The Starwood Preferred Guest credit card from American Express offers one Starpoint for every dollar spent on the card, as well as 4–5 Starpoints for money spent at Starwood Properties. The Starwood credit card can also be used to accrue frequent flyer points, with cardholders receiving 10,000 bonus points after the first purchase, which can be used towards hotel stays or airline travel. Put more simply, this is a credit card that is great for people who want to use American Express to save money on travel.

The Starwood Rewards Program
The Starwood Preferred Guest program really does reward you for staying at the Starwood properties – places like Le Meridien hotels, the Sheraton, W Hotels, and St. Regis.  Every night you stay you earn rewards points, called Starpoints.  The number of points you earn depends on how often you stay with them.

Reward Tiers

Starwood has different tiers in their rewards program – Preferred Guest, Gold Preferred, and Platinum Preferred.  You enter the program as a Preferred Guest and after you’ve stayed 10 times (or 25 nights) you move up to the Gold Preferred tier.  Then, if you stay with Starwood 15 more times (or 50 nights) in that same year you’re moved up to Platinum Preferred.

Each higher tier has increasing benefits, one of those is that you earn more points for each Starwood stay.  At the base level you earn 2 Starpoints for every night stay and at the Gold and Platinum Preferred level you earn 3 points per night.

Extra Points & Hotel Credits

The cool thing about the Starwood card is that on top of the Starpoints you earn from staying at the hotel, you earn an extra 2 points if you put your stay on your card. In addition, if you are a Starwood cardholder you get a credit every year for 5 nights and 2 stays towards your next Preferred Guest level.

Frequent Travelers

Our old neighbor was in sales and covered an 8 state area so somtimes he’d be on the road for 2–3 weeks at a time.  He used to stay at mainly Marriott properties and used their rewards program but switched over to Starwood about 2 years ago.  In addition to the consumer card, there’s also a Starwood business card, which is what he was using.

He’d use all the Starpoints he earned in his travels to take his wife and little girl on trips around the country.  They’re also big shoppers – since you earn one point for each dollar you spend on the card it was a good card for them.

Starwood Hotel Deals

The best Starwood deals going on right now are the free nights you can get when you signup for the Starwood Preferred Guest card. 

You earn 10K Starpoints when you first use the card and 15K more when you use it for at least $5K of purchases in the first 6 months.  Depending on which category of hotel you redeem them with those points can be good for 3–4 free nights.

In addition to the credit card offer, Starwood’s pretty good about running promotions on their website for discounted hotel stays. Usually it requires you staying for at least one night and then getting discounted or free nights depending on how long you stay.

Some of these hotel promotions are more short-term and require a Starwood coupon code to take advantage of it.  There are some that are more long standing that don’t require a promotion code, for example

Better Tomorrow Promo – For every night you stay at a Starwood hotel and pay the full rate, you save 40% off the next night you stay.

3^rd Night Free Promo – If you book two nights in a row, ie Saturday/Sunday, then the third night is free.

No Blackout Dates
Unlike other hotel rewards programs, there are no blackout dates so you can redeem your Starpoints whenever fits into your travel schedule. Obviously, one of the big drawbacks to some hotel rewards programs is that they have blackout during times when you travel most: the summertime or during holidays. The ability to claim your free hotel room whenever you travel definitely helps set this program apart from others.

You do need to be familiar with how Starwood classifies their hotels, by Category levels – the higher the Category the nicer the hotel.  You don’t earn more rewards by staying at nicer hotels but when it comes to redeeming your Starpoints they go farther at the lower category hotels.  For example, you might use the same number of points to stay one night in a Category 6 hotel that you could use to stay for 3 nights in a Category 3 hotel.

So you can choose whether you want to use all your points in one or two nights at a really fancy place or stretch your free stay out for longer at a different hotel.  One thing to keep in mind, the Category 3 and 4 properties are nice hotels, it’s just the 5 and 6 category are far more luxurious.

Redeeming Your Free Room

The free rooms you can reserve with your Starpoints are standard rooms, be aware that a few destinations don’t have regular rooms so you won’t be able to use your StarPoints for free stays at those hotels or resorts.

Something else to keep in mind is that it often takes fewer points to get your free night over the weekend instead of during the week.  As you can see in the chart below, your points can go farther over the weekend.

Starwood Preferred Guest Airline Miles
Starwood has relationships with about 30 airline companies that allow you to transfer StarPoints into airline miles, most of them transfer one mile for each StarPoint.

They also have an airline bonus, if you transfer 20,000 points into airline miles, you’ll get back an extra 5,000 points. So let’s take a look at how many airline miles you could get in the first year of your card.

As mentioned above you’ll get 10,000 for signing up and an additional 15,000 bonus points if you spend $5,000 in the first six months. If you transfer those 25,000 points into airline miles to get the additional 5,000 bonus points, that’s 30,000 airline miles.  Of course, this assumes that you can exchange 1 point for 1 mile, but many of the major carriers, like United, Delta, Continental, and American Airlines, do give you 1 for 1.

APR and Annual Fee
Compared to other travel rewards cards of its type, the American Express Starwood Preferred Card has a relatively low fee of $65. The APR is also low with a low introductory APR for the first six months of the card (the period where you can earn an extra 15,000 bonus points). All of this means that you’ll be able to reap rewards as soon as you get card without having to spend a lot of money to get it. See the chart at the bottom for specific details about current rates and offers.

Customer Feedback
I asked readers about their favorite credit cards and one guy named Jason had some good things to say about the Starwood card.  He covers the credit card industry for another website so he really digs through all the rewards and term and conditions when comparing and using credit cards.  I thought the fact that he pointed out this card was a good sign, here’s what he had to say:

Jason’s Comments
For travel rewards, I have found no better card than the Starwood Preferred Guest card from American Express. The benefits at Starwood hotels are fantastic – I can book an award stay at any room within their brand, which includes Westins, Sheratons and others, with no blackouts or capacity controls. Awards start at 3,000 points with some Westins going for as little as 7,000.

Your fifth award night is also free, so you can easily save 20% off of those low rates. By comparison, Hilton and Intercontinental group also offer no blackouts and no capacity restrictions on their awards, but their award rates are much higher.

The benefits of the Starwood card goes well beyond hotels. The StarPoints are transferable to dozens of major airlines. They are the ultimate universal currency when you need to top off an airline account for a major award redemption. In fact, you can use the Starwood card to earn more airline miles than the airline’s cards themselves.

Starwood grants a 5,000 point bonus when you redeem 20,000 Starpoints for airline miles. This gives you 1.25 miles per dollar spent rather than the one to one ratio offered by most airline cards. The annual fee is $65, but this pays for itself when you are able to snag a pricey hotel for free or fly in business class after making a transfer of Starpoints to airline miles.

Conclusion
The Starwood Preferred Guest Credit Card has a tough to beat rewards program, which can then be used at over 30 different airlines or at most of the Starwood hotels around the world. This review didn’t talk much about international travel but Starwood recently announced it’s adding 50 new hotels across the Middle East, Africa, and Europe.

Starwood Preferred Guest is obviously best for people who travel frequently, such as business travelers, but anyone who is interested in staying at Starwood properties can get quality hotel stays for big discounts or for free. The relatively low annual fee you pay for access to their rewards program makes this one of the best hotel credit cards available today.

The Premier Rewards Gold is a rewards card with a fairly generous payout for purchases and some extra bonuses added in. The Premier Rewards Gold card does have some attractive features that help it stand out from other rewards cards; such as triple points on airfare, double points on gas and groceries, and a nice $150 bonus.

Premier Rewards Gold Points
First off, you will be eligible to earn 15,000 bonus points when you spend $1000 during the first 3 months of owning the card. To put that in some perspective, you will earn 15,000 points by spending $30,000 per calendar year in subsequent years. So this card is very generous to start, so long as you spend fairly regularly or for a big ticket item when you first sign up for the card.

Additionally, this AmEx gold card gives you the opportunity to earn 3 times the points on airfare, 2 times the points on gas and groceries, and 1 point on everything else. So the card can almost be seen as a combination of a travel rewards card, a gas rewards card, and an everyday-purchase card. Having an all-in-one rewards card like this doesn’t always maximize your rewards per category but it does make earning usable points easier.

Redeeming Rewards
American Express has always been known for having quality rewards programs.  Although not every merchant will accept your card because American Express does charge higher merchant fees, you know that when you do use your AmEx you’re earning pretty decent rewards.

I’m a big fan of their Blue Savings rewards but they’re probably best know for their Membership Rewards program, which is the one that the Premier Rewards Gold card uses.  The nice thing about the program is that it is pretty flexible, you can use your points to get a wide range of rewards.

Travel Rewards
For example, using the Pay with Points feature you can redeem them for points on most airlines and not have to worry about blackout dates or restrictions. The way it works is that you buy your ticket using the AmEx Travel site and apply your membership points towards the price of the ticket.   You don’t have to wait until you have enough to cover the whole ticket, the remaining cost of the flight will be charged to your card.

I remember when I first signed up for the Gold card years ago they were offering a big bonus and I used my points to pay for a ticket to a conference I was attending.  I was actually looking online for flights to Vegas where the conference was held and I saw the ad for the bonus so I signed up for the card.

There is an alternative to booking through American Express – you can also transfer the rewards points you’ve earned to rewards programs at some of the major airlines.  The conversion from rewards points to frequent flier programs doesn’t always give you the best bang for your buck so be sure check what kind of value you’re getting out of the transfer.

Using Points
If you’re not a big traveler you can use your points for discounts on other types of purchases or for gift cards.

One aspect of the Membership Rewards is a site called ShopAmex where you can use your points for purchases.  You can see in the graphic the number of items they have avaialbe in the different point ranges.  Similar to their travel site, if you don’t have enough points accumulated you can put the rest on your Gold card.

If you’re like me then you’re not a big fan of shopping and only buy something when you really need it.  I’m not a fan of browsing to buy something just for the fun of it.  In that case the gift cards might be a better option for you.  You can use your rewards points for dining or entertainment gift cards, AmEx also has retail gift cards available in their program.

Premier Rewards Gold Fees
Like other cards with a high-rebate offer, the American Express(R) Premier Rewards Gold Card does have an annual fee. The fee is $175 which is higher than some of the other rewards cards you’ll find in the market. The good news is this fee is waived for the first year of the card.

You pretty much get the first two years for no fee because the 15,000 points you earn by spending $1000 in the first three months can be redeemed for $150, which is close to the amount of the annual fee. That gives you 24 months to determine whether or not it’s the right rewards credit card for you before you have to start making annual fee payments on it.

No Interest
This card is a charge card, not a credit card, which means the balance must be paid off each month. Since you can’t carry a balance, you won’t build up credit card debt and won’t find yourself paying high interest fees month after month. Although this is a deterrent for people who have to carry a balance, it’s definitely a financially smart option for people who can afford to pay off their balance each month in full. There is no pre-set spending limit on the card so as long as you can afford to pay your balance you can put whatever you want on the card to earn rewards.

Conclusion
This American Express Gold card can definitely earn you a lot of rewards if you put a lot of purchases on your card. The first year of the card is certainly the most attractive thanks to the bonus rewards. However, even without the additional bonus points for a $30,000 annual spend, the 3-2-1 point system is an attractive rebate package for a wide variety of different purchases for the following years.

If you have horrible credit chances are you won’t be approved for this card but if you’ve done a reasonable job keeping up your credit score then you may be able to qualify for the charge card. There’s really only one way to know if you’re eligible for the bonus and the rewards that come with the card; apply for it and see what happens!  

The Miles by Discover® is a travel rewards card, as you can probably tell from the name. It allows you to earn double miles on purchases up to $3000 in travel-related purchases and one-point-per-dollar for general purchases. The miles you earn with Discover Miles don’t expire and there’s no cap on the number of miles that can be earned on the card.  The Miles card also has additional perks including the opportunity to amass numerous bonus rewards in the first year of card activation.

Flexible Travel Rewards

Similar to the Blue Sky card, Discover Miles lets you use your rewards across different airline carriers, hotel chains, and rental car companies.  Unless you always fly the same airline or stay in the same hotel, this is one of the top benefits of the card in my opinion.

There are other rewards programs that let you earn miles or points when booking travel but some of them require that you use a specific website to find and pay for your trip.  Of course the potential downside of being limited to a specific portal is that if you can find the ticket or hotel cheaper through some other site like Priceline or Kayak, then the rewards you earn don’t make up for the higher price of the ticket.

With the Discover Miles card you don’t have to worry about what airline you fly, which hotel you sleep in, or who you book your travel through – you still earn rewards regardless.

Discover Miles Rewards

You don’t get the most out of the Miles card by using it for everyday purchases.  You earn a mile for every dollar you put on the card, which isn’t anything out of the ordinary for a rewards card. The biggest benefits come from the double rewards categories and the card bonuses. 

The double rewards are in the travel and dining categories of purchases and earn you 2 miles for every dollar you spend in a year, up to $3000.  Although there is no limit on the amount of total annual rewards you can earn, after the first $3000 of purchases the double rewards categories go back to earning 1 mile per dollar.

There is one other way to earn double rewards on your spending, from purchases made through the ShopDiscover portal.  This may not mean a whole lot to you unless you regularly shop at one of the comapanies that’s part of their ShopDiscover program.  Members who login and shop online through this program earn 2 miles for each dollar put on the card.  Discover does have a big list of nationally know companies in their program, such as Sears, ACE Hardware, Apple, Gap, HP, Old Navy, Office Depot, Barnes & Noble, Best Buy, Home Depot, Kohls, JC Penney, and many others.

If you already shop at any of these stores then you could earn double miles on your purchases with the Miles card.

Card Bonus Offer

Unlike most other travel rewards cards, the Discover Miles Card offers 1,000 bonus miles a month if the card is used at least once a month, for the first year you have the card.  There are other Discover and Chase cards that will give you a cashback bonus just for using the card, but they usually require a minimum of $500–750 dollars of purchases in the first few months. 

With the Miles card you can get the bonus for a whole year, just by buying a pack of gum once a month. The only other card I know of with a bonus with such low requirements is the Discover Escape card, which actually makes a similar bonus offer but extends it for 2 years instead of 1.

Redeeming Discover Miles Rewards

For every 10,000 miles you earn Discover makes you eligible for a $100 travel credit on your Miles card.  So going back to the bonus I just mentioned, those 12,000 miles are worth $120 towards a flight or hotel.

Since you choose how to travel and how to buy your ticket, you don’t have to worry about blackout dates or other restrictions when you go to redeem your rewards.  If your purcase is travel related then it’s eligible to recieve the travel credit.  After you pay for the rental car, airline ticket, or hotel room you can call up Discover or go through their websiteto submit the purchase and have your travel credit applied to it. Make sure you redeem your miles within 3 months of making the purchase otherwise you’ll have to wait and use your rewards on the next travel you buy.

Discover does offer several other ways to redeem your rewards:

• Gift cards at over 90 merchants (minimum 1000) points
• $25 Discover Gift Card for every 5000 points earned
• Cash back starting at 5000 points
• Charitable donation starting at 5000 points

Although those options are avaibable to you, the best rewards for your money comes from using them on travel with this card.  If you’d like to get the cashback or gift cards instead then you’d probably be better off with a cash back card.

Discover Miles Benefits

In addition to rewards points, the Discover Miles Card offers $500,000 in travel accident insurance. This card also offers enhanced fraud protection with a $0 Fraud Liability Guarantee that promises you won’t be responsible for any unauthorized usage of your card. The fraud protection feature is on most cards these days but still something you should check for this era of frequent identity theft.

No Annual Fee

There is no annual fee on this credit card. The lack of an annual fee is significant, as most travel rewards cards do charge an annual fee – some of which can be very steep, offsetting the gains from a better rewards program. 

Discover Miles does offer an upgraded version of the card that charges an annual fee. What you get from the upgraded version is insurance coverage against:

• Rental car damage (no deductible)
• Lost or damaged luggage (Up to $2,500)
• Travel Delays ($150 daily lodging)
• Trip cancellation (Up to $2,500)

You’d have to compare the annual fee against the cost of buying travel insurance in a year to see if that version made sense for you.

Discover Miles APR

Like other Discover cards, the Miles Card typically has a lower APR than comparable cards and sometimes features a 0% introductory APR on purchases; see the chart below for details about current APR offers. Like many other credit cards the best rates will be available to the people with the best credit.

Conclusion

The Discover Miles Card is a good rewards credit card. The 1,000 a month bonus is only good for the first year of the card but it can kick into effect for very small purchases, which is definitely appealing.

You don’t need to spend $1000 to earn 1000 miles, so it is a good bet for frugal flyers. The card does have some unique travel rewards possibilities that frequent travelers will find attractive.

Finally, the fact that this card has no annual fee and is flexible about how you earn and redeem rewards adds to the appeal of the card. 

We all want to see new places, visit old favorites ,and just generally get a chance to vacation more. Although your chances of winning the lottery are pretty slim, it’s definitely possible for you to do more traveling if you can pay for part of it with a rewards card.

The best travel rewards credit cards cards not only allow you to earn points that you can apply towards the cost of travel – they also let you earn bonus points on travel purchases.  Which often means that the more you travel, the more free travel you can earn.

Types of Travel Rewards Credit Cards

There are many different types of travel rewards credit cards. Within each category there are some that will be better for you than others based on your specific needs from a travel rewards credit card. Before you can determine which credit card makes the most sense for you, you’ll need to gain a better understanding of the different types of travel rewards cards that are available to you.

Here is a look at the most common types of travel rewards credit cards:

Airline Rewards Cards. Some of the most popular rewards credit cards tend to be airline cards, such as Blue Sky from American Express that earn points for each plane ticket you buy, based on the number of miles that you fly.

Hotel Rewards Cards. The benefits of hotel branded credit cards, like the Starwood Preferred Guest Credit card, have long been known by travelers that prefer certain hotel chains. These cards are often used along with member programs that can get you discounts on the price of a hotel room.

Gas Rewards Cards. Gas rewards cards, such as the Discover Open Road card, are becoming more popular as the price of gas continues to rise. Any rebates or cash back a traveler can earn by using a gas credit card are helpful during times of high fuel costs.

General Travel Rewards Cards. Whether you’re going on vacation or traveling for business, using a rewards card to pay for your trip has the eventual benefit of saving you some money on travel simply by booking your flight, paying for gas, or reserving your hotel room with your credit card. 

Different card issuers have rewards programs that allow you to mix and match travel rewards.  For example Citibank has the ThankYou program with cards like Citi ThankYou Premier and Chase has the Ultimate Rewards program with cards like Chase Sapphire.  American Express is also known for their Membership rewards program that lets you earn points across their family of charge cards, that can be used used for rental cars, hotel, or flights.

There are also some cards, such as the Starwood Preferred I already mentioned, that let you earn points for one type of travel like hotels, but also have a decent program for letting you transfer your points to partner companies in other travel industries, like airlines.

Comparing Travel Cards

Once you have figured out which type of rewards credit cards is best for you, you’ll still need to determine which card in that category is the best one. For example, you may know that you want an airline rewards card that will provide you with free flight miles for your shopping but you still need to decide which specific airline rewards card will be benefit you most. This means that you need to do some research into each card.

Some of the factors to consider when deciding on a travel rewards credit card include:

1) The way that points are earned. For example, do you earn one mile per dollar spent on the card or can you earn more than that? Some cards, such as the Discover Open Road card, offer higher rewards rates after a certain amount is spent annually on the card.

2) If there are bonus points available. For example, Escape by Discover allows you to earn up to 25,000 bonus points in the first two years of membership if you spend $1000 per month on the card.

3) Terms of redeeming rewards, especially if there are blackout dates or expiration dates on your rewards.

4) Whether the card is branded (to a specific hotel like the Marriott Rewards card or airline like the Continental OnePass Plus), which may affect how frequently you use it.

5) Whether your rewards can be redeemed only for travel purchases or for other items (like cash back and gift cards) as well.

6) What type of travel insurance is available on the card.

7) Additional travel perks card membership, such as access to airport lounges.

Rates and Fees

You’ll also want to make sure that you consider the costs of the card that could eat into the rewards you earn, such as:

• The APR
• Annual fee
• Late fees
• Balance transfer fees

Hopefully, this gives you a little help when reviewing and comparing the benefits and features of the top travel credit cards.  Check out the cards listed below to see if any of them can save you some money or earn you some points on your next trip.

Are you looking for a travel rewards credit card that allows you to rapidly earn a large number of miles? That’s exactly what the Escape by Discover credit card is designed for. With the ability to earn 25,000 free miles in the first two years, this card provides ample opportunity to indulge your travel bug.

Escape by Discover® Fees

Let’s get this out of the way first; Escape by Discover does have an annual fee. However, the fee is only $60, which is pretty much par for the course in the market among travel rewards credit cards that charge an annual fee.   If a card with no annual fee is an important criteria for you then you might consider the Discover Miles card.   Discover Miles doesn’t have as much to offer in terms of rewards and perks but it doesn’t have an annual fee.

Escape by Discover® Rewards

No one likes paying an annual fee on a card but this one could be worth it if you cash in on the variety of rewards that the card offers. This is a travel rewards card that allows you to earn miles towards flights.

One of the first things you’ll notice about the rewards program is is that you can easily earn 25,000 bonus miles in the first two years of opening your account. That’s because you receive 1,000 bonus miles every single month for the first 25 months as long as you make at least one purchase on the card.

If you setup one of your automatic monthly bills to pay from this account, you’ll easily be earning those bonus miles. In addition to your bonus miles, you’ll be able to regularly earn miles on this card because you get 2 miles for every $1 that you spend. Many travel rewards cards only offer 1 mile per $1 so the Escape card gives you double the standard rewards offer.

Another good feature of the card is that there are virtually no restrictions on redeeming your miles. You can use them to fly on any airline with no blackout dates. There are no limits or expiration dates on the miles that you earn. And you can also choose to redeem the miles for hotels, rental cars, cruises, gift cards or merchandise instead of just for flights. In other words, it’s easy to earn rewards on this card and easy to redeem them as well.

This is something we’ve talked about before with the Blue Sky and Discover Miles card, having a card independent of a specific airline can insulate you a little from blackout dates.

Benefits of Escape by Discover

The travel rewards are probably the main reason that you’d look at this credit card – however, the card does have some other perks.

Balance Transfers

Escape offers a 0% APR on balance transfers and purchases after opening an account. The ongoing APR is competitive with better rates for customers with good credit (see the chart below for current rates and terms).  Because it does offer good intro rates for balance transfers it could be used as a short-term balance transfer credit card in addition to its function as a travel rewards credit card.  Just don’t forget that you pay a balance transfer fee and that it can take a few weeks to get your money.

Travel Perks

Since Escape by Discover is a travel rewards card, it makes sense that it also offers a number of ongoing travel perks. These perks include insurance coverage for a variety of troubles that you may encounter during travel such as lost luggage and travel delay costs. The card offers rental car insurance so you may not need additional insurance when you rent a car. Plus this card offers travel cancellation coverage in case something comes up and you need to be reimbursed for a trip that you can’t take after all. Basically you probably won’t worry as much during your travels when you use this card to book your trip.

Conclusion

Although Escape by Discover® does have an annual fee, it’s not outrageously high. Unlike many credit cards, that fee is unfortunately not waived during the first year of having the card. However, the card has a lot of potential to make that fee worth your while with easy-to-earn bonus miles and double earning points. If you use your card regularly, travel regularly and want to take advantage of restriction-free travel rewards then this card could be right for you.  

The Continental Airlines OnePass is a travel rewards credit card issues by Chase that is designed to offer travel miles as well as hotel and auto rental rewards – a good fit if you travel frequently. The OnePass Plus card has a variety of perks as well as many opportunities to earn additional bonus miles for using the card. Although this credit card does have an annual fee, the fee is waived for the first year as is commonly seen with travel rewards credit cards in the market today. This gives you ample opportunity to test out the card to see if it’s right for you before you commit to that fee.

Continental Airlines OnePass® Plus Card Rewards
This is a rewards credit card that offers you one mile for every $1 purchased on the card, a standard rate for rewards cards. However, it also offers numerous opportunities to earn additional rewards points including:

• 25,000 bonus miles earned after your first purchased made on the card
• 10,000 bonus miles annually for spending $25,000+ on the card each year
• 5,000 bonus miles for adding an authorized user
• Double miles for every $1 spent on Continental Airlines tickets
• Double miles for all ShopOnePass purchases made on the card

The especially appealing part on this card is that ability to earn annual bonus miles if you spend more than $25,000 annually on the card. That’s a nice reward for spending that you’re already doing.

Redeeming Rewards
These miles can be redeemed for flights on Continental Airlines as well as the two dozen or more member airlines that are part of the Star Alliance Network.

The US based airlines in this alliance are US Airways, Continental, and United. If you fly internationally it gives you access to flights with major airlines like Air Canada, BMI, and Lufthansa.  The alliance also includes airlines from the following countries (Croatia, Egypt, Poland, Singapore, South Africa, Switzerland, Thailand, Turkey, China, New Zealand, Japan, Slovenia, Brussels, Greece, and Brazil).

You can also redeem rewards you earn with the OnePass for car rental and hotel stays. That is a nice perk since some other airline rewards cards only offer the option to redeem for miles. Unfortunately you can’t redeem for non-travel rewards such as gift cards or cash back.

Other Perks of the Continental Airlines OnePass® Plus Card
This credit card offers travel perks in addition to the rewards miles that are earned for using the card.

Travel Perks

For example, checked baggage fees may be waived on many flights, saving you as much as $50 per round trip. On each anniversary of your card membership, you will receive two Presidents Club passes and two travel discount certificates.

If you have a OnePass card you can also take advantage of concierge service to help you with a variety of services while traveling.  All of these perks can add up to a convenient travel experience when using this card to book your trips. 

Travel Protection

The Continental Airlines OnePass also offers numerous protections as a perk of being a cardholder. Travel protection features include a car rental collision damage waiver, reimbursement for lost luggage, trip cancellation reimbursement and expanded emergency roadside assistance. Additional protections include price protection, purchase protection and return protection on all purchases, zero liability fraud protection and extended warranty coverage.

APR and Fees
This credit card has an annual membership fee of $95. However, the company is currently offering to waive the first year’s membership for new card applications. The APR on the OnePass Plus card for purchases and balance transfers is based on the market Prime Rate and is slightly below average in the current market. The chart below can provide you with more specific details about current rates.

Conclusion
Continental Airlines OnePass is a good option for people who travel regularly especially those who are fond of traveling on Continental Airlines. It is particularly ideal for people who spend at least $25,000 annually on their credit cards thanks to the large sum of bonus points that are awarded each year for doing so.

In order to qualify for this credit card, you do have to have good credit. However, if you apply for the Continental Airlines OnePass card and your credit score doesn’t qualify you then you can also be considered for a Platinum MasterCard.

The Click Here card is an airline rewards card similar to the Blue Sky from American Express but with a few important differences. Both of these cards were designed for people with good credit who plan on taking advantage of the rewards program with frequent travel. The main difference between the Blue Sky and the Blue Sky Preferred card is that the Preferred card allows you to earn more points faster. This makes it a great choice for people who do a lot of spending on their cards and want to cash in on that.

Blue Sky Preferred Rewards

The rewards that you can earn on the two cards are similar, earning a basic one point per dollar on most purchases. These travel rewards can be cashed in for flights, hotels, cruises and car rental. Some of the key things that you should know about these rewards include:

• No limit on how many rewards points you can earn
• No seat restrictions or blackout dates
• No expiration date for rewards
• Ability to redeem rewards on any airline

Blue Sky vs Blue Sky Preferred Rewards

Although you pay an annual fee for the Preferred card, it does allow you to earn rewards more quickly than the basic Blue Sky card.  Accumulating points more rapidly than the base card is the main difference between the two, most other features are the same.

Since you earn double the points on dining, hotel and car rental purchases, if you travel frequently you may find that these extra rewards make up for the cost of the card. Additionally you get to enjoy a $100 annual airline allowance with this card. This is money that you can spend on any incidental airline charges such as in-flight meals or checked baggage fees.

Additional Travel Perks

Blue Sky Preferred credit card holders have access to numerous travel perks and protections. These include:

• Travel accident insurance up to $100,000
• Car rental loss and damage insurance
• Access to the helpful information at the Global Assist Hotline
• Guarantee that your hotel room will be held even if you arrive late
• Complimentary breakfast at some hotels

In addition to these travel perks, this credit card comes with purchase protection including extended product warranties, refund protection and assistance with replacing or repairing items bought on the card that get broken. This card also comes with fraud protection.

Annual Fee and APR

Because of it’s Preferred status, the card does come with a $75 annual fee. This credit card does sometimes come with a 0% introductory APR based on creditworthiness; see details in the chart below.

Blue Sky Preferred Bonus Points

One nice thing about the Blue Sky Preferred credit card is that you earn 7500 bonus points after spending the first $500 on the card. This is equivalent to $100 that you can put towards flights or hotel charges. This may make the annual fee worth it at least for the first year to test out whether or not this card is the right card for you. After all, you still get $25 just for getting the card and spending that first $500 on it.

Blue Savings Discounts

Both the Blue Sky and the Blue Sky Preferred credit cards provide you with access to special savings called the “blue savings program”. This program offers special discounts to cardholders at various hotels, restaurants and retail stores. For example you can save up to 20% at Hertz rental car through this program. This is in addition to the points that are earned when doing the shopping at these merchants.

Blue Sky Preferred May Be Right For You

This card may be right for you if you’re willing to pay an annual fee in order to have the opportunity to rapidly earn travel rewards. Because you get double points for hotel and car rental purchases and get additional travel perks on this card, it is best for you if you travel frequently.

The Gold Delta SkyMiles card wouldn’t be much of a surprise to see in your wallet if you’re a frequent Delta flyer and an American Express card member. But what if you’re not a Delta customer; is the Gold Delta SkyMiles useful enough to switch to a different airline? The answer for many people is probably yes, which is why the airline credit card has become so popular.  If you use this card correctly and choose to fly with Delta then you can accrue free flights fairly quickly.

Gold Delta Rewards Plan

What makes this card effective is that it stacks with Delta’s own reward policy. With the Gold Delta SkyMiles card, you’ll earn a point for every dollar spent, plus you can extra miles if you purchase a Delta-affiliated product – not only airline tickets, but Skymiles catalog items that also qualify for frequent flyer bonuses.

Bonus Rewards Points

It is easy to rapidly begin earning free flights on this credit card. You earn bonus miles after you’ve spent a minimum amount in the first 3 months, sometimes these bonus miles are enough for a free flight on Delta. Additionally, you can get another and 5000 bonus miles if you add two members to an account. Plus of course the spending that those people do on the account will mean that you accrue standard points more quickly.

Rewards Points Limitations

The main drawback of this airline rewards card is that you can only accrue 100,000 miles in a year. For someone who travels frequently and spends a lot of money on their card, this can be limitation. These miles, however, do not expire. If you’re a big spender then you can take advantage of this fact to combine this card with another travel rewards card to get all of the rewards you want each year.

Gold Delta SkyMiles Perks

What also makes this card especially useful for travelers, aside from the bonus miles, is that the cardholders can have access to AmEx’s Global Assist hotline – a 24-hour service which provides assistance regarding medical, legal, passport, money and luggage issues. If you lose the card while traveling, American Express can make emergency payments. Finally, with the card you can check your first bag free.

APR

The APR on the Gold Delta SkyMiles card is good but not great. The good news is that most cardholders can expect a decent APR, not the lowest of frequent flyer cards, but still competitive. The APR for balance transfers is better than average but the APR can be pretty high for delinquencies – though this is standard, depending on the severity of the delinquency. Check out the chart at the bottom of this article for up-to-date information about the current APR on this card.

Fees

Like other rewards cards of its kind, the Gold Delta SkyMiles credit card does have an annual fee. It is $95, which is slightly higher than average for airline rewards cards. However, new cardholders will have the fee waived for the first year. It may be worth it, then, to try the card for a year to see if the rewards are worth it to you before that annual fee kicks in. Be sure to watch out for the over the limit fees on this card because they can hit $40. You do need to be a responsible card holder for this credit card to work out well for you.

Conclusion

Given that Delta has millions of flights domestically and internationally, you won’t be stuck with a frequent flyer card that you use only occasionally. As with other frequent flyer cards, it’s the best fit for someone in search of a good travel credit card. You’ll need to be responsible with payments and will benefit most if your earnings aren’t likely to exceed 100,000 miles annually. If this describes you, the Gold Delta SkyMiles card has many features that are attractive and useful for the frequent traveler.

Airline Bonuses
The Delta Reserve Card has a lot to offer over other frequent flyer cards. The mile-per-dollar spent is the same as most other airline cards. On top of that, however, you can earn additional rewards and enjoy many perks. Double miles are available for certain purchases of groceries, home improvement, gas stations, and at the post office – making it very versatile when measured against other airline reward cards. You don’t have to spend on travel purchases to earn extra rewards towards travel, which is nice for people who travel regularly but not extensively.

Medallion Qualification Miles
The jewel of Delta’s SkyMiles cards is the Medallion Qualification Miles program. The Reserve card is the top tier of Delta’s frequent flyer cards. Other Delta cards offer frequent flyer points, but not in the same bulk as MQM’s, which can build up frequent flyer points by the thousands at a time.

With the Delta Reserve Card, you get 10,000 MQM’s immediately after your first purchase. If you spend $30,000 a year on the card you’ll receive an extra 30,000 bonus miles – in addition to the miles already credited from point-per dollar, for a total of 60,000 rewards points. If you spend $60,000 a year, it will net you an additional 15,000 miles. The more you spend on this card, the more you benefit from it.

Extra Rewards
As a Reserve cardholder you’ll also receive a free flight voucher for a companion ticket on coach or first class. So even though the Reserve card has a high annual fee when compared with other airline cards, this free airfare makes up for the fee. Delta Reserve cardholders will also be eligible for Skyclub access to the Delta Crown Room for the cardholder and two guests. People who enjoy travel perks when they fly will enjoy what this card has to offer.

Free Checked Bag
Now that airlines are charging to check bags, the Delta Reserve card can save you money each time you fly. With your card, you get a free checked bag on every flight.

Travel Perks
In addition to airline miles perks and the free checked bag deal, the American Express Delta Reserve Card offers everything you would get with a typical Amex card: travel insurance, as well as enhanced fraud protection. Overall, this card is pretty attractive, definitely attractive to those who use their credit card a lot every month for travel as well as other standard purchases.

Annual Fee
This credit card does come with an annual fee of $450. That’s one of the highest annual fees in the market so that’s certainly something to ponder carefully. However, the fact that you can earn so many rewards points on this card, as well as the fact that you get a free ticket each year, can offset the cost of the annual fee.

Conclusion
Delta and American Express put together a pretty good travel rewards program with this card, you have more ways to build up frequent flyer points than other cards of its kind with the Delta Reserve. You do have to weigh the annual fee with the rewards that you’ll get to make sure that this card will be worth your while.

The Hilton HHonors card is a travel rewards card with a generous points system: 5 points for every dollar spent at a Hilton, as well as money spent for gas, at supermarkets, drugstores, and other purchases. It’s not a Hilton-only rewards program by any means, making it one of the better hotel-affiliated credit cards available. Cardholders get 10,000 points after first purchase, as well as 10,000 additional points after the first stay at a Hilton Hotel.

Hilton Rewards In addition to 5 points rewarded at select merchants, the Hilton HHonors card gives cardholders a full three points for all other purchases. That’s pretty much unprecedented for a rewards card of this type. Most travel rewards card follow the point-per-dollar model. While points never expire, there is a limit of $100,000 in spending every year, which is more than enough for the vast majority of cardholders. Anyone spending more than that each year could combine this rewards card with a second rewards card to meet all of their spending needs and still get the great rewards offered by this card.

Hilton Bonus Points The Hilton HHonors card can be combined with the HHonors® reward program, which allows cardholders to earn points or frequent flyer miles towards a hotel stay. In addition to 10,000 points after first purchase, cardholders are eligible for 15,000 bonus points if $5000 is spent in five months of having the card. A cardholder could conceivably receive 35,000 bonus points within the first five months of using the card. That is a lot of bonus rewards points to cash in quickly when first getting the card.

Personalize your Rewards You are actually able to personalize how you earn rewards on this card. You can earn points or you can earn miles or you can earn a combination of both depending on what suits you but. You set your own earnings style through your online account.

Redeeming Rewards Most cardholders are travelers so they will want to redeem their points for travel. There are many different ways to do that; you can redeem for hotels, cruises, car rental, or vacation packages. You can also redeem your rewards for “experiences” such as motorcycle rentals or wine tasting. If for some reason you aren’t going to be traveling for a bit, though, and want to redeem your rewards in other ways then that option is available to you as well.

The rewards can be cashed in for shopping, dining and entertainment. You can even share or gift your rewards to others if you are feeling generous. Note that if you’re close to having enough points to redeem for something you want but you want to get it now then you do have the option of simply buying points to push yourself up to having the points you need to redeem rewards. Or you could get a friend to share their points with you!

The Hilton American Express Card The HHonors® reward program is an Amex card, so the card comes with all the built in protection of an American Express card – travel accident insurance, car rental insurance, fraud protection, and replacement protection. As this is a travel-related credit card, this is important. The card also has no annual fee and a low introductory rate. However, the card does have a relatively high long-term rate, so it’s not a great card for carrying a balance month to month.

Conclusion As mentioned, the Hilton HHonors Platinum Card has one of the best travel rewards points programs available and it offers these rewards with no annual fee. At the same time, this is offset a bit by the APR so it’s best for people who don’t typically carry a balance on their cards. If you do a lot of traveling and frequently stay at Hilton hotels then check it out.