Hanseatic Bank GoldCard
Travellers wanting insurance without a points programme
Travel cards ranked on the value of their points, transfer partners, foreign-fee waivers, lounge access and insurance — for people who fly at least a few times a year.
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Travellers wanting insurance without a points programme
Frequent travellers wanting insurance and a modern app
Deutsche Bank customers who travel internationally
Travel cards are where rewards get interesting — and complicated. A point can be worth 1 cent as a statement credit or 3 cents transferred to the right airline. Our ranking values points at what a reasonably engaged cardholder actually gets, not at best-case sweet spots, and rewards cards that waive foreign fees and include real insurance.
Cards earning Chase Ultimate Rewards, Amex Membership Rewards, Capital One miles or Citi ThankYou points let you move points to a dozen airlines and hotel programmes, or book through a travel portal at a fixed rate. That flexibility is why mid-tier cards like the Sapphire Preferred and Venture top the list ahead of single-airline cards.
$95 cards with transferable points, no foreign fees and solid trip insurance return more net value than premium cards for anyone flying fewer than six times a year. Premium cards ($395–$695) only pull ahead when you use lounges and the annual credits.
In Canada, Aeroplan and Amex Membership Rewards lead; in the UK, Avios-earning Amex cards and fee-free Barclaycard Rewards and Halifax Clarity; in Australia, Qantas and Velocity earners; in India, zero-forex-markup cards with lounge access; in the UAE, Skywards and Etihad Guest cards. Use the market filter above to see each ranked separately.
For most travellers a mid-tier transferable-points card — Chase Sapphire Preferred or Capital One Venture in the US — offers the best net value. Frequent flyers who use lounges should look at the premium tier; the ranking above shows the current order.
Only if you will use the lounge access and the annual credits. Price the credits you would genuinely redeem against the fee; if the result is not clearly positive, a $95 card is better.
Nearly all US travel cards; Barclaycard Rewards and Halifax Clarity in the UK; Scotiabank Passport in Canada; Bankwest Zero Platinum in Australia; zero-forex-markup cards such as the Axis Atlas and HDFC Infinia in India.