Key takeaways
- Annual travel credits are a perk offered by some travel credit cards.
- Travel credits vary in terms of coverage and requirements, but generally cover travel expenses like airline fees and upgrades.
- Using a credit card with an annual travel credit can potentially offset the annual fee and offer significant savings for frequent travelers.
- Premium credit cards are more likely to offer this perk, but be sure you understand the limitations and restrictions before using them.
An annual travel credit is a perk offered on some travel cards that comes in the form of a statement credit for certain travel purchases. Annual travel credits typically range from $50 to $300 and cover a number of expenses, including airline seat upgrades and taxes and fees from award redemptions.
Premium credit cards are most likely to offer an annual travel credit as part of the perks offered with card membership. What each credit covers depends on the card’s specific terms.
How annual travel credits work
When a travel credit card offers an annual travel credit, you must either use the card to pay for the travel you expect to offset with the credit and/or use the card issuer’s proprietary travel portal to book your trip. In some cases, enrollment is required to use travel credits.
As the feature suggests, reimbursed expenses are travel-related and vary by card. Some will cover anything that falls into the “travel” category, while others are limited to a certain airline or expense type, like baggage fees, in-flight snacks, seat upgrades or other day-of-travel expenses.
It’s important to note any requirements (such as booking method or a certain amount of spending to trigger the credit) or limitations (like spending with a certain travel provider) before you use your credit. If you need to enroll, check that as well. After all, you don’t want to make a purchase expecting a credit to find out there were certain terms in play that could prevent it.
Cards offering annual travel credits
To see how annual travel credits work in action, take a look at the following top travel credit cards with annual travel credits.
Bank of America® Premium Rewards® credit card
- Annual travel credit amount: $100
- Annual fee: $95
The Bank of America Premium Rewards card has a $95 annual fee with an annual $100 airline incidental credit, which makes it incredibly easy to cover the card’s annual fee.
To qualify, you must use the card to pay for incidental charges from a U.S.-based airline like seat upgrades, ticket change fees, checked bag fees, in-flight purchases and airport lounge fees. Combined with the card’s other benefits, even a casual traveler can come out ahead, especially if you already do your banking with Bank of America.
Capital One Venture X Rewards Credit Card
- Annual travel credit amount: $300
- Annual fee: $395
The Capital One Venture X comes with a $300 annual travel credit you can use for travel booked through the Capital One Travel portal. You can use cash or miles (or a combination) to book rental cars, hotels and airline tickets through Capital One Travel.
A big plus about this card’s $300 annual travel credit is that you can use it all at once or only as much as you need. This means that you can break up how much of the credit you use.
The credit renews each year on your card’s anniversary, and with a $395 annual fee, the $300 annual travel credit alone covers a big chunk of the annual fee (as long as you’re able to use it each year).
Chase Sapphire Reserve®
- Annual travel credit amount: $300
- Annual fee: $550
The Chase Sapphire Reserve offers one of the most flexible annual travel credits available. The card’s $300 annual travel credit can be used toward any travel purchases — not just those made through Chase Travel℠.
Whether you make your travel purchase through the portal or not, the credit will automatically apply for eligible travel purchases until you’ve used up your entire $300.
The Chase Sapphire Reserve comes with a $550 annual fee, but this annual travel credit can substantially offset that if you’re able to use it. But because it’s so broad, it’s quite easy.
Hilton Honors American Express Aspire Card*
- Annual travel credit amount: $600
- Annual fee: $550
Hilton loyalists can do well with the Hilton Aspire card, although the card’s travel credits are doled out in chunks.
First, you can get up to $400 for Hilton resort stays, broken into $200 from January through June and another $200 from July to December. Note that only participating Hilton hotels branded as a “resort” count for this statement credit, and you must use your Hilton Aspire card to pay for your room.
Then, you can get up to $200 in airline statement credits each year for flight purchases made directly with the airline or through Amex Travel. This credit is distributed as up to $50 per quarter, and you must use your card to pay for the flight.
While there are minor hoops to jump through, if you often stay with Hilton and fly, you can recoup well over the card’s annual fee with some planning.
The Ritz-Carlton® Rewards Credit Card*
- Annual travel credit amount: $300
- Annual fee: $450
The Chase Ritz-Carlton card is no longer open to new applicants, but you can still product change to it if you hold another Chase co-branded Marriott Bonvoy credit card.
For those lucky enough to have it, you’ll likely find the $300 annual travel credit to be useful, as you can use it for any travel purchase you make with the card, including with airlines, hotels or car rental agencies.
However, you’ll have to call Chase or message the company online to request that the credit be applied to your qualifying purchase. This luxury credit card comes with a $450 annual fee.
The Platinum Card® from American Express
- Annual travel credit amount: $400
- Annual fee: $695
The Amex Platinum card has the highest annual fee of the cards on this list, coming in at a whopping $695. Fortunately, the card also comes with not one, but two annual travel credits, among a bevy of other benefits.
First, the card comes with a $200 incidental airline fee credit that can be applied to seat selections, checked baggage fees and more. You must pre-select your airline at the start of the year, and the credit will cover eligible purchases made with that airline.
The second annual travel credit that comes with the Amex Platinum is up to $200 in annual hotel credits. This credit, which comes in the form of a statement credit, will be applied to eligible prepaid bookings of two nights or more with Amex Fine Hotels + Resorts or The Hotel Collection properties.
Southwest Rapid Rewards® Priority Credit Card
- Annual travel credit amount: $75
- Annual fee: $149
The Chase Southwest Priority card, one of many Southwest credit cards, comes with an annual $75 credit for Southwest flights made with the card. That offsets about half of the $149 annual fee and is easy to use if you fly Southwest at least once per year.
Upgraded boarding and in-flight purchases are excluded, but any other Southwest purchase counts. You don’t have to use it all in one go, so if you find a cheap flight under $75, you can use the rest later.
Do annual credits make premium travel credit cards worth it?
Whether an annual travel credit makes a premium travel credit card worth it has everything to do with the value of the card’s perks, relative to your specific situation.
The Amex Platinum is a prime example of this. While the card comes with a $695 annual fee, it also comes with a ton of other benefits beyond the two credits mentioned above. For example, the card also includes up to a $240 annual digital entertainment credit, up to a $300 annual Equinox credit and $200 annually in Uber Cash (Terms Apply).
In total, the card offers over $1,000 in annual credits, but unless you can fully use most of those credits, you may not be able to recoup the cost of the card’s annual fee. For example, if you don’t use Equinox, don’t have a need for Uber Cash and don’t stay in hotels included in the Amex Fine Hotels + Resorts group or The Hotel Collection, you may not get enough value from the card to justify the cost.
The Venture X card, on the other hand, has a $395 annual fee, but comes with a $300 annual travel credit. The card also gives cardholders 10,000 Capital One miles each year on their card’s anniversary, which is worth an additional $100 in value when redeemed through Capital One Travel, according to Bankrate valuations.
This puts your overall value higher than the annual fee for this card — but again, that’s only true if you travel enough to earn the full $300 annual travel portal credit and redeem your bonus miles.
The bottom line
Credit card annual travel credits are a valuable perk if you hold the right travel credit card for your lifestyle. Before you open a new card, however, be aware of any restrictions around redeeming them, as well as the card’s annual fee. Taking the time to compare the credit card’s value against your travel habits will help you to determine if it’s right for you.
FAQs
*Information about the Hilton Honors American Express Aspire Credit Card and Ritz-Carlton® Rewards Credit Card has been collected independently by Bankrate. The card details have not been reviewed or approved by the issuer.
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