you earn with this card to a total of 20 airline and hotel partners. 200 in annual Uber credits and a rebate for the Global Entry or TSA PreCheck application fee.

Additionally, the card offers Centurion Lounge and Priority Pass lounge access, plus Delta Sky Club access when you’re flying Delta. Read the full card review here. Why it’s worth it: As you can see in the chart above, a ton of factors contribute to this card’s overall value; it’s not just the 60k bonus that lands it near the top of this list. 200 in Uber credits awarded each year and the various lounge access options, the Amex Platinum is a stellar premium card that can pave the way to some amazing award flights and other redemptions.

Among the Membership Rewards program’s 20 travel partners is Singapore Airlines KrisFlyer, which is your only option if you want to book the ultra-premium Singapore Suites using miles. 4,000 on purchases in the first three months from account opening. 625 in travel when you redeem through Chase Ultimate Rewards. You can also earn another 5,000 bonus points by adding an authorized user and making a purchase within the first three months. Standout Benefits: Earn 2 points per dollar on all travel purchases and on dining at restaurants and 1 point per dollar on everything else.

Transfer points to 13 different travel partners. Primary auto rental insurance, trip cancellation coverage and no foreign transaction fees. Read the full card review here. 95 annual fee is even waived for the first year. 4,000 in the first three months. Standout Benefits: Earn 3 points per dollar on travel and dining at restaurants and 1 point per dollar on everything else. You can redeem points directly through the Ultimate Rewards travel portal at a rate of 1.5 cents apiece.

300 annual travel credit, Priority Pass Select lounge access, a Global Entry/TSA PreCheck application fee credit, no foreign transaction fees, trip cancellation coverage and primary car rental insurance. Read the full card review here. 300 annual travel credit that can be used toward a wide variety of purchases, to the ability to redeem points for 1.5 cents apiece through the Chase travel portal. Best of all, if you have this card, the Ultimate Rewards points you earn on other Chase cards can also be redeemed at the 1.5-cent rate.

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