Best Credit Cards for Booking Wedding Travel

Where you're going, where you'll be staying and whether you're buying gifts should all play into picking a card.
Carissa Rawson
By Carissa Rawson 
Updated

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What’s a wedding season without a little travel? According to a recent Priceline survey, 79% of Americans are planning on traveling to a wedding in 2022. If you’re planning on spending some money to meet up with your loved ones to celebrate, you may be wondering “What are the best credit cards for booking wedding travel?”

Looking to use a credit card makes sense. Costs can quickly add up when you’re on the road, so opting for a rewards-earning credit card can help trim the price of wedding travel. Here's a look at cards to consider, including those that are best for flights, vacation rentals and buying gifts.

Best credit cards for booking wedding travel

There are a variety of travel credit cards on the market, catering to every kind of traveler. The one that works for you depends on where you spend the most, so here are cards to consider based on your activities.

If you’re traveling to multiple locations

If you’re planning on traveling to a few weddings this year, there are a couple of things you’ll want to consider.

First: Where do you live? If you’re in or near Atlanta, you’ll likely be flying on Delta Air Lines, so a United credit card won’t do you much good.

Second: Where are you going? If your preferred airline doesn’t provide service to one or more of your destinations, you’ll be limited when it comes to earning or redeeming points.

The same can be said for hotels. If a hotel chain doesn’t have a property at your destination, you’ll be missing out with a co-branded credit card.

If this is your situation, you may want to consider a card that provides more flexible earnings. Cards such as the Chase Sapphire Reserve®, for example, will reward you with 3x points on all travel and dining. The card offers even more points — 5x points on flights and 10x points on hotels and car rentals — when booked through Chase Ultimate Rewards®.

🤓Nerdy Tip

The Chase Sapphire Reserve® card also comes with an annual $300 travel credit.

You can also choose to transfer your Chase Ultimate Rewards® to a wide variety of hotels and airlines, including:

  • Air Canada.

  • British Airways.

  • Hyatt.

  • IHG.

  • JetBlue.

  • Marriott.

  • Southwest.

  • United.

If none of those suit your fancy, you can always redeem your Chase points at a rate of 1.5 cents each toward travel in Chase's travel portal.

Don’t forget about the Chase Sapphire Reserve®’s welcome bonus: Earn 60,000 bonus points after you spend $4,000 on purchases in the first 3 months from account opening. That's $900 toward travel when you redeem through Chase Travel℠. That's quite a bit of extra value when redeemed through Chase's travel portal.

If you’re booking vacation rentals

Hotel rooms may be a little small if you’re traveling with a group, which may mean you’ll be looking for a vacation rental instead.

If you’d like to redeem points for a stay, consider the Wyndham Rewards® Earner℠ Business Credit Card and its welcome bonus: Earn 45,000 bonus points after spending $3,000 on purchases in the first 90 days. Free nights can require up to 30,000 points per bedroom at participating properties and are subject to availability. Resort fees may apply and cannot be paid with points.

Wyndham may not be the company that comes to mind when you’re looking for a vacation rental, but it should be. Thanks to its partnership with Vacasa, you can redeem Wyndham points for homes at a rate of 15,000 points per bedroom, per night.

With a little clever filtering, you can sleep up to six people in a one-bedroom property, meaning that 75,000 points is enough to get you five nights in a full-size vacation home.

🤓Nerdy Tip

Looking for a way to erase the cost of Airbnb stays? Pick a card like the Capital One Venture Rewards Credit Card, which allows you to wipe charges off your statement.

If you’re buying gifts

If you’re planning on bringing presents, you may be looking for a card that provides benefits on purchases. There are plenty of these cards, but the ones that’ll suit you best will depend on where you shop.

Are you getting everything from Amazon? In this case, the Prime Visa could be a good option. The card has a $0 annual fee and you’ll earn 5% cash back on all your Amazon purchases (and 10% or more back on a rotation selection of products and categories).

How about Target? This next recommendation may sound a little surprising, since it’s not a credit card at all. Instead, the Target RedCard debit card nets you a 5% discount on all Target purchases. Since it’s not a credit card, you won’t be faced with a hard pull on your credit report, and acquiring the card won’t take up one of those coveted spots that are part of the 5/24 rule. You’ll also receive free shipping on most items and an additional 30 days to make any returns.

You may still want to opt for a more general credit card to cover everything you buy, in which case a card like the Capital One Venture X Rewards Credit Card may be worth looking into. The card will give you a flat 2 points per dollar spent on all your shopping, but also includes benefits such as extended warranty protection and purchase protection.

If you only want to get one credit card

If all this talk of credit cards is making your head spin, we hear you. While you’ll always get the best benefits by mixing and matching a variety of credit cards, it can be hard to know which one to pull out when making your purchases.

A single credit card can be a good option in many cases. When it comes to wedding travel, a card like the Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card will serve you well.

Earn 60,000 bonus points after you spend $4,000 on purchases in the first 3 months from account opening. That's $750 toward travel when you redeem through Chase Ultimate Rewards®. Points can be redeemed across a wide variety of travel partners. You can also redeem points via Chase's travel portal at a rate of 1.25 cents each.

As a more general travel card, you’ll earn:

  • 5x points on travel booked through Chase's travel portal.

  • 3x points per dollar on dining, online groceries and select streaming services.

  • 2x per dollar on all other travel.

Although you’ll be missing out on a bonus when it comes to shopping, you’ll still earn 1 point per dollar on those purchases and will be eligible for purchase protection benefits.

If you’re looking for a credit card to book wedding travel

Weddings are an exciting time for everyone, whether you’re a guest or a groom. However, traveling out of town for the festivities can quickly become expensive. Opt for a credit card that’ll earn you good rewards on these travel purchases — or even allow you to redeem points and eliminate those costs.


How to maximize your rewards

You want a travel credit card that prioritizes what’s important to you. Here are our picks for the best travel credit cards of 2024, including those best for:

Travel Cards from Our Partners
Chase Sapphire Preferred Credit Card

on Chase's website

Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card
5.0
NerdWallet Rating
Rewards rate

1x-5x

5x on travel purchased through Chase Ultimate Rewards®, 3x on dining, select streaming services and online groceries, 2x on all other travel purchases, 1x on all other purchases.

Points

Intro offer

60,000

Earn 60,000 bonus points after you spend $4,000 on purchases in the first 3 months from account opening. That's $750 toward travel when you redeem through Chase Ultimate Rewards®.

Points
Chase Freedom Unlimited Credit Card

on Chase's website

Chase Freedom Unlimited®
5.0
NerdWallet Rating
Rewards rate

1.5%-6.5%

Enjoy 6.5% cash back on travel purchased through Chase Travel; 4.5% cash back on drugstore purchases and dining at restaurants, including takeout and eligible delivery service, and 3% on all other purchases (on up to $20,000 spent in the first year). After your first year or $20,000 spent, enjoy 5% cash back on travel purchased through Chase Travel, 3% cash back on drugstore purchases and dining at restaurants, including takeout and eligible delivery service, and unlimited 1.5% cash back on all other purchases.

Cashback

Intro offer

$300

Earn an additional 1.5% cash back on everything you buy (on up to $20,000 spent in the first year) - worth up to $300 cash back!

Capital One Venture Rewards Credit Card

on Capital One's website

Capital One Venture Rewards Credit Card
4.7
NerdWallet Rating
Rewards rate

2x-5x

Earn unlimited 2X miles on every purchase, every day. Earn 5X miles on hotels and rental cars booked through Capital One Travel, where you'll get Capital One's best prices on thousands of trip options.

Miles

Intro offer

75,000

Enjoy a one-time bonus of 75,000 miles once you spend $4,000 on purchases within 3 months from account opening, equal to $750 in travel.

Miles
See more travel cards
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