The Best Travel Credit Card for Beginners in 2024

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If you’ve been searching for the best travel credit card for beginners, you may have found people say, “it depends on what you’re looking for.”

I’m calling cap.

There IS a best travel card for starters, and that card is the Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card.

Hands down. No contest.

It’s hard for me to imagine a scenario where this wouldn’t be true. I can think of three rare exceptions which I’ll explain later, but I doubt it applies to you.

Here’s why for 99% of people, it blows all other starter cards out of the water:

Why the Chase Sapphire Preferred is the best travel credit card for beginners

1. It earns the highest-valued points currency

The Sapphire Preferred earns Chase Ultimate Rewards points, which not only are extremely flexible, but also arguable more valuable than any other points currency in existence. 

With the Sapphire Preferred, you can redeem your Ultimate Rewards in the Chase Travel℠ portal for 1.25 cents per point, which is basically like getting a 25% discount of the “normal” points price.

And if you want even more value out of your points, you can transfer them to Chase’s long list of airline and hotel transfer partners. 

Airline partners:

• Aer Lingus (1:1 transfer ratio)
• Air Canada 1:1
• Air France/KLM 1:1
• British Airways 1:1
• Emirates 1:1
• Iberia 1:1
• JetBlue 1:1
• Singapore Airlines 1:1
• Southwest Airlines 1:1
• United Airlines 1:1
• Virgin Atlantic 1:1

But it gets even better. Because even if the airline you want to fly isn’t on this list, you can still likely book it with your Ultimate Rewards points. 

That’s because you can also book flights on other airlines that are in the same alliance as the above transfer partners. 

The main airline alliances are Star Alliance, Oneworld, and SkyTeam. 

For example, let’s say you’re eyeing a flight with Lufthansa, which is part of the Star Alliance. 

Lufthansa isn’t a direct transfer partner with Chase, but you could transfer your points to Air Canada’s Aeroplan points (also Star Alliance), then book your Lufthansa flight through Aeroplan’s portal. 

Because of this flexibility, you can get pretty much anywhere on earth with your Ultimate Rewards points. 

You can also transfer your points to one of their hotel partners for free stays:

• IHG One Rewards 1:1
• Marriott Bonvoy 1:1
• World of Hyatt 1:1

One of the most popular ways to use Ultimate Rewards points is to transfer them to Hyatt. 

Hyatt allows you to book some awesome properties for as little as 3,500 points per night — many of which cost $100+ per night if you pay in cash.

2. You can rack up points like nobody’s business

With the Chase Sapphire Preferred, you earn:

• 5x points on travel booked through Chase Travel^SM
• 3x points on dining, takeout, grocery delivery services, and streaming services
• 2x points on other travel purchases
• 1x points on everything else

Since you’re reading this post, I’m assuming you love to travel. And when you travel, you eat out a lot.

By using your Preferred card for these expenses, you’re racking up points 2-3 times as fast.

And we haven’t even mentioned the welcome offer yet. 

Right now you can score a massive 60,000 point bonus when you open the Chase Sapphire Preferred card and spend $4,000 in your first 3 months.

Those 60,000 points are worth at least $750 when you book travel through the Chase Travel℠ portal.

But if you take advantage of their transfer partners, these 60,000 are worth much, much more. 

Remember the Hyatt example? 

When you earn the welcome offer, you’ll have enough points to book up to EIGHTEEN free nights in Hyatt’s 3,500 point/night properties. 

3. Small fee, big perks

So essentially, you’re getting a bare minimum of $750 of travel (and potentially double or triple that) all on a $95 annual fee card.

But wait, it gets better.

Because you also earn a yearly $50 hotel credit that instantly erases over half of the annual fee (assuming you remember to use the credit, which I forgot once!)

So let’s recap:

• Awesome points you can use for almost any trip
• Big welcome offer to kickstart your adventures
• Low yearly fee that practically pays for itself
• Earn tons of points on everyday spending
• Travel insurance protections
• $50 hotel credit every year

It’s no wonder this card is a favorite for both newbies and travel pros alike. 

The three exceptions

There are three exceptions when the Chase Sapphire Preferred might not be the best option.

1. You have poor credit

While there are no official rules, it’s widely believed that you should have at least a Good credit score (690 or higher) for the best chances of getting approved for the Sapphire Preferred.

If you have poor credit, you could start with an easier card, like the Capital One QuicksilverOne Cash Rewards Credit Card, which only requires a Fair credit score. 

From there, make sure to always pay your bills on time to gradually build up your score until you’re eligible for the Chase Sapphire Preferred. 

2. You have a very specific vacation in mind

If you have a very specific destination you want to fly to or hotel you want to stay in using your points, then it’s best to work backwards to determine the best card for you.

The Sapphire Preferred gives you tons of flexibility on where you can use your points. But in certain circumstances, you might find that another card makes more sense. 

For example, if you have your heart set on a Hilton hotel property, Ultimate Rewards points aren’t going to help you. 

In this case, you’d be better off with one of the American Express travel cards, which have Hilton as a transfer partner. 

3. You wanna go big

If you are a travel fanatic and plan to be flying frequently, then it’s likely worth starting with a more premium travel card — like the Chase Sapphire Reserve® Card, the Capital One Venture X Rewards Credit Card, or The Platinum Card from American Express.

These generally aren’t considered beginner cards because they all have steep annual fees, ranging from $395 to $695 per year. 

That said, for frequent travelers, the perks you get with these cards – like free lounge access, travel insurance, and other travel credits — are worth more than the annual fee. 

I personally think the Venture X is the easiest to justify. 

In fact, the two credit card strategy for travelers that I personally use combines the powers of the Sapphire Preferred and the Venture X.

Long story short, unless you fall into one of these exceptions, just get the Chase Sapphire Preferred. 

And even if you do fall into one of these exceptions, you should STILL get it if you’re qualified (there’s no rule saying you can’t have more than one card!).

If you’re still not convinced, here are 9 reasons why the Chase Sapphire Preferred is freaking amazing. 

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