What Is The Best Travel Credit Card?

Credit cards tend to be the easiest (and quickest!) way to earn miles/points for travelling. This is particularly the case if you are able to take advantage of any sign-up offers! With so many different credit cards on the market, we are going to look at what might be the best travel credit card for you. If you are looking to take out an American Express card for the bonus be sure you understand the sign-up bonus eligibility requirements.

So what is the best travel credit card?

I will start by saying a lot depends on your personal circumstances and how much you will spend on the card each year. If you only spend a few thousand a year and want to collect Avios points, a card such as the BA Premium Plus Amex is unlikely to make sense! It is a fantastic card but it has an annual fee of £195 and requires an annual spend of £10,000 to unlock the very valuable 2-4-1 voucher! In this situation, if you can’t make the sign-up bonus of the Amex Gold Card you are probably best of going for the Free BA Amex card.

So how do I work out what the best travel credit is?

You need to work out what the value of your selected ‘travel point’ is to you. You’ll see loads of sites posting how much they think points are worth but that isn’t relevant. You need your own valuation. We talk a lot about how to work out Avios point value here, the majority of this can be applied to working out the value of any ‘travel’ point.

There isn’t an easy answer to what is the best travel credit card but I’ve compiled together some popular options under some common situations.

Please note…

This is my experience using the points system and is not a recommendation of any financial product. There are other credit cards which can earn you travel points including IHG credit card, Tesco Credit Cards (by exchanging Clubcard points for avios, hotel stays and more) & Virgin Atlantic credit card. If you use my link for a referral to an American Express card upon you being accepted I will receive points, this varies between 9,000 – 18,000 depending on the card I refer you from

Get a referral for bonus points here – https://pointsuncovered.com/amex-referral-link-uk/

I don’t want to pay an annual fee

For the first year the Amex Gold Card makes the list as the annual fee only kicks in from the second year. After/Just before the first year is up you can switch to the ‘free for life’ Amex Rewards Card. The Gold Card is recommend first due to the larger sign-up bonus & the 2 free lounge passes.

American Express Preferred Rewards Gold Credit Card

Sign-up bonus –  10,000 Membership Reward points = 20,000 Hilton points, 15,000 Marriott points, 10,000 Avios or 10,000 Virgin miles. (Spend £3000 in 3 months)
Annual fee – FREE for the first year (normally £140)
Earn rate – 1 Membership Reward point per £1 = 2 Hilton points per £1
Other Travel Benefits – 2 free lounge passes.
Notes – As the first year is FREE this often recommended as the first card for newbies to ‘point collecting.’ The 2 free lounge passes are handy too. Earn an additional 10,000 Membership Rewards points when you spend £15,000 each year.

The American Express Rewards Credit Card

Sign-up bonus –  5,000 Membership Reward points = 10,000 Hilton points, 7,500 Marriott points, 5,000 Avios or 5,000 Virgin miles. (Spend £2000 in 3 months)
Annual fee – FREE
Earn rate – 1 Membership Reward point per £1 = 2 Hilton points/1.5 Marriott points/1 Avios/1 Virgin mile per £1
Other Travel Benefits – N/A
Notes – If you have a membership rewards card with an annual fee and want to move to a free one this is often recommended as the way to keep your points ‘alive’ without continuing to pay an annual fee.

I want to collect Avios points

We go into a lot of detail covering all the Avios earning credit cards on the market here – https://pointsuncovered.com/avios/how-to-choose-the-best-avios-credit-card/ – but three which stand out as top picks are the following…

British Airways American Express Premium Plus Card

Sign-up bonus –  25,000 Avios points. (Spend £3000 in 3 months)
Annual fee – £195
Earn rate – 1.5 Avios per £1
Other Travel Benefits – BA Companion Voucher (2-4-1) when you spend 10K in a year. This allows you to redeem 2 tickets for the price of 1 in Avios points (both tickets taxes & ‘fees’ will still be due.)
Notes – It does have an annual fee of £195 BUT for a lot of people, it will make sense. Particularly in the first year with the 25,000 sign-up bonus & the 2-4-1 voucher at 10K spend. Read more about the voucher here. I keep mine for the 2-4-1 voucher & the generous 1.5 Avios per £1 earning rate.

American Express Preferred Rewards Gold Credit Card

Sign-up bonus –  10,000 Membership Reward points = 10,000 Avios points. (Spend £3000 in 3 months)
Annual fee – FREE for the first year (normally £140)
Earn rate – 1 Membership Reward point per £1 = 1 Avios per £1
Other Travel Benefits – 2 free lounge passes.
Notes – As the first year is FREE this often recommended as the first card for newbies to ‘point collecting.’ The 2 free lounge passes are handy too. Earn an additional 10,000 Membership Rewards points (30,000 Hilton points) when you spend £15,000 each year.

Tesco Clubcard Mastercard

Sign-up bonus –  N/A
Annual fee – FREE
Earn rate – 1 Tesco Clubcard point per £1 = 0.3 Avios per £1
Other Travel Benefits – N/A
Notes – The most generous FREE non-American Express card to earn Avios on.

If you are looking to kick-start your Avios with a huge 200,000 haul don’t forget to take a look at our guide to fast track yourself to a rather cool 200,000 Avios points – https://pointsuncovered.com/american-express/fast-track-yourself-to-2000000-avios-points/

I want to collect Marriott points

The Marriott Mastercard has been closed to new applicants for a while in the UK unfortunately but American Express do have a Marriott Bonvoy Card. You can also convert membership reward points into Marriott Bonvoy points.

Marriott Bonvoy American Express Card

Sign-up bonus –  20,000 Marriott Bonvoy Points (Spend £3000 in 3 months)
Annual fee – £75
Earn rate – 2 Marriott Bonvoy points per £1 / 6 Marriott Bonvoy points per £1 at Marriott Hotels
Other Travel Benefits – 15 Elite Night Credits (automatic Marriott Bonvoy silver status) and a free night voucher when you spend £25,000 in a year, valid up to 25,000 points
Notes – Whilst the 15 elite night credits give Marriott Bonvoy siliver status it has very little in actual benefits. It does mean however you are only 10 nights away from Gold or 35 nights away from Platinum elite (rather than 25 / 50 nights)

American Express Preferred Rewards Gold Credit Card

Sign-up bonus –  10,000 Membership Reward points = 15,000 Marriott points. (Spend £3000 in 3 months)
Annual fee – FREE for the first year (normally £140)
Earn rate – 1 Membership Reward point per £1 = 1.5 Marriott points per £1
Other Travel Benefits – 2 free lounge passes.
Notes – As the first year is FREE this often recommended as the first card for newbies to ‘point collecting.’ The 2 free lounge passes are handy too. Earn an additional 10,000 Membership Rewards points when you spend £15,000 each year.

If you are looking to kick-start your Marriott Bonvoy Points with a huge 250,000 haul don’t forget to take a look at our guide to fast track yourself to a rather cool 250,000 Marriott Bonvoy points – https://pointsuncovered.com/earning-points/fast-track-yourself-to-250000-marriott-bonvoy-points/

I want to collect Hilton points

Unfortunately, the Hilton credit card in the UK is no longer open to new applicants! The only way of earning Hilton points is via converting from another scheme to Hilton. The best way of doing this would be from a membership reward American Express card, alternatively, you can convert Virgin miles to Hilton points.

American Express Preferred Rewards Gold Credit Card

Sign-up bonus –  10,000 Membership Reward points = 20,000 Hilton points. (Spend £3000 in 3 months)
Annual fee – FREE for the first year (normally £140)
Earn rate – 1 Membership Reward point per £1 = 2 Hilton points per £1
Other Travel Benefits – 2 free lounge passes.
Notes – As the first year is FREE this often recommended as the first card for newbies to ‘point collecting.’ The 2 free lounge passes are handy too. Earn an additional 10,000 Membership Rewards points (20,000 Hilton points) when you spend £15,000 each year.

I want to collect IHG points

Unfortunately, the Hilton credit card in the UK is no longer open to new applicants! The only way of earning Hilton points is via converting from another scheme to Hilton. The best way of doing this would be from a membership reward American Express card, alternatively, you can convert Virgin miles to Hilton points.

IHG Rewards Club Credit Card

Sign-up bonus –  10,000 IHG points (Spend £200 in 3 months)
Annual fee – FREE
Earn rate – 1 IHG point per £1
Other Travel Benefits – Gold Elite status when you open your account
Notes – This is the only card that earns IHG points directly. IHG aren’t an Amex partner which means you can’t transfer your membership reward points to them. The only other option you have is converting Virgin miles to IHG at 1:1.

I want to collect Virgin miles

Virgin have two own branded credit cards that you can collect virgin miles with. You can also exchange membership reward points for Virgin miles or collect with the Tesco Clubcard Mastercard by swapping Clubcard points for Virgin miles. (not mentioned below as a top pick as Virgin has a non Amex card with a higher earning rate)

Virgin Atlantic Reward+ Credit Card

Sign-up bonus –  15,000 Virgin Miles (On your first purchase within 3 months)
Annual fee – £160
Earn rate – 1.5 Virgin Miles per £1
Other Travel Benefits – Upgrade/Companion Voucher when you spend 10K in a year.
Notes – The voucher allows red members to redeem in ANY class but with Upper-Class bookings, the voucher only provides a 50% discount off the miles required for a 2nd ticket. Silver and Gold members can redeem ANY class with no such restriction. You can use the voucher on cash bookings too but there must be reward availability for the ‘free’ ticket.

Alternatively, it can be used to upgrade any Economy ticket paid in cash or miles (except Economy Light) to Premium OR any Premium ticket paid in cash or miles to Upper-Class! 

As normal ‘taxes and fees’ are due on reward bookings. Read more about the voucher here – https://pointsuncovered.com/virgin-atlantic/major-improvements-to-the-virgin-atlantic-credit-card/

Virgin Atlantic Reward Credit Card

Sign-up bonus –  N/A
Annual fee – FREE
Earn rate – 0.75 Virgin Miles per £1
Other Travel Benefits – Upgrade/Companion Voucher when you spend 20K in a year.
Notes – The voucher allows red members to redeem in ANY class but with Upper-Class bookings, the voucher only provides a 50% discount off the miles required for a 2nd ticket. Silver and Gold members can redeem ANY class with no such restriction. You can use the voucher on cash bookings too but there must be reward availability for the ‘free’ ticket.

Alternatively, it can be used to upgrade any Economy ticket paid in cash or miles (except Economy Light) to Premium OR any Premium ticket paid in cash or miles to Upper-Class! 

As normal ‘taxes and fees’ are due on reward bookings. Read more about the voucher here – https://pointsuncovered.com/virgin-atlantic/major-improvements-to-the-virgin-atlantic-credit-card/

American Express Preferred Rewards Gold Credit Card

Sign-up bonus –  10,000 Membership Reward points = 10,000 Virgin miles. (Spend £3000 in 3 months)
Annual fee – FREE for the first year (normally £140)
Earn rate – 1 Membership Reward point per £1 = 1 Virgin Mile per £1
Other Travel Benefits – 2 free lounge passes.
Notes – As the first year is FREE this often recommended as the first card for newbies to ‘point collecting.’ The 2 free lounge passes are handy too. Earn an additional 10,000 Membership Rewards points when you spend £15,000 each year.

I want flexibility & to collect a variety of travel points

In this situation, the ideal card would be an American Express card which collects Membership Reward points. Membership Reward points can be converted into various different loyalty programs as and when you need them. This can help you avoid loyalty program devaluations and take advantage of any transfer bonuses that occasionally run.

American Express Preferred Rewards Gold Credit Card

Sign-up bonus –  10,000 Membership Reward points = 20,000 Hilton points, 15,000 Marriott points, 10,000 Avios or 10,000 Virgin miles. (Spend £3000 in 3 months)
Annual fee – FREE for the first year (normally £140)
Earn rate – 1 Membership Reward point per £1 = 2 Hilton points/1.5 Marriott points/1 Avios/1 Virgin mile per £1
Other Travel Benefits – 2 free lounge passes.
Notes – As the first year is FREE this often recommended as the first card for newbies to ‘point collecting.’ The 2 free lounge passes are handy too. Earn an additional 10,000 Membership Rewards points (20,000 Hilton points) when you spend £15,000 each year.

I want a travel ‘package’

If you are looking for a rounded package of ‘travel benefits’ including elevated hotel status, unlimited airport lounge access with Priority Pass and many others the Platinum Card is probably a good fit. It does have a hefty £575 annual fee BUT you may find the package adds up for you, particularly in the 1st year with the 30,000 sign-up bonus (if you are eligible.)

The Platinum Card

Sign-up bonus –  30,000 Membership Reward points = 60,000 Hilton points, 45,000 Marriott points, 30,000 Avios or 30,000 Virgin miles. (Spend £4000 in 3 months)
Annual fee – £575
Earn rate – 1 Membership Reward point per £1 = 2 Hilton points/1.5 Marriott points/1 Avios/1 Virgin mile per £1
Other Travel Benefits – Elevated status in Hotel chains, Lounge access at Airports, Travel Insurance and others.
Notes – It does have an annual fee of £575 BUT for a lot of people, it will make sense. Particularly in the first year with the 30,000 sign-up bonus. I keep mine for the lounge access, hotel benefits and insurance. You can also give these benefits to one other person for FREE through a supplementary card. I gave mine to my dad!

So there is no best travel credit card?

As you can see there isn’t an easy answer to what is the best travel credit card, a lot depends on your spending habits, personal circumstances and where you’d like to go! There is no one best card but there will be the best one that fits your circumstances. What do you think the best travel credit card is? What cards do you carry to help you earn travel points?