Best Travel Rewards Cards For Earning Transferable Points That Avoid Premium Annual Fees

There’s no card that earns more for ongoing spending than the Bilt Palladium Card (See rates and fees). It’s a $495 annual fee card, and that I think that easily makes sense if you’re spending $25,000 or more a year on the card (that’s just a little over $2,000 a month).

But not everyone is going to invest in an expensive card. I talk most about products like this, and the $795 annual fee Chase Sapphire Reserve® (See rates and fees) which even has an offer right now to earn 150,000 bonus points after you spend $6,000 on purchases in the first 3 months from account opening, because they deliver the most possible value.

I think it’s really worth looking at mid-tier cards, also. Something more expensive than the no annual fee products, where you can still do quite well, but if you’re willing to invest a little but you can get outsized return.

• I love Capital One Venture X Rewards Credit Card (See rates and fees) for lounge access, and I think it’s easily worth the $395 annual fee considering it’s effectively rebated in value by the $300 annual credit for bookings through Capital One Travel and 10,000 bonus miles (equal to $100 towards travel) every year, starting on your first anniversary.

  

  But if you don’t want to spend that much on an annual fee then Capital One Venture Rewards Credit Card (See rates and fees) still earns at least 2X miles on all purchases and they’re transferrable points. It has a $95 annual fee.

• Ink Business Preferred® Credit Card (See rates and fees) has an offer to earn 100k bonus points after you spend $8,000 on purchases in the first 3 months from account opening.

  What’s great is earning 3x (on the first $150,000 spent in combined purchases) on travel, shipping purchases, internet, cable and phone services, advertising purchases made with social media sites and search engines each account anniversary year.

  It has the same points transfer partners as Sapphire Reserve, for a lot less money, and a lot of the points-earning for spend. And if you have some of the no annaul fee Chase cards, you can move the points from those cards over to Ink Business Preferred and then transfer them to airlines and hotel programs.

  

• Citi Strata Premier® Card (See rates and fees.) This isn’t the ultra-premium Strate Elite. But you still earn 60,000 bonus ThankYou® Points after spending $4,000 in the first 3 months of account opening.

  Where it shines is as a tool to earn for your spending at the $95 annual fee price point: Earn 10 Points per $1 spent on Hotels, Car Rentals, and Attractions booked on CitiTravel.com; Earn 3 Points per $1 on Air Travel and Other Hotel Purchases, at Restaurants, Supermarkets, Gas and EV Charging Stations; Earn 1 Point per $1 spent on all other purchases.

  

  And points transfer to American Airlines AAdvantage, here’s the full list of partners:

  • oneworld: American Airlines AAdvantage, Cathay Pacific Asia Miles, Malaysia Airlines Enrich, Qantas Frequent Flyer, Qatar Airways Privilege Club
  • Star Alliance: Avianca LifeMiles, EVA Air Infinity MileageLands, Singapore Airlines KrisFlyer, Thai Airways Royal Orchid Plus, Turkish Airlines Miles & Smiles
  • SkyTeam: Aeromexico Club Premier, Air France KLM Flying Blue, Virgin Atlantic Flying Club
  • Non-alliance: Emirates Skywards, Etihad Guest, JetBlue TrueBlue
  • Hotels: Leading Hotels of the World Leaders Club, Accor ALL – Accor Live Limitless, Choice Hotels Choice Privileges, Preferred Hotels I Prefer, Wyndham Hotels Wyndham Rewards

  

• Wells Fargo Autograph Journey is a sleeper because it’s a $95 annual fee card that earns 5x on hotels, 4x on airlines, and 3x on restaurants and other travel. That means it still bonuses Airbnb and cruises, with Sapphire Reserve does not. And they give you a $50 annual statement credit with a $50+ airline purchase each year, cutting the effective cost of that annual fee.

  Where the card isn’t as strong is points transfers. They’ve promised more, but that’s happened very slowly. They transfer to the IAG Avios programs (Aer Lingus, British Airways, Iberia) as well as Air France KLM, Cathay Pacific, JetBlue, Virgin, Wyndham and Choice.

• Bilt Obsidian Card (See rates and fees) is a $95 annual fee card that will earn up to 1.25X points on rent and mortgage payments with no transaction fee.

  It’s great for card spending because it earns 3X on your choice of grocery (up to $25K/year) or dining. Your 3X category choice remains in effect for the entire calendar year. It also earns 2X points on travel. And it comes with a $100 Bilt Travel Hotel credit. Applied twice a year, as $50 statement credits, for qualifying Bilt Travel Portal hotel bookings.

  

  The reason this is so strong is that, combined with points for rent or mortgage, you can be earning more than 4 points per dollar in your chosen category and these are the most valuable points and Bilt runs the biggest transfer bonuses. They partner with programs like Hyatt, United, Southwest, Alaska, and Japan Airlines.

You don’t have to spend $395, $795 or $895 to earn valuable rewards. Which one of these works best for you depends on what your spend pattern looks like.

Ink Business Preferred® Credit Card is probably best if you’re in a position to get a small business card. Wells Fargo Autograph Journey is great for heavy travel spend, if their transfer partners work for you. Citi Strata Premier® Card probably offers the best return for the way most people spend. While the Bilt Obsidian Card has the most potential upside if you play your hand well.