Every premium card, compared
Net annual cost is the column that matters on this page: the annual fee minus the credits we believe a normal cardholder actually claims. A negative figure means the card pays you to keep it. Sort by it, and the ranking below stops looking like an opinion.
| Apply | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Our pickVenture Xverified Terms Apply$395 annual fee · 19.49% – 28.49% variable APR | $395 | -$191Credits exceed the fee | $750 – $1,2001.0¢ portal floor to 1.6¢ best partner | 4.4out of 5 | View at Capital One for the Capital One Venture X Rewards Credit Card at Capital One (opens in a new tab) We are not compensated for this card. It is here because it earned its place. |
| Sapphire Reserveverified Terms Apply$795 annual fee · 19.49% – 27.99% variable APR | $795 | -$59Credits exceed the fee | $1,000 – $1,5001.0¢ portal floor to 1.5¢ best partner | 4.4out of 5 | View at Chase for the Chase Sapphire Reserve® at Chase (opens in a new tab) We are not compensated for this card. It is here because it earned its place. |
| Amex Platinumverified Terms Apply$895 annual fee · 19.49% – 28.49% variable APR | $895 | -$503Credits exceed the fee | $3,150at 1.8¢/pt | 4.3out of 5 | View at American Express for The Platinum Card® from American Express at American Express (opens in a new tab) We are not compensated for this card. It is here because it earned its place. |
| Amex Goldverified Terms Apply$325 annual fee · 19.49% – 28.49% variable APR | $325 | $87After usable credits | $1,000 – $1,7601.0¢ portal floor to 1.76¢ best partner | 4.5out of 5 | View at American Express for the American Express® Gold Card at American Express (opens in a new tab) We are not compensated for this card. It is here because it earned its place. |
| Hilton Surpassverified Terms Apply$150 annual fee · 19.49% – 28.49% variable APR | $150 | -$113Credits exceed the fee | $650at 0.5¢/pt | 3.9out of 5 | Offer not currently available |
| United Explorerverified Terms Apply$0 intro, then $150 annual fee · 19.74% – 28.24% variable APR | $0 intro, then $150 | -$93Credits exceed the fee | $675at 1.35¢/pt | 3.9out of 5 | View at Chase for the United℠ Explorer Card at Chase (opens in a new tab) We are not compensated for this card. It is here because it earned its place. |
| Delta GoldmodeledTerms Apply$0 intro, then $150 annual fee · 20.24% – 29.24% variable APR | $0 intro, then $150 | -$42Credits exceed the fee | $600at 1.2¢/pt | 3.4out of 5 | Read our review |
Rates, fees and terms for all 7 cards aboveHide rates, fees and terms
Capital One Venture X Rewards Credit Card Capital One
Terms Apply$395 annual fee · 19.49% – 28.49% variable APR
See full rates & feesHide rates & fees
- Annual fee
- $395
- Purchase APR
- 19.49% – 28.49% variable
- Balance transfer APR
- 19.49% – 28.49% variable
- Balance transfer fee
- 4% of the amount of each transferred balance that posts at a promotional APR Capital One may offer you. No fee for balances transferred at the standard Transfer APR. Transfers cannot be requested until 10 days after the account is opened, and balances cannot be moved from another Capital One card.
- Foreign transaction fee
- None
- Cash advance APR
- 28.49% variable
- Cash advance fee
- Either $5 or 5% of the amount of each cash advance, whichever is greater.
- Late payment fee
- Up to $40
Credit cards are issued by Capital One, N.A. Offers, benefits, rates and terms are subject to change without notice and may vary by applicant.
Rates and fees reconciled against Capital One’s published pricing and terms on . Issuers may change offers, rates and terms at any time without notice; confirm current terms on the issuer’s own page before you apply. Capital One rates & terms · Capital One card page
Chase Sapphire Reserve® Chase
Terms Apply$795 annual fee · 19.49% – 27.99% variable APR
See full rates & feesHide rates & fees
- Annual fee
- $795
- Purchase APR
- 19.49% – 27.99% variable
- Balance transfer APR
- 19.49% – 27.99% variable
- Balance transfer fee
- Either $5 or 5% of the amount of each transfer, whichever is greater. Chase notes this account may not be eligible for balance transfers.
- Foreign transaction fee
- None
- Cash advance APR
- 28.49% variable
- Cash advance fee
- Either $10 or 5% of the amount of each transaction, whichever is greater.
- Penalty APR
- Up to 29.99%. Applies if you fail to make a minimum payment by its due date or make a payment that is returned unpaid, and can remain in effect indefinitely.
- Late payment fee
- Up to $40
- Returned payment fee
- Up to $40
- Authorized user fee
- $195 per card
Cards are issued by JPMorgan Chase Bank, N.A. Member FDIC. Offers, rates and terms are subject to change without notice.
Rates and fees reconciled against Chase’s published pricing and terms on . Issuers may change offers, rates and terms at any time without notice; confirm current terms on the issuer’s own page before you apply. Chase rates & terms · Chase card page
The Platinum Card® from American Express American Express
Terms Apply$895 annual fee · 19.49% – 28.49% variable APR
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- Annual fee
- $895
- Purchase APR
- 19.49% – 28.49% variable
- Foreign transaction fee
- None
- Cash advance APR
- 28.74% variable
- Cash advance fee
- Either $10 or 5% of the amount of each cash advance, whichever is greater.
- Penalty APR
- Up to 29.99%. May apply if you do not pay at least the minimum payment due by the payment due date, or a payment is returned. Once applied it lasts at least six months.
- Late payment fee
- Up to $40
- Returned payment fee
- Up to $40
- Authorized user fee
- $195 per card
Terms apply to American Express benefits and offers. Enrollment may be required for select benefits. Visit americanexpress.com to view rates and fees.
Rates and fees reconciled against American Express’s published pricing and terms on . Issuers may change offers, rates and terms at any time without notice; confirm current terms on the issuer’s own page before you apply. American Express rates & terms · American Express card page
American Express® Gold Card American Express
Terms Apply$325 annual fee · 19.49% – 28.49% variable APR
See full rates & feesHide rates & fees
- Annual fee
- $325
- Purchase APR
- 19.49% – 28.49% variable
- Foreign transaction fee
- None
- Cash advance APR
- 28.74% variable
- Cash advance fee
- Either $10 or 5% of the amount of each cash advance, whichever is greater.
- Penalty APR
- Up to 29.99%. May apply if you do not pay at least the minimum payment due by the payment due date, or a payment is returned. Once applied it lasts at least six months.
- Late payment fee
- Up to $40
- Returned payment fee
- Up to $40
- Authorized user fee
- $35 per card
Terms apply to American Express benefits and offers. Enrollment may be required for select benefits. Visit americanexpress.com to view rates and fees.
Rates and fees reconciled against American Express’s published pricing and terms on . Issuers may change offers, rates and terms at any time without notice; confirm current terms on the issuer’s own page before you apply. American Express rates & terms · American Express card page
Hilton Honors American Express Surpass® Card American Express
Terms Apply$150 annual fee · 19.49% – 28.49% variable APR
See full rates & feesHide rates & fees
- Annual fee
- $150
- Purchase APR
- 19.49% – 28.49% variable
- Foreign transaction fee
- None
- Cash advance APR
- 28.74% variable
- Cash advance fee
- Either $10 or 5% of the amount of each cash advance, whichever is greater.
- Penalty APR
- Up to 29.99%. May apply if you miss a minimum payment or a payment is returned, and once applied it stays in force for at least six months.
- Late payment fee
- Up to $40
- Returned payment fee
- Up to $40
Terms apply to American Express benefits and offers. Enrollment may be required for select benefits. Visit americanexpress.com to view rates and fees.
Rates and fees reconciled against American Express’s published pricing and terms on . Issuers may change offers, rates and terms at any time without notice; confirm current terms on the issuer’s own page before you apply. American Express rates & terms · American Express card page
United℠ Explorer Card Chase
Terms Apply$0 intro, then $150 annual fee · 19.74% – 28.24% variable APR
See full rates & feesHide rates & fees
- Annual fee
- $0 intro, then $150
- Purchase APR
- 19.74% – 28.24% variable
- Balance transfer APR
- 19.74% – 28.24% variable
- Balance transfer fee
- Either $5 or 5% of the amount of each transfer, whichever is greater. Chase’s pricing disclosure also notes that this account may not be eligible for balance transfers at all.
- Foreign transaction fee
- None
- Cash advance APR
- 28.49% variable
- Cash advance fee
- Either $10 or 5% of the amount of each transaction, whichever is greater.
- Penalty APR
- Up to 29.99%. Up to 29.99%, variable. Applies if you fail to make a minimum payment by its due date or a payment to Chase is returned unpaid, and can remain in effect indefinitely.
- Late payment fee
- Up to $40
- Returned payment fee
- Up to $40
Cards are issued by JPMorgan Chase Bank, N.A. Member FDIC. Offers, rates and terms are subject to change without notice.
Rates and fees reconciled against Chase’s published pricing and terms on . Issuers may change offers, rates and terms at any time without notice; confirm current terms on the issuer’s own page before you apply. Chase rates & terms · Chase card page
Delta SkyMiles® Gold American Express Card American Express
Terms Apply$0 intro, then $150 annual fee · 20.24% – 29.24% variable APRmodeled — see issuer for current rates
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- Annual fee
- $0 intro, then $150
- Purchase APR
- 20.24% – 29.24% variable
- Foreign transaction fee
- None
- Cash advance APR
- 29.99% variable
- Cash advance fee
- Either $10 or 5% of the amount of each cash advance, whichever is greater.
- Penalty APR
- Up to 29.99%. May apply if you make a late payment or a payment is returned.
- Late payment fee
- Up to $40
- Returned payment fee
- Up to $40
Terms apply to American Express benefits and offers. Visit americanexpress.com to learn more.
These figures model American Express’s published terms and have NOT been reconciled against American Express’s pricing-and-terms disclosure. Last edited (not verified) . Confirm current terms on the issuer’s page before you apply. American Express rates & terms
What the credits are advertised at, and what we count
Every premium card is sold on a total benefits figure. That figure assumes you use every credit, in the right channel, in the right month, every year. Almost nobody does. Here is the gap, card by card.
| Card | Annual fee | Credits at face value | Credits we count | Share we count | Net annual cost |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Amex Platinum | $895 | $3,524 | $1,398 | 40% | −$503Credits exceed the fee |
| Venture X | $395 | $785 | $586 | 75% | −$191Credits exceed the fee |
| Hilton Surpass | $150 | $570 | $263 | 46% | −$113Credits exceed the fee |
| United Explorer | $0 intro, then $150 | $445 | $243 | 55% | −$93Credits exceed the fee |
| Sapphire Reserve | $795 | $1,768 | $854 | 48% | −$59Credits exceed the fee |
| Delta Gold | $0 intro, then $150 | $455 | $192 | 42% | −$42Credits exceed the fee |
| Amex Gold | $325 | $424 | $238 | 56% | $87Fee exceeds credits |
Discounts are set per benefit, not per card, and they are visible in each card’s full review. A travel credit that posts against any travel purchase is discounted lightly. A credit that requires booking a specific hotel program through a specific portal is discounted heavily, because most cardholders either forget it or spend more than the credit to claim it. Read the method behind every dollar figure in our valuation methodology.
How we picked these cards
What qualifies as premium
A published rule, applied without exception: any card in the Award Rate database whose annual fee reaches three figures. Seven cards qualify, and all seven are ranked here — including two single-airline cards that most premium lists quietly omit because they are not glamorous. If a card charges you a three-figure fee, you should be able to compare it against every other card that does.
What we scored
- Fee recovery, at discounted credit value. The heaviest single input. Face value is ignored entirely; each credit is discounted for how hard it is to claim, and the remainder is subtracted from the fee.
- Benefits that need no channel. Lounge access, primary rental cover, trip delay, no foreign transaction fee. These are worth their value regardless of how you shop, so they carry more weight than credits that only pay out inside one merchant relationship.
- Redemption ceiling. Where the card’s currency can go, priced at our median redemption sample rather than a best case. A premium fee attached to a currency that cannot leave one airline is a much weaker proposition than the same fee attached to a transferable one.
- Household coverage. Whether a second traveler can be added, and at what cost. This is where the ranking at the top of the page is decided.
What we deliberately ignored
- Issuer benefit totals. Not one figure on this page comes from an issuer’s marketing arithmetic.
- Metal, weight and concierge. A heavier card is not a better one, and no concierge service we have tested does anything a competent search cannot.
- Commission. One of the seven cards below currently has no live offer to send you to, and it still ranks fifth on merit rather than being dropped from the page.
Number 1. Best premium card whose credits you do not have to work forCapital One Venture X Rewards Credit Card
We are not compensated for this card. It is here because it earned its place.
Read our full Venture X reviewIts two largest credits are the easiest to claim in the category: an annual travel credit and a straight deposit of anniversary miles, neither of which requires you to book in a particular channel in a particular month. That is why it recovers its fee for an ordinary traveler rather than only for a disciplined one, and the arithmetic is in the table above. Read the second-cardholder line before you buy it for a couple: adding an account user is still free, but lounge access for that user is now a separate annual charge, so the free-second-lounge-membership advantage this card was known for is gone. At that charge it is still the cheapest second lounge seat on this page — the Chase and Amex equivalents cost more — but it is a purchase now, not a freebie.
Best forTravelers who want the fee back without a monthly calendar of coupons
- Welcome bonus
- 75,000 / $4K in 3 mo
- Bonus value on this card
- $750 – $1,2001.0¢ Capital One Travel floor to 1.6¢ via Turkish Airlines Miles&Smiles
- Annual fee
- $395
- Top earn rate
- 10×Hotels and rental cars booked through Capital One Travel
Bonus value is the offer priced between the rate this card guarantees (1.0¢ through Capital One Travel) and the best rate its own transfer set reaches (1.6¢ via Turkish Airlines Miles&Smiles). Our blended Capital One Miles valuation of 1.7¢ is not used here.
What we like
- The travel credit and anniversary miles arrive automatically and require no enrollment, no monthly windows, and no merchant list
- Flat earning on everything else means you never have to think about which card to pull out
- Transfers at 1:1 to a partner list that covers all three major alliances
- Primary rental car coverage, real trip protections and no foreign transaction fees
- Even after the lounge change, the unconditional credits still offset most of the fee before a single lounge visit
What we don’t
- Lounge access for additional cardholders is now a separate annual charge per person — the benefit this card was best known for is no longer included
- Guests are no longer free either, and complimentary guest access is now gated behind a spending threshold most cardholders will never reach
- The travel credit only pays out through Capital One Travel, and the portal’s inventory can lag the airline’s own site on schedule changes
- Capital One’s lounge network is still small; outside its handful of hubs you are relying on Priority Pass, which is increasingly crowded
- Transfer ratios are excellent but the partner list lacks a marquee domestic airline — there is no Hyatt-equivalent hotel sweet spot either
- Capital One is unusually strict about application velocity, and a recent card from them is often an automatic decline
- Earning is flat, which means it never beats a good category card on dining or groceries
Terms Apply$395 annual fee · 19.49% – 28.49% variable APR
See full rates & feesHide rates & fees
- Annual fee
- $395
- Purchase APR
- 19.49% – 28.49% variable
- Balance transfer APR
- 19.49% – 28.49% variable
- Balance transfer fee
- 4% of the amount of each transferred balance that posts at a promotional APR Capital One may offer you. No fee for balances transferred at the standard Transfer APR. Transfers cannot be requested until 10 days after the account is opened, and balances cannot be moved from another Capital One card.
- Foreign transaction fee
- None
- Cash advance APR
- 28.49% variable
- Cash advance fee
- Either $5 or 5% of the amount of each cash advance, whichever is greater.
- Late payment fee
- Up to $40
Credit cards are issued by Capital One, N.A. Offers, benefits, rates and terms are subject to change without notice and may vary by applicant.
Rates and fees reconciled against Capital One’s published pricing and terms on . Issuers may change offers, rates and terms at any time without notice; confirm current terms on the issuer’s own page before you apply. Capital One rates & terms · Capital One card page
- Capital One states that existing or previous cardmembers are not eligible for this product if they have received a new-cardmember bonus on this product in the past 48 months.
- Not published by the issuer, but consistently reported: Capital One generally approves only one new personal credit card every six months.
- Not published by the issuer, but consistently reported: most applicants are limited to two open Capital One personal credit cards at a time, and Capital One is one of the few issuers that pulls all three credit bureaus on a consumer application.
Number 2. Best premium card for travelers who redeem by transferringChase Sapphire Reserve®
We are not compensated for this card. It is here because it earned its place.
Read our full Sapphire Reserve reviewThe flat travel credit posts against almost anything coded as travel and needs no enrollment, which makes it the single easiest premium credit in the market to recover — and the transfer list underneath includes the only major hotel program that still publishes a fixed award chart, which is where the highest reliable redemption values in hotels come from. The problem is everything stacked above that first credit: a hotel credit tied to one booking channel, a dining credit tied to one list of restaurants, a services credit tied to one company. We discount each of them heavily, and the card still only just clears zero.
Best forPeople who book award tickets rather than erasing travel charges
- Welcome bonus
- 100,000 / $6K in 3 mo
- Bonus value on this card
- $1,000 – $1,5001.0¢ Chase Travel℠ floor to 1.5¢ via Air Canada Aeroplan
- Annual fee
- $795
- Top earn rate
- 10×Peloton equipment and accessory purchases over $150, bought direct from Peloton
Bonus value is the offer priced between the rate this card guarantees (1.0¢ through Chase Travel℠) and the best rate its own transfer set reaches (1.5¢ via Air Canada Aeroplan). Our blended Chase Ultimate Rewards valuation of 1.9¢ is not used here.
What we like
- The annual travel credit applies automatically to almost any travel charge, with no portal requirement and no enrollment
- Lounge access includes Chase’s own lounges, which are newer and less crowded than the incumbent networks, and now extends to select Air Canada lounges
- Travel protections are primary rather than secondary and are among the few that pay out without a fight
- Points keep a meaningful floor through Points Boost even when you do not transfer them
- Authorized users get their own lounge membership and are eligible for the trusted-traveler credit
- Still transfers to World of Hyatt at parity, which its cheaper sibling no longer does
What we don’t
- Much of the headline benefit total is activation-gated promotional credit with a fixed expiration date, so the value advertised in year one is not the value available in year three
- The largest recurring credits are locked to Chase’s own hotel and restaurant collections, which are narrow and not always the cheapest way to book
- Chase’s application rule shuts out a large share of otherwise-qualified applicants, and there is no appeal on income alone
- Everyday spending outside travel and dining earns the floor rate
- The top benefit tier sits behind a calendar-year spend threshold most cardholders will never reach
- The fee increase moved the card from a clear yes to a calculation, and the calculation only works at real travel volume
Terms Apply$795 annual fee · 19.49% – 27.99% variable APR
See full rates & feesHide rates & fees
- Annual fee
- $795
- Purchase APR
- 19.49% – 27.99% variable
- Balance transfer APR
- 19.49% – 27.99% variable
- Balance transfer fee
- Either $5 or 5% of the amount of each transfer, whichever is greater. Chase notes this account may not be eligible for balance transfers.
- Foreign transaction fee
- None
- Cash advance APR
- 28.49% variable
- Cash advance fee
- Either $10 or 5% of the amount of each transaction, whichever is greater.
- Penalty APR
- Up to 29.99%. Applies if you fail to make a minimum payment by its due date or make a payment that is returned unpaid, and can remain in effect indefinitely.
- Late payment fee
- Up to $40
- Returned payment fee
- Up to $40
- Authorized user fee
- $195 per card
Cards are issued by JPMorgan Chase Bank, N.A. Member FDIC. Offers, rates and terms are subject to change without notice.
Rates and fees reconciled against Chase’s published pricing and terms on . Issuers may change offers, rates and terms at any time without notice; confirm current terms on the issuer’s own page before you apply. Chase rates & terms · Chase card page
- Chase states this card is unavailable to you if you currently have it open, and that the new-cardmember bonus may not be available if you previously held the card or already received a new-cardmember bonus for it.
- Chase says it may also consider the number of cards you have opened and closed when determining bonus eligibility. The widely observed version of that policy — declining applicants who have opened five or more personal cards from any issuer in the past 24 months, known as 5/24 — is not published by Chase and does not appear on the product page.
- The pricing and terms add that cardmembers who currently have, or have had, a Chase card in the rewards program associated with this offer may not be eligible for a second Chase card in the same program.
- You must be at least 18 years old to qualify — 19 in Alabama and Nebraska, 21 in Puerto Rico — and have a valid permanent address in the 50 states, DC, Guam, Puerto Rico, the US Virgin Islands, or a US military address.
Number 3. Best premium card for the hours you spend in airportsThe Platinum Card® from American Express
We are not compensated for this card. It is here because it earned its place.
Read our full Amex Platinum reviewThe lounge network is the widest attached to any US consumer card, and it is the one benefit on this page that cannot be substituted by spending more on a cheaper card. Against that stands the largest fee in the set, defended by the longest list of narrow credits — one airline for incidentals, one hotel program, one retailer, one rideshare app, one entertainment bundle — each of which we discount for how much of it a real person claims. Since we reconciled the credit list against the issuer this pass it has grown, and our model now lands its net annual cost further below zero than anything else on this page — a result to read with its assumption attached rather than as a recommendation. It assumes you claim roughly two-fifths of a credit list built around one restaurant platform, one activewear brand, one gym, one wearable and one retailer subscription. If those are not already in your life, your own arithmetic lands near break-even and the card has to be bought for the lounge network instead.
Best forFrequent flyers who will use a lounge more than a handful of times a year
- Welcome bonus
- 175,000 / $12K in 6 mo
- Bonus value, our valuation
- $3,150175,000 points × 1.8¢
- Annual fee
- $895
- Top earn rate
- 5×Flights booked directly with airlines or through American Express Travel
Bonus value is the advertised points total priced at our published 1.8¢ valuation for Amex Membership Rewards, not a best-case redemption.
What we like
- The Centurion Lounge network remains genuinely better than the alternatives, and access to it is unlimited
- Membership Rewards transfers to more airline programs than any competing currency, including several that price premium cabins off a real chart
- Airline and hotel elite status arrive by enrollment rather than by flying or staying
- No foreign transaction fees, and the insurance package is substantive rather than decorative
- The credit list has grown rather than shrunk, and the hotel and dining credits are the ones a traveler is most likely to clear
What we don’t
- The value case rests on a coupon book — credits split by month, by quarter and by half-year, each of which expires unclaimed if you forget
- Earning is thin outside travel booked through American Express; day-to-day spending belongs on almost any other card
- Delta Sky Club access is now rationed to a fixed number of visits a year rather than unlimited
- Several credits are tied to merchants many cardholders would never otherwise use, so the headline value overstates what a normal person recovers
- Amex is not accepted as widely as Visa or Mastercard outside major cities and abroad
- The annual fee is charged up front, in full, before you have used a single credit
Terms Apply$895 annual fee · 19.49% – 28.49% variable APR
See full rates & feesHide rates & fees
- Annual fee
- $895
- Purchase APR
- 19.49% – 28.49% variable
- Foreign transaction fee
- None
- Cash advance APR
- 28.74% variable
- Cash advance fee
- Either $10 or 5% of the amount of each cash advance, whichever is greater.
- Penalty APR
- Up to 29.99%. May apply if you do not pay at least the minimum payment due by the payment due date, or a payment is returned. Once applied it lasts at least six months.
- Late payment fee
- Up to $40
- Returned payment fee
- Up to $40
- Authorized user fee
- $195 per card
Terms apply to American Express benefits and offers. Enrollment may be required for select benefits. Visit americanexpress.com to view rates and fees.
Rates and fees reconciled against American Express’s published pricing and terms on . Issuers may change offers, rates and terms at any time without notice; confirm current terms on the issuer’s own page before you apply. American Express rates & terms · American Express card page
- American Express applies a once-per-lifetime welcome offer rule. Its own terms say you may not be eligible if you have or have had this card, the Platinum Card from American Express Exclusively for Charles Schwab, the Platinum Card from American Express Exclusively for Morgan Stanley, or previous versions of any of them.
- Eligibility for a welcome offer also turns on your history with balance transfers, your history as an American Express card member, and how many cards you have opened and closed.
- Amex generally approves no more than one new credit card every five days and two every 90 days.
- Most customers are limited to holding five Amex credit cards at one time; charge cards are counted separately.
- American Express tells you your exact welcome offer after you apply and before you accept the card, so the offer you are shown may differ from the public one.
Number 4. Best premium card you use at home rather than awayAmerican Express® Gold Card
We are not compensated for this card. It is here because it earned its place.
Read our full Amex Gold reviewThe only card in this set whose case rests on earning rather than on credits: nothing else here comes close on supermarkets and restaurants, and Membership Rewards has the deepest transfer bench of any US currency. It is also the only card on this page that costs real money every year after credits are counted — our model does not get it to zero — so the fee has to be beaten by what you earn, not recovered from what you are given. That is a cleaner deal than it sounds, because earning does not expire at the end of a month the way a credit does.
Best forHouseholds whose two largest discretionary lines are groceries and restaurants
- Welcome bonus
- 100,000 / $8K in 6 mo
- Bonus value on this card
- $1,000 – $1,7601.0¢ Amex Travel flights floor to 1.76¢ via Aeroméxico Club Premier
- Annual fee
- $325
- Top earn rate
- 5×Prepaid hotels booked through American Express Travel
Bonus value is the offer priced between the rate this card guarantees (1.0¢ through Amex Travel flights) and the best rate its own transfer set reaches (1.76¢ via Aeroméxico Club Premier). Our blended Amex Membership Rewards valuation of 1.8¢ is not used here.
What we like
- The supermarket and restaurant multipliers are the highest available on a card at this fee level, and they apply to categories almost every household spends in
- Restaurant earning is worldwide, not US-only, which is rarer than it sounds
- Prepaid hotels booked through Amex Travel earn at the card’s very top rate, which most reviews of this card still get wrong
- Membership Rewards transfer access is identical to the premium card above it
- No foreign transaction fees
What we don’t
- The credits are fragmented across four separate programs with different partners and different expiry rhythms; miss a month and that value is gone
- The dining credit’s partner list is not fixed — merchants have been dropped from it mid-year
- The supermarket bonus is capped annually and excludes warehouse clubs and superstores, which is where many large households actually shop
- Flights earn less here than at the premium tier, and non-prepaid hotels and car rentals earn the floor rate
- Amex acceptance still lags Visa and Mastercard at small merchants and overseas
Terms Apply$325 annual fee · 19.49% – 28.49% variable APR
See full rates & feesHide rates & fees
- Annual fee
- $325
- Purchase APR
- 19.49% – 28.49% variable
- Foreign transaction fee
- None
- Cash advance APR
- 28.74% variable
- Cash advance fee
- Either $10 or 5% of the amount of each cash advance, whichever is greater.
- Penalty APR
- Up to 29.99%. May apply if you do not pay at least the minimum payment due by the payment due date, or a payment is returned. Once applied it lasts at least six months.
- Late payment fee
- Up to $40
- Returned payment fee
- Up to $40
- Authorized user fee
- $35 per card
Terms apply to American Express benefits and offers. Enrollment may be required for select benefits. Visit americanexpress.com to view rates and fees.
Rates and fees reconciled against American Express’s published pricing and terms on . Issuers may change offers, rates and terms at any time without notice; confirm current terms on the issuer’s own page before you apply. American Express rates & terms · American Express card page
- American Express applies a once-per-lifetime welcome offer rule. Its own terms say you may not be eligible if you have or have had this card, the Premier Rewards Gold Card, the Platinum Card, the Platinum Card from American Express Exclusively for Charles Schwab, the Platinum Card from American Express Exclusively for Morgan Stanley, or previous versions of any of them.
- Eligibility for a welcome offer also turns on your history with balance transfers, your history as an American Express card member, and how many cards you have opened and closed.
- Amex generally approves no more than one new credit card every five days and two every 90 days.
- Most customers are limited to holding five Amex credit cards at one time; charge cards are counted separately.
- American Express tells you your exact welcome offer after you apply and before you accept the card, so the offer you are shown may differ from the public one.
Number 5. Best premium card for hotel status handed over on day oneHilton Honors American Express Surpass® Card
Mid-tier Hilton status arrives with the card and includes breakfast or a food-and-beverage credit at most brands, which is a recurring cash saving on every stay rather than a benefit you have to remember to use — and it is worth considerably more than the points the card earns, because the currency sits at the bottom of our valuation table. Two warnings. The quarterly statement credits expire unused, so an irregular travel year forfeits some of them. And the elevated welcome offer that made this card famous has expired — the smaller offer shown is what American Express publishes today, and the apply link below is dormant because that replacement has not reached our affiliate channel rather than because the offer is gone; we have left the card ranked on merit rather than removing it.
Best forAnyone who stays at Hilton properties several times a year and eats the breakfast
- Welcome bonus
- 130,000 / $3K in 6 mo
- Bonus value, our valuation
- $650130,000 points × 0.5¢
- Annual fee
- $150
- Top earn rate
- 12×Eligible purchases charged directly with a property in the Hilton portfolio
Bonus value is the advertised points total priced at our published 0.5¢ valuation for Hilton Honors, not a best-case redemption.
What we like
- Gold status is granted outright and includes complimentary breakfast or a food-and-beverage credit at most brands, which is a recurring cash saving on every stay
- The earning multipliers are the highest headline numbers of any card we track, across categories that are not limited to hotels
- The fifth-night-free benefit is the most effective single defense against dynamic award pricing in any major hotel program
- No foreign transaction fee, on a card whose whole purpose is stays away from home
- Top-tier status is reachable by spending alone, with no nights required — rare, and genuinely useful to some travelers
What we don’t
- Hilton Honors points are worth the least of any major currency in our valuation model, so the impressive earn rates translate into ordinary returns
- Award pricing is fully dynamic with no cap and no published chart, and peak pricing at desirable properties has run well ahead of cash rates
- The statement credits are quarterly and expire unused, so a traveler with an irregular schedule forfeits some of them every year
- The points cannot be transferred anywhere useful, which puts a hard ceiling on what a large balance can ever be worth
- The Free Night Reward requires a substantial spending threshold that most cardholders will not reach without deliberately routing spending here
Terms Apply$150 annual fee · 19.49% – 28.49% variable APR
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- Annual fee
- $150
- Purchase APR
- 19.49% – 28.49% variable
- Foreign transaction fee
- None
- Cash advance APR
- 28.74% variable
- Cash advance fee
- Either $10 or 5% of the amount of each cash advance, whichever is greater.
- Penalty APR
- Up to 29.99%. May apply if you miss a minimum payment or a payment is returned, and once applied it stays in force for at least six months.
- Late payment fee
- Up to $40
- Returned payment fee
- Up to $40
Terms apply to American Express benefits and offers. Enrollment may be required for select benefits. Visit americanexpress.com to view rates and fees.
Rates and fees reconciled against American Express’s published pricing and terms on . Issuers may change offers, rates and terms at any time without notice; confirm current terms on the issuer’s own page before you apply. American Express rates & terms · American Express card page
- American Express applies a once-per-lifetime welcome offer rule: if you have or have previously held this card, you are generally not eligible for a new-cardmember bonus on it.
- Welcome offers across the Hilton Honors American Express family are assessed together — holding or having held another Hilton card can make you ineligible for this one’s bonus.
- Amex generally approves no more than one new credit card every five days and two every 90 days.
- Most customers are limited to holding five Amex credit cards at one time.
- Amex’s pre-qualification tool is the only reliable way to check your eligibility before a hard inquiry.
Number 6. Best three-figure-fee card for one airline’s regular flyerUnited℠ Explorer Card
We are not compensated for this card. It is here because it earned its place.
Read our full United Explorer reviewIt qualifies for this page on fee alone, and it recovers that fee more easily than most cards here: the checked-bag waiver extends to a companion, so a single round trip for two covers it before any other benefit counts. The benefit nobody advertises properly is cardholder-only award inventory, which routinely surfaces seats that are simply not visible to non-cardholders — that is the reason to hold it. The reason it ranks below the general-purpose cards is that everything it gives you is redeemable at one airline, and the miles cannot leave.
Best forTravelers based at a United hub who check bags and search award space often
- Welcome bonus
- 50,000 / $3K in 3 mo
- Bonus value, our valuation
- $67550,000 points × 1.35¢
- Annual fee
- $0 intro, then $150
- Top earn rate
- 9×Eligible United flights — 6x from United on the primary Cardmember’s fare as a MileagePlus member, plus the card’s 3x on the whole United purchase
Bonus value is the advertised points total priced at our published 1.35¢ valuation for United MileagePlus, not a best-case redemption.
What we like
- The checked bag benefit covers the fee outright on one round trip for two people, before any other perk counts
- Cardholders pay less for every United award ticket than members without the card, and Premier members save more still
- Primary rental car coverage on an airline card at this fee level is rare
- No foreign transaction fees, which matters on a carrier with this much international network
- The two lounge passes are a real benefit on a long connection, not a token
What we don’t
- The miles are locked to one airline and cannot be transferred out, so a devaluation has nowhere to run
- United-operated award pricing is fully dynamic and increasingly prices like the cash fare
- Earning rates away from United are modest — the card is held for its benefits, not for what it earns
- Chase’s application rules exclude a large share of engaged rewards travelers
- Lounge passes expire annually and cannot be banked, so an unused pair is simply lost
- Several of the newer partner credits are gated behind enrollment, specific booking channels or an end date, so the advertised credit total is well above what a normal cardholder collects
Terms Apply$0 intro, then $150 annual fee · 19.74% – 28.24% variable APR
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- Annual fee
- $0 intro, then $150
- Purchase APR
- 19.74% – 28.24% variable
- Balance transfer APR
- 19.74% – 28.24% variable
- Balance transfer fee
- Either $5 or 5% of the amount of each transfer, whichever is greater. Chase’s pricing disclosure also notes that this account may not be eligible for balance transfers at all.
- Foreign transaction fee
- None
- Cash advance APR
- 28.49% variable
- Cash advance fee
- Either $10 or 5% of the amount of each transaction, whichever is greater.
- Penalty APR
- Up to 29.99%. Up to 29.99%, variable. Applies if you fail to make a minimum payment by its due date or a payment to Chase is returned unpaid, and can remain in effect indefinitely.
- Late payment fee
- Up to $40
- Returned payment fee
- Up to $40
Cards are issued by JPMorgan Chase Bank, N.A. Member FDIC. Offers, rates and terms are subject to change without notice.
Rates and fees reconciled against Chase’s published pricing and terms on . Issuers may change offers, rates and terms at any time without notice; confirm current terms on the issuer’s own page before you apply. Chase rates & terms · Chase card page
- The welcome bonus is not available if you currently hold this card, or received a new-cardmember bonus on it in the past 24 months. This one is stated in Chase’s own offer details.
- Chase’s offer details add that cardmembers who have or have had a Chase card in the same rewards program may not be eligible for a second card in that program — in practice, one open United personal card at a time.
- Chase 5/24: applicants who have opened five or more personal credit cards from any issuer in the past 24 months are generally declined. Chase does not publish this rule, so it is reported here as an observed pattern rather than a term read off the issuer’s page.
Number 7. Best three-figure-fee card for a family that checks bagsDelta SkyMiles® Gold American Express Card
We are not compensated for this card. It is here because it earned its place.
Read our full Delta Gold reviewThe checked-bag waiver covers the whole reservation rather than the cardholder, which is the most generous version of that benefit in the market and the entire reason to consider this card. Everything else is weaker than its fee implies: the flight credit needs a spending threshold most cardholders never reach, and the miles are the weakest major airline currency in our valuation model — priced off the cash fare with no chart and no sweet spot to find. It ranks last here because it is the only card on this page whose points we would advise you to earn somewhere else.
Best forGroups traveling together on one Delta reservation
- Welcome bonus
- 50,000 / $2K in 6 mo
- Bonus value, our valuation
- $60050,000 miles × 1.2¢
- Annual fee
- $0 intro, then $150
- Top earn rate
- 2×Delta purchases made directly with Delta
Bonus value is the advertised points total priced at our published 1.2¢ valuation for Delta SkyMiles, not a best-case redemption.
What we like
- The checked bag waiver now covers a second bag on domestic Delta flights as well as the first, which few cards at this fee match
- A standing discount on every award ticket booked with miles through Delta’s own channels, which partly offsets how rigidly the currency is priced
- The hotel credit is easy to trigger if you already book accommodation as part of a Delta trip
- Dining and US supermarket earning are unusually good for a co-branded airline card
- No foreign transaction fees
- Delta’s operational reliability and hub coverage give the benefits more chances to pay off than a weaker airline’s would
What we don’t
- Delta prices awards purely off cash fares with no award chart, so each mile is worth close to a fixed, low, cent-level amount and there is no sweet spot to find
- The flight credit requires a substantial calendar-year spending threshold that most cardholders will never reach
- The rideshare credit pays nothing until after your first renewal, so it is absent in the year the fee is waived
- The miles cannot be transferred out of the program, so a devaluation has nowhere to run
- The card contributes almost nothing toward elite status compared with the airline’s higher-fee cards
- Rental car coverage is secondary, where the closest competing airline card offers primary
- American Express acceptance abroad remains materially behind Visa and Mastercard, which blunts the fee-free foreign spending
Terms Apply$0 intro, then $150 annual fee · 20.24% – 29.24% variable APRmodeled — see issuer for current rates
See full rates & feesHide rates & fees
- Annual fee
- $0 intro, then $150
- Purchase APR
- 20.24% – 29.24% variable
- Foreign transaction fee
- None
- Cash advance APR
- 29.99% variable
- Cash advance fee
- Either $10 or 5% of the amount of each cash advance, whichever is greater.
- Penalty APR
- Up to 29.99%. May apply if you make a late payment or a payment is returned.
- Late payment fee
- Up to $40
- Returned payment fee
- Up to $40
Terms apply to American Express benefits and offers. Visit americanexpress.com to learn more.
These figures model American Express’s published terms and have NOT been reconciled against American Express’s pricing-and-terms disclosure. Last edited (not verified) . Confirm current terms on the issuer’s page before you apply. American Express rates & terms
- American Express applies a once-per-lifetime rule: the welcome offer is not available if you have or have previously held this card.
- American Express generally approves no more than two new credit cards in any 90-day period, and one card in any five-day period.
- Most consumers are limited to five American Express credit cards open at once, counted separately from charge cards.
- Amex shows your eligibility for a welcome offer before you apply — this card’s product page carries no public offer at all, so check the pre-application eligibility notice rather than relying on any figure you have read elsewhere.
Which premium card should you pick?
Stop at the first line that is true of you.
- If two of you travel together
- Capital One Venture X, but price the second seat first. Lounge access for an account user is now a paid annual add-on rather than the free benefit this card was known for — it is still the cheapest of the three, and it is no longer free.
- If you already transfer points to airline and hotel partners
- Chase Sapphire Reserve. The travel credit is the easiest in the category to recover, and the transfer list reaches the one major hotel program still publishing a fixed award chart.
- If you fly weekly and your airports have the lounges
- The Platinum Card from American Express. Check the lounge map for the three airports you actually use before you apply — if two of them have nothing, the case collapses.
- If most of your spending happens at home
- American Express Gold. It is the one card here that pays for itself through earning rather than credits, which suits a household that eats well and travels twice a year.
- If you stay at one hotel brand several times a year
- Hilton Honors Surpass for status that arrives instantly and pays out as breakfast on every stay. Compare it against the rest of the field on our hotel card list first.
- If almost all of your flying is on one airline
- United Explorer orDelta SkyMiles Gold, depending on the hub — and pair either with a transferable-points card, because neither currency should be your primary one. Ourairline card list works through that pairing.
- If you cannot name three credits you will claim this year
- None of them. Take theChase Sapphire Preferred instead and revisit this page when your travel changes.
When should you not pay a premium annual fee?
When the credits require behavior you do not already have. A credit that only pays out at one hotel program, booked through one portal, is a discount on a purchase you were not making. Counting it as fee recovery is how people end up spending more to save less.
When you fly two or three times a year. Lounge access, the benefit that actually justifies a premium fee, needs volume. At that frequency a mid-tier card with the same transfer partners delivers most of the value for a fraction of the cost — which is the argument our travel card list makes at length.
When you will carry a balance. Every card on this page charges a purchase rate that overwhelms any plausible rewards or credit value within a couple of statement cycles. The fee is not the expensive part.
What do you do when the fee stops making sense?
Cancelling outright is usually the worst of the three options. Closing an account shortens your average account age, removes its credit limit from your utilization calculation, and — at issuers where points live on the card rather than in a separate account — can forfeit the balance entirely.
Ask for a retention offer first: a statement credit or a bonus-points offer in exchange for keeping the card another year. If none is available, ask to product-change to a no-fee or lower-fee card in the same family, which keeps the account open and the points intact. Move any transferable balance to a partner program or another card in the same family before you do anything, not after.
Cancel only when the card is the wrong product entirely and no downgrade path exists — and if you do, request the closure within the fee-refund window rather than a month later.
Worked through on the top pick: the Venture X charges $395†, and once every credit is discounted for how hard it is to claim, our model puts its net annual cost at −$191† — a card that pays you to keep it, before a single point is earned.
Frequently asked questions
Is a premium credit card worth the annual fee?
It is worth it when the credits you will genuinely claim, plus the extra points you earn against a no-fee alternative, exceed the fee — and the failure mode is always the same, which is counting credits at the value printed on the issuer’s page rather than at the value you will extract. Award Rate discounts every credit for usability before subtracting it, and on that basis six of the seven cards on this page cost less than nothing to hold while one costs real money. The card that costs money is not the worst card here; it is simply the one whose case rests on earning instead.
Which premium card has the best lounge access?
The Platinum Card from American Express, and it is not close on breadth: it combines the issuer’s own lounge network with the largest third-party network and airline-operated clubs on qualifying itineraries. The Capital One Venture X is the better value proposition rather than the better network, and it is still the cheapest place to put a second traveler in a lounge — but that second membership is now a paid annual add-on rather than the free one it used to be, so the gap between it and the Chase and Amex second-cardholder fees is narrower than most reviews still say. If your airport has no Amex lounge, the breadth advantage evaporates and the Venture X wins outright.
Can I cancel a premium card and get the annual fee back?
Major US issuers refund the annual fee in full if you close the account within roughly 30 days of the fee posting, and most will pro-rate a refund after that — American Express historically pro-rates, Chase historically refunds in full within the window and pro-rates afterwards. What you do not get back is anything you have already used: a travel credit you claimed, a Global Entry credit you redeemed, or a lounge visit you took. Before you cancel, ask the issuer whether a product change to a cheaper card in the same family is available, because that keeps the account age and, at some issuers, the points.
Do premium credit cards actually save money on travel?
They shift where the money goes rather than reducing it, and whether that is a saving depends on what you would otherwise have bought. A lounge visit is a saving only if you would have paid for food and a seat; a hotel credit is a saving only if you would have booked that hotel anyway through that channel. The benefits that are unambiguously worth cash regardless of behavior are the ones with no channel attached: primary rental car coverage, trip delay reimbursement, and no foreign transaction fees. Those are also the benefits issuers advertise least.
Should a couple get two premium cards or one with an authorized user?
For lounge access, one card with a paid authorized user is still cheaper than two annual fees — the Capital One Venture X charges the least of the three for that second membership, which is a change from the free access it used to include, so price it rather than assume it. For welcome bonuses the answer flips: two separate accounts earn two bonuses, and an authorized user earns none, so a couple planning to open cards over several years usually applies separately and staggers the applications. The common mistake is doing both at once and tripping an issuer’s velocity rule, which costs a hard inquiry and gets one of you declined.
What happens to unused credits if I close a premium card mid-year?
They vanish, and they are not compensated. Monthly and quarterly credits do not accumulate — an unclaimed month is gone at midnight on the last day — and annual credits are forfeited at closure even if the cardmember year has months left to run. This is the mechanical reason our model discounts credits rather than counting them at face value: a benefit you have to claim on a schedule is worth less than the same money handed to you, and the gap is largest on the cards with the most credits.
Do premium credit cards give elite status that is worth having?
Hotel status from a card is worth having; airline status from a card generally is not. Mid-tier hotel status delivers breakfast, late checkout and room upgrades on every stay, which is a recurring, predictable benefit — it is the single strongest argument for the Hilton co-brand on this page. Airline status granted or accelerated by a card sits at tiers low enough that upgrades rarely clear, and the benefits duplicate what the co-brand card already gives you. Judge card-granted status by what it changes on an average stay or flight, not by the tier name.