Which credit cards offer airline discounts?

The best credit card to buy airline tickets is Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card, thanks to its 60,000 initial bonus points offered for spending $4,000 in the first 3 months. Plus, you get 1 - 10 points per $1 spent on purchases.

The card’s rewards are enough to offset its $95 annual fee, but you need to have at least good credit to get it. Chase Sapphire Preferred also gives you flexibility by allowing you to transfer points to leading airline loyalty programs.… read full answer

Here are the best credit cards to buy airline tickets:

Chase Sapphire Preferred offers 60,000 bonus points for spending $4,000 in the first 3 months. With this card, you earn 5 points per $1 spent on travel purchased through Chase, 2 points per $1 on all other travel purchases, 3 points per $1 on dining and online grocery purchases, 3 points per $1 on select streaming services, and 1 point per $1 on all other purchases. You can also transfer your points to leading airline loyalty programs. The card has a $95 annual fee. Requires at least good credit.

JetBlue Plus Card offers 40,000 points after spending $1,000 in the first 90 days and paying the annual fee. With this card, you earn 6 points per $1 spent on JetBlue purchases, 2 points per $1 spent at restaurants and grocery stores, and 1 point per $1 spent on all other purchases. On top of all that, cardholders get free checked backs on JetBlue flights as well as 50% off in-flight purchases. The card has a $99 annual fee. Requires excellent credit.

Chase Freedom Unlimited offers 5% cash back on travel through Chase, 3% back at restaurants and drugstores, and 1.5% back on all other purchases (plus an additional 1.5% cash back on everything, up to $20,000 spent the first year). The card has a $0 annual fee. Requires at least good credit.

Upgrade Credit Card offers . With this card, you earn 1.5% cash back on all purchases every time you make a payment. The card has a $0 annual fee. Requires at least fair credit.

U.S. Bank Cash+® Visa® Secured Card offers 5% cash back on two categories of your choice (up to $2,000 each quarter), 5% back on prepaid air, hotel and car reservations booked in the Rewards Travel Center, 2% back on your choice of one everyday category (like gas stations, EV charging stations, grocery stores or restaurants) and 1% back on all other purchases. The card has a $0 annual fee. Accepts applicants with bad credit.

For your convenience, we'll recap our selections below

• Best Overall: Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card
• Best Airline Credit Card: JetBlue Plus Card
• Best Rewards for Light Spenders: Chase Freedom Unlimited®
• Best for Fair Credit: Upgrade Cash Rewards Visa®
• Best for Bad Credit: U.S. Bank Cash+® Visa® Secured Card

You can either choose a credit card that offers more flexibility with rewards for general airfare spending or you can see if the airline you fly with most frequently has a credit card. The JetBlue Plus Card is a good option in that regard, but there are others offering attractive rewards and various perks for other airlines as well.

Six or more credit card accounts might be too many for some people, given that the average American has a total of five credit cards. Everyone should have at least one credit card for credit-building purposes, even if they don’t use it to make purchases, but the exact number of cards you should have… read full answer differs by person. It depends on how well you can manage one credit card, then two, and so on.

If you’re not sure how many credit cards is too many for you, there are a number of factors you can think about when making your decision. In particular, consider your recent spending and payment history. If you’re having trouble paying the full statement balance by the due date on each account you already have open, think twice about applying for another credit card account.

How to Determine How Many Credit Cards Is Too Many For You

1. Look at your credit report and score.

   If you have a history of financial mistakes, such as missed payments, you probably don’t want to get more than one card until you prove yourself to be a responsible borrower. Besides, it may be hard to get more than one worthwhile cards with damaged credit, anyway.

2. Review your utilization and payment history.

   If you’re maxing out all the cards you have, credit card companies probably won’t want to give you more spending power. Plus, credit card debt can be very expensive, and you don’t want to rack up balances that exceed what you can repay comfortably.

3. Consider credit card company rules.

   Some issuers have unofficial rules regarding how many credit cards is too many for an applicant to have. For example, there are lots of rumors floating around that Chase will deny a credit card application if you’ve already opened five accounts (from any issuers) in the past 24 months. Such restrictions could limit your options for opening a new account, or just serve as a sign that you might want to slow down the pace of your applications.

4. Determine how well you’re keeping track of your credit cards.

   Even if your credit is good and you’ve never forgotten to pay a bill, that doesn’t mean you never will. Having too many open accounts to keep track of can lead to forgotten due dates, interest charges from simply forgetting to pay a credit card in full, and other issues. If you have trouble listing your credit cards from memory, you’re likely to forget to pay one at some point.

There are benefits to having more than one credit card account. Having several credit cards can help you save money by allowing you to get the best collection of rates and rewards for your biggest transactions. For example, you could get a flat-rate cash back credit card for everyday expenses, a bonus rewards card for travel, and a balance transfer card to reduce the cost of existing debt. Having multiple cards can also help your credit score if you keep your credit utilization low and your payments on time.

What you should watch out for is applying for too many credit cards too quickly. It’s best to not apply for more than one or two per year, as each application puts a hard inquiry on your credit report and temporarily hurts your credit score.

The more data that’s at your disposal, the easier it will be to decide how many credit cards you should have. WalletHub can help with free daily credit score updates and personalized credit-improvement advice.