My favorite transferrable card options

All my Favorite Cards

With my referral links below. Please consider using my links as they help me with referral points and are of no charge to you :)

Want to know the best card for you? This blog post will be a DEEP dive on my favorite cards in my wallet and how they can help you achieve your dream travel!

Chase

Chase Ultimate Reward points are some of the most valuable cards and are getting increasingly more difficult to obtain due to their new eligibility and refferal rules. Why are they so sought after? Their relationship with Hyatt allows for some of the cheapest hotel redemption options in the game and they are one of the only cards to transfer to SW Airlines and United.

American Express

American express is one of my favorite credit card companies for multiple reasons. Amex has some of the highest sign up bonuses (make sure you sign up in order of lowest card to highest ie: green, gold, platinum) and when linked with Rakuten you can earn even more. I LOVE amex customer service. They are incredible, can be accessed easily in the chat function, and are so helpful.

Capital One

Capital One cards are pretty amazing. They have some great airline transfer options but their hotel transfers are really limited. They do offer the purchase eraser. While this isn’t my first choice for redeeming points due to the poor rate redemption, it can be beneficial in keeping travel costs low to offset costs like trains or excursions that you cannot book with points.

Citi

I don’t have any of the Citi cards yet BUT thanks to their new agreement with American Airlines, you better believe that I will be adding them to my wallet soon! They are the only card that can transfer to AA directly. With DFW being my main airport, AA points are incredibly valuable for me!

Chase Cards

First up is the Chase Sapphire Preffered card. By holding this card, you get to transfer any UR (ultimate reward) points OUTSIDE of the Chase travel portal. This is what you want to do. Info about this card:

• $95 annual fee

  • Offset with $50 Hotel Credit when booked through portal and $10 a month on Door Dash

• Some of the best rental car insurance

• Usually a good sign up bonus is 75-100k, however the 100k has only been seen about twice in lifetime of this card

The Ink Business Cash Card is a great card to have in your wallet due to it’s NO annual fee and 5% cashback at office stores. I like to get gift cards at office stores to earn 5x on purchases I would usually make like on Amazon, Target, etc. This is a cashback card BUT if you hold any of the preffered cards, these can be combined as points..

• $o annual fee

• 5% back at office stores

• Usually a decent sign up bonus (standard is usually 75k but a great one is 90K). There is usually a higher minumum spend though

• Does not take up a 5/24 rule spot

The Ink Business Unlimited card is another great earner as you get unlimited 1.5% back and NO annual fee! I’d wait to sign up until you see an offer of 90k or so.

• 1.5% cash back which turns to UR points when you hold a preffered card (personal counts or even a partner’s)

• $0 annual fee

• Does not take up a space in the 5/24 rule

The Chase Freedom Flex Card is another cashback card that can be turned in to points when held with a preffered card. The sign up bonuses are not that high, but it has some great earning potential.

• $0 annual fee

• Quarterly categories that can earn up to 5% back. ie some quarters you get 5x on gas

These are all the chase cards that I have. My husband has the Ink Business preferred because they had a sign up bonus of 90k that we wanted. We don’t currently hold either the Chase Business Reserve or the Personal Reserve. If you have some high spending coming up (like 30k in 6 months) I HIGHLY recommend signing up for the Business Reserve as they have a 200k sign up bonus right now!! You can click on any of the business cards linked above to apply :)

The Chase Reserve card just increased their fee and I am not a big fan of their coupon book style options to offset the cost. I am still considering this card though as it is the only card on the market now that allows you to bring a guest into their lounges (RIP capital one venture x). The Chase lounges are superior. If you’re interested in this card, sign up using the link listed with the preffered card above! As of 10/15/25, the sign up bonus is still 125k! Which is HUGE. *** Caveat- you cannot hold the Preffered and the Reserve at the same time anymore.

AMEX CARDS

The Amex Gold card- Great card to earn some serious points. Best for groceries and dining out. My link usually has crazy high, up to 100k points! IF you have any interest in the green card, make sure you get that on before you get this one. Always get the Gold before the Platinum otherwise you miss out on the Gold sign up bonus. Weird Amex rule.

• $395 annual fee

  • Offset with $10 monthly Uber cash, $10 monthly Grubhub/Cheesecakefactory/5guys/Wine.com/Goldbelly credit, $7 monthly DunkinDonuts credit, and $50 twice a year Resy dining credit

• 4x MR points at Grocery stores (not walmart or target)

• 4x on dining

• 3x on flights

• 2x on hotels and other travel booked in portal

My FAVORITE card- The AMEX Platinum. This card is a powerhouse card. Is the fee high? Yes. Did it just go up… Also, yes. Here’s how to offset the fees:

• $75 Lululemon credit quarterly- you can get a gift card in store if you want to. Gift it to someone at christmas, birthdays, or use for yourself.

• $100 quarterly Resy credit. Use your amex platinum when dining at a Resy Restaurant and make sure your Amex is linked to your Resy account

• $200 airline credit (must select airline in January) to be used for checked bags, wifi, etc. You can purchase travel bank cash with United in $100 increments and use those for flights

• $600 hotel credit when staying at a Fine Hotels and Resorts property or Hotel Collection when booked through the Amex travel portal. You must stay 2 nights to qualify for The Hotel Collection but you may stay just 1 night for the Fine Hotels & Resorts. This credit is split up- $300 each 6 months

• $120 credit for Global entry credit, every 4 years

• $200 annual Uber credit, $15 monthly except for December where it is $35. You can use this for rides or food. I usually do pick up to save on delivery fee

• $209 CLEAR credit

• $100 annually at SAKS, $50 each 6 months

• $300 streaming credit

• $12.95 Walmart plus credit monthly

• $300 annual EQUINOX credit. I use this for the mobile version for free at home workouts

• $200 off OURA ring

• $120 Uber one credit

Plus these perks

• AMEX Centurion lounge acces

• Gold status with both Marriott and Hilton, Leaders Club Sterling status with The Leading Hotels of the World

• Elite rental car status with Avis, Hertz, and National

This card has come in handy SO many times. I love using the Fine hotel & resorts credit because you can sometimes get better deals than booking lower quality properties. For example, my husband and I went to Boston in the fall of 2024. Rates to stay in the downtown area were INSANE. Like $600-$800 a night for maybe a 3 star property. I went through the Amex portal and found this property called XV Beacon located right on Beacon Hill. The hotel was offering a 4th night free for AMEX plat card holders. The rate on their website was about $2500 for the 4 nights. With the Amex rate, it was $1800, plus the $200 off making it $1600. When you stay at these properties, you can get a $100 property credit for food, drink, or any experience offered at the property. It also included daily breakfast for 2, at $45 a preson (it has since gone down to $30 or $35 for breakfast) so we got steak and eggs most days for breakfast. Just with the $200 credit, it made the price of the hotel significantly cheaper than other properties in Boston and this is a LUXURY hotel. We had a great sized room, marble bathroom, and indoor gas fireplaces. AMEX platinum opens so many more doors for luxury travel. PLUS we earned 5x the points for booking this hotel through the Amex portal, so we earned about 8,000 points just for booking this.

Capital One

Capital one doesn’t really have crazy sign up offers but with the Venture X earning 2x on EVERY purchase, you’d be surprised how quickly they add up. There is a $350 annual fee but it is very easy to earn your money back. You can also use your points a purchase eraser to erase a certain charge. Not a good point value but a nice option

• $300 annual credit for travel when booked through Capital One. Great for flights or hotels. I used it for some flights from Nice to Austria. Automatically credits it after purchase posts. Simple

• 10,000 mile bonus every anniversary year

• Lounge access. Unfortunately, you can only bring a guest with you until February 2026. These lounges are AMAZING even though there are only a handful. They do have to go food options though so you could always grab a sandwhich for a family member

• 10x on hotels and rental cars booked in portal

• 5x on cars and vacation rentals in capital one travel