Everything You Need to Know About the 4 Best Travel Credit Cards for Beginners
Here’s a breakdown on the 4 best travel credit credits for beginners. Enjoy!
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Links Mentioned In This Video:
- Chase Ultimate Rewards Learn More – https://teachingmillionaires.com/recommends/chase-ultimate-rewards
- Capital One Venture Learn More – https://teachingmillionaires.com/recommends/capital-one-venture
- American Express Gold Card Learn More – https://teachingmillionaires.com/recommends/amex-gold-card
- Chase Freedom Learn More – https://teachingmillionaires.com/recommends/cs-freedom-unlimited
- FREE E-Book on How to Earn the Southwest Airlines Companion Pass – https://teachingmillionaires.com/southwest-companion-guide
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4 Best Travel Credit Cards for Beginners | Video Transcript:
Whether we’re talking points, miles rewards or cash back. You’ve probably heard terms like those whenever you are in the market for a new credit card. So today I’m going to share with you what some of those terms mean and the best travel credit cards for beginners. You’re not going to want to miss this. So you heard right on this channel. I often talk about the rewards and the perks associated with responsibly using credit cards. I’ve made videos on how credit cards can get you free hotels and airport lounge access, but there’s still many people out there that think they just don’t have enough money to travel. Or maybe this whole credit card game is a little too complicated, but that’s not exactly true. So today I’m going to break down how you can kind of dip your toe in the water of travel credit cards.
I’m going to suggest a few like no annual to very, very minimal annual fee credit cards. And this way you can sort of try them off for yourself and see if it’s something that you want to pursue. But Hey, real quick, before we dive too far deep into this, please drop a little like down below. It helps with that YouTube algorithm. And I really appreciate it. Now, one of the first things we have to address is whether you are getting a credit card that is earning points miles or cash back. For example, some of my favorite credit cards earn me points within that banks reward system like chase ultimate rewards or American express membership reward points. So picture this, you get a card with American express and you end up paying for your entire hotel, stay using those membership reward points. And it’s something that you just never thought was actually possible.
And it actually is going to be a lot easier than most of us think, but let me stop you right there because many of these travel credit cards are not built the same. You may go find yourself getting one for a specific hotel brand. Let’s say Marriott versus Hilton. And depending on where you want to go, the redemption value or the cost per night may be drastically higher than if you would have went with a different hotel chain. And one more basic thing to keep in mind is that all the cards we’re going to discuss really do need to be paid off in full and on time. This is not a channel where I recommend people go chasing points. Rather, you put your everyday spending or some of those larger business purchases on a card and you reap the rewards. Now the first card I want to recommend is the chase Sapphire preferred.
It’s been in the news a lot for an insane signup bonus that only happens every few years. As of this recording, it is coming to an end. So you can expect anywhere between 60,000 points when you sign on or all the way up to maybe potentially a hundred thousand points. Usually you have to spend right around $4,000 in the first three months, and there is a $95 annual fee. Now, the reason this is my first recommendation for a starter travel credit card is because that annual fee is very low, $95 considering there’s others that are hundreds of dollars. However, you’re going to get some perks like some Lyft credits, maybe even some hotel credits when you book through the chase portal. But some of the number one things I want to point out to you are things like trip cancellation insurance. If you have to rent a car and you put it on this card, they’re going to give you primary car insurance coverage.
That means that your own car insurance kicks in after the cards, primary insurance kicks in first, there’s also a trip delay reimbursement. If your flight gets canceled for a certain amount of time and you need to take like an Uber to a hotel, a rental hotel for the night, even pay for food, you get reimbursed. So this is a great card in case you have some future travel planned and you’re not looking to spend a lot on the annual fee. The next card up is going to be number two on my list, the capital one venture rewards credit card it’s coming in with that same $95 annual fee. However, you only get as of this recording, 60,000 points, when you sign up and meet the minimum spending requirement, that’s usually right around $3,000 in the first three months, but people love this card for basically two reasons.
You get a simple two X points on all your spending, so it doesn’t really matter what category or specific merchants you use the card for. You’re going to get those two X points. And the other great thing is that you can use those points to essentially erase or reimburse yourself for anything that’s coded as travel when you swipe the card. So needless to say, this is a great card for everyday people who just want to use it for everyday purchases, knowing that eventually you’re going to put some travel on there and you can essentially use those points to erase the travel and pay yourself back. It does offer some travel accident insurance and again, a similar car insurance coverage, however, it’s secondary, which means your car insurance kicks in first, like I said before, many people like this card specifically for trips like to Disney world or Disneyland there’s ways where you can purchase the tickets.
And even maybe some of the flights, hotels, rental car. And again, just reimbursed yourself. So keep this one on your radar. And number three on my list is going to be the American express gold card it’s coming in at the highest annual fee right now at $250 annually. Now that may turn some people off right away, but it does offer a welcome bonus, a welcome offer of 60,000 membership reward points after you meet the minimum risk spending requirement. And right now that is at $4,000 in the first six months, I do want to point out that this card is specifically good for people who do a lot of grocery shopping or dining out like at restaurants. It offers a four X points on us supermarkets up to the first $25,000 a year. And it also offers that same four X points. When you dine out at restaurants.
Now, one thing that might help you out with that annual fee is you do get up to $120 in restaurant dining credits for participating restaurants. That’s not as easy to use as you think, but it is available. So it’s just something to keep in mind. Now, the last thing that I’ll say about the Amex gold card is that it’s a sneaky little travel card simply because all of the membership reward points can be transferred to the Amex travel partners. There’s a more than a handful. I think there’s close to 20. So whether you’re looking for hotel partners or a specific airline, you’re looking to book with, you could transfer those points. And sometimes they do a really cool like offer where, you know, one point that your transfer is worth two or three, sometimes even more. So if you like the Amex cards, I would say, look into the gold one and don’t let that $250 annual fee kind of deter you.
Some people absolutely love the gold card. In fact, I did a whole video on it that I will link right about here. And if you’re interested in it, you know, take a look. Now my last card on the list most people don’t consider a travel card, but it actually has some changes very recently that make it a very good travel credit card. And it is the chase freedom unlimited now to be clear, there’s no annual fee and there’s a flat 1.5% earnings for the UAR points. The ultimate reward points on all your purchases. They do give you something like three points on dining and drugstore purchases, but the reason it’s an interesting travel credit card is because it will give you a 5% cash back when you book through Chase’s travel portal. And again, I got to link it here. I did it in a whole video on how this is a sneaky travel credit card.
Now the signup bonus, isn’t that great. I think at the time of this recording, you get like a couple hundred dollars. Maybe it’s 200. Sometimes it’s more simply by spending a very small amount, like $500 still for some people who like traveling, but don’t like paying any sort of annual fee. I would think one of the best kind of sneaky travel starter credit cards you could get for travel would be the chase freedom unlimited a couple of key takeaways. Travel can be intimidating for many people right now. Some people are wondering, you know, is it safe to travel? It travels too expensive. I just can’t find the time to do it, but I am telling you from experience. In fact, I just released my first ebook link down below in the description on how to get the Southwest companion pass, where you and a companion can essentially fly, buy one, get one free for up to two years.
I guess what I’m saying is that there is an entire world out there of travel rewards and perks. And they’re available to people who simply are willing to apply for the card and work within the ecosystem that the bank sets up, whether we’re talking about chase points, capital one points or American express points, all of them have their pros and of course their cons. But if you know how to strategically use them, then you could find yourself traveling potentially for free for years upon years. So really just remember that learning how to use points and miles specifically for something like travel is learning a new like literacy. You can speak a language that other people understand and some people it’s just noise and they need to dismiss it, but please don’t be somebody out there that dismisses it for the wrong reasons. In fact, please check out my website. It’s full of other articles, all about things like traveling for free and personal finance. So please give it a look. I really appreciate it. Also, you can follow me on Instagram @richsmithedu, I’ve been posting a lot more frequently there and I love interacting with people in the comments. So go check it out. Also, if you’re new to the channel, please don’t forget to hit subscribe and ring that notification bell. All right. As always I’m Rich. And until next time.
