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Which Card First?
Choosing your travel hacking cards is very individual and you should consider your personal travel needs before deciding on a card. There are a few cards that tend to be front runners for the first card people get when deciding to Travel Hack. We recommend starting with transferable points cards and branching out from there.
Everybody’s Favorite
The Chase Sapphire Preferred is easily the most favorite beginner card for travel hackers. Not only does it come in with a low annual fee, but it also allows you to transfer your chase points to travel partners which makes them exceedingly more valuable. This card also comes with a $50 hotel credit each year, which helps to offset the $95 annual fee. The rewards earnings from this card come in at 3x for dining, online grocery, and streaming, and 2x for travel purchases. The Chase Sapphire Preferred also offers great rental and baggage protections, as well as No foreign transaction fees. This is one of the cards we utilized for our Costa Rica Trip. With all these benefits it is easy to see why it ranks at the top of many travel hacking lists.
The Disney Lover’s Favorite
If you are going to Disneyland, it may seem counterintuitive but DO NOT get the Disney Credit Cards. The rewards you reap from that will be far less than the Capital One Venture X card. The Capital One Venture X Card is a favorite of Disney lovers because of its purchase eraser that allows you to erase purchases that code as travel. If you purchase your Disney tickets through a third party vendor that codes as travel (i.e. Undercover Tourist) then you can erase these purchases, essentially paying for your Disney park tickets with points. This card also gives you two lounge access passes per year, 2x per dollar spent, $100 credit for TSA PreCheck and Global Entry. This is certainly an exceptional card for any wallet, but an especially great bonus if you’re trying to get Disney tickets with points.
The No-Annual Fee Favorite
If you are looking for a no annual fee card that earns you transferable miles, the Capital One Venture One Card is a great place to start. It will earn you 20,000 points after a $500 dollar spend. Those miles are transferable to many great partners like Air France, British Airways, Virgin Atlantic, Wyndham, and many more.
Another great no annual fee card is the Ink Business Cash or Unlimited. While there’s no annual fee for this one, the signup bonus generally sits at approximately $6,000 of spending in 3 months, which is high. The other catch to this is Chase points are only transferable using Chase Sapphire Preferred, Chase Sapphire Reserve, or Ink Business Preferred Cards. So, in order for this card to be highly valuable to you, you would probably need to pair it with a Sapphire card.
High-Roller Favorite
If you’re looking to dive into the deep end of points and miles and start hitting up the lounges, and flying through customs and security lines, then these are the cards for you. For the high-roller beginner cards we recommend the Capital One Venture X or the Chase Sapphire Reserve.
Chase Sapphire Reserve comes with a steep annual fee of $550. However, the benefits that accompany it are many. Up to $300 in statement credits for travel purchases, and lounge access through Priority Pass Select top the list of perks. This card also comes with $100 TSA Precheck or Global Entry credit, 5x points on flights, 10x points on hotels and rental cars, 3x points on travel and dining, and 50% more redemption value when you book within the chase portal.
Capital One Venture X has a slightly lower annual fee at $395. This gets you up to $300 credit on travel booked through the Capital One portal, $100 credit for TSA Precheck or Global Entry, 10x miles on hotels and rental cars, 5x miles on flights booked with Capital One, 2x miles on everyday purchases, and Capital One Lounge Access. This card has some more restrictions on their perks than the Chase Sapphire, but the travel credit nearly covers the entire annual fee, which is an incredible perk in itself. If you are looking for a card with lounge access, this gives you lounge access along with some great incentives.
Sign-up Bonuses
While these cards above would be the first we would recommend, utilize information from reputable sources like Travel Freely and make sure there aren’t any stellar signup bonuses that could help you meet your goals. Currently, there’s an exceptional offer on AMEX Hilton cards. I won’t be cashing in on it because I don’t have any Hilton trips planned, but if there’s a way you could utilize those points for an upcoming trip, maybe that’s the direction you go first. There’s no perfect recipe for travel hacking.
While there’s no perfect recipe for travel hacking, all of these cards utilize transferable points and miles that can transfer to many points and miles partners. These transferable points cards really are the bread and butter of the travel hacking world because their flexibility makes it easy to bend and shift with the slide puzzle of points and miles.
