Anyone interested in affordable travel wants to have the best credit card for traveling. Finding a good travel credit card means you can get free travel along with many other perks. But how do they work? And how do you know which one to choose? This article explains how travel credit cards work and how to choose the best credit cards for your traveling needs. 

How to Earn Travel Points

Travel cards work by rewarding you for using them. You purchase something with your credit card and earn points in exchange. Some cards offer extra points for certain purchases. For example, a credit card offers 2x points for money spent at restaurants. This means that if you spend $50 at a restaurant you will earn 100 points. Some may offer 5x points for booking travel directly through the credit card website. 

It seems like all the best credit cards for traveling have introductory offers now. Introductory offers usually promise a large amount of travel points upfront in exchange for you spending a certain amount of money within the first couple of months. This is a great offer to take advantage of, especially if you know you have a large purchase coming up that will fulfill your requirements. You can end up getting one free flight right off the bat! 

How To Redeem Points

Nowadays you can redeem points in so many ways! The best credit cards for traveling allow you to use your points on flights, rental cars, hotels, and even Airbnb. You should check to see where you can redeem your points before making a decision on a travel credit card. Some even let you redeem your points at a higher rate when using them for travel. Hard to pass that up!

Not sure where to start? Check out my ultimate guide on How To Plan A Trip

The Extras

Additional perks include many different valuable things so you want to make sure you read all the benefits of a card before signing up. A lot of travel cards offer some sort of travel insurance for travel paid for with your card. This type of insurance is usually limited though so you may still want to look into other travel insurance prior to your trip.

If you travel to other countries you will want to look for a card that has zero international transaction fees. You may be able to use your credit card which can save you a lot of money in exchange fees, depending on where you are going.

The best credit cards for traveling let you notify them online of your travel plans. This is extremely convenient for people who don’t have time or aren’t able to deal with this over the phone. 

The Downside

Typically, the best credit cards for traveling offer high points for purchases, but they often have high fees. Think annual fee plus high interest rates. Afterall, the credit card companies do want to make money! These cards work really well for people who use them for everything and pay the balance in full each month. This way no interest is charged and the points earned equal a lot more money than the annual fee. Read some tips on How to Travel for Free With Travel Rewards here. 

Side note

If managing credit card debt is challenging for you then this may not be the best option for you. If you accumulate too much debt it may lessen the amount you can travel in the future. And the whole point of getting one of these cards is to make it so you can travel more. 

Ready to Dive In?

Nerdwallet has one of the best in depth and up to date comparisons. Check it out their current article 16 Best Travel Credit Cards of July 2023 . This gives you a great at-a-glance idea of what card may be the best credit cards to meet your traveling needs!