Best Credit Cards and Checking Accounts for Travel

Traveling can be a daunting task, with so much to plan and prepare for before you leave.  Making sure you have the best credit cards and checking accounts for your trip can be something that slips your mind.  I’ve compiled a list of the ones I use… they’ve served me well on my trips!  I’ve included some links for signing up — some of which will give me a bonus and all of which will give you access to some sort of sign-up incentive.  Do your own research, but if you sign up through one of these links I’d really appreciate it!

Barclaycard Arrival (Plus) Mastercard

Big disclaimer on this one: I no longer use the annual fee version of this card, as they took away some of the key features I was paying to use it for.  That said, it’s still a great card and has one of the better sign-up bonuses out there, so it’s worth a look!  The no annual fee version I use doesn’t seem to be a regularly offered card, so try this one for a year.  You can downgrade or cancel instead of paying the annual fee.

• Earn 2X miles on all purchases.
• Redeem miles at a better rate for travel statement credits.
• Earn 5% miles back whenever you redeem.
• No foreign transaction fees.
• Annual Fee: $89 (waived for the first year)

Click this link to access the application form! I don’t get any perks (boohoo!) but you can still get a pretty sweet sign-up bonus! Details at the link…

Marriott Rewards Visa Card

My go-to hotel rewards card, the Marriott Rewards visa hits a lot of sweet spots for me.  The point accrual rate is good, it doesn’t ding me for foreign transaction fees, and I get a free night at a Marriott once a year, which offsets the annual fee.  Add to that an awesome metal card which could double as a shuriken, and I’m happy to recommend it.

• Earn 5X Marriott Rewards points when you use your card to book Marriott-owned hotels.
• Earn 2X Marriott Rewards points when you use your card to book flights, as well as at rental car companies and restaurants.
• Earn 1X Marriott Rewards points on all other purchases.
• Earn one complimentary stay at a Category 1-5 hotel on your cardmember anniversary.
• No foreign transaction fees.
• Annual Fee: $85

Click this link to sign up, and I get 20,000 Marriott rewards points! If you spend $3,000 or more in the first 3 months of card membership, you can get 80,000 points! You can redeem for hotel nights as low as 7,500 points, so this promotion could get you a little more than 10 free nights at Category 1 Marriott-owned hotels!

Hilton Honors American Express Card

This is a great hotel rewards card that is worth having for the simple facts that it has a low minimum spend for the sign-up bonus and no annual fee.  Here are a few of the benefits!

• Earn 7X Hilton Honors bonus points when you use your card to book Hilton-owned hotels.
• Earn 5X Hilton Honors bonus points when you use your card at US restaurants, gas stations, and supermarkets.
• Earn 3X Hilton Honors bonus points on all other purchases.
• No Annual Fee.
• Free Hilton Honors Silver status.

Click this link to sign up, and I get 15,000 Hilton Honors points! If you spend $1,000 or more in the first three months of card membership, you can get 75,000 points!  You can redeem for hotel nights as low as 5,000 points, so this promotion could get you up to 15 free nights in Category 1 Hilton-owned hotels!

Aspiration Summit Checking Account

I love this bank.  I just started my service with them, but their unique combination of no-fees (unless you feel like paying) and charitable mindset make them a very cool bank to do business with.  You may have cocked your head when you read ‘unless you feel like paying’.  You can choose to pay a yearly fee for the account, in which case Aspiration donates 10% of the revenue to charity.  Pretty cool, huh? Here are some other perks:

• No minimum balance.
• Earn up to 1.0% APY.
• No ATM fees.  Anywhere.  Ever!
• No monthly service fees.
• Visa Debit Card.

Click this link to sign up, and Aspiration will make a $25 donation to the charity of each of our choices!

This is by no means an exhaustive list, so if you’ve got some recommendations of your own feel free to drop them in the comments!  Thanks for reading!

**DISCLAIMER** All of the information in this post is current as of 07/18/2017.  Please double check everything before you sign up, as some of the details might have changed.  

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Nathan Anderson

Nathan has been living and working outside of the United States since 2011.During that time, he's visited more than 40 countries, and can usually be found climbing a mountain or trying to get lost in a forest.

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