Love Miles? How to Pick a Credit Card That's Right for You!

There are plenty of travel rewards credit cards out there for frequent flyers who love earning airline miles. While there are plenty of deals out there, the best airline miles credit card is different for each individual. When finding which card is best for you, consider the following: Are you loyal to a particular airline each time you fly? Do you spend enough on flights to justify a hefty annual fee? Does your credit score meet the qualifications for the card?

How to Pick an Airline Credit Card

There are two types of credit cards that offer miles. The traditional kind are those co-branded with an airline and offer miles in their program. Miles earned are tied to the co-branded airline, encouraging brand loyalty. The rewards these cards offer are only as strong as the frequent-flier program they are attached to, so it’s important to understand exactly how easy it is to use the miles before you earn them. Traditional airline credit cards can also offer benefits such as free checked bags, credit toward elite status and discounts on in-flight purchases.

The other type of credit cards that offer airline miles are those offering points that can later be transferred to miles in one of several different programs. This card may be preferable if you wish to redeem your miles with more than one airline.

Which Type of Card Should You Pick?

If you are loyal to a single airline and want to earn the most possible miles with that carrier, you will probably want a traditional airline mileage credit card. This can also be a good choice for infrequent travelers looking for additional benefits on one carrier.

If you want to avoid being exclusively tied to the terms of a single frequent-flier program, consider a card offering points that you can transfer to multiple airlines.

Before embarking on the journey of finding the right airline miles credit card for you, check your credit. Generally, you need a good score to qualify for some of these rewards cards’ benefits. You can view two of your credit scores for free on Credit.com. As you’re searching for the perfect card, make sure to read the terms and conditions of the card’s agreement so you know what you’re signing up for.

With that in mind, here are our picks for the best airline miles credit cards based on rewards value, annual fee, interest rates and more. We’ve broken the picks into two categories: Co-branded airline-specific credit cards and general purpose travel rewards credit cards offering miles that can be used at various partner carriers.  

Our Picks for the Best Co-Branded Airline Credit Cards

Our Picks for the Best Miles Credit Cards

Capital One Venture Rewards Credit Card

Why We Picked it: Another solid general-purpose miles credit card, the Venture Rewards credit card (see full review) offers 2X miles per dollar spent on every purchase. Plus earn 10X miles on thousands of hotels, through January 2020; learn more at hotels.com/venture, which is a higher earning potential than most credit cards. One hundred miles equals $1 in travel rewards and there is no limit on how many miles you can earn. These rewards do not expire. Cardholders also receive complimentary concierge service, travel protection and room upgrades. As an added bonus, there is extended warranty protection on items purchased with this card.

Signup Bonus: Cardholders earn 50,000 bonus miles (equal to $500 in travel) if they spend $3,000 in their first three months from account opening.

The Costs: [carddata api_url="https://static.ccom-cdn.com/credit/api/creditcard/v2/offer/cap1_venture_rewards-capitalonecreditcardoffers?af=32806" option="onGoingFee"] and no foreign transaction fees.

APR: [carddata api_url="https://static.ccom-cdn.com/credit/api/creditcard/v2/offer/cap1_venture_rewards-capitalonecreditcardoffers?af=32806" option="onGoingApr"]

Paige DiFiore and Jason Steele contributed to this article. This article has been updated. This article was originally published November 23, 2016.

At publishing time, the Capital One Venture Rewards credit cards are offered through Credit.com product pages, and Credit.com is compensated if our users apply for and ultimately sign up for any of these cards. However, this relationship does not result in any preferential editorial treatment.

Note: It’s important to remember that interest rates, fees and terms for credit cards, loans and other financial products frequently change. As a result, rates, fees and terms for credit cards, loans and other financial products cited in these articles may have changed since the date of publication. Please be sure to verify current rates, fees and terms with credit card issuers, banks or other financial institutions directly.

Jason Steele contributed to this article. It was last updated September 21st, 2017.