If you travel frequently, it’s worth having a good travel card. These cards make it easy to earn miles or points so you can pay for your airfare or accommodation without having to dig deep into your pocket. The best travel cards also offer annual credits, such as hotel and flight credits, simply for being a cardholder.
Among the most luxurious travel cards, few can compete with the Platinum Card® from American Express. This card earns over $1,500 in annual shopping credits for services like Uber and Walmart+. Plus, it earns 5x points per dollar spent on flights booked directly with airlines or through American Express Travel. And to top it off, it offers a total of $400 in flight and hotel credits per calendar year. Terms apply.
But it is not cheap. In fact, with an annual fee of $695, it is one of the most expensive cards on the market (see Prices and Fees). That’s a hefty price for a card, even if it offers double the value.
If you, like me, can’t justify spending nearly $700 on a card, don’t worry – there are better alternatives for you. In particular, the following three cards are some of my favorite alternatives to the Amex Platinum Card.
1. Capital One Venture X Card
The Capital One Venture X Rewards credit card gives you unlimited 2X miles per dollar spent on general spending, plus 5X miles on flights and 10X miles on hotels and rental cars booked through Capital One Travel.
Perhaps the most popular benefit of this card is the annual credits. Cardholders receive a $300 annual travel credit for bookings with Capital One Travel, plus 10,000 bonus miles on each account anniversary. Combined, these benefits add up to about $400 in annual travel savings, assuming a points valuation of $0.01. This can cover the map $395 annual fee pretty easy (see prices and fees).
The card also offers up to $100 in credit to cover the cost of Global Entry or TSA PreCheck membership and gives you unlimited airport lounge access for yourself and up to two guests. It’s a card that easily covers its own fees, much more so than managing all the benefits of the Amex Platinum Card.
2. Amex Gold Card
If you want to stay loyal to the American Express family of cards, the American Express® Gold Card may be more suitable for you.
Perfect for grocery shoppers and regular restaurant goers, this card earns you 4x points at restaurants worldwide (up to $50,000 annually), 4x points at U.S. supermarkets (up to $25,000 annually), and 3x points on flights booked directly with airlines and on amextravel.com. Terms apply.
The annual fee is $325 (see Plans and Fees), which you can easily recoup through annual spending credits such as the following:
- $120 Uber Cash annually ($10 monthly)
- $84 at Dunkin Donuts ($7 monthly)
- $100 at US Resy restaurants ($50 semi-annually)
- $120 dining credit ($10 monthly)
- Conditions apply
If you max out these spending credits, you’ll get over $400 in value with this card. Combined with the card’s competitive earning rates on groceries, this is one of the best value credit cards around.
3. Autograph card from Wells Fargo
The Wells Fargo Autograph℠ Card (see rates and fees) is an extremely popular no-fee travel card, largely because few no-fee cards can compete with its rewards program.
As a cardholder, you will receive unlimited 3X back in the following categories:
- Restaurants
- Filling stations and charging stations for electric vehicles
- Travel
- transit
- Popular streaming services
- Phone plans
Even better, you can transfer your points to several Wells Fargo travel partners, including Air France/KLM, British Airways and Aer Lingus. And to top it all off, the card also offers useful insurance like cell phone protection and rental car insurance.
Certainly, the Platinum Card® from American Express is a good fit for many people, especially if you can maximize the spending credits. Few travel cards can give you the same value year after year—and certainly none that offer big rewards for travel.
However, if you doubt that you’ll get the most value out of the Amex Platinum Card, that’s OK. There are plenty of other great travel cards that may offer better value for you.
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