One of the best ways to access travel without having to pay 1000’s of dollars is utilizing credit card points and miles. We have been able to use miles for flights and hotels many times, which has greatly lowered our travel expenses over the years. I don’t recommend spending more money than you have, but if you are already have the money, putting your regular expenses on a credit card then immediately paying off the balance will get you enough rewards to enjoy more travel.
Although regular expenses will build up your credit card points gradually, the best way to get a lot of points FAST is through credit card welcome offers. The card company will award you bonus points if you meet their minimum spend goal within the first few months of opening the account. The amount of the reward and the required amount of spend depends on the card you choose.
Besides earning and spending miles, we love travel-focused credit cards because they don’t charge foreign transaction fees on purchases made while traveling. It is not a good idea to use a debit card or some regular credit cards for international travel, because the bank will add on a small fee for every foreign transaction. You’ll avoid those fees easily by taking a travel-focused credit card.
These cards also offer other travel benefits like free checked bags when you have an account with a specific airline, or upgrades to your travel depending on your status as a member of their rewards program. We also enjoy access to airport lounges and yearly travel credits just because we hold these cards.
Here are the cards we currently hold and recommend. You don’t need to hold all of these cards to start your points and miles journey, but you can choose the one that’s right for you.
1. Capitol One Venture X
Click here to apply for the Capitol One Venture X Card – we receive bonus miles for referring our friends, so thank you for using our link!
What we love about Capitol One Venture X:
- Current Welcome offer: Earn 75,000 bonus miles when you spend $4,000 within the first 3 months after account opening.
- Earn unlimited 2x miles on all purchases. This is A LOT. Most credit cards give you 1 mile per dollar spent, but this one gives you 2!
- Earn 10x miles on hotels booked through Capitol One Travel and 5x miles on flights booked through Capitol One Travel
- Annual fee: $395. This seems like a lot, but you also receive a $300 travel credit to use each year and 10,000 bonus miles each year on your anniversary which will offset that annual fee.
- Receive access to Capitol One lounges in airports and a Priority Pass membership to enter tons of other airport lounges around the world.
- Miles can be easily transferred to many partners. We were able to book flights for our family of 5 by transferring miles from Capitol One to Air France for a better deal. The points transferred 1:1 and are taking us from Salt Lake to South Korea for FREE.
- No foreign transaction fees
2. Chase Sapphire Preferred
Click here to apply for the Chase Sapphire Preferred card – we receive bonus miles for referring our friends, so thank you for using our link!
What we love about Chase Sapphire Preferred:
- Current Welcome Offer: Earn 75,000 bonus miles after you spend $5,000 within the first 3 months after account opening.
- Earn 3x miles on dining and 3x on online grocery shopping. Hello, Walmart pickup!
- Earn 5x miles on travel booked through Chase and 2x miles on all other travel. 1x on everything else.
- Annual Fee: $95. This is a very low fee compared to all the value you get from the card. And you also receive a yearly travel credit of $50 for Chase Travel and bonus miles each year on your anniversary equal to 10% of your total purchases for the year. (Example: if you spend $25,000 in the year, you’ll receive a 2,500 miles bonus).
- Chase Ultimate rewards miles are easily transferrable to many airlines. But even better, they get you so much value at Hyatt Hotels. You’ll be able to stay in amazing hotels all over the world using only points! We just booked 2 rooms for 4 nights in Kyoto Japan at the Hyatt Place by transferring some Chase miles to Hyatt. We used 55,000 miles for this total of 8 nights which would’ve cost us over $1,200 if we paid cash. We didn’t even have to use all of the bonus miles from our welcome bonus so we have miles leftover!
- No foreign transaction fees
3. American Express Delta SkyMiles Gold
Click here to apply for the Delta SkyMiles Gold card – We receive bonus miles for referring our friends, and you can receive bonus miles too, so thank you for using our link.
What we love about Delta SkyMiles Gold Amex:
- Current Welcome Offer: Earn 80,000 bonus miles after you spend $3,000 within the first 6 months of opening the account. (This special offer is only through our referral link and expires 7/16/25)
- Earn 2x miles on dining, 2x miles on groceries and 2x miles on Delta purchases. 1x on everything else.
- Get a $200 Delta flight credit each year that you spend $10,000 within the year. (We’ve easily reached this spend amount every year and used that flight credit each year too.)
- Get your first checked bad FREE on Delta flights. Remember to book the flight using your Delta card. You can also get a free checked bag for each person traveling with you, up to 8 people.
- Receive priority boarding on Delta flights.
- Annual fee: $0 for the first year, then $150/year after that. Make sure to take advantage of your $200 delta flight credit and your $100 Delta Stays credit to easily offset the annual fee each year.
- No foreign transaction fees
REMINDER: please spend responsibly. Credit card debt is a slippery slope, so don’t open an account if you don’t feel like you’ll be able to responsibly pay your full statement balance every month. Before spending with your credit card, make sure you already have the money in your debit account so you can pay it off ASAP. You don’t save money on travel if you’re stuck with credit card interest expenses.
Thank you for reading and thank you for using my referral links. Happy travels!
–Cami In All Places
In All Places 