Advertiser Disclosure
Many or all of the credit card, banking, and other offers on this site are from companies that pay us. For example, we may be paid when you click a link, are approved for a product, or open an account. Compensation may influence which products we cover and how, where, and in what order they appear. It doesn’t influence our editorial evaluations, ratings, or opinions, which are ours alone. We don’t include every bank, credit card company, or offer available in the marketplace.
Flights, hotels, points and miles, and the cost of the whole trip. Go further on the same budget.
Get the Mastercard® Titanium Card® only if you fly often and will use its airport lounge membership, since its rewards alone don’t justify the $299 annual fee. Its points are worth 2 cents each toward airfare and 1 cent as cash, so a no-fee card paying 2% cash back earns as much on everyday spending.
Open the JetBlue Plus Card if you fly JetBlue a few times a year and check bags. It waives the first checked bag fee, $45 or more each way, for you and up to three companions on the same reservation. If you fly with only a carry-on, skip it.
Get the United Quest℠ Card if you fly United several times a year and will book a fare with its $200 annual travel credit, which brings the $350 fee down to an effective $150. If you fly United only a few times a year and check one bag, the United Explorer Card is the better buy.
Get the Southwest Rapid Rewards® Priority Credit Card if you fly Southwest several times a year and will pick Preferred seats at booking or take free Extra Legroom upgrades for you and up to eight companions. Those seat perks are the main thing its $229 fee adds over the $99 Plus, which has the same free checked bag.
Get the Southwest® Rapid Rewards® Premier Business Credit Card if you check bags on a few Southwest work trips a year. For $149 a year, you and up to eight companions on your reservation each check a first bag free, and you get 6,000 anniversary points. Step up to the $299 Performance Business card only if you fly Southwest often.
Choose the Southwest Rapid Rewards® Premier Credit Card over the Plus if you fly Southwest every year. For $50 more a year, it doubles the anniversary points to 6,000, raises the yearly fare discount to 15% from 10%, and adds free seats near the front when available.
Before an international trip, ask each card’s issuer to set up a PIN that works for purchases, since some ticket kiosks and unattended gas pumps abroad require one. Then pack a second card on a different network and carry it separately, so you can still pay if one card is lost or blocked for suspected fraud.
Get the Southwest Rapid Rewards® Plus Credit Card if you fly Southwest a few times a year and check bags. It costs $99 a year, the lowest fee among Southwest’s personal cards, and still waives the first checked bag for you and up to eight companions on your reservation.
Open the Citi® / AAdvantage Business™ World Elite Mastercard® if your company flies American and checks bags, since a free first checked bag for you and as many as four companions on one reservation is its biggest payoff. If your team rarely flies American, choose a flat-rate cash-back business card instead.
Get the Citi® / AAdvantage® Executive World Legend Mastercard® only if you’d otherwise pay for an Admirals Club membership, which costs up to $1,400 a year. The card’s $695 fee includes one, along with a free first checked bag. If you’d rarely use the lounges, the Platinum Select covers that bag for $99 a year instead of $695.
You've reached the end.
You've reached the end.
Subscribe and we'll send you 101 Essential Money Tips to get you started.
The 101 money moves that matter most, from the foundations to protecting what you’ve built.
