Imagine this – you get reward points for the miles that you have flown around the world, and you can reuse these points the next time you book a flight. Doesn’t that sound like a dream-come-true for a frequent traveler like yourself? This is exactly what you get when you sign up for travel credit cards.
Travel credit cards offer you great deals like discounts on flights and not to mention complimentary access to airport lounges to relax before your next flight. What’s more? Opting for plastic money will help you travel with a lighter wallet and earn a little something called air miles, on the go.
To earn air miles, one strategy is to sign up for a rewarding (and cost-effective) credit card and book your next flight with it. You can also earn points on other purchases and transfer them to air miles. But, before you start signing up for every travel card out there, you must do your due diligence. So what are some of the best air miles credit cards around? Let’s take a look.
Citi Prestige Card
When you sign up for the Citi Prestige Visa Credit Card and spend $4000 within the first 3 months, you can earn 50,000 bonus points as a welcome gift to put towards your next trip. These points are redeemable for $500 in travel.
Along with this, Citi offers 5 x Points on air travel and restaurants, 3 x Points on hotels and cruises and 1 x Points on all other purchases. All of these points can also be transferred to selected airline loyalty programs.
As a few extra bonus points, Citi offers up to $250 travel credit every year, access to all those cozy-looking airport lounges you’ve been eyeing off and the 4th night of your hotel stay is on them.
Applications for the Citi Prestige Card can be made online via the Citi website. Note that an annual fee of $495 and an APR of 18.49% – 25.49% (depending on your credit history) apply.
Citigroup is located at 388-390 Greenwich St. New York, NY 10013 and can be contacted on +1 800-950-5114.
Capital One VentureOne Rewards Credit Card
Capital One has gone above and beyond to make the travel-lover inside you happy. Upon joining their pool of elite credit card clients, you can earn 20,000 bonus miles if you spend $1,000 within the first 3 months. The everyday miles you earn are also immortal, granting you 1.25 miles for every $1 spent. You can transfer these miles to 10+ selected travel loyalty programs.
With the Capital One VentureOne card you can forget the annual fee for a lifetime and make use of 0% interest for the first 12 months. After that, the APR will be set at 13.49% – 23.49% depending on your credit history. No foreign transaction fees are also a worthy mention.
Applications for the Capital One VentureOne card can be made online via the CapitalOne website. CapitalOne is located at Capital One Tower McLean, Virginia and can be contacted on 1-800-227-4825.
‘Discover it’ Miles
‘Discover it’ has come up with a good deal with their Discover it Miles card. When you embark on the journey of signing up for this card, you will get 1.5 miles for every dollar spent, unlimited bonus rewards at the end of the year and no blackout dates. Just like their Discover it card, Discover it Miles also comes with no annual fees.
The unlimited bonus rewards work like this: After the first year of using the card, the bank matches all the Miles you’ve earned, automatically. So if you earned 35,000 Miles during the year, you’ll end up with 70,000 Miles, the equivalent of $700 in travel. And if you don’t wish to redeem the miles for travel or statement credit, you can get cash instead.
Applications for the Discover it Miles Card can be made online via the Discover website. Note that an APR of 0% applies for the first 14 months, followed by a rate of 13.49% to 24.49% (depending on your credit history) thereafter.
Discover is located at 502 E. Market Street, Greenwood, Delaware and can be contacted on +1-800-347-2683.
Capital One Spark Miles for Business
The Capital One Spark Miles card is made just for businesses. Upon booking travel for employees, businesses can earn 5 x Miles on hotels and car rentals when booked through the Capital One travel platform. 2 x Miles are earned on all other purchases. These miles can be redeemed for flights, hotels, travel packages and more.
Upon signing up and spending $5000 within the first 3 months using this business credit card, Capital One Spark offers 50,000 bonus Miles. On top of bonus Miles, this card also comes with a variety of benefits, including up to $100 credit for Global Entry or TSA Pre, free employee cards and no foreign transaction fees.
Applications for the Spark Business card can be made online via the CapitalOne website. Note that there is an annual fee of $0 for the first year and $95 after that, and an APR of 18.49%.
CapitalOne is located at Capital One Tower McLean, Virginia and can be contacted on 1-800-227-4825.
United℠ Explorer Card
United℠ Explorer Card is a handy partner if you want to roam around the world and save at the same time. With no annual fee for the first year and $95 thereafter, this card will enable you to earn 2 x Miles on every dollar spent on United purchases, hotel bookings, and restaurants plus 2 x United Club one-time passes on each anniversary.
In addition, you can save $120 per round trip, pay no foreign transaction fees, be the first to board United-operated flights, get 25% back on inflight purchases and stand a chance to earn up to 65,000 bonus Miles within the first three months.
Applications for the United℠ Explorer Card can be made online via the Chase website. Note that a variable APR of 17.99%–24.99% applies.
Chase is located at 270 Park Avenue, New York, NY and can be contacted on +1 302-594-8200.
