I’ve had a lot of travel credit cards over the years.
Some I loved. Some I eventually canceled. And a few have become cards I can’t really imagine traveling without.
I’m not someone who thinks you need ten different cards and a spreadsheet just to book a vacation. For me, a travel card needs to do one of two things: make traveling noticeably better or easily justify its annual fee.
These are the ones that have actually done that for me.
Chase Sapphire Reserve — my current favorite
For years, the American Express Platinum was my main premium travel card.
Then Chase offered me 120,000 points to switch last year.
That obviously got my attention.
I signed up for the Chase Sapphire Reserve, and surprisingly, I ended up liking it even more than my Amex Platinum.
One of the biggest reasons is that the points add up much faster for the way I travel.
Right now, the Sapphire Reserve earns 8x points on travel booked through Chase Travel, 4x on flights and hotels booked directly, and 3x on dining. Since travel and restaurants are a big part of my spending, I notice the difference.
Then there are the travel credits.
The easiest one is the $300 annual travel credit. It’s extremely flexible and automatically applies to eligible travel purchases like flights, hotels, trains, taxis, rental cars and other travel expenses. I don’t have to jump through hoops to use it.
There’s also up to $500 a year in credits for hotels booked through The Edit by Chase Travel. It’s split into two $250 opportunities during the year, and eligible stays have a two-night minimum. The Edit properties can also come with perks like breakfast for two, a $100 property credit, possible room upgrades, and early check-in or late checkout when available.
And in 2026, there’s another up to $250 statement credit for prepaid stays of at least two nights at select hotel brands booked through Chase Travel, including IHG, Montage, Pendry, Omni, Virgin Hotels, Minor Hotels and Pan Pacific.
So if you actually use the travel benefits, the annual fee starts looking very different.
For me, the combination of the points earning, the $300 general travel credit, the hotel credits, lounge access and travel protections makes it much easier to justify.
And obviously, starting with 120,000 points didn’t hurt.
The one thing I genuinely miss from Amex?
The lounges.
Chase lounges are getting better, but the Amex Platinum lounge network was still one of my favorite things about having that card.
Still, if I had to choose between the two for the way I travel today, I’d keep the Chase.
You can check your welcome bonus offer here
Referral disclosure: If you apply through my Chase link and are approved, I may receive referral points. I recommend the card because I actually use it and like it.
American Express Platinum, the one I still miss sometimes
I had the Amex Platinum for several years, and I loved it.
It’s probably the card that first made me understand how much a premium travel card can actually change the experience of traveling.
The lounge access was excellent. The Amex Global Lounge Collection currently includes more than 1,550 lounges, including Centurion Lounges, Priority Pass and limited Delta Sky Club access when eligible.
There are also a ton of credits and benefits.
The problem for me is that eventually the card started feeling like something I had to actively work to get full value from.
The current U.S. Platinum annual fee is $895, so it’s not exactly a card you keep around casually.
I still think it’s a fantastic card for the right person, and I definitely miss walking into Centurion Lounges.
But once I moved to Chase, I realized I preferred having benefits that fit more naturally into the way I already travel.
Capital One Venture X — the no-brainer
This might actually be the easiest premium travel card for me to recommend.
The Capital One Venture X has a $395 annual fee, but it comes with a $300 annual Capital One Travel credit and 10,000 anniversary miles every year.
For me, that basically makes the card pay for itself.
And compared with other premium travel cards, $395 doesn’t feel crazy.
You also get Capital One Lounge access and Priority Pass, and the card earns at least 2 miles per dollar on everyday purchases.
So this is one I keep without thinking too much about it.
I travel enough that I know I’m going to use the $300 travel credit anyway, and then everything else feels like a bonus.
If someone wants a premium travel card but doesn’t want to jump straight into the much higher annual fees of something like Amex Platinum, Venture X makes a lot of sense to me.
My American Airlines card — because it costs me almost nothing
I also keep an American Airlines Platinum card, but for a completely different reason.
It’s not trying to compete with my Chase or Venture X.
I mainly keep it because it costs me very little and gives me some useful benefits when I fly American.
That’s an important distinction.
Not every card in your wallet needs to be some huge premium points machine.
Sometimes a card makes sense simply because the benefits you actually use are worth more than what you’re paying to keep it.
That’s basically how I look at this one.
The Delta Amex Platinum — the one I canceled
I used to have the Delta SkyMiles Platinum American Express Card too.
Eventually I canceled it.
It wasn’t necessarily a bad card. It currently has benefits like a companion certificate after renewal, Delta-related earning bonuses and other airline perks. But it also carries a $350 annual fee.
For me, once I compared it with what I was getting from cards like Chase Sapphire Reserve and Venture X, I just couldn’t justify keeping it.
That’s something I’ve gotten much better at with credit cards.
I don’t keep a card because I’ve had it for years or because everyone says it’s a “good card.”
If I’m paying an annual fee, I want to know exactly what I’m getting back from it.
If the math stops working, the card goes.
So which one would I choose?
If I could only keep one of my premium travel cards today, it would probably be my Chase Sapphire Reserve.
It fits the way I travel, I like the flexibility of the points, and I find the travel credit easy to use.
But the Capital One Venture X is probably the easiest one for me to justify financially.
And the Amex Platinum?
That’s the one I occasionally miss when I’m walking past a Centurion Lounge at the airport.
The bigger lesson, though, is that I don’t think there’s one “best travel credit card.”
The best card is the one whose benefits match things you were already going to spend money on.
A $900 card can be a great deal if you genuinely use the benefits.
A $95 card can be a waste of money if you don’t.
I’d rather have a few cards that clearly earn their place in my wallet than collect cards just because they come with points.
And that’s pretty much how I decide which ones stay.
A quick note before applying
Credit-card offers, annual fees and benefits change all the time, so always check the current terms directly with the issuer before applying.
And never carry a balance just to earn travel points. Interest charges can wipe out the value of those points very quickly.
This article reflects my personal experience with these cards and isn’t financial advice.
