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One of the greatest challenges to planning a trip abroad is balancing cost, reward and convenience. If you want your getaway to be both affordable and enjoyable, you may need some help. Guidebooks and deals sites are great resources, but a credit card has value as well. And it continues to pay rewards long after your trip is over. The right card for you ultimately depends on your needs and travel plans.
For now, to help you start to cut through the clutter of what the best credits cards for international travel in 2019 are, the Credit.com team has compiled some options for you.
Benefits: This card has a pretty awesome welcome offer too—50,000 miles once you spend $3,000 in your first three months as a cardholder. That’s equal to $500 worth of travel. Plus earn 10X miles on thousands of hotels, through January 2020; learn more at hotels.com/venture. The annual fee is $0 the first year. The APR is depending on your credit rating.
You can redeem your miles on any airline and at any hotel with no restrictions. And you can transfer your miles to 12 different leading travel loyalty programs.
This card also has no foreign transaction fees and offers up to $100 application fee credit for Global Entry or TSA Pre✓®, both of which makes this card a good choice for international travelers.
Drawbacks: While CNBC named this card “The Best Travel Card” in 2018, after your first year, the annual fee is a somewhat steep $95. That’s the only real drawback and why this card is our second choice and not first. Really, either the Barclaycard Arrival Plus World Elite Mastercard or this card is solid cards if you don’t mind paying an annual fee after your first year.
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Benefits: The Chase Sapphire Preferred also a sweet welcome offer of 60,000 bonus points if you spend $4,000 within the first three months of opening the account. According to Chase, that worth $750 when you redeem your points through Chase Ultimate Rewards®. And you earn 2X points on travel at dining worldwide and 1X points on every dollar you spend elsewhere.
If you choose to redeem your points through Chase Ultimate Rewards, you get 25% more for your points. There are no blackout dates or restrictions when you redeem through Chase Ultimate Rewards either. And there are no foreign transaction fees.
This card’s APR falls into a standard range of .
This card’s perks earned it the “Best Credit Card for Flexible Travel Redemption” rating from Kiplinger’s Personal Finance in June 2018.
Drawbacks: annual fee. And its rewards are a bit lighter than our other two picks with 2X points only on travel and dining.
Benefits: Rounding out our picks is the Capital One® VentureOne® Rewards Credit Card. This card may be your top pick if an annual fee is out of the question because it has no annual fee—ever! Plus, it still has a nice intro offer of 20,000 miles with your first $1,000 spent in your first three months. That’s a $200 value. On top of the intro offer, you earn 1.25X miles on all your purchases and 10X miles for hotel booking done thru hotels.com/venture.
Just like the Capital One Venture Card, this card has no foreign transaction fees. And you can redeem your miles on any airline and at any hotel with no restrictions. You can also transfer your miles to 12 different leading travel loyalty programs.
The low end of this card’s APR beats all our other picks at just . And all cardholders get 0% APR on purchases for a full year!
Drawbacks: The only drawback to this card compared to the others is that overall the rewards aren’t quite as rich.
But, if an annual fee is out the question for you and a lower APR is a bonus, this may be your top pick.
Note that these cards all reward cardholders with points and not cash back. If none of these cards is quite right for you, check out some other travel cards. If you want a cash reward card, look at some cash-back cards options.
Because credit cards have fraud protection, credit cards can be a better choice than cash when traveling overseas. Using a debit card abroad can carry hefty exchange and ATM fees. And debit cards have fewer fraud protections compared to credit cards.
Dozens of credit cards have travel perks, but there are a few particular benefits you want to look for in a credit card for international travel, including:
Even if your card is accepted in the country you’re visiting, it’s up to individual merchants as to which cards they accept. So it’s always a good idea to have multiple forms of payment on hand.
Many credit cards with travel benefits require applicants to have good or excellent credit, so take the time to see what the credit card you’re applying for requires, because each credit application will ding your credit score a bit. You can search for credit cards for travel by credit level on Credit.com. You also can check your credit score for free on Credit.com, so you know what your creditworthiness is before you apply. Check out tips on how to get the best terms on a new credit card too.
Remember that interest rates, fees and terms for credit cards, loans and other financial products change frequently. As such, the rates, fees and terms for credit cards, loans and other financial products cited in this article may have changed since the article was published. Please be sure to verify current rates, fees and terms with each credit card’s issuer, bank or other financial institution directly.
Editorial disclosure: Reviews are as determined solely by Credit.com staff. Opinions expressed here are solely those of the reviewers and aren’t reviewed or approved by any advertiser. Information presented is accurate as of the date of the review, including information on card rates, rewards and fees. Check the issuer’s website for the most current information on each card listed.
Some offers mentioned below may have expired and/or are no longer available on our site. You can view the current offers from our partners in our credit card marketplace. DISCLOSURE: Cards from our partners are mentioned below.
This article was previously published February 15, 2017, and has since been updated by another author.
