Globetrotting on A Budget

The Platinum Card by American Express has been a staple in the points/miles world for a very long time. Recently updated to an annual fee of $695, It comes with up $200 airline fee credits, up to $200 annual hotel credits, up to $189 CLEAR® Plus, up to $300 Equinox Credit, monthly digital entertainment credits, lounge access, and a handful of other premium perks.

The American Express® Gold Card is widely known as having some of the best spending category bonuses of any card on the market. This card has a reasonable annual fee, great bonus, and plenty of perks that are valuable to just about anyone.

This is the premium Delta co-brand card for serious Delta customers. The ability to earn MQMs with credit card spend is a nice perk for big spenders.

The premium card option for travelers who frequently fly Delta. This card also offers a companion certificate, good for select flights on Delta, after each year you renew the card

This is perhaps the most popular card among loyal Delta customers thanks to the free checked bag benefit and reasonable annual fee. Overall a very typical airline co-brand credit card.

This is the no-fee version of Delta's co-brand cards with American Express. Fewer perks and a lower bonus but a good option for anyone who is not looking to pay an annual fee on a card.

Overall this card is great when compared to other Hilton offers but in the middle of the pack in the world of hotel cards. Remember, these are Hilton points we are talking about so don’t get too excited by the large number. Most consider Hilton points to be worth about 0.5 cents per point.

Overall this card is decent when compared to other Hilton offers but in the middle of the pack in the world of hotel cards. Remember, these are Hilton points we are talking about so don’t get too excited by the large number. Most consider Hilton points to be worth about 0.5 cents per point.

This is the most premium card in the Marriott family, coming with a $650 fee but plenty of perks to justify it. Earn 6x points at Marriott, 3x on worldwide restaurants and flights booked directly with airlines, 2x on everything else.

Also comes with an annual free night award every year after your Card renewal month, good at or under 85,000 Marriott Bonvoy points, each card renewal year. The card also has the $300 Brilliant Dining Credit. Each calendar year, get up to $300 (up to $25 per month) for eligible purchases made on the Marriott Bonvoy Brilliant Card at restaurants worldwide.

This mid-tier Marriott Bonvoy credit card is great if you're a Marriott loyalist, but don't spend enough to justify the steep annual fee of it's big brother, the Marriott Bonvoy Brilliant® American Express® Card.

A popular card for those who want to be rewarded for spend at U.S. supermarkets, U.S. online retail purchases, and U.S. gas station spend due to the elevated cash back on those categories and no annual fee.

A very popular choice for spend on groceries and gas thanks to 6% back (up to $6,000) at U.S. supermarkets and 3% back at U.S. gas stations

The Business Platinum Card by American Express has a high annual fee but all the bells and whistles needed to justify it. Amazing limited time offer, lounge access, $200 annual airline incidental credit, and more. Once again, you do not need to own a “traditional business” to qualify for one.

The real benefit of the American Express® Business Gold Card is the ability to earn 4x points on the spend categories where your business spends the most each month. Overall this is an excellent long term card for business owners.

A great everyday spender for business owners because of its 2% cash back earning rate on all purchases up to $50,000 annually, then 1% cash back earned is automatically credited to your statement. Ideal for non category spending to fill in the "gaps" left by other popular business credit cards

A great everyday spender for business owners because of its 2x earning rate on all purchases up to $50,000 annually (1x thereafter). Ideal for non category spending to fill in the "gaps" left by other popular business credit cards

This is perhaps the most premium Delta credit card for business owners. High annual fee, but this can be offset thanks to limited Delta Skyclub access, an annual companion certificate, and the free checked bag benefit.

The premium card option for business owners who frequently fly Delta. This card also offers a companion certificate, each year you renew the card

Perhaps the best option for business owners who frequently fly on Delta thanks to the free checked bag benefit and ability to earn SkyMiles with every purchase

A great choice for business owners who find themselves staying at Hilton properties on a regular basis. This card comes with complimentary Hilton Gold Status.

Earn 6x points at participating Marriott Bonvoy hotels, 4x for purchases made at restaurants worldwide, at U.S. gas stations, on wireless telephone services purchased directly from U.S. service providers and on U.S. purchases for shipping. 2x points on all other eligible purchases. One free night each year on your account anniversary (35,000 points per night or less).

There’s a lot to love about the Capital One Venture X Rewards Credit Card. Sure, it might be a glorified Capital One Venture Card, but it has some compelling credits to help justify it over its little brother.

The 75,000 bonus miles on the Capital One® Venture® Rewards Credit Card are worth at least $750 in free travel, and even more if you're able to leverage some of the many transfer partners.

The VentureOne Rewards from Capital One is the no-fee version of the Venture Rewards from Capital One. It earns 1.25 miles per dollar on every purchase and 5 miles per dollar on hotel and rental car bookings through Capital One Travel.

This is a decent no-fee cash back card that offers additional cash back on dining, entertainment, streaming services, and groceries. There's no need for you to stay up to date with rotating categories or other one-time promotions like you have to do with other cash back cards.

The Capital One Quicksilver Cash Rewards Credit Card is a decent no-fee cash back card that is also a great choice for those who are brand new to credit cards. It offers unlimited 1.5% cash back with no annual fee.

For those asking “I’ve never had a credit card before, which one should I get to start building credit?” the answer is Quicksilver.

The Capital One Quicksilver Secured Cash Rewards Credit Card is one of the best starting points for those looking for credit-building with it's generous rewards rates for a secured card. While your initial credit limit will generally be low and you'll be required to tie up money in a deposit, this card can be a great tool to help you build your a good credit score.

Capital One Platinum Credit Card is a good option for those with average credit looking to improve. It's no annual fee or foreign transaction fees make it an appealing offer, but the lack of rewards are a big con to consider.

The Capital One Platinum Secured Credit Card is geared towards those with poor credit ready to rebuild. As a secured card, it requires a minimum security deposit to get a credit line, but does not require an annual fee. This card doesn't earn rewards.

Spark Miles is basically the business version of the Capital One Venture. The two cards earn the same exact points, which can be redeemed for any form of travel or transferred to a handful of travel partners. This card is very simple, earning a flat 2x miles on all purchases with the occasional bonus category.

Perhaps the best cash back card on the market for business owners thanks to a hefty bonus and great ongoing spend earnings.

Business owners can use this card to earn a flat 2% cash back on every purchase with no limits. If you’re looking for simple and great cash back, this is probably the card for you.

The Capital One Venture X Business card is Capital One's business version of the Capital One Venture X Rewards Credit Card. It comes with a high minimum spend, meaning this card will mostly target established business owners.

Chase Sapphire Preferred is our top choice because of its amazing signup bonus, reasonable annual fee, and the amazing value of the points it earns. If you're looking for your first travel credit card look no further than Chase Sapphire Preferred.

Enjoy new benefits such as a $50 annual Chase Travel℠ Hotel Credit, 5X points on travel purchased through Chase Travel℠, 3X points on dining and 2X points on all other travel purchases, plus more.

Chase Sapphire Reserve is widely regarded as the best premium travel credit card on the market. The annual fee is steep, but the benefits of this card are fantastic. Remember that the card comes with a $300 annual travel credit, which makes the fee much easier to justify.

Earn 5X total points on air travel and 10X total points on hotels and car rentals when you purchase travel through Chase Travel℠ immediately after the first $300 is spent on travel purchases annually. Earn 3X points on other travel and dining & 1 point per $1 spent on all other purchases.

A relatively new and fantastic card from Chase mainly due to the incredible bonus categories (5% back on bonus categories, and travel booked through Chase, 3% back on dining and drugstores) and decent signup bonus.

The Freedom Unlimited is a fantastic cash back card with excellent spending categories and no annual fee. Ideally you pair this with a Chase Sapphire card so your points can be used for higher value travel redemptions.

Overall a very typical airline co-brand credit card, the United Explorer comes with one free checked bag when flying United (must purchase the flight with the card), 2x miles on United® purchases, and a nice bonus of United miles.

Enjoy membership to the United Club. Earn 4 miles per $1 spent on United® purchases, 2 miles per $1 spent on all other travel and dining and 1 mile per $1 spent on all other purchases. Up to $100 Global Entry or TSA PreCheck Fee Credit

If you're looking for a no annual fee card, the Chase United Gateway Card might be what you're after. This card might best suited for beginners or infrequent travelers, especially those that live near a United hub airport. This card doesn't have the biggest welcome bonus, but as a cardholder, you'll receive benefits like no blackout dates on award tickets, various travel protections and insurances and more.

The Chase United Quest Card is a good card for those of you looking for a good card to hold long-term. If you fly United often, some of the perks easily help offset the annual fee. But if you’re more likely to use the points for Star Alliance partner flights then you’re still getting a nice bonus for a relatively modest annual fee.

This bonus points can score you nearly two free nights at the some of the best Hyatt properties in the world, and even more free nights at lower end properties. This card also earns 9 points per $1 spent at Hyatt (4X bonus points from the card, and 5X base points for being a World of Hyatt Member), 2 points per $1 on dining and airfare purchased directly with airlines, 2 points per $1 spent on gym and health club memberships, and 1 point per $1 on everything else.

The new Aeroplan® Credit Card is a great option for anyone looking to earn more points to fly on Star Alliance flights.

One of the better co-brand hotel cards on the market, the IHG One Rewards Premier Credit Card gives you the flexibility to use points for many nights with the upside of booking a handful of premium nights.

A pretty straightforward hotel co-brand card offers few perks but also does not have an annual fee. An OK choice for anyone who spends a significant amount of money at IHG properties.

The Marriott Bonvoy Boundless Credit Card card is one of the better hotel cards on the market thanks to its generous welcome bonus and annual free night certificate. Keep in mind that you are not eligible to receive this bonus if you have received a bonus on another Marriott Bonvoy branded credit card in the last 24 months.

A no-fee Marriott Bonvoy card good for budget-conscious travelers looking to earn Bonvoy points. You'll earn an impressive 14X points for every $1 spent on hotels participating in Marriott Bonvoy®. While that isn't as high as the Marriott Bonvoy Boundless® Credit Card, which earns 17X in that category, the Marriott Bonvoy Bold® Credit Card gets you close to the same earnings without an annual fee.

The Southwest Plus Card is one of three personal Southwest credit cards offered by Chase. This one has the lowest annual fee of the three options. Note that you can only get one of the three at a time, and are only eligible for the bonus if you have not had another Southwest personal card bonus in the last 24 months.

The Southwest Premier Card is one of three personal Southwest credit cards offered by Chase. This card is the mid-level one in terms of the annual fee. Note that you can only get one of the three at a time, and are only eligible for the bonus if you have not had another Southwest personal card bonus in the last 24 months.

The information for the Southwest Rapid Rewards Premier Credit Card has been collected independently by MileValue.com. The card details on this page have not been reviewed or provided by the card issuer.

The Southwest Priority Card is one of three personal Southwest credit cards offered by Chase. Note that you can only get one of the three at a time, and are only eligible for the bonus if you have not had another Southwest personal card bonus in the last 24 months.

A typical airline co-brand card, but with a twist. Aer Lingus is an international carrier so the perks of this card won't be all that valuable to most U.S. residents. Note that the Avios used on this card can also be easily redeemed with British Airways and Iberia.

The play with British Airways miles is to use them for short distance flights on American Airlines and other OneWorld carriers. British Airways uses a distance-based award chart, meaning you can find some flights for as little as 7,500 miles each way.

This would be a typical airline co-brand card but the catch here is that it is associated with a foreign airline, so most people won't be able to take advantage of the usual perks such as free checked bags or priority boarding. Still worth grabbing at least for the bonus but the long term value might not stack up against other similar cards.

Chase Ink Business Preferred® Credit Card earns the exact same Chase Ultimate Rewards points as the Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card and the Chase Sapphire Reserve®. It comes with a 100,000 point bonus, the highest of all the UR cards. Ink Preferred is a business card, but you don’t need to own a “traditional business” to qualify for the card.

Ink Business Cash comes with a signup bonus that is marketed as “cash back”. Note that if you have another Chase Ultimate Rewards card you can combine these points to be used for travel.

Like the Ink Business Cash® Credit Card, the Ink Business Unlimited comes with a welcome bonus that is marketed as “cash back”. These points can be used for higher value travel redemptions if you have another Chase Ultimate Rewards card.

A cash back business card from Chase provides you the opportunity to earn cash back.

If you frequently stay at IHG properties, this IHG Business card could be a great fit for you. It has a very reasonable annual fee of $99 and comes with valuable benefits, such as elite status and anniversary free night.

The Southwest Rapid Rewards Performance Business card is a great grab for anyone who can qualify. Note that this card does not currently exclude Southwest® Rapid Rewards® Premier Business Credit Card holders from getting it.

An excellent choice for business owners who frequently travel on Southwest. This card is often paired with one of the personal Southwest cards to earn the coveted Southwest Companion Pass.

Overall a good option for business owners who are loyal to United Airlines thanks to a reasonable annual fee and great perks.

The Hyatt business credit card makes it debut, and allows business owners to earn a great return on their business spend, as well as a slightly easier path to earning Hyatt elite status. A unique feature of this card is the adaptive earning rate - you'll earn 2 Hyatt points per dollar of spend for your top three of eight spending categories each calendar quarter through Dec. 31, 2024, and top two of eight spending categories after that

A pretty basic no-fee card from U.S. Bank that earns points that can be used for cash back, gift cards, travel, and more.

A pretty good no annual fee travel card from U.S. Bank, the U.S. Bank Cash+™ Visa Signature® Card comes with a signup bonus that is worth $200 toward travel. This card offers 5% cash back on the first $2,000 in combined eligible purchases each quarter on two categories you choose.

A very simple 0% APR card from U.S. Bank

This is a business card from U.S. Bank that provides decent rewards for a modest $95 annual fee (annual fee is waived for the first year).

You'll earn 2% back spend on purchases that are made in your top two categories of spend each month, and 1% back on all other purchases.