Best Airline Credit Cards: Summer 2017
The United MileagePlus Explorer card is the top airline credit card, according to CreditCards.com. Card experts point to the United MileagePlus Explorer’s generous sign-up bonus (50,000 bonus miles after spending $3,000 in first three months) and money-saving travel perks like free checked bags and two free United Club airport lounge passes per year as benefits that can help even the not-so-frequent flier easily overcome the $95 annual fee. Big spenders are also further rewarded with 10,000 bonus miles each year after charging $25,000.
Next up is the Citi AAdvantage Platinum Select Mastercard, a good card for value seekers who want to earn a big sign-up bonus (60,000 bonus miles after spending $3,000 in first three months), but don’t want to pay an annual fee the first year.
After that, the Citi AAdvantage card helps make up for the $95 annual fee with free checked bags and a 10% reimbursement of redeemed miles each year. Its superior redemption options, including inexpensive off-peak rewards and the ability to transfer miles to a wide variety of international airlines, make the Citi AAdvantage Platinum Select card a good option for those who fly American regularly.
The British Airways Visa Signature card, with its generous spending bonus and tiered sign-up bonus that amply rewards moderate to heavy spenders, rounds out the top three.
Though it sports a $95 annual fee, British Airways points tend to be worth more than average and can be transferred to a wide variety of partner airlines, making the British Airways Visa Signature card a sound choice for big spenders who travel abroad frequently.
To help choose the best cards for each category, the CreditCards.com staff consulted credit card and personal finance experts and nominated the top three cards as finalists. CreditCards.com staff also rated cards through its credit card reviews program.
Judges for Best Airline Credit Card of Summer 2017 were travel expert Johnny Jet (johnnyjet.com), personal finance expert Holly Johnson (clubthrifty.com), personal finance writer Lisa Gerstner, millennial money expert Stefanie O’Connell, CreditCards.com Editor-in-Chief Daniel P. Ray and CreditCards.com senior industry analyst Matt Schulz.