If you spent all summer watching everyone else’s excursions to Europe and are finally ready to plan a vacation of your own, you may be in the market for a credit card to help maximize your budget.
Everyone loves to score a good deal—and credit card companies know it. Card issuers offer plenty of perks to lure consumers, from no annual fees to massive reward points early on. But tantamount to maximizing the potential of these deals is understanding how the offers work. To that end, TravelPerk analyzed credit cards on the market today to identify five of the best travel perks available to cardholders.
Most major card companies offer travel benefits, whether airline, hotel, or bank cards—the latter of which may allow points to be transferred to specific airlines or hotels. Smart travelers prioritize the perks they know they’ll exercise the most, from free checked bags to strategically picked rewards from a frequented hotel.
The first thing smart shoppers watch for while researching a new credit card is the annual percentage rate, or APR. The average APR today is about 22% as of May 2023, according to a July 10 update from Federal Reserve Economic Data, marking the highest average interest rate paid by consumers since 1994, when the Federal Reserve began tracking rates.
That figure rightly rattles some hesitant consumers: Credit card interest rates are often higher than other forms of debt, including mortgages. But high interest rates don’t necessarily mean paying more, so long as consumers manage card balances strategically.
Only a handful of users let their credit card balance carry over from one month to the next—and they’re the class of users issuers make their money from. Per the most recent FRED information (last updated July 5, 2023), fewer than 9% of large-bank customers cap their monthly balance payments at the minimum allowable. Plenty of others limit spending to what can be paid off each month. Managing your credit this way allows you to reap the benefits of credit card perks without the penalty of high fees if your budget allows for it.
It’s important to remember that credit card interest compounds daily. Put simply, missing a monthly payment results in many card issuers charging you for interest on every single day’s average card balance. In that scenario, you’d end up paying interest on your interest. It doesn’t take much for those fees to snowball out of control quickly in a high-rate environment.
Keep reading to learn more about five of the most universally beneficial rewards for travelers.
