October 2025: Best Travel Credit Card Offers

by Zac Hood | Oct 08, 2025 | Beginner Resources, Credit Card Strategy, Free Travel
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Citi is a partner of Travel Freely.

We’ve simplified things with our “Best Of” rankings for best credit card offers for travel rewards. If you don’t have time to research cards, take advantage of our expertise! Travel Freely is here to help you with the best travel credit card offers. Need a primer on Rewards Cards? Sign up for Travel Freely (for free), check out Rewards Cards 101, or jump into why this rewards travel card is our #1 recommended card. 

Don’t Let Offers Disappear — We’ve seen a LOT of offers come and go. Some offers have clear expiration dates, and others just vanish without warning. My advice: If you are ready for another card, and you know the card you want… Don’t delay!

Brand new here? Free Travel Starts Here.

Make sure you sign up for Travel Freely — it’s free, and you’ll immediately get access to the short ebook “Free Travel 101” and receive custom recommendations for the best travel credit card offers. Travel Freely is 100% Free. We don’t ask for credit card info or any sensitive information. Want to know more? Check out the benefits and features of our 100% free tool.

If this is your first time to our best offers page, it is so easy to travel for free!  Please read our “How to Get Started” Travel Freely strategy overview so you can know our secret approach to earning tons of points and miles in no time.

Best Travel Credit Card Highlights for October 2025

🔥 Increased Offers on our Favorite Chase Business Cards!

Big news from Chase: both the Ink Business Unlimited® Credit Card and the Ink Business Cash® Credit Card now have massive offers. Each no-annual-fee card now comes with a $900 bonus (90,000 Chase Ultimate Rewards® points) after you spend $6,000 in the first 3 months. 

Travel Freely take: 90,000 points on no-fee cards is just incredible, especially considering the recent explosion of ultra-premium cards on the market with annual fees that top $900. What makes this even better is if you pair either card with the Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card or Chase Sapphire Reserve®, you unlock access to Chase’s powerful transfer partners—making those 90K points worth far more than simple cash back. Check out both offers right here.

For a full breakdown, check out our guide comparing these two cards. (Quick note: while Chase markets these as “cash back” cards, you’re really earning Ultimate Rewards® points, which can be redeemed for travel, gift cards, statement credits, and more.)

🔥 Get closer to earning the Southwest Companion Pass with these 85,000 Southwest Personal Card Offers

All 3 personal Southwest credit cards are now offering 85,000 Rapid Rewards points after spending $3,000 in the first 3 months. This is excellent news because if you time your application carefully, you can use this offer to help earn the Southwest Companion Pass for all of 2026 and 2027. Click here to learn how to qualify for the Companion Pass.

With Southwest’s changing card benefits and seating policies, there’s less of a clear one-size-fits-all card, and it’s best to find the card that aligns with your travel habits. Check out our article comparing these personal cards to help you decide.

🔥 Our Favorite Amex Business Card Just Got Hotter!

The Business Platinum Card® from American Express just supercharged its welcome offer by 33% to 200,000 Membership Rewards® points. Here are the details: Earn 200,000 points after you spend $20,000 in the first 3 months. (Obviously, this is a huge minimum spend so we recommend considering this card only if you have really large monthly spending or big one-time purchases coming up.)

Important Note: In the past, this offer has been a “targeted” offer where you may or may not be eligible. This offer is 200,000 points for EVERYONE. It is NOT like the “As High As” offers on the consumer cards.

Increased Offer! Our #1 Chase Sapphire Preferred® Credit Card — The Overall Best Personal Card for Beginners

If you’re new to points and miles, this is the card that starts it all and is an excellent companion card to the business cards listed above. The Chase Sapphire Preferred® has been our go-to recommendation for years for people just starting out with points and miles. And with its current increased offer, it’s an even better option. Here’s the link to earn 75,000 Chase Ultimate Rewards® points for $5,000 spend in the first 3 months for our #1 best beginner travel credit card. The bonus is worth over $750 in free travel. 

Check out the 6 Reasons Why We Love the Chase Sapphire Preferred® for those who want flexibility and value when they do not know what kind of free travel they need. Learn more about Ultimate Rewards here and how you can use them for domestic flights, international flights, hotels, and rental cars.

Increased Welcome Bonus! Exciting Points Offer on the Chase Sapphire Reserve®

Earn 125,000 Chase Ultimate Rewards® points when you spend $6,000 in the first 3 months. This card comes with a $795 annual fee, easily offset by a variety of perks and benefits such as $300 annual travel credit, strong travel protections and lounge access for you and two guests. If you’ve been eyeing this card and know you can use many of the perks, this 125,000-points offer is a great time to consider it. 

Still Going Strong! 100,000 points welcome offer AND 4x on groceries

“As High As” 100,000 points offer now available for the popular American Express® Gold Card for $6,000 spend within the first 6 months of card membership. (Welcome offers vary, and you may not be eligible for an offer.) This card is a popular card that earns 4x on grocery spending (on up to $25,000 in purchases per year) and 4x at restaurants worldwide including takeout and delivery in the US (up to $50,000 per calendar year in purchases.)

What’s really cool about this offer is Amex’s new “As High As” feature, where you now have the chance to see the maximum welcome offer you might qualify for when you apply, without impacting your credit.

This feature is also available for the American Express Platinum Card® with its As High As 175,000 points offer for $8,000 spend within the first 6 months of card membership (Welcome offers vary, and you may not be eligible for an offer.)  Read more about why we like this card here.

This is one of the rare times you can see your top-tier offer upfront — with no risk. Click here for our Walkthrough Guide on “As High As” Offers and how they work. 

Best Travel Credit Card Offers

At Travel Freely, we are all about maximizing great signup bonuses with the best travel rewards credit cards. Our approach is to get the most points in the least amount of time. Signup bonuses are the #1 way to rack up points WITHOUT traveling or spending a lot of money. Some people get more rewards in 1 bonus than they would in an entire year’s worth of spending on the same old card they’ve had for 5 years. Check out the BEST deals here:

New to Travel Freely? Need a Refresher? Here are Beginner Mini-Webinars:

Learn why Travel Freely strategy is the easiest and most effective. Check out these mini-webinars to learn your best strategy. Feel free to share with others who could use a huge boost to their travel budget.

Amazing Offers on Chase Business Cards

Incredible signup bonus for a no annual fee card. An excellent companion to the Ink Business Preferred® Credit Card, personal Sapphire Reserve or personal Sapphire Preferred. Like the personal Sapphire cards, this card earns valuable Chase Ultimate Rewards. 

  • Earn 5X rewards (on first $25k spent each account anniversary) for phone, TV, internet, and office supply stores.
  • Earn 2X rewards on gas and restaurants (on first $25k spent each account anniversary)
  • No Annual Fee

An all-round great no-thinking business card with no annual fee. It’s very simple. You earn unlimited 1.5 points per $1 spent on all purchases. This can be a great standalone card, but it is an excellent companion card to the Ink Business Preferred® Credit Card, Sapphire Reserve for Business℠, Sapphire Reserve, or Sapphire Preferred since you can combine your points under one of these cards which allows point transfers to Chase’s transfer partners.

  • Earn 1.5X rewards on Everything
  • No Annual Fee

This card has a great signup bonus and 3X categories. It’s hard to beat this Chase Ink card. Especially when you’re looking for an all-around business card that has flexible redemption options. Also, it can be combined with your personal Chase Ultimate Rewards points. Learn more about this card with our Chase Ink Business Preferred Complete Guide.

  • Earns 3X rewards on travel, shipping, internet, cable, phone, and advertising with social media sites (up to $150K spend per year)
  • Points worth more when using Points Boost in Chase Travel℠ portal or when transferred to partners
  • Cell phone protection against theft or damage
  • No foreign transaction fees
Click here to read more on  Amazing Offers on Chase Business Cards
Card Signup Bonus Spending Required Annual Fee
Ink Cash $900 $6,000 in first 3 months $0
Ink Unlimited $900 $6,000 in first 3 months $0
Ink Preferred 90,000 $6,000 in first 3 months $95

Ready for a Business Card?

Our Top Recommendations for Carrying a Balance

If you’re looking to carry a balance, think about the Citi® Diamond Preferred® Card. The next best option would be the Citi Double Cash® Card. Note: You will not earn rewards for the balance transfers. Make sure to check terms when applying.

For great introductory offers, check out the Blue Cash Everyday® Card from American Express or Chase Freedom Unlimited® because they also have a welcome bonus.

Best Business Cards for Carrying a Balance

 

Special Guide for Business Owners

Read Travel Freely’s Guide for Small Business Owners.

Black and white image of a smiling man wearing a backpack in an outdoor setting, with a graphic of an orange banner featuring a white airplane. Text reads: Travel Freely Guide for Small Businesses and includes the Travel Freely logo and website.

 

What’s Our Criteria for the Best Cards?

  • Value of Points – Not all points and miles have the same value when it comes time to redeeming them. We take this seriously when helping you with the best credit cards with travel rewards.
  • Bonuses – Travel Freely seeks to maximize signup bonuses, so if great signup bonus offers come out, those cards will move up in the rankings.
  • Type of Card – We value airline cards higher than hotel cards because airfare never goes on sale (whereas hotel sites can get you almost 50% retail rates). That means airfare is the highest value in free travel. So, if we see airlines and hotel cards as similarly great deals, the airline card will get the edge in the rankings.
  • Bonus Spending Requirement – We rank cards lower that require major spending as part of their signup bonus. For example: Some cards offer 50,000 points if you spend $3,000 in the first 3 months, but then they’ll offer an add’l 25,000 points if you spend $10-15k in additional spending over the course of the year. This is considered major spending to us and we do not factor that in for the normal free traveler.
  • Ease-of-Use – Factors such as customer service and redemption fees play a factor in our rankings. We don’t want you to spend hours on the phone with poorly trained, off-shore customer service when you have a question about your card. Avoiding ridiculous fees for redeeming free travel are also important to us. For example: Frontier — you might get a “free flight” on Frontier Airlines with 20,000 points. But, you have to pay a reward redemption fee, bag fee for carry-on or checked luggage, and a seat booking fee. You might spend $96 in fees for a “free” $110 flight!

Want personalized recommendations? Log In to your account to see your CardGenie™ Recommendations.

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