Best Airline Credit Cards of January 2021

What Is an Airline Credit Card & How Does it Work?

Airline cards are co-branded with a major airline, such as Delta Air Lines, United Airlines, or American Airlines. They let you earn frequent flyer miles or points on every dollar you spend on the card, with extra miles given for purchases made through that particular airline. Some general travel cards also highly reward airline ticket purchases and offer robust travel reward redemption options, so we considered them for this list, too.

Miles or points can be redeemed for flights, seat upgrades, and even other travel expenses, like hotel stays. Most airline cards also offer high-value bonuses to new cardholders who spend a certain amount within a few months of opening their account. The best cards award bonuses large enough to book a round-trip plane ticket. 

Many airline cards also offer extra airline and travel benefits, like free checked bags, early boarding privileges, and discounts on in-flight purchases. Premium cards may include lounge access and various types of travel insurance. 

Do You Need an Airline Credit Card?

How Should You Compare Airline Cards?

Pay attention to these card details to select the best airline card for you: 

New cardholder bonus: Use our mile valuations (below) to determine which card offers more value right off the bat. Multiply the number of miles in the bonus by the per-mile value (i.e., 1.3 cents-per-mile value x 50,000 bonus miles = $650 value). Also, based on your normal monthly spend, does one card have a more attainable spending requirement than another?

Annual fee: Benefits can offset annual fees (typically between $95 and $450), but If you don’t care about extra airline or travel perks, don’t open a card with an annual fee. 

Airline flight options: If you’re considering a co-branded airline card, but aren’t near a major airline hub city (like Atlanta for Delta or Denver for United), how often can you fly the airline, based on desired departure and arrival locations? For general travel cards, can you easily redeem (or transfer) the points for flights on a variety of airlines? 

Extra rewards: If you don’t already have a good everyday rewards card, consider an airline card that will earn miles on non-travel purchases, like groceries and gas. In some cases, a general travel card may offer more flexible rewards earning options. 

Additional benefits: An airline card will be more valuable if you use the benefits it provides, like free checked bags, TSA Precheck/Global Entry application fee reimbursement, or free airport lounge access. 

Given those considerations, here’s another look at the cards we think are best for a variety of air travelers:

What Are Airline Miles Worth?

Average mile value data can help you gauge whether or not an airline card bonus (or flight) is actually a good deal. 

Our point valuations may be more realistic for you than other website valuations.
There’s more than one way to use airline miles to save on air travel, so we included more than one type of flight in our value calculations. Our average per-mile value data includes one-way economy and first-class (or the equivalent classifications) ticket prices for domestic and international flights from 18 airlines. The flights follow popular routes for each airline, with departures one to five months out to account for trip planners and last minute flight shoppers. We do not factor in fuel surcharges when determining value.

Here's our analysis of average airline-mile value for major U.S. carriers:

• United Airlines (MileagePlus): 2.19 cents
• American Airlines (AAdvantage): 2.26 cents
• Delta Air Lines (SkyMiles): 1.54 cents
• Southwest (Rapid Rewards): 1.45 cents
• JetBlue (TrueBlue): 1.43 cents
• Alaska Airlines (Mileage Plan): 0.85 cents

Can You Transfer Miles?

Most airline frequent flier programs don’t permit transfers between one another, even if the airlines are in the same alliance. There are numerous international airline alliances, but the biggest ones with major U.S. airlines are: Star Alliance (United), OneWorld (American Airlines), and SkyTeam (Delta). 

However, within these groups, you can typically earn miles by flying one airline and redeem them for flights on another. For example, Delta SkyMiles may be used for flights on Air France and Virgin Atlantic in the SkyTeam alliance. 

How Can You Maximize Airline Card Rewards?

Each rewards program has its own rules, but to maximize airline card rewards overall, follow these tips: 

1. Don’t make reservations through a third-party agent or website. Book all flights directly with the airline or rewards portal.
2. Airline miles are usually most valuable when used to book flights or other travel reservations. You may see options to redeem rewards for merchandise or gift cards, but they are often a worse value. 
3. Watch for loyalty program opportunities to earn extra miles or score discounted flight tickets.
4. Pair with another card that earns rewards on everyday expenses if the airline card lacks earning options.
5. Book travel companions on your reservation so they can enjoy many of the airline benefits you do.
6. Connect your frequent-flyer account to your card to access all loyalty perks.

Should You Get a No-Annual-Fee Airline Card?

Most airline cards charge annual fees, but people who travel just a few times each year can easily recoup that cost. For example, most airlines charge $30 for a checked bag, each way. If a card offers one free checked bag each way, but charges a $95 annual fee, it only takes two round trips to make up the fee cost. No-annual-fee airline cards usually lack valuable benefits, like free checked bags, and come with low-value bonuses for new cardholders.

If you prefer a card with no annual fee, we recommend a cash-back credit card with no annual fee, instead.

Methodology

We collect data on hundreds of cards and score more than 55 features that affect your finances. We do this because it's our mission to give you unbiased, comprehensive credit card reviews.

About This List

We reviewed more than 50 airline-specific and general travel rewards credit cards to find the very best airline cards, and these cards made the cut.

What We Score

Cards with big bonuses, flexible rewards programs, valuable miles, and better benefits receive better scores. Airline cards with low miles value, few perks, and limited transfer options receive lower scores accordingly. For more information about how The Balance evaluates credit cards, see our full credit card review methodology. 

Compare Airline Credit Cards

Looking to compare credit airline credit cards? Here are the top 50 of more than 300 cards that we considered when compiling our best airline credit card list. 

Our annual rewards value is calculated using Bureau of Labor Statistics and other source data to estimate how much the average consumer would earn each year as a cardholder. The annual fee is deducted from the rewards estimate, and any ongoing reimbursement credits a card may offer are added in. A card with low rewards-earning rates may receive a negative value after the annual fee is deducted.