Best-Of Awards 2026 Methodologies

Best Credit Card Points for Travel

How we picked the companies to evaluate:

Eligible credit card rewards programs were selected by NerdWallet’s travel experts and offer at least one card that earns transferable rewards to travel transfer partners, including: Bilt Rewards, Chase Ultimate Rewards®, Capital One Miles, American Express Membership Rewards, Citi ThankYou Points and Wells Fargo Rewards. Some of the eligible credit card reward programs include products from NerdWallet partners, but this did not influence our selection of the winner.

How we chose the winner:

When choosing our winner for the best credit card points for travel, we considered the following factors:

• Total number of airline and hotel transfer partners.
• Value of transfer partners.
• Rewards rate for booking with points through each rewards program’s travel portal.
• Ease of earning points, including bonus categories, sign-up bonuses, and the number of cards that earn the rewards.
• Card annual fees.

How we verified our data:

Information about credit card loyalty programs was verified on the issuers’ websites.


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