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Peak summer travel season is nearly upon us, and credit card companies have a number of excellent introductory offers to sweeten the season. Southwest has upped its welcome bonus to a whopping 50,000 miles on its personal cards, including the $69 annual fee Southwest Rapid Rewards® Plus Credit Card. Combined with the current welcome offer on the Southwest® Rapid Rewards® Premier Business Credit Card, this presents the rare opportunity to earn points galore and possibly obtain a coveted Southwest Companion Pass until the end of 2025.
Capital One Venture X Rewards Credit Card continues to be a top option in 2024, courting new cardholders with a 75,000-mile welcome bonus and providing benefits competitive with premium Chase and American Express cards. (Plus, it grants double miles on every purchase.) Alternatively, the lower-fee Capital One Venture Rewards Credit Card offers fewer travel perks but the same 75,000-mile introductory bonus. In the hotel world, the no-fee Hilton Honors American Express Card has upped the value of its welcome offer to 70,000 points plus a Free Night Award, redeemable for a standard night award up to 150,000 points at Hilton properties worldwide. There are many excellent and enticing offers now—here are our seven picks to consider right now and why.
1. Southwest Rapid Rewards® Plus Credit Card
Best for: The Southwest Rapid Rewards Plus Credit Card is best for those who want to fly Southwest for free—a lot—but don’t want to pay a high annual fee.
Why now? The current introductory offer on this card places numerous free flights—plus the chance to earn Companion Pass status for the rest of 2024 and all of 2025—in easy reach.
Welcome offer: With the Southwest Rapid Rewards Plus Credit Card, earn 50,000 bonus points after spending $1,000 on purchases in the first 3 months from account opening.
Annual fee: $69
Earn points: Earn two points per dollar spent on purchases with Southwest, its hotel and car rental partners, local transit and commuting purchases (including rideshares), internet, cable, phone services, and select streaming purchases. Get one point per dollar on everything else.
Key perks: Get one boost of 10,000 Companion Pass qualifying points each calendar year, two EarlyBird Check-Ins per year, and an account anniversary bonus of 3,000 points annually.
2. Southwest® Rapid Rewards® Premier Business Credit Card
Best for: The Southwest Rapid Rewards Premier Business Credit Card is best for those who want to achieve Companion Pass status for 2024 and 2025 in conjunction with the current high offer on the Plus card.
Why now? When combined with the current welcome offers on any of Southwest’s three consumer credit cards and timed correctly, this Southwest business card bonus could land you a valuable Southwest Companion Pass for all of 2024 and 2025.
Welcome offer: With the Southwest Rapid Rewards® Premier Business Credit Card, earn 60,000 points after you spend $3,000 on purchases in the first 3 months from account opening and an additional 60,000 points when you spend $15,000 in 9 months.
Annual fee: $99
Earn points: Earn three points per dollar spent on purchases with Southwest and two points on Southwest hotel and car rental partners, local transit, and commuting purchases (including rideshares). Get one point per dollar on everything else.
Credits: Up to $500 in reimbursed transfer fees per year for Rapid Rewards points transfers to other Rapid Rewards members
Key perks: Two EarlyBird Check-Ins per year and an account anniversary bonus of 6,000 points annually. Earn 1,500 tier qualifying points (TQP) toward A-List status for every $10,000 spent—with no limit on the amount of TQP you can earn.
3. Capital One Venture X Rewards Credit Card
Best for: The Capital One Venture X Rewards Credit Card is best for those who want an excellent travel credit card that pays for itself through credits, benefits, lounge access, and a rewarding earnings structure—while also offering flexibility in redeeming miles.
Why now? Capital One is going all-in on travel for its Venture X cardholders, rolling out its own collection of airport lounges for cardholders, its Premier Collection (offering special perks at hundreds of top hotels globally), and its Lifestyle Collection (granting cardholders benefits at boutique hotels worldwide).
Welcome offer: With the Capital One Venture X Rewards Credit Card, earn 75,000 bonus miles after spending $4,000 on purchases within the first three months from account opening.
Annual fee: $395
Earn points: Earn 10 miles per dollar spent on hotels and rental cars booked through Capital One Travel and 5 miles per dollar spent on flights booked through Capital One Travel. All other purchases earn 2 miles per dollar spent.
Credits: When booking through Capital One Travel, receive $300 in credits each calendar year. Get a Global Entry or TSA PreCheck Credit once every four years (up to $100). Receive 10,000 bonus miles annually after your account anniversary.
Key perks: Access Capital One Lounges, Priority Pass lounges, and Plaza Premium lounges at airports. The card is also smart for those who plan to add cardholders to their accounts. Up to four can be added at no cost. Priority Pass lounge membership and access to Capital One and Plaza Premium airport lounges extends to each of these additional cardholders at no extra cost. As far as redemptions go, miles transfer to 16 airline and hotel partners.
4. Capital One Venture Rewards Credit Card
Best for: The midtier card of the Capital One Venture portfolio, Capital One Venture Rewards Credit Card offers just enough travel perks for the casual traveler and has a low annual fee.
Why now? The card is currently offering a huge bonus for a low-fee card. Cardholders also get two entries annually at Capital One’s growing collection of airport lounges or Plaza Premium lounges, plus access to Capital One’s Lifestyle Collection (granting cardholders benefits at boutique hotels worldwide).
Welcome offer: With the Capital One Venture Rewards Credit Card, earn 75,000 miles after spending $4,000 within three months from account opening.
Annual fee: $95
Earn points: Earn five miles per dollar spent on hotels and rental cars booked through Capital One Travel and two miles per dollar spent on everything else.
Credits: Up to $100 for Global Entry or TSA PreCheck every four years
Key perks: Get two complimentary visits per year to Capital One Lounges or Plaza Premium Lounges in 2024, plus access to the Lifestyle Collection when booking on Capital One Travel.
5. Hilton Honors American Express Card
Best for: The Hilton Honors American Express Card is best for those who stay overnight in hotels only a few nights per year but want to get some big benefits.
Why now? The Hilton Honors American Express Card is making credit card bonus history with its latest welcome offer.
Welcome offer: Earn 70,000 Hilton Honors Bonus Points plus a Free Night Reward (valued up to 150,000 points) after you spend $2,000 in purchases in six months (terms apply).
Annual fee: $0 (see rates and fees)
Earn points: The card earns seven points per dollar on eligible Hilton purchases, five points per dollar at U.S. restaurants, U.S. supermarkets, and U.S. gas stations, and three points per dollar on other eligible purchases. So, no matter what you charge to the card, you’ll earn a minimum of three points per dollar spent.
Key perks: Cardholders receive automatic first-rung Hilton Honors Silver status. While all Hilton Honors members can get the likes of free Wi-Fi nowadays, Silver status brings added benefits like a 20 percent points earning bonus on stays, free bottled water, and the ability to participate in Hilton Honor’s “Fifth Night Free” program, in which your fifth night is no cost when booking four nights with points. Plus, the card comes with no foreign transaction fees when cardholders travel abroad.
6. American Express Gold® Card
Best for: The American Express Gold Card is a smart choice for those who spend a lot at restaurants and supermarkets, thanks to excellent earnings rates on food and travel.
Why now? The American Express Gold Card is one of the brand’s most popular cards and has maintained the same welcome offer for years. Now is as good a time as ever to add this card to your credit card portfolio and start racking up points.
Welcome offer: Earn 60,000 bonus points after $6,000 in purchases during the initial six months. Terms apply.
Annual fee: $250 (see rates and fees)
Earn points: Earn four points per dollar spent on restaurants worldwide, takeout and delivery in the United States, and at U.S. supermarkets (up to $25,000 per calendar year in purchases, then one point per dollar). Earn three points per dollar spent on airfare booked directly with airlines or on amextravel.com, two points per dollar spent on travel (excluding airfare) on amextravel.com, and one point per dollar on everything else.
Credits: Cardholders receive up to $120 Uber Cash annually, automatically added as $10 in monthly credits to their Uber account when linked to the Gold Card. There’s also a dining credit for up to $120, awarded as $10 in statement credits monthly when paying with the card at Grubhub, the Cheesecake Factory, Goldbelly, Wine.com, Milk Bar, and select Shake Shack locations. (Enrollment required.) In addition, it’s also possible to achieve up to a $100 experience credit if booking a two-night stay or more at the Hotel Collection through American Express Travel.
Key perks: AmEx points are transferable to 17 airline partners—3 domestic and 14 international—and 3 hotel partners. The Gold card also comes with several implicit travel insurances when you charge your trips to the card, including premium car rental protection (theft or damage plus excess medical costs if you are injured in an accident) and baggage insurance (for lost, stolen, or damaged baggage).
7. Hilton Honors American Express Surpass® Card
Best for: The Hilton Honors American Express Surpass Card is best for those who want extra perks at Hilton properties, plus the chance to quickly earn and burn hotel points in 2024 (without paying a large annual fee).
Why now? The Hilton Honors American Express Surpass Card is currently offering the equivalent of its largest bonus ever. The card also has earnings multipliers in select key categories, making it easy to rack up points quickly through spending.
Welcome offer: The Hilton Honors American Express Surpass Card is offering 130,000 Hilton Honors Bonus Points plus a Free Night Reward (valued up to 150,000 points) after spending $3,000 in the first six months of card membership (terms apply).
Annual fee: $150 (see rates and fees)
Earn points: Earn 12 points per dollar at properties in the Hilton portfolio, 6 points per dollar at U.S. restaurants, U.S. supermarkets, and U.S. gas stations, 4 points per dollar on U.S. online retail purchases, and 3 points per dollar spent on everything else.
Credits: Earn up to $200 back each year on eligible Hilton purchases after you use your card (distributed as $50 quarterly in each calendar year).
Key perks: Score Hilton Honors Gold Status automatically with card membership. Benefits of Gold Status include the following at stays within the Hilton umbrella: space-available room upgrades, complimentary Wi-Fi, and daily on-property food and beverage credits. (The amount of that food and beverage credit varies by brand, but for luxury brands like Waldorf Astoria it runs an impressive $50 per room per day, assuming two guests per room.) Earn a Free Night Reward from Hilton Honors after you spend $15,000 on eligible purchases on your card in a calendar year, which can be used for a standard room at any property, even one that runs an expensive 150,000 points per night.
While the offers mentioned above are accurate at the time of publication, they are subject to change at any time, and may have changed or may no longer be available. Eligibility and Benefit level varies by Card. Terms, Conditions, and Limitations Apply. Please visit americanexpress.com/benefitsguide for more details. Underwritten by Amex Assurance Company.
