Which credit card pays the most on travel in the United States?
Of the cards whose terms were read off the issuer, Blue Cash Preferred (American Express) publishes the highest rate on travel in the United States: 3.00% (USD 95 a year). This is a ranking of published rates, not a recommendation to apply.
This is information about each card's published terms, not a recommendation to apply. PayperWIZ arranges no credit and is paid nothing by any bank or card issuer.
6 read cards · United States · travel
The answer, from 6 read cards
Highest published rate on the whole category first. What limits each rate is printed beside it, because it is usually what decides whether the rate is real.
| # | Return | Card |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | 3.00% | Blue Cash PreferredcheckedAmerican Express · USD 95 a year · checked 23 Sep 2026 |
| 2 | 3.00%or 10.00% (only at hotels, cars and attractions via Citi Travel) | Citi Strata PremiercheckedCiti · USD 95 a year · checked 23 Sep 2026 |
| 3 | 3.00% | Costco Anywhere VisacheckedCiti · no annual fee · checked 15 Oct 2026 |
| 4 | 3.00% | Wells Fargo AutographcheckedWells Fargo · no annual fee · checked 15 Oct 2026 |
| 5 | 2.00%or 5.00% (only at booked through Chase Travel) | Chase Sapphire PreferredcheckedChase · USD 95 a year · checked 23 Sep 2026 |
| 6 | 1.50% | Capital One QuicksilvercheckedCapital One · no annual fee · checked 16 Sep 2026 |
Rates on part of travel
These read cards pay on travel only at the places named. They are not ranked above, because the number is not what the card pays on travel anywhere else.
| Return | Card |
|---|---|
| 10.00% | Capital One Venture XcheckedCapital One · USD 395 a year · checked 23 Sep 2026only at hotels and cars via Capital One Travel |
| 8.00% | Chase Sapphire ReservecheckedChase · USD 795 a year · checked 23 Sep 2026only at booked through Chase Travel |
| 6.00% | Marriott Bonvoy BoundlesscheckedChase · USD 95 a year · checked 15 Oct 2026only at hotels participating in Marriott Bonvoy |
| 5.00% | Capital One SavorcheckedCapital One · no annual fee · checked 15 Oct 2026only at hotels, rentals and cars via Capital One Travel |
| 5.00% | Capital One Spark Cash PluscheckedCapital One · USD 150 a year, waived above USD 150,000 of spending a year · checked 15 Oct 2026only at via Capital One Business Travel |
| 5.00% | Capital One VenturecheckedCapital One · USD 95 a year · checked 15 Oct 2026only at hotels, rentals and cars via Capital One Travel |
| 5.00% | Chase Freedom FlexcheckedChase · no annual fee · checked 15 Oct 2026only at booked through Chase Travel |
| 5.00% | Chase Freedom UnlimitedcheckedChase · no annual fee · checked 17 Aug 2026only at Chase Travel portal bookings |
| 5.00% | Chase Ink Business CashcheckedChase · no annual fee · checked 15 Oct 2026only at Lyft, in the Lyft app |
| 5.00% | Chase Ink Business UnlimitedcheckedChase · no annual fee · checked 15 Oct 2026only at Lyft, in the Lyft app |
| 5.00% | Citi Double CashcheckedCiti · no annual fee · checked 16 Sep 2026only at booked through the Citi Travel portal |
| 5.00% | Southwest Rapid Rewards PrioritycheckedChase · USD 229 a year · checked 15 Oct 2026only at Lyft, in the Lyft app |
| 5.00% | U.S. Bank Cash+checkedU.S. Bank · no annual fee · checked 15 Oct 2026only at prepaid in the U.S. Bank Travel Center |
| 3.00% | Amex GoldcheckedAmerican Express · USD 325 a year · checked 23 Sep 2026only at prepaid hotels via Amex Travel |
| 3.00% | Amex PlatinumcheckedAmerican Express · USD 895 a year · checked 23 Sep 2026only at flights, direct or via Amex Travel; at most USD 3,000 back a month; the terms say: Flights booked direct with the airline or through American Express Travel, on up to $500,000 of these purchases per calendar year. |
| 3.00% | Apple CardcheckedGoldman Sachs · no annual fee · checked 15 Oct 2026only at Booking.com Apple Card link, Apple Pay |
| 3.00% | Bank of America Travel RewardscheckedBank of America · no annual fee · checked 15 Oct 2026only at booked through the BofA Travel Center |
| 3.00% | Delta SkyMiles Platinum AmexcheckedAmerican Express · USD 350 a year · checked 15 Oct 2026only at purchases made directly with Delta |
| 3.00% | United Explorer CardcheckedChase · USD 150 a year · checked 15 Oct 2026only at United purchases |
| 2.00% | Delta SkyMiles Gold AmexcheckedAmerican Express · USD 150 a year · checked 15 Oct 2026only at purchases made directly with Delta |
How these were worked out. Only cards whose rates a person read
off the issuer's own published terms are ranked here; 1 other card in the catalogue publishes a rate on travel that nobody has yet read off the issuer, and is not listed here at all. Points and miles are
valued at the redemption rate the programme publishes, the rate anyone can take
rather than the best one after a transfer. A rate that covers only part of
travel — one chain of shops, one kind of merchant — is shown with what it covers
and is not ranked, because it is not what the card pays on travel.
The right card depends on what you have already spent.
PayperWIZ holds the cards you actually own and names the right one at the till — after the cap you have already used this month, and after the foreign-currency fee. Every rate in it says whether it was read off the issuer, and none is made up.
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