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Travel Rewards Credit Cards
Airline tickets, cruises, hotel stays, and general vacation expenses can take a toll on your wallet. The good news is that they don't have to if you plan ahead by making purchases with a travel rewards credit card. These deals allow you to earn points or miles toward your next vacation or flight which can help off-set the sometimes prohibitive cost of going somewhere you've been dying to visit. The more you spend, the more you earn, and in some cases you can book a whole trip using nothing but miles or points. View the following travel rewards credit cards below to find a deal that will align with your needs and desires. When you've found an attractive offer, you may apply securely online over the issuer's website by clicking on the "apply" button.
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Travel Rewards Credit Cards vs. General Points Rewards Programs
Which are better? Though everyone's situation is different, by and large, the general credit card with points is a better deal when it comes to rewards than a travel offer. The reason is this: travel rewards programs are limiting, and some are more limiting than others. There are two different types of cards with travel perks. One is a general miles card and the other is a merchant specific offer. General miles cards operate in the same way that points rewards offers do in the respect that you may earn miles or points for purchases made. These in turn may be redeemed for anything that's travel related: airline tickets, hotels, cruises, etc. In our opinion, what's problematic about this is that the sole distinguishing difference in most cases between general travel rewards programs and points credit cards is that with the points variety you can redeem your earnings for just about anything, including travel, whereas with travel cards you are limited to just travel redemption. From a pricing standpoint, points programs tend to come with either an annual fee or lack of a 0% term. In many cases miles cards come without a fee or with a 0% term, and in some cases both. As a consumer, depending on your spending habits, and whether or not you are going to carry a balance will determine which is right for you. But, in almost all cases, for an individual with no intention of rolling over a balance from month to month, when faced with deciding to use a points or travel/miles card, the points card is usually the better choice.
Merchant or airline specific cards are a bit more complicated. As a rule of thumb, these aren't the most consumer-friendly offers. They usually come with higher interest rates, unfavorable lengths (if they even exist) for their introductory terms, and a lack of flexibility for redemption as you are typically limited to the co-branded vendor and their partners. Plus you can usually book travel through the same merchants with a general miles or points card. However, there are some cases where as a consumer you may want to go with a specific travel card, usually in the event that you travel frequently on the specific airline or stay in the hotel very often of the co-branded card. This may give you the ability to earn preferred upgrades to business/first class for airlines and in the case of hotels, upgrades or discounts on stays.
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