There is no doubt that credit cards within the travel world are a big deal – mainly because they come with huge sign-up bonuses and amazing perks that can truly elevate your travel.. for a significant fee. Premium travel credit cards usually start their annual fees at $450 and it only gets more expensive from there – however, if you use all of the perks and benefits associated with each card you have, you can usually come out ahead and justify the annual fee easily.
Premium Travel Credit Card Benefits
The best types of credit cards out there are those that earn miles and points with a bank program and then you can transfer those points whenever and wherever you want – each bank has their own set of transfer partners which can include various airlines and hotels – you check which one of those has the best availability, transfer your points, and book right away.
In addition to being able to transfer your miles and points to various places, premium travel cards usually come with a high sign-up bonus. The sign-up bonus depends, but on these premium, high annual fee credit cards, the sign-up bonus is usually between 80,000 – 150,000 points with a spend requirement between $5,000 – $15,000 USD, depending on the bank.
In addition to the sign-up bonus and points structure on the cards, other key benefits on premium travel credit cards include things like:
- lounge access
- airline/travel credits each year
- ability to earn multiple points per $1 spent on certain categories
- statement credits for various services (like hotel stays, entertainment purchases, etc.)
- good travel insurance
- no foreign transaction fees
- ability to share the card’s benefits by adding authorized users
Every premium travel credit card has different benefits, though the core travel benefits on these cards remains similar from bank to bank – for example, lounge access through Priority Pass is usually available on most premium travel credit cards.
Should You Have Multiple Premium Travel Credit Cards?
How many premium travel credit cards should you actually have? Well, it depends on your individual travel patterns and how many high annual fees you are willing to pay – it also depends on what benefits of the card you will be using the most and what the current sign-up bonus might be. Everyone who travels regularly by air should have the American Express Platinum Card – it is the king of premium travel credit cards offering a ton of benefits, for a huge annual fee – however, if you max out each and every benefit, you can actually come out ahead.
The high annual fee of these premium travel credit cards usually scares people away – however, most of these cards have a bunch of different statement credits available for use, which if you use them correctly, you can earn money back. Let’s take a look at one example – the AMEX Platinum Card has a high annual fee of $695 and features the following travel credits every year:
- $200 airline incidental credit
- $200 hotel credit
- $200 Uber credit
- $240 digital entertainment credit
- $155 Walmart credit
- $100 Saks Fifth Avenue credit
- $189 Clear credit
… and a bunch of other benefits. Those credits alone add up to $1,284. Let’s say you only use some of the credits that are “easy” to use like the Uber credit, hotel credit, airline credit, and digital entertainment credit – that is $840 in credits, already more than the annual fee. And none of this accounts for the biggest benefit of the AMEX Platinum Card – lounge access and ability to earn 5 MR points per $1 spent on airline tickets.
While other premium travel credit cards do not offer that many credits, their annual fees are lower. For example, the Chase Sapphire Reserve has a $550 annual fee with a $300 travel credit and numerous other benefits. Should you have both cards or should you even have a third premium travel card? Ask yourself these questions:
- can you easily pay the annual fee?
- will you use each credit and every benefit offered by the card?
- is the sign-up bonus higher than normal and can you meet the minimum spend?
If you don’t think you will be able to use each benefit, assign a value to the benefits you will use and then compare that to the annual fee – will you come out ahead? Most people do the first year when you also consider the valuable sign-up bonus. Only you are able to determine if you can use up every (or most) benefit/credits on these premium cards based on your travel patterns.
All in All
Everyone travels differently – whether you travel only for fun or for both work and fun, there are cards out there that can elevate your travel experience. People who regularly travel should have at least one of these premium travel credit cards and if you are a road warrior and spend more time in a hotel than your house, perhaps it makes sense to have a few of these travel cards if you can max out the benefits and use the points to their full advantage every year.
The best way to determine if a card is worth opening is to consider the sign-up bonus and the benefits of the card that you will use – then compare them to the annual fee. People’s travel patterns do change and perhaps one year it could make sense for you to have multiple premium travel cards while the next year, your job could involve less travel and perhaps it might not make sense to have as many high annual fee cards – remember to have a yearly check-up of your cards and decide if they still make sense holding on to.