Best Airline Credit Cards for Bad Credit

United MileagePlus is the best airline rewards program, according to WalletHub’s Frequent Flyer Program report, ending a five-year streak for Delta SkyMiles atop the rankings. Next in line are Mileage Plan from Alaska Airlines and HawaiianMiles from Hawaiian Airlines.

Unfortunately, most of the airlines with the best rewards programs don’t have credit cards that are available to people with bad credit.

Airline Credit Cards by Minimum Credit Score Needed

• American Airlines: American Airlines credit cards require good credit or better for approval.
• Delta Air Lines: Delta credit cards require good credit or better for approval.
• United Airlines: United credit cards require good credit or better for approval.
• Southwest Airlines: Southwest Airlines credit cards require good credit or better for approval.
• JetBlue Airways: JetBlue credit cards require good credit or better for approval.
• Spirit Airlines: Spirit Airlines credit cards require good credit or better for approval.
• Aeromexico: The Aeromexico Secured Credit Card for people with bad credit is no longer available to new applicants.
• Hawaiian Airlines: Hawaiian Airlines credit cards require good credit or better for approval.
• LATAM: The LATAM Secured Credit Card for people with bad credit is no longer available to new applicants.
• SKYPASS: The SKYPASS Secured Credit Card for people with bad credit is no longer available to new applicants.

The options get a bit more interesting for people with bad credit when you consider other types of travel rewards. For example, there’s a case to be made that the Bank of America® Customized Cash Rewards Secured Credit Card is the best travel credit card for bad credit because it gives you bonus rewards in a category of your choice, which can include travel, gas stations, dining and more. Altogether, WalletHub’s picks are the cream of the travel rewards crop for folks with poor credit. And for your convenience, we’ll recap the selections below.

2026’s Best Rewards Credit Cards for Bad Credit

Finally, don’t forget that the most valuable reward you can get from a credit card for bad credit is a better credit score. You’ll earn it as long as you pay your bill on time every month. All major credit cards, including secured cards, report information to the credit bureaus each month. And if that information is positive, as is the case when you pay on time, it will help cover up past mistakes. You can check your latest credit score and get personalized credit-improvement tips for free on WalletHub.

Methodology 

WalletHub’s editors select the best airline credit cards for bad credit by comparing the expected rewards earnings, after applicable fees, that each rewards card available to people with poor credit is likely to provide on airfare purchases over two years of use, alongside other WalletHub Rating components. Our calculations reflect the cost associated with each card, and negative amounts indicate savings.

How Two-Year Cost Is Calculated

Two-year cost is used to approximate the monetary value of cards for better comparison and is calculated by combining annual and monthly membership fees over two years, adding any one-time fees or other fees (like balance transfer fees), adding any interest costs, and subtracting rewards. When fees or other terms are presented as a range, we use the midpoint for scoring purposes.

Rewards bonuses and credits have been taken into account for two-year cost calculations. However, bonuses applicable to only a very small portion of cardholders are not considered. For example, credits and bonuses awarded for spending or redeeming rewards through a company portal with non-co-branded cards have not been taken into account. Similarly, bonuses and credits related to spending with specific merchants using a non-co-branded card have not been taken into account (for example, if Card A offers credits with DoorDash, this feature would not be factored into calculations because it is hard to assess how many cardholders would use the benefit or exactly how much value they'd get from it).

Cardholder Spending Profiles

Given that different users have different goals and are likely to use their credit cards differently, we identified spending profiles that are representative of different users’ financial priorities and behaviors. For each cardholder type, we have assumed a specific amount of monthly spending by purchase type (e.g., groceries, gas, etc.), as well as an average balance, balance transfer amount, amount spent on large purchases and average monthly payment. Spending assumptions are based on Bureau of Labor Statistics data for consumers and PEX data for businesses.