Best Credit Card To Buy Airline Tickets

The best credit cards for booking flights

Using the right credit card for airfare purchases can help you rack up points quickly, especially if you’re anything like me, and spend a lot on air travel (at least in the long run).

A lot has changed regarding the best credit cards to use for airfare purchases, so in this post I wanted to take a closer look at that. There are a couple of key things to consider:

• Which card offers the most points for airfare purchases?
• Which card offers the best travel protection for airfare purchases?

Ideally you’ll find a card that ticks both of those boxes. With that in mind, let’s talk about the all-around best cards for purchasing your airline tickets.

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The top cards for airfare purchases

1. The Platinum Card from American Express: Best for airline miles
2. The Business Platinum Card from American Express: Best business card for travel
3. Chase Sapphire Reserve: Best travel protections
4. Ink Business Preferred Credit 

The Platinum Card from American Express

Annual fee: $550 (see rates and fees)

Welcome offer: Earn 75,000 Membership Rewards® Points after you spend $5,000 on purchases on your new card in your first six months of card membership; check the CardMatch Tool to see if you’re targeted for a 100,000-point bonus (offer subject to change at any time).

Earning rates: Earn 5x on flights booked directly with airlines and through American Express Travel (on up to $500,000 on these purchases per calendar year). Plus, 5x points on prepaid hotel bookings through amextravel.com and Fine Hotels & Resorts; earn 1x on everything else.

Analysis: The Amex Platinum card is the most rewarding card for airfare purchases, offering a whopping 5x points for airfare booked directly through the airline or through Amex Travel. You also earn 5x points on hotels booked through Amex Travel and 1 point per dollar spent elsewhere. On top of that, you can unlock discounts on airfare through the International Airline Program (IAP) and will get a suite of travel protections when booking round-trip flights.

Among numerous other cardholder benefits are an up to $200 annual airline fee credit, up to $200 in annual Uber credits (in the U.S.), up to $100 in annual Saks Fifth Avenue shopping credits and a $100 credit toward a Global Entry or $85 credit toward TSA PreCheck application fee. You also get access to Delta Sky Clubs when flying Delta on same-day flights, a Priority Pass Select lounge membership, along with access to the Centurion network of lounges, Escape lounges and Airspace lounges. Plus you can transfer your points to 20 travel partners. Finally, you receive Gold status with Hilton and Marriott, and elite status with Avis, Hertz and National car rentals.

Related: Best credit cards for airport lounge access

For more details, check our American Express Platinum Card review.

APPLY HERE: The Platinum Card from American Express

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The Business Platinum Card from American Express

(Photo by The Points Guy)

Annual fee: $595 (see rates and fees)

Welcome offer: Earn 85,000 points after you spend $15,000 on eligible purchases within the first three months of account opening.

Earning rates: Earn 5x on airfare and prepaid hotels booked through Amex Travel, along with 1.5x on eligible purchases over $5,000 (up to 1 million additional points per calendar year). Plus earn 5x points on eligible U.S. purchases on shipping, wireless telephone services, advertising in select media, office supplies and gas stations, with the card in the first three months, up to 80,000 bonus points per category. Earn 1x on everything else.

Analysis: The business version of the Platinum card also offers you 5x points on airfare and on prepaid hotels booked though Amex Travel. But unlike with the personal Amex Platinum, you won’t earn 5 points per dollar on tickets purchased directly through the airline, but if you’re able to find what you need through the Amex portal, paying with the business card will get you the same impressive 10% return (based on TPG’s valuations).

Plus, with the Business Platinum, if you pay with points for first or business-class airfare on any airline or any class of airfare on your airline of choice, you get a 35% rebate (up to 500,000 points per calendar year), which effectively gets you 1.54 cents per point in value. Like the personal version, the Business Platinum card gets you access to the International Airline Program (IAP), which can get you significant savings on flights.

Related: Why you should consider having both the personal and business Amex Platinum cards

At the airport, cardholders get access to lounges including Centurion, Priority Pass and Delta Sky Club (when flying same-day Delta flights). Other benefits include an up to $200 annual airline fee credit, a credit for Global Entry or TSA PreCheck application (up to $100) and  automatic Gold status in both the Hilton Honors and Marriott Bonvoy loyalty programs. Non-travel benefits include up to $200 in annual statement credits towards U.S. Dell purchases.

For more details, check our American Express Business Platinum Card review.

APPLY HERE: The Business Platinum Card from American Express

Chase Sapphire Reserve

(Photo by John Gribben for The Points Guy)

Annual fee: $550

Sign-up bonus: Earn 50,000 bonus points after you spend $4,000 on purchases in the first three months from account opening.

Earning rates: Earn 3x on travel and dining at restaurants and 1x on all other purchases worldwide. You’ll also earn 10x points on Lyft rides through March 2022 and 3x on up to $1,000 in monthly grocery store purchases through April 2021.

Analysis: The introduction of this card was the number-one story in the credit card industry in 2016. Its popularity went mainstream — and for good reason. With the Sapphire Reserve, you earn 3x points on all travel expenses, including not just airfare, but hotels, car rentals and even parking and tolls. You also get 3x points on all dining purchases, and 1 point per dollar spent everywhere else.

According to TPG valuations, Chase Ultimate Rewards points are worth 2 cents each. Points are earned in the Ultimate Rewards program, which includes nine airline and three hotel 1:1 transfer partners. Or, points are worth 1.5 cents each toward travel and activities booked through the Ultimate Rewards Travel Center or when redeemed through the Pay Yourself Back program.

Other benefits include an annual $300 travel statement credit, a Global Entry application fee credit and a Priority Pass Select membership that includes guests. If anything goes wrong with your flight, this is the card you want to carry, since it comes with industry-leading trip cancellation/interruption insurance, auto rental collision damage waiver, lost luggage reimbursement, trip delay reimbursement and emergency evacuation and transportation.

For more details, check our Chase Sapphire Reserve review.

APPLY HERE: Chase Sapphire Reserve

Ink Business Preferred Card

Annual fee: $95

Sign-up bonus: Earn 100,000 bonus points after you spend $15,000 on purchases in the first three months of account opening.

Earning rates: Earn 3x for the first $150,000 spent in combined travel, shipping, internet, cable, phone services, and advertising purchases made on social media sites and search engines each account anniversary year. Earn 1x on everything else.

Analysis: This business credit card offers 3x points on airfare and everything else that Chase includes in its travel classification. You also receive 3x points on all shipping purchases, internet, cable and phone services, and on advertising purchases made with social media sites and search engines. Note that the 3x earning rate applies to the first $150,000 spent in combined purchases across those categories. You’ll also earn 1 point per dollar on all other purchases. If you redeem those points for travel in the Chase Ultimate Rewards portal, you’ll receive 25% more value for them, plus you can transfer your points to 10 airline and three hotel loyalty programs at a 1:1 ratio.

Although coverage isn’t as comprehensive as with the Chase Sapphire Reserve, the Ink Business Preferred still offers a good array of travel protections. Even better, none of them require the purpose of the trip to be business.

For more details, check our Chase Ink Preferred Card review.

APPLY HERE: Ink Business Preferred Card

American Express® Gold Card

(Photo by Eden Batki / The Points Guy)

Annual fee: $250 (see rates and fees)

Welcome offer: Earn 60,000 Membership Rewards points after you spend $4,000 on eligible purchases with your new card within the first six months. Check the CardMatch Tool to see if you’re targeted for a 75,000-point Gold Card offer (offers are subject to change at any time).

Earning rates: Earn 4x points at restaurants worldwide, 4x points at U.S. supermarkets (on the first $25,000 spent each calendar year; then 1x), 3x points on flights booked directly with airlines or amextravel.com and 1x on everything else.

Analysis: This card offers 3x Membership Rewards on airfare purchased directly from the airline or through Amex Travel. According to TPG valuations, American Express Membership Rewards points are worth 2 cents each, so you’ll earn a 6% return. You also get a whopping 4x points on dining worldwide and at U.S. supermarkets (for U.S. supermarkets, the 4x is capped at the first $25,000 spent each calendar year; then 1x), and 1 point per dollar spent elsewhere.

The card also offers up to $120 in statement credits for dining at participating restaurants each calendar year and is introducing monthly Uber credits in 2021. Aside from the Amex’s Baggage Insurance Plan and access to the Global Assist Hotline, the card doesn’t offer any travel protections.

For more details, check our American Express Gold review.

APPLY HERE: American Express Gold Card

Citi Prestige

Annual fee: $495

Sign-up bonus: Earn 50,000 points after you spend $4,000 in the first three months of account opening.

Earning rates: Earn 5x points on air travel and dining at restaurants, 3x points at hotels and cruise lines and 1x everywhere else.

Analysis: The Citi Prestige card increased its bonus category for air travel and dining to 5x points in 2019. While that sounds great on the surface, it’s important to remember that Citi ThankYou points are worth slightly less than Amex and Chase points. Based on TPG valuations of Citi points at 1.7 cents each, the Prestige provides an 8.5% return on airfare. While that’s still a solid return, there’s also the drawback that the card doesn’t offer any travel protections anymore.

The main selling point of the Citi Prestige is that it offers two fourth-night-free awards for hotel bookings. It also provides up to $250 in annual travel credits, Priority Pass lounge access and a Global Entry or TSA PreCheck application fee credit.

Bottom line

Airfare is a popular bonus category among the top rewards credit cards. However, The Platinum Card from American Express and The Business Platinum Card from American Express stand out from the rest. In addition to offering what’s effectively a 10% return on your spending, they can score you exclusive discounts on your flights and protect you when things go wrong, such as a long flight delay. On top of that, they provide access to more airport lounges than any other card.

Featured image by JT Genter / The Points Guy

For rates and fees of the Platinum Card, please click here. 
For rates and fees of the Amex Business Platinum, please click here.  
For rates and fees of the Amex Gold Card, please click here.  

The Platinum Card® from American Express

WELCOME OFFER: 75,000 Points Terms Apply.

TPG'S BONUS VALUATION*: $1,500

CARD HIGHLIGHTS: Delta Sky Club and Centurion lounge access, up to $200 annual airline fee credit and up to $200 in Uber credits annually (only for use in the U.S.)

*Bonus value is an estimated value calculated by TPG and not the card issuer. View our latest valuations here.

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Editorial Disclaimer: Opinions expressed here are the author’s alone, not those of any bank, credit card issuer, airlines or hotel chain, and have not been reviewed, approved or otherwise endorsed by any of these entities.

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Best Airfare Credit Card Bottom Line

When deciding on the credit card to use for airline ticket purchases, consider both the card that offers the most valuable rewards, as well as the card that offers the best travel protection.

My top picks for airline ticket purchases are the:

• Platinum Card® from American Express for personal purchases, since you earn 5x points on airfare purchased directly from airlines, plus receive travel coverage
• Ink Business Preferred® Credit Card for business purchases, since you earn 3x points on travel purchases (on up to $150,000 per year), plus receive travel coverage

Of course, for many it won’t be worth picking up a card just because it offers a good return on airfare purchases, so you should balance the above advice with your current card portfolio.

Disclaimer: The responses below are not provided or commissioned by the bank advertiser. Responses have not been reviewed, approved or otherwise endorsed by the bank advertiser. It is not the bank advertiser’s responsibility to ensure all posts and/or questions are answered.