Best No-Annual-Fee Travel Credit Cards in 2024

The Capital One VentureOne Rewards Credit Card is the best travel credit card with no annual fee because its rewards and sign-up bonus offer the most potential savings. You’ll earn an unlimited 1.25 Miles per dollar on every purchase, every day; 5 Miles per dollar on hotels and rental cars booked through Capital One Travel. However, this card does have a lower rewards earning rate than many of the best credit cards of 2024, some of which have an annual fee or aren’t geared to travel.

The rewards program offers more flexibility than you’ll find on most travel cards with no annual fee. You can use your miles to book travel, get reimbursed for travel purchases, or transfer them to the loyalty programs of Capital One’s 15+ airline and hotel partners for possibly even higher value.

The United Gateway℠ Card is the best no-annual-fee airline card due to its stellar overall value. Most airline credit cards charge annual fees, sometimes hefty ones. Compared with other fee-free airline cards, this one offers better benefits all around.

The United Gateway℠ Card airline card offers a more lucrative welcome bonus than other no-annual-fee airline rewards credit cards for a comparable minimum spending requirement. This card also has decent travel coverage and shopping protections for a fee-free airline card. However, travel coverage isn’t as robust as that offered on many airline credit cards with fees.

The Hilton Honors American Express Card is the best no-annual-fee hotel card due to its great rewards-earning potential and better-than-usual hotel benefits. Its welcome offer alone makes it one of the most rewarding no-annual-fee cards you can find. You’ll earn points at a high rate on a variety of lucrative categories, including Hilton hotels, U.S. restaurants, U.S. gas stations and U.S. supermarkets.

Cardholders receive automatic Hilton Honors Silver status in the Hilton rewards program, which gives you bonus points as well as your fifth night free on award stays (enrollment required). And if you spend at least $20,000 per year, your elite status is upgraded to Gold — this level of status provides additional benefits, like complimentary upgrades and a daily food and beverage credit (enrollment required).

The Marriott Bonvoy Bold^® Credit Card is the only no-annual-fee option you’ll find for Marriott. It offers a generous sign-up bonus for a no-annual-fee card, and gives you 15 elite night credits, automatically qualifying you for Silver Elite status with Marriott — with that tier of status, you’ll get perks including 10% more points on stays and priority late check-out.

You can continue to be eligible for higher tiers of elite status the more you stay with Marriott, though you can’t earn gold status by spending a certain amount annually as you can with the Marriott Bonvoy Boundless^® Credit Card, which charges an annual fee. If you stay at Marriott properties frequently, you may want to see if it would ultimately be more valuable to pay the annual fee for a higher-tier Marriott credit card.

The Delta SkyMiles^® Blue American Express Card is the only no-annual-fee airline card from Delta Air Lines, so it wins by default. If you’re an occasional Delta flyer who wants to dip your toe into the Delta SkyMiles rewards program, you’ll find some value in this card, though it has lackluster benefits compared with the Delta cards that charge an annual fee. The card earns a decent rewards rate on Delta and restaurant purchases, but lacks free checked bag and priority boarding, which is typical of no-annual-fee cards.

If you fly more frequently with Delta, you might want to consider an annual fee Delta credit card, like the Delta SkyMiles^® Gold American Express Card, to earn better rewards and benefits like a free checked bag on Delta flights.

The American Airlines AAdvantage^® MileUp^® Card is the only no-annual-fee option from American Airlines, but thanks to the high value of AAdvantage miles, it may be the no-annual-fee airline card with the highest earning potential. It gives you 2x miles on grocery and American Airlines purchases. Plus, since it’s the only credit card to offer bonus AAdvantage miles on groceries, it may even be a good option for owners of other AAdvantage cards looking to stack up additional miles.

In spite of the great earning potential, it doesn’t come with many additional travel benefits. You’ll get a 25% discount on in-flight purchases on American Airlines, but you won’t find many of the purchase and travel protection available on some other no-annual-fee airline cards. It also charges a foreign transaction fee, so you won’t want to use it while traveling abroad. And keep in mind: In most cases, AAdvantage miles expire if you don’t keep your account active every 24 months.

The JetBlue Card is a solid no-annual-fee pick for JetBlue flyers. It comes with a generous rewards rate: Earn 3x points on eligible JetBlue purchases, 2x points at restaurants and grocery stores and 1x points on all other purchases. It’s also one of the only no-annual-fee travel cards that offers a 0% APR deal on balance transfers. Plus, the 50% off JetBlue in-flight purchases is double the discount many other no-annual-fee airline cards offer. Like most airline cards, this card also charges no foreign transaction fees.

Keep in mind that if you want to extend your points further and travel with others, you can take advantage of JetBlue’s Points Pooling program. With Points Pooling, you can earn rewards faster by combining your TrueBlue points with a group of friends or loved ones, then redeem them on travel together.

The The Blue Business^® Plus Credit Card from American Express is one of the simplest cards on our list. It has a flat rewards structure and zero bonus categories to track, which means it’s a good choice for busy business owners who want a straightforward, yet valuable, card. This card lets you earn valuable Amex Membership Rewards points with every purchase. And it offers 0% on purchases for 12 months from date of account opening (followed by an 17.74% - 25.74% Variable APR), another perk that’s uncommon on a no-annual-fee travel card.

However, this card doesn’t offer many of the luxe perks that come with most of the best business credit travel cards. There are also foreign transaction fees, so if you take a lot of international business trips, this could be a dealbreaker.

The Bank of America® Travel Rewards Credit Card for Students is a good choice for students who wish to build credit while getting rewards. It’s one of the only travel cards with no annual fee that offers a 0% introductory APR on both balance transfers and purchases, and it has a solid earning rate.

This student credit card focuses more on the basics of credit building than on travel perks and protections. One of the downsides is that Bank of America does not have transfer partners, and so your rewards points can only be redeemed for a statement credit for travel purchases or for cash back. The upside is that this card has a broad definition of “travel” purchases, including even art galleries and zoos.

The Capital One Quicksilver Secured Cash Rewards Credit Card is a solid choice for those looking to rebuild credit while leveraging their regular spending to earn rewards. This card stands out among credit-building cards for its solid rewards earning rate and its reward boost on rental cars and hotels booked through Capital One Travel. Unlike many no-annual-fee travel rewards cards, you can’t redeem rewards toward future travel purchases, only as a credit for travel already purchased.

Keep in mind that you’ll need to put down an initial security deposit of $200, which means you would have a credit limit of $200. This limits your purchasing power, but is a fairly standard restriction on secured cards.