We’ve simplified things with our “Best Of” rankings for best travel credit 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 December 2024
🔥 Our #1 Chase Sapphire Preferred® Credit Card – The Overall Best Personal Card for Beginners
Earn 60,000 Ultimate Rewards points for $4,000 spend in 3 months for our #1 best beginner travel credit card. That means the bonus is worth over $750 in free travel. Do not hesitate to go after this offer!
Two of you? Couples can double up on great cards if you apply separately. That’s over $1,500 in free travel if you are both eligible and can reach the spending requirements during this increased offer.
This card is great for those who want flexibility and value when they do not know what kind of free travel they need–domestic flights, international flights, hotels, rental cars, etc. Want to know more? Check out our Rewards Cards 101 mini webinar to get an overview on Chase Ultimate Rewards points. Learn How to Apply for the Chase Sapphire Preferred or Read Zac’s review here.
🔥 Chase Business Cards are Still Amazing!
A 90,000 points Chase Ink offer is still going strong! The Chase Ink Preferred continues to have a 90,000 points offer, but requires $8,000 in spending in the first 3 months and has a $95 annual fee.
Just got an Ink card with an elevated offer? Here’s some strategy. Many of you recently took advantage of the big Ink Business Unlimited® Credit Card, Ink Business Preferred® Credit Card and Ink Business Cash® Credit Card offers. If you have one of the no-annual fee Ink cards and don’t have any other Chase Ultimate Rewards earning cards, you’ll want to think about either the Chase Sapphire Preferred® card (personal card) or the Chase Ink Business Preferred®. You can pool your points together. But, the biggest reason to get one of these cards is because the Ink Cash and Ink Unlimited cards do not have access to Chase transfer partners or a boost in the Chase Travel℠ portal. You must have a Chase Sapphire Preferred (or Reserve) personal card or a Chase Ink Preferred to use transfer partners. Also, if you plan on using the Chase Travel portal, then the Chase Sapphire Preferred and Ink Preferred give you a 25% boost when paying with points! Read more on Chase Ultimate Rewards and best strategies here.
New to business cards? It’s VERY important to realize that sole proprietorships (businesses that have no official registration) are eligible for these cards! Here are our resources for those new to business cards: Am I Eligible for a Business Credit Card?; How to Apply for a Business Credit Card (with Tax ID as EIN or SSN); Travel Freely Small Business Guide.
Are you ready? It’s here: Welcome to Southwest Companion Pass season
As of 11/12/24: Southwest personal cards have a brand new offer where you can earn a $400 statement credit + 40,000 bonus points when you spend $3,000 in 4 months. This is a great offer for those looking to offset holiday expenses. However, if you have plans to earn the Southwest Companion Pass in 2025 + 2026, we strongly suggest you read on as the new personal offers are for less points and will require you to spend more to achieve the Companion Pass.
If you plan to secure a Southwest Companion Pass for 2025 + 2026, now is the time to get started. Many people call this the most valuable free travel secret. The “secret” is that two signup bonuses usually hits the threshold you need to instantly earn the pass. Given the latest personal card offers, we currently recommend both business cards (instead of a business and personal card). These include theSouthwest Rapid Rewards® Premier Business Credit Card which has a $99 annual fee AND the Southwest Rapid Rewards® Performance Business Credit Card which has a $199 annual fee since you are allowed to hold both cards at the same time. Although Chase doesn’t allow you to hold two Southwest personal cards at the same time, this doesn’t hold true for the business cards.
If you earn a pass early in a year, then you earn it for the rest of the year AND the following year. There is very important strategy to doing this and a few nuanced rules you need to know. Read more about the Companion Pass strategy.
Spreading Holiday Cheer: Recent Boosts in Airline Points and Miles
A few of our favorite airline programs have elevated offers worth checking out. For example, the offers on all of the personal cards from United airlines just increased by 10,000 points each! Check out these elevated airline offers here.
And if that wasn’t enough, the JetBlue Plus Card just got a BIG boost to its signup offer!
Ring in the New Year with these hotel offers!
Need a place to stay? Check out the limited-time increased offers on these personal Hilton cards! Offers end 1/8/25.
Best Travel Credit Card Offers
At Travel Freely, we are all about maximizing great sign-up bonuses with the best travel rewards credit cards. Our approach is to get the most points in the least amount of time. Sign-up bonuses are the #1 way to rack up points WITHOUT traveling or spending a lot of money. Some people get more rewards in one 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.
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- Overall #1 Travel Credit Card for Beginners: Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card
- Best “No-Thinking” Card: Capital One Venture Rewards Credit Card (75,000 miles) or Capital One Venture X Rewards Credit Card (75,000 miles)
- Best No Annual Fee Card: Chase Freedom Unlimited®
- Overall Best Business Travel Card: Chase Ink Business Preferred (90,000 points)
- Best No Annual Fee Business Travel Card: Chase Ink Business Unlimited or Chase Ink Business Cash
- Best Stay-at-Home, Travel Later Card: American Express® Gold Card
- Best Airline Business Card: Chase Southwest Performance Business or Chase United Business (75,000 miles)
- Best Hotel Personal Card: American Express Hilton Honors Surpass Card or Marriott Bonvoy Boundless® Credit Card
- Best Hotel Business Card:IHG® Rewards Premier Business Credit Card or World of Hyatt Business Card
- Best Cash Back Personal Card: Chase Freedom Unlimited® or Citi Double Cash® Card
- Best Travel Card for 3x on Gas, Grocery, and Dining: Citi Strata Premier ℠ Card
- Best Ultra-Premium Card: The Platinum Card® from American Express or Chase Sapphire Reserve (60,000 points) or Capital One Venture X
- Best Premium Hotel Card: Marriott Bonvoy Brilliant™ American Express® or American Express Hilton Honors Aspire
- Best Ultra-Premium Business Card: The Business Platinum Card® from American Express (250,000 points)
- Best Card for College Students/Grads: Discover It Student or Deserve Edu
- Best Personal Cards for Carrying a Balance: Amex Blue Cash Everyday, or Citi Double Cash® Card
- Best Business Cards for Carrying a Balance: Chase Ink Business Unlimited or Chase Ink Business Cash
- Best Travel Cards for Carrying a Balance: Chase Freedom Unlimited® or Citi Rewards+(20,000 points)
- Best Personal Balance Transfer: Citi Diamond Preferred® or Citi Double Cash® Card
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
One of the very best business cards. A highly recommended business card for an incredible signup bonus and 3X categories.
This card has a great sign-up 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 25% more when redeemed for travel
- Cell phone protection against theft or damage
- No foreign transaction fees
Great signup bonus for a business card with no annual fee, now with an extended timeline for hitting the spend requirement. Great for carrying a balance. 5x earning categories, and if paired with a premier Chase credit card (one that carries an annual fee), your points are worth even more.
Incredible signup bonus for a no-fee card. An excellent companion to the Ink Preferred, personal Sapphire Reserve or Sapphire Preferred. Like the personal Sapphire cards, this card earns valuable Chase Ultimate Rewards. As of 3/21/24, this card has a new multi-tiered offer where the points amount on the offer has not changed, but the spending required to hit the bonus has become significantly more achievable for many people. You now have 6 months to meet the spending requirement, where previously you only had 3 months.
- Earn 5X rewards (on first $25k spent) for phone, TV, internet, and office supply stores.
- Earn 2X rewards on gas and restaurants
- No Annual Fee
A no-brainer, great business card. Your choice to receive 1.5% cash back or 1.5x points.
An all-round great cash back 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 a excellent companion card to the Ink Business Preferred, Sapphire Reserve or Sapphire Preferred!
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- Earn 1.5X rewards on Everything
- No Annual Fee
| Card | Sign-up Bonus | Spending Required | Annual Fee |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ink Preferred | 90,000 | $8,000 in first 3 months | $95 |
| Ink Cash | up to 75,000 | 35,000 for $3,000 in first 3 months; add’l 40,000 for $6,000 total in first 6 months | $0 |
| Ink Unlimited | 75,000 | $6,000 in first 3 months | $0 |
Read: How to Apply for a Business Credit Card
Our Top Recommendations for carrying a balance
If you’re looking to carry a balance, think about the Citi Diamond Preferred World Mastercard. 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 Amex Blue Cash Everyday or Chase Freedom Unlimited because they also have a welcome bonus.
Now with a signup bonus! A great complement to the Citi Strata Premier℠ Card.
In addition to the welcome offer you receive after meeting the minimum spend requirement, you'll also receive 10% back as a statement credit on purchases made at restaurants worldwide within the first 6 months of card membership (up to $150 back). Definitely worth considering if you're looking for a cash-back card, as you'll earn 3% cash back on several credit cards. Cash back is received in the form of reward dollars that can be redeemed as a statement credit. Terms apply.
With the current offer, you'll now earn a total of 4.5x on dining (including takeout and eligible delivery services), 4.5x on drugstores, 6.5x on travel purchased through Chase Travel℠, and 3x on everything else for the first year, up to $20,000. This special offer is best for those who have a healthy amount of monthly spending on dining and general expenses.
Best Business Cards for Carrying a Balance
A no-brainer, great business card. Your choice to receive 1.5% cash back or 1.5x points.
What’s Our Criteria for the Best Cards?
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- 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 sign-up bonuses, so if great sign-up 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). So 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 sign-up 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 spend 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!
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