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Credit card points are often considered the best type of points for an award traveler to have. Banks offer customers several ways to redeem these points, whether it’s through a travel portal or transferring them directly to airline and hotel loyalty programs.
NerdWallet’s travel team evaluated six credit card points programs across several categories to come up with this year’s winner. We spent months collecting and analyzing data to not only determine the best credit card points for travel, but also the best airline and hotel rewards programs, the best award search tool and more for 2026. Check out all of our winners.
Best credit card points for travel in 2026: Chase Ultimate Rewards®
Chase Ultimate Rewards® is NerdWallet’s 2026 winner for best credit card points for travel. The transferable currency offers an impressive roster of airline and hotel partners, as well as plenty of ways to rack up points.
When picking the best credit card points for travel, our team considered several factors, such as the number of partners each program has, the value of those partners’ currencies, the ease of earning points with each program and the annual fees for each program’s credit cards.
Chase’s program excels because of its strong roster of transfer partners, particularly its relationship with World of Hyatt. NerdWallet considers Hyatt to be one of the best transfer partners among major loyalty programs, because it still uses fixed award charts to determine award pricing. That means you can find some really great hotel deals when booking with Hyatt points.
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On the airlines side, Chase also partners with popular domestic programs like United MileagePlus, JetBlue TrueBlue and Southwest Airlines Rapid Rewards. Its international partners include Air France-KLM Flying Blue, Air Canada Aeroplan and Virgin Atlantic Flying Club. These programs can offer excellent sweet spots, especially if you’re looking at long-haul premium cabin travel.
Expert award travelers know that another airline offers a similar roster of transfer partners: Bilt Rewards, which has not only World of Hyatt, United MileagePlus and Southwest Rapid Rewards, but also Alaska Airlines’ Atmos Rewards. However, it falls short when it comes to the ease of earning points. Chase offers a much more robust credit card portfolio with generous welcome offers and spending bonus categories, giving it the edge over Bilt, which took third place in our rankings.
Ultimate Rewards® cards with transferable points
Annual fee
$95.
$795.
$795.
$95.
Welcome offer
Earn 75,000 bonus points after you spend $5,000 on purchases in the first 3 months from account opening.
Earn 125,000 bonus points after you spend $6,000 on purchases in the first 3 months from account opening.
Earn 150,000 bonus points after you spend $20,000 on purchases in your first 3 months from account opening.
Earn 100,000 bonus points after you spend $8,000 on purchases in the first 3 months from account opening.
Rewards
• 5x points on all Chase Travel℠ purchases (exclusions apply).
• 5x on Lyft rides and Peloton equipment (for a limited time; terms apply).
• 2x points on all other travel.
• 3x points on dining, takeout and eligible delivery worldwide.
• 3x points for online grocery purchases (exclusions apply).
• 3x points on some streaming services.
• 1x point on all other purchases.
• 8 points per $1 spent on all travel booked through Chase.
• 4 points per $1 spent on bookings directly through an airline or hotel.
• 3 points per $1 spent on dining, takeout and eligible delivery worldwide.
• 1 point per $1 spent on all other purchases.
- 8 points per $1 on all purchases booked through Chase, including The Edit.
- 5 points per $1 on Lyft rides through 9/30/27.
- 4 points per $1 spent on flights and hotels booked direct.
- 3 points per $1 on social media and search engine advertising.
- 1 point per $1 on all other purchases.
• 3 points per $1 on the first $150,000 spent on travel, shipping, select advertising, internet, cable and phone services business categories each account anniversary year.
• 5 points per $1 spent on Lyft rides through Sept. 30, 2027.
• 1 point per $1 spent on all other purchases.
Learn more
Runner up: Citi ThankYou Points
Citi ThankYou Points are the second best when it comes to credit card points for travel. The program’s value shot up significantly in 2025 when it announced American Airlines as a 1:1 transfer partner for its lineup of Citi Strata cards. Citi also has some lesser-known transfer partners that can provide great value, such as EVA Air (1:1 transfers) and Choice Privileges (1:2 transfers).
Cards that earn Citi ThankYou points
Annual fee
- $0
- $0
- $95
- $595
Welcome bonus
Earn $200 cash back after you spend $1,500 on purchases in the first 6 months of account opening. This bonus offer will be fulfilled as 20,000 ThankYou® Points, which can be redeemed for $200 cash back.
Earn 20,000 bonus Points after spending $1,000 in the first 3 months of account opening.
Earn 60,000 bonus ThankYou® Points after spending $4,000 in the first 3 months of account opening, redeemable for $600 in gift cards or travel rewards at thankyou.com.
Earn 75,000 bonus Points after spending $6,000 in the first 3 months of account opening.
Rewards
- 2% cash back on purchases (in the form of ThankYou points) distributed in two stages: 1% back for every dollar spent and 1% back for every dollar paid off.
- 5% total cash back (in the form of ThankYou points) on hotels, car rentals and attractions booked through Citi's portal.
- 5x ThankYou points on hotels, car rentals and attractions booked on cititravel.com.
- 3x ThankYou points at supermarkets.
- 3x ThankYou points on select transit and gas/EV stations.
- 3x ThankYou points on an eligible self-select category of your choice including fitness clubs, select streaming services, live entertainment, cosmetic stores/barbershops/hair salons or pet supply stores.
- 2x ThankYou points at restaurants.
- 1x ThankYou points on all other purchases.
- 10 ThankYou points per $1 spent on hotels, car rentals and attractions booked through the Citi Travel site.
- 3 points per $1 spent on air travel and other hotel purchases.
- 3 points per $1 spent at supermarkets.
- 3 points per $1 spent at gas stations and EV charging stations.
- 3 points per $1 spent at restaurants.
- 1 point per $1 spent on all other purchases.
- 12 points per $1 on hotels, car rentals and attractions booked on cititravel.com.
- 6 points per $1 on air travel booked on cititravel.com.
- 6 points per $1 at restaurants (including food delivery services on “Citi Nights”) on Fridays and Saturdays between 6 p.m. and 6 a.m. Eastern Time. Outside of this timeframe, you’ll earn 3 points per $1 in this category.
- 1.5 points per $1 on all other purchases.
APR
0% intro APR on balance transfers for 18 months, and then the ongoing APR of 17.49%-27.49% Variable APR
0% intro APR on purchases and balance transfers for 15 months, and then the ongoing APR of 18.49%-28.49% Variable APR
The ongoing APR is 19.49%-27.49% Variable APR
The ongoing APR is 20.49%-28.49% Variable APR
For more information
Best credit card points for travel: Complete ranking
Methodology: Best credit card points for travel
How we picked the programs 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.
How to maximize your rewards
You want a travel credit card that prioritizes what’s important to you. Here are some of the best travel credit cards of 2026:
- Flexibility, point transfers and a large bonus: Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card
- No annual fee: Wells Fargo Autograph® Card
- Flat-rate travel rewards: Capital One Venture Rewards Credit Card
- Bonus travel rewards and high-end perks: Chase Sapphire Reserve®
- Luxury perks: American Express Platinum Card®
- Business travelers: Ink Business Preferred® Credit Card
Explore more on
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