Travel Rewards Credit Cards

There are three types of free American Express travel insurance available on most Amex credit cards: travel accident insurance, baggage insurance and rental car insurance. To be eligible for coverage, cardholders must either pay their entire travel fare with an Amex credit card or pay at least part of it with Amex rewards.

Amex travel accident insurance reimburses you when a travel provider causes a death or serious injury. All currently available Amex cards have it. The coverage amounts vary by card. But they can be as high as $500,000.

American Express baggage insurance pays you back for baggage that a travel provider damages or loses. You can get it on most Amex card offers. The coverage is as high as $3,000 per person per trip.

Amex rental car insurance pays for damage to and theft of rental cars. Most Amex cards have it. And the coverage is as high as $75,000 per vehicle.

The best Chase travel card is Chase Sapphire Preferred because it offers 50,000 bonus points when you spend $4,000 in the first 3 months. That’s worth $625 in travel booked through Chase Ultimate Rewards. Sapphire Preferred also offers 2 points per $1 spent on travel and dining, and 1 point per $1 on all other purchases. And it comes with well over $500,000-worth of travel insurance. To top it off, Sapphire Preferred’s $95 annual fee is waived the first year.

But if you’re a big spender who’s looking for more prestigious perks, another good Chase travel card to consider is Chase Sapphire Reserve. It has a $750 initial bonus for spending $4K in 3 months and a $300 annual airline credit. Sapphire Reserve also provides access to 1,000+ airport lounges and rewards you with 3 points per $1 spent on travel and dining. Plus, Reserve offers up to $1,000,000 in insurance benefits. That’s why it costs $450.

There are plenty of other good Chase travel cards, too. Unlike Sapphire Preferred and Reserve, they are co-branded with the loyalty programs of airlines and hotels.

Here are the best Chase travel cards:

• Best Overall: Chase Sapphire Preferred
• Best for Frequent Flyers: Chase Sapphire Reserve
• Best Airline Card: British Airways Credit Card
• Best for Hotel Points: IHG Rewards Club Select

Chase Sapphire Preferred is the best Chase travel credit card overall due to its bonus rewards and relatively low fee. It also lets you transfer your points at a 1:1 ratio to 13 airline and hotel loyalty programs.

The British Airways credit card is the best Chase travel card affiliated with an airline. It offers 50,000 points for spending $4,000 in the first 3 months. Plus, you can get an additional 25,000 points for spending a total of $10,000 in the first year. You’ll also receive 3 points per $1 spent on British Airways purchases and 1 point per $1 on everything else. Lastly, the British Airways Card gives you a “Travel Together Ticket” for a companion to use when you spend $30,000 in a calendar year. The card requires good credit and costs $90 per year.

The IHG Rewards Club Select Card is the best Chase travel credit card for hotel points, thanks to its 60,000-point bonus for spending $1,000 in the first 3 months and the free night you’ll get after every account anniversary. You can also earn another 5,000 points by adding an authorized user and making a purchase in the first 3 months. In addition, you’ll get 5 points per $1 spent on IHG purchases, 2 points per $1 at gas stations and grocery stores, and 1 point per $1 on everything else. On top of that, cardholders receive complimentary IHG Platinum Elite status. The IHG Rewards Club Select card requires good credit and costs $49 per year, with the fee waived the first year.

You need good or excellent credit to get any of these Chase cards. If you have fair or limited credit, consider Capital One QuicksilverOne or Capital One Platinum as alternatives. For bad credit, some good choices include the AeroMexico Visa and Discover it Secured.

The best Discover travel card is the Discover it Miles card because it offers unlimited 1.5 miles per $1 spent on all purchases. Discover also matches all miles earned during the first year. Discover miles are worth 1 cent in travel each, and cardholders can use their miles to pay for any travel purchase made with the card. Cardholders can also book travel accommodations on Discover’s travel portal using miles, with no blackout dates or restrictions. Plus, the Discover it Miles card has a $0 annual fee and a $0 foreign transaction fee.

Discover it chrome is another good Discover travel card, especially for road-trippers. It offers 2% cash back on $1,000 spent at gas stations and restaurants each quarter, plus 1% back on all other purchases and a first-year rewards match. Discover it chrome also has a $0 annual fee and a $0 foreign fee.

All Discover cards can be useful for travel. That’s because Discover is one of the few issuers to not charge foreign transaction fees on any credit cards.

Here are the best Discover travel cards:

• Discover it Miles – Best for travel overall
• Discover it chrome – Best for gas and dining
• Discover it Student chrome – Best for students
• Discover it Secured – Best for bad credit

Students looking to get a Discover travel card can consider the Discover it Student chrome card. It gives 2% cash back on $1,000 spent per quarter at gas stations and restaurants, and 1% back on other purchases. It also has the Discover first-year rewards match. It’s available to students with limited credit history. And it has a $0 annual fee, with a foreign fee to match. Plus, as a special treat, the Discover it Student chrome card gives a $20 bonus each year your GPA is 3.0 or higher.

People with bad credit aren’t left out, either. The Discover it Secured card is the best Discover travel card available to people with bad credit. Discover it Secured offers 1%-2% cash back on purchases (doubled the first year) and has a $0 annual fee. Just bear in mind that this card requires a $200+ refundable security deposit, which becomes your spending limit.

The best Capital One travel card is the Capital One Venture Rewards Card because it offers 50,000 bonus miles for spending $3,000 in the first 3 months and gives at least 2 miles per $1 on all purchases. Bookings made on hotels.com/venture yield 10 miles per $1. Capital One Venture’s initial bonus alone is worth $500 in travel, more than covering the cost of its $95 annual fee. As a result, the Venture Card is more than just the best Capital One travel card; it’s one of the best travel credit cards from any issuer.

But in a sense, every Capital One credit card is a good travel card. Capital One is one of just a few credit card companies without foreign transaction fees on any of their cards. Plus, Capital One’s travel cards are special in the sense that cardholders can redeem rewards for statement credits to pay for any travel purchase charged to the account. This adds flexibility in travel booking without sacrificing any value.

Several of Capital One’s other offers do stand out above the rest, though. For example, the VentureOne Card is the best Capital One travel card with no annual fee. And the SavorOne Card’s dining and entertainment rewards are great for vacation fun. It just depends on what exactly you’re looking for.

Best Capital One Travel Cards:

• Capital One Venture Rewards – Best overall
• Capital One VentureOne Rewards – Best for no annual fee
• Capital One SavorOne Cash Rewards – Best for dining
• Journey Student Rewards from Capital One – Best for students

Capital One VentureOne Rewards is the best Capital One travel card for no annual fee because it combines a $0 annual fee with a sizeable bonus: 20,000 miles for spending $1,000 in the first 3 months. That’s worth $200 in travel. It also offers 1.25 miles per $1 spent on purchases (10 at hotels.com/venture). Venture One has a 0% intro APR on purchases for 12 months. The card requires good credit.

When it comes to dining, the Capital One SavorOne Cash Rewards card is the best because it gives 3% cash back at restaurants, 2% on groceries and 1% on everything else. There’s also a $150 bonus for spending $500 in the first 3 months. SavorOne has a $0 annual fee. Plus, it has a 0% intro APR on purchases for 15 months. SavorOne requires good credit.

Students looking for the best Capital One travel card will appreciate Journey Student Rewards. It offers 1% cash back on all purchases to students with limited or fair credit. And that increases to 1.25% if you pay your bill on time. There’s a $0 annual fee.

You’ll need good credit to take advantage of Capital One’s best travel cards. But if you currently have bad credit, you’re not out of luck. The Capital One Secured Mastercard may not have rewards, but it doesn’t have an annual fee or a foreign transaction fee, either.

The Discover card rental car insurance benefit was discontinued for all Discover credit card accounts on February 28, 2018. The last day to file a claim was May 29, 2018 for incidents that happened on or before February 28. Prior to that date, Discover card rental car insurance provided up to $25,000 in coverage for rental cars that were damaged or stolen. Cardholders had to pay for the rental with a Discover card or Discover card rewards to be covered. They also had to decline the rental agency’s insurance offer to be eligible.

In addition to rental car insurance, Discover has cut several credit card benefits since February 2018. Discover dropped travel accident insurance, purchase protection, extended warranties and return protection.

The other three major credit card networks still offer rental car insurance. But credit card issuers are the ones that set the specific coverage terms. Discover, like American Express, happens to be both an issuer and a network.

Chase Sapphire Preferred travel insurance covers lost or delayed luggage; accidents resulting in injury or death; and trip delay, cancellation, or interruption. These policies cover you and your immediate family, even if you don’t travel with them (as long as you pay for the trip). Chase Sapphire Preferred also has rental car insurance, which covers damage to rented vehicles for you and any other authorized drivers. It covers theft of rental vehicles, too.

To get Chase Sapphire Preferred travel insurance, you need to be a cardholder. All cardholders are automatically eligible for coverage, and it doesn’t cost you any extra money. You just need to pay for your travel expenses with your Sapphire Preferred Card and then submit a claim when the occasion warrants it. You‘ll have to provide proof that a covered event has occurred in order to be reimbursed. But the process is fairly painless.

Though rental car insurance requires you to pay for the entire rental with your card, the other Sapphire Preferred travel insurance benefits only require you to pay for part of the expense with your card to be eligible. You can, for example, split the cost of a flight or hotel reservation between your card and points, points and cash, or card and cash, and still be eligible for travel insurance (but not rental car insurance). And that’s one of the many reasons why WalletHub’s editors say Sapphire Preferred is the best credit card for travel insurance on the market.

How to submit a Chase Sapphire Preferred travel insurance claim:

1. Notify the Common Carrier or Rental Agency. Get in touch with the airline, passenger train company, rental car agency, etc., and tell them about the incident. This will begin the company’s claims process. Chase will ask for proof that you notified the transportation company of the incident, so make sure you get copies of all paperwork.
2. Notify Chase of Your Claim Within 20 Days. Call 888-320-9961 within 20 days of a covered event, or mail written notice to: Plan Administrator / Card Benefit Services / P.O. Box 72034 / Richmond, VA 23255. If you mail your notice, include enough information to identify both you and the account in question. You should also describe the incident so that Chase knows what type of paperwork to send you.
3. Fill Out Your Claim Form. Chase is required to send you paperwork to file a claim within 15 days of notification, if you mail your notice. Alternately, you can fill out your claim online at eclaimsline.com.
4. Submit Your Completed Form Within 90 Days. You must include proof of the incident, which could include your travel itinerary, police reports, death certificates or your credit card statement. Note that 90 days is from when the covered incident occured, not from when you receive the claim form. Be sure to review the Benefits Guide for any other requirements specific to your incident.
5. Wait up to 60 Days for a Decision. Chase will need to evaluate the validity of your claim. If everything checks out, you’ll be compensated within 60 days of Chase receiving your claim and supporting documentation.

As a whole, community members seem to be satisfied with the Chase Sapphire Preferred travel insurance claims process. For the most part, people report prompt responses (within a few weeks) for cases ranging from sickness to blizzards.

Finally, it’s worth noting that Chase Sapphire Preferred’s benefits extend well beyond travel insurance. Sapphire Preferred also has among the best return extension and purchase protection programs on the market. And all Chase credit cards rank very highly in terms of price protection and rental car insurance. Plus, you can’t forget that Chase Sapphire Preferred is one of WalletHub’s picks for the best rewards credit cards.

The Chase Sapphire Reserve travel credit automatically reimburses cardholders for up to $300 in travel-related expenses each year. The credit applies to flights, hotels, trains, cruises, taxis, parking, Uber and Lyft. It can also help pay for vacation packages and airline fees. The Sapphire Reserve travel credit does not apply to in-flight goods and services (e.g. Wi-Fi, food), tourist attractions, or merchants within airports. But the $300 annual credit does cover two-thirds of the card’s $550 annual fee.

Chase Sapphire Reserve travel credits are applied to the account the same day qualifying purchases post. This happens until you hit $300 total for the year. For example, if you make a $100 travel purchase, Chase will apply a $100 credit as soon as the purchase processes. And you will have $200 remaining for other purchases during the year. On your monthly statement, your transactions will include both the original purchase and an extra item that says, “Travel Credit.” The credit subtracts the purchase amount from your balance. Chase determines whether a purchase is eligible for the travel credit based on a 4-digit code that businesses use to categorize transactions. Anything coded as “travel” qualifies.

Remember that the Chase Sapphire Reserve travel credit resets every 12 months on the first statement date after your account anniversary. If you submitted an application before May 21, 2017, the credit will reset on your December statement’s closing date. If you’re unsure when your credit will reset, you can call customer service at 1 (800) 432-3117 or the number on the back of your card. Simply enter your account number and ask a representative.

Unused credit does not roll over from year to year, so make sure to keep track of how much of the Chase Sapphire Reserve travel credit you’ve used. That way, you’ll be able to make sure you take advantage of the whole thing.

You actually can’t set an American Express travel notification. Amex is one of the few credit card companies that doesn’t allow it. Most issuers want you to tell them ahead of time when you plan on traveling, so they won’t flag your purchases as fraud if they see you spending money in another country or state. Amex, on the other hand, is confident in their ability to recognize fraud without travel notifications.

This is what American Express has to say about travel notifications on their website: “We use industry-leading fraud detection capabilities that help us recognize when our Card Members are traveling, so you don't need to notify us before you travel.” While the exact nature of how they do this is an Amex secret, some Amex customers have been able to provide insight into the process. For example, some report that Amex sent them an email saying their recent purchases indicated they’d be traveling in the near future. So if you buy plane tickets, for example, Amex will reasonably assume you’ll be going somewhere.

So in the end, you don’t need to set an American Express travel notification, and there’s no way to do it even if you wanted to. You should just expect Amex to figure out when you’re traveling. But if your card ever is flagged for fraud, a call to the number on the back of your card should quickly sort things out. It’s also a good idea to make sure Amex has the right phone number on file for you, so they can let you know if there’s an issue.

There’s no need to set a Capital One travel notification, also known as a travel alert. Capital One discontinued its travel notifications in 2016.

A travel notice tells a bank that the cardholder will be away from home during a given time period. That way, charges made from places you don’t normally visit won’t trigger the fraud prevention system and cause the bank to freeze the card. Like many issuers, Capital One uses EMV chip-and-signature technology. But unlike most of them, Capital One believes chip technology has made travel notices obsolete.

Each time you make a payment with a chip card, the chip creates a unique code for the transaction that can only be used one time. That prevents account information from being stolen at the point of sale. And that’s why there’s no longer the need for a Capital One travel notice.

But chip-and-signature technology doesn’t help you if someone steals your physical card. And it’s always good to be prepared. So it’s important to know the numbers to call if you run into any problems using your card while traveling. For instance, if your card gets stolen, you can call to have it frozen and get an emergency replacement card overnighted to you. You can also get a cash advance by wire transfer in that situation.

Here’s what you need instead of a Capital One travel notification:

• Domestic customer service number: 1-877-383-4802
• International customer service number: 1-800-955-7070 (collect call)
• Card number or Social Security number: Enter your card number when you call to speak to a representative. If your card is lost or stolen, enter your Social Security number instead.

You don’t need to set a Capital One travel notification to use your card abroad with peace of mind. And that’s not the only way Capital One makes travel easy. You also avoid foreign transaction fees because none of Capital One’s cards charge them.

The Capital One Purchase Eraser is a rewards-redemption option on some Capital One credit cards that lets cardholders choose recent travel-related purchases to “erase” with their earned miles. You can “erase” airfare, hotel, and transportation charges made in the last 90 days on the Venture, VentureOne, Spark Miles Business Select, and Spark Miles Business credit cards.

To use the Capital One Purchase Eraser, log in to your Capital One account online or through the mobile app. Click on your rewards miles, and then select the “Cover a Purchase” option. Your eligible travel purchases will show up, along with the number of miles required to pay for each in full. You can also erase a portion of a purchase, if you don’t have enough miles to cover the entire amount. Once you’ve selected the purchase(s) you want to erase, the miles will be immediately subtracted from your rewards balance. Your account will then be credited with the redemption within 7 days.

When redeemed with Purchase Eraser, 1 Capital One mile is worth 1 cent. However, if you redeem your miles for a non-travel statement credit (not using the Purchase Eraser), they’re only worth half a cent each. So it’s worth using Capital One miles rewards credit cards for travel expenses – you’ll have more eligible purchases to erase, and you’ll be able to get more value out of each redeemed mile.

Most travel rewards credit cards are much more restrictive when it comes to redeeming miles. But Bank of America is one credit card company that allows cardholders to erase travel purchases like Capital One.