Hey, it's Brad, host of the ChooseFI podcast: Here are my Top 10 recommended travel rewards credit cards for June 2026.
I'm keeping this list constantly updated, so be sure to check back each time you're getting set to open a new rewards card to find our latest advice.
If you're new to earning travel rewards points for nearly free travel, check out Part 1 of our Ultimate Guide to Travel Rewards or our podcasts on travel rewards (at the bottom of that linked page with all our travel resources).
The Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card is the card most people new to travel awards should likely start with. We highly value the Chase Ultimate Rewards® (UR) program and this is one of the easiest ways to start stockpiling your UR points.
Another reason to start with the Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card is because of Chase's '5/24 rule' which essentially means that if you have been approved five or more credit cards (from any bank, not just Chase) in the last 24 months, you will automatically be rejected when you apply for any Chase credit card.
Bonus Information:
Benefits include:
- Earn 100,000 bonus points after you spend $5,000 on purchases in the first 3 months from account opening.
- Earn up to $100 in statement credits each account anniversary on hotel stays booked through Chase Travel℠
- Earn 5X points on travel when purchased through Chase Travel℠
- Earn 3x points on dining, 3x points on vacation homes, 3x points on gas & EV charging, 3x points on top streaming services and online groceries (excluding Walmart, Target, and wholesale clubs). Then it's 2x points on all other travel purchases and 1x points on all other purchases
- No foreign transaction fees.
- Additional benefits such as Trip Cancellation/Trip Interruption Insurance and an Auto Rental Collision Damage Waiver.
- $95 annual fee
We love Chase Ultimate Rewards® points because of their transfer flexibility to become points/miles with over a dozen partners, including our four favorites:
- United
- Hyatt Hotels (the most reasonable award chart of any hotel chain)
- British Airways (distance-based award chart to use on American Airlines in the US)
- Southwest Airlines
Note of Caution: Once you transfer Chase points to a transfer partner, there’s no transferring them back! That’s why you should hold them in your Chase account until the point where you’re going to redeem them at a partner airline/hotel and only then make the transfer.
Learn how to apply for the Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card
This is a fantastic card that earns you Chase Ultimate Rewards® (UR) but it is the significant $95 annual fee that keeps this card out of the top spot of our rankings.
Bonus Information
Benefits include:
- Earn 100,000 bonus points after you spend $6,000 on purchases in the first 3 months from account opening.
- Earn up to $100 in statement credits each account anniversary on hotel stays booked through Chase Travel℠
- Earn 5X points on travel when purchased through Chase Travel℠
- Earn 3x points on dining, 3x points on vacation homes, 3x points on gas & EV charging, 3x points on top streaming services and online groceries (excluding Walmart, Target, and wholesale clubs). Then it's 2x points on all other travel purchases and 1x points on all other purchases
- No foreign transaction fees.
- Additional benefits such as Trip Cancellation/Trip Interruption Insurance and an Auto Rental Collision Damage Waiver.
- $795 annual fee
Learn how to apply for the Chase Sapphire Reserve®
Similar to the Venture Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card is a valuable card because the miles have multiple redemption options: fixed-value where you redeem the miles to offset travel expenses at 1 cent per point and transfer to travel partners.
While the $95 annual fee looks significant, the $300 annual travel credit offsets the vast majority and if you consider the 10,000 anniversary bonus miles as $100 in additional travel, it entirely wipes out the annual fee.
This card is worth holding for the lounge access and is currently the card ChooseFI podcast host Brad Barrett uses as his primary card for exactly that reason.
Bonus Information
Benefits include:
- Earn 75,000 Miles when you spend $4,000 on purchases in the first 3 months from account opening
- Earn up to $100 in statement credits each account anniversary on hotel stays booked through Chase Travel℠
- Earn 5X points on travel when purchased through Chase Travel℠
- Earn 3x points on dining, 3x points on vacation homes, 3x points on gas & EV charging, 3x points on top streaming services and online groceries (excluding Walmart, Target, and wholesale clubs). Then it's 2x points on all other travel purchases and 1x points on all other purchases
- No foreign transaction fees.
- Additional benefits such as Trip Cancellation/Trip Interruption Insurance and an Auto Rental Collision Damage Waiver.
- $395 annual fee
Learn how to apply for the Capital One Venture X Rewards Credit Card
The Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card is an interesting card because the miles you earn either work like a simple fixed-value card (where you redeem the miles to offset travel expenses at 1 cent per point), but now they are also flexible miles that can be transferred (similar to Chase UR).
So, you could use the miles you earned to offset various travel expenses like car rental, transfers, and booking fees, or send them to a Capital One transfer partner like British Airways, Air Canada, or Singapore Airlines.
Bonus Information
Benefits include:
- Earn 75,000 Miles once you spend $4,000 on purchases within 3 months from account opening
- Earn up to $100 in statement credits each account anniversary on hotel stays booked through Chase Travel℠
- Earn 5X points on travel when purchased through Chase Travel℠
- Earn 3x points on dining, 3x points on vacation homes, 3x points on gas & EV charging, 3x points on top streaming services and online groceries (excluding Walmart, Target, and wholesale clubs). Then it's 2x points on all other travel purchases and 1x points on all other purchases
- No foreign transaction fees.
- Additional benefits such as Trip Cancellation/Trip Interruption Insurance and an Auto Rental Collision Damage Waiver.
- $95 annual fee
Learn how to apply for the Capital One Venture Rewards Credit Card
The Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card is our favorite business card and since it is a Chase card it should be among the first several cards you open (assuming you can qualify for a business credit card…more below).
Bonus Information
Benefits include:
- Earn 100,000 bonus points after you spend $8,000 on purchases in the first 3 months from account opening.
- Earn up to $100 in statement credits each account anniversary on hotel stays booked through Chase Travel℠
- Earn 5X points on travel when purchased through Chase Travel℠
- Earn 3x points on dining, 3x points on vacation homes, 3x points on gas & EV charging, 3x points on top streaming services and online groceries (excluding Walmart, Target, and wholesale clubs). Then it's 2x points on all other travel purchases and 1x points on all other purchases
- No foreign transaction fees.
- Additional benefits such as Trip Cancellation/Trip Interruption Insurance and an Auto Rental Collision Damage Waiver.
- $95 annual fee
5/24 Implications:
When you apply for the Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card, the 5/24 rule is used by Chase as an initial filter to decide if your application may be approved.
Interestingly, after you are approved for it, the Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card does not get included in your 5/24 number for future card applications.
A Note on Business Cards: You do need to have a registered business to apply for a business card but think broadly about the definition of business. This card is designed for small businesses, even sole proprietor firms like dog-walking, cleaning, ride-sharing, Etsy retail, and more. If you have a side hustle, you probably have a qualified business.
Learn how to apply for the Ink Business Preferred® Credit Card
We’re massive fans of the Chase Ultimate Rewards® program, and this card gives business owners yet another way to accumulate a significant number of these lucrative points.
As noted below, this card is billed as a “cash” card but when you combine the UR points with one of the premium transferrable UR cards, they all become the much more valuable transferrable points. This is a really important piece of information that holds true for multiple “cash” back Chase UR cards.
Bonus Information
Benefits include:
- Earn
$750$1,000 when you spend $8,000 on purchases in the first four months after account opening - Earn up to $100 in statement credits each account anniversary on hotel stays booked through Chase Travel℠
- Earn 5X points on travel when purchased through Chase Travel℠
- Earn 3x points on dining, 3x points on vacation homes, 3x points on gas & EV charging, 3x points on top streaming services and online groceries (excluding Walmart, Target, and wholesale clubs). Then it's 2x points on all other travel purchases and 1x points on all other purchases
- No foreign transaction fees.
- Additional benefits such as Trip Cancellation/Trip Interruption Insurance and an Auto Rental Collision Damage Waiver.
- $0 annual fee
Learn how to apply for the Ink Business Cash® Credit Card
This card’s bonus (and ongoing spend) describes itself as cash back, but a really interesting point to note is that these are actually Chase Ultimate Rewards® points, but they are not transferable to airline & hotel partners if this is the only Chase UR card you hold.
The critical piece of knowledge is you need to also hold one of the “premium” transferable cards (currently: Chase Sapphire Reserve®, Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card, Ink Business Preferred® Credit Card) and you can then combine your points from the Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card into that premium card’s account for them ALL to become the more valuable transferable points.
Bonus Information
Benefits include:
- Earn
$750$1,000 bonus cash back after you spend $8,000 on purchases in the first 4 months from account opening. - Earn up to $100 in statement credits each account anniversary on hotel stays booked through Chase Travel℠
- Earn 5X points on travel when purchased through Chase Travel℠
- Earn 3x points on dining, 3x points on vacation homes, 3x points on gas & EV charging, 3x points on top streaming services and online groceries (excluding Walmart, Target, and wholesale clubs). Then it's 2x points on all other travel purchases and 1x points on all other purchases
- No foreign transaction fees.
- Additional benefits such as Trip Cancellation/Trip Interruption Insurance and an Auto Rental Collision Damage Waiver.
- $0 annual fee
Learn how to apply for the Ink Business Unlimited® Credit Card
If Southwest Airlines is an important carrier for your travel plans, the co-branded Southwest Airlines credit cards need to take a spot in your wallet.
This is especially so if you are trying to score the vaunted Companion Pass, which lets a family or friend fly free with you, regardless of whether you paid for the flight with points or cash. Even more amazing is that the Companion Pass stays in effect not just for the year you earn it but also through December 31st of the following year.
To earn the Companion Pass, you’ll need to earn 135,000 Rapid Rewards points in one calendar year. You can do this by flying 135,000 miles in a year, or the easier path would be to earn 135k Rapid Rewards points through one or more co-branded Southwest credit cards (business and personal options exist).
Bonus Information
Benefits include:
- Earn 60,000 points after you spend $3,000 on purchases in the first 3 months your account is open.
- Earn up to $100 in statement credits each account anniversary on hotel stays booked through Chase Travel℠
- Earn 5X points on travel when purchased through Chase Travel℠
- Earn 3x points on dining, 3x points on vacation homes, 3x points on gas & EV charging, 3x points on top streaming services and online groceries (excluding Walmart, Target, and wholesale clubs). Then it's 2x points on all other travel purchases and 1x points on all other purchases
- No foreign transaction fees.
- Additional benefits such as Trip Cancellation/Trip Interruption Insurance and an Auto Rental Collision Damage Waiver.
- $149 annual fee
Learn how to apply for the Southwest® Rapid Rewards® Premier Business Credit Card
This card is reliably one of our favorite ways to earn American Express Membership Rewards® points and the current bonus is one of the best public offers we've seen, making it a solid time to open this card.
Bonus Information
Benefits include:
- You may be eligible for as high as 100,000 Membership Rewards® Points after spending $8,000 in eligible purchases on your new Card in your first 6 months of Membership. Welcome offers vary and you may not be eligible for an offer.
- Earn up to $100 in statement credits each account anniversary on hotel stays booked through Chase Travel℠
- Earn 5X points on travel when purchased through Chase Travel℠
- Earn 3x points on dining, 3x points on vacation homes, 3x points on gas & EV charging, 3x points on top streaming services and online groceries (excluding Walmart, Target, and wholesale clubs). Then it's 2x points on all other travel purchases and 1x points on all other purchases
- No foreign transaction fees.
- Additional benefits such as Trip Cancellation/Trip Interruption Insurance and an Auto Rental Collision Damage Waiver.
- $325 annual fee
Learn how to apply for the American Express® Gold Card
We love British Airways Avios miles and have used them for “sweet spot” redemptions many times on American Airlines and similar options are available in the US on Alaska Airlines.
The British Airways award chart is based on distance, so for direct flights in the US on American or Alaska, you can often find incredibly valuable redemptions for far fewer miles than you’d spend if you had AA or Alaska miles! These same redemptions are available using BA Avios on their partners throughout the world, but interestingly the least useful redemption we’ve found is trying to fly to England from the US using Avios because of the “fuel surcharges” and taxes that get passed along.
The ‘sweet spot’ distance-based chart makes these miles you want in your toolkit!
Bonus Information
Benefits include:
- Earn 75,000 Avios after you spend $5,000 on purchases within the first three months of account opening.
- Earn up to $100 in statement credits each account anniversary on hotel stays booked through Chase Travel℠
- Earn 5X points on travel when purchased through Chase Travel℠
- Earn 3x points on dining, 3x points on vacation homes, 3x points on gas & EV charging, 3x points on top streaming services and online groceries (excluding Walmart, Target, and wholesale clubs). Then it's 2x points on all other travel purchases and 1x points on all other purchases
- No foreign transaction fees.
- Additional benefits such as Trip Cancellation/Trip Interruption Insurance and an Auto Rental Collision Damage Waiver.
- $95 annual fee
Learn how to apply for the British Airways Visa Signature® Card