💳 Rating my travel credit cards
💰Actual redemption value
🤑Pros & Cons

Travel Credit Cards

💰Redeemed 4 nights valued at $830 in Hilton Hotels

😢 You do not earn hilton honors points on foreign transactions. Points can only be redeemed in increments of 1,000 - starting at 5,000 points. 

💳 $0 annual fee for the first year, $95 after

😢 Can’t pay with cash if you dont have enough skymiles to cover the entire award flight, can’t purchase lower-tiered seats with skymiles (ex: basic economy is not eligible), prices are higher on delta compared to the same exact flight offered on other websites making skymiles feel worthless, they make any flight credit you earned almost impossible to redeem, you do not earn points on foreign transactions. 

😢Portal prices are higher compared to other portals on the same exact flight

💰Redeemed $1,082.94 in flights & $167.57 off hotel booked through their portal (they sometimes offer 10x points on hotels booked through their portal) 

💰Redeemed $150 credit + $30 disney reward dollars

😢You can only use them after earning $20 and loading it to a redemption card. If you earn more after loading, you can only reload after earning $10 disney dollars. *You also have the option to credit yourself back to the card if the total is less than $10 disney dollars

😢Their portal is a little hard to navigate- I wish they would update it. 

💰Redeeemed $795.87 in hotels & cash back

😢Has a "minimum points required" to redeem points. Minimum 2,500 points required

😊Great beginner card to learn how to use points/miles/credits

😢As of 2024 they have removed the free lounge access

😊Capital One miles post to your account within days of the transaction. This means that you can redeem rewards before your statement even closes. Best portal to navigate for booking hotels.

😊Has some of the best redemption value 

😊10% off select merchandise after spending $50+ at Disney World/Land & free digital photos at Epcot

😊Has separate app for hotel redemption, easier to navigate than portals

😊0% interest for the first year, Points & cash back are redeemed at the same value

Started travel credit cards in 2017 👵🏼

Have never payed interest 🙅🏻‍♀️

💸 20k points offer after spending $1k in 3 months

💸 20k miles offer after spending $500 in 3 months

💸75k miles offer after spending $4k in 3 months

💸80k points offer after spending $4k in 3 months

💸 $150 credit after spending $500 in 3 months

💸 100k points offer after spending $1k in 3 months 

💸$300 statement credit & 50k bonus miles after you spend $2k in 6 months

💸 30k points offer after spending $1k in 3 months

To avoid interest or late fees, pay your balance IN FULL before statement closing date and/or payement due date.

Travel credit cards are a tool to “save for travel” and should not be used if you cannot afford to pay back your balance right away.

Don’t go into credit card debt, make credit card companies be in debt to you 😉

💵Earns 2 miles per $1 spent, 5 miles per $1 on hotels/rentals booked through Capital One. TSA Pre check/Global entry credit up to $100

💵Earns 1 miles per $1 spent, 5 miles per $1 on hotels/rentals booked through Capital One

🥲Redeeming for cash back gives you the least value for miles

💵Earns 1 point for every $1 spent on everything

💵$50 Hotel credit when booked through Chase portal, 3x restaurants, 2x travel (hotels, airfare, hotels, trains, taxis) 5x hotels & car rentals booked through Chase, 1x on everything else

💵5x gas, restaurants, supermarket, 3x on everything else, 7x Hilton hotels 

 ** Currently at 80k. As of 2024 they increased the spending to $2k for 6 months

** Credit can be at $250 for a limited time (March 2024)

** They have since increased the annual fee to $99 then again to $150. You are no longer able to acess Delta Sky Club at all- used to be able at $29 per visit (2020)

💵2x restaurants & supermarkets, delta purchases, 1x everything else 

Travel Credit Cards

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