These travel cards are only available for current US residents, apologies to those reading from any other countries. 

One of the first things I research before planning any international travel is the current state of travel reward cards. If you’re not already taking advantage of one, start now! Read about the numerous benefits of these travel cards below and you’ll see why.

Before I move on, I’d like to mention the fact that there are numerous options available in the travel card game. I travel the world using only these two travel cards. One credit card for travel rewards and one debit card with no ATM fees.

Chase Sapphire Preferred

I currently use the Sapphire Reserve as one my travel cards. Reserve offered a 100,000 point sign-up bonus earlier this year. As that is no longer available, Preferred will be the better choice for most people.

Chase is currently offering a 50,000 point sign up bonus for this card. The catch is, you must spend $4,000 in 3 months. You will find a similar restriction on all reward cards that offer a bonus. There are many ways to help you spend up to the limit. Consider paying every bill you can using this card once you receive it. Car insurance, phone, gas/electricity, cable, internet, Netflix, etc. If you have friends or family willing, purchase items for them using this card. Then have them pay you in cash. Once complete you will have not only 50,000 points, but at least 4000 more points from your purchases. Even more points if you spent money on travel related purchases.

54,000 should be enough to net you an international round-trip. Chase values these points at approximately $675 towards travel. The reason it’s approximate is that the points necessary for a flight fluctuate. Book at the right time and flight, you will gain a better return on your points. Book last minute on a crowded flight and your point value plummets.

The first year of this card carries no annual fee, afterwards it’s $95/year. You are free to cancel after one year.

If $675 towards travel wasn’t enough, the card also offers the following benefits:

• 2X points on dining and travel purchases. While dining is self explanatory, travel expands to a bit more than just flights and hotels. Campgrounds, car rentals, cruise lines, trains, buses, taxis, ferries, toll bridges, highways, parking lots and garages. This even includes travel agencies, discount travel websites, Uber and Airbnb.
• No foreign transaction fees. This is a big one, potentially saving you hundreds.
• Trip Cancellation/Interruption insurance. Need to cancel or come home early from your trip because of sickness, severe weather or other covered situations? You can be reimbursed up to $10,000 for any pre-paid, non-refundable expenses (fares, tours, hotels).
• Car rental collision insurance. Decline collision insurance from the rental company and charge the rental to your card. Card becomes primary coverage and provides reimbursement up to actual cash value for theft and collision for most car in the US and abroad. (Read the fine print!)
• Baggage delay insurance. Reimburses you for purchases like toiletries and clothing for delays over 6 hours. Up to $100/day for 5 days.
• Trip delay insurance. If your travel is delayed more than 12 hours or requires an overnight stay. You and your family are covered for expenses, such as meals and lodging, up to $500 per ticket.
• Lost luggage reimbursement. Covers you or an immediate family member has luggage that is damaged or lost by the carrier. Coverage up to $3,000 per passenger.
• Travel accident insurance. For any air, bus, train or cruise purchased with your card. You are eligible to receive accidental death or dismemberment coverage of up to $500,000.

Outside of travel benefits, enjoy the following:

• Purchase protection. Covers new purchases for 120 days against damage or theft (up to $500 per claim/$50,000 total).
• Price protection. I use this one often, myself. Any purchases you make on this card will be price matched by Chase for 90 days ($500 per item/$2500 per year). Nearly anything you purchase will be cheaper within 90 days. Submit your claim online and receive a check in the mail once approved.
• Extended warranty protection. Extends manufacture’s warranty by an additional year on warranties of 3 years or less.

You can apply for a Chase Sapphire Preferred here.

Schwab Bank High Yield Investor Checking Account

You should use your travel credit card often to take advantage of the many benefits listed above. Especially for any flights, trains, buses, cruises or car rentals. Though, depending on where you’re headed a credit card might not always work. Think street markets, food carts, and other local businesses. Also, as the US does not use Chip and Pin like many other countries do, you may run into issues using your credit card at times. You may think, fine, I’ll just pull out some cash from an ATM whenever needed. The problem is you will most likely get hit with an ATM fee plus a foreign transaction fee. For example, I use Chase checking at home. Chase charges a $5 fee plus 3% when I withdraw from an ATM internationally.

While you may be fine with that if you only withdraw once or twice, perhaps on a shorter trip. Those fees will really add up over time, especially when traversing through areas where you may need a different currency every few weeks. You don’t want to withdraw large amounts to reduce the amount of times you withdraw either. For one, you’d have to carry around a large sum of cash. Secondly, you don’t want to have to constantly change currency out, you’ll lose money every time. And while we’re on the subject, avoid those currency exchange places at airports and train stations! You’ll lose money on conversion AND pay a fee.

How to avoid paying any ATM or foreign transaction fees while withdrawing money internationally

The solution is to sign up for a Schwab Bank checking account. This is an excellent account, even for those not planning to travel.

• No ATM fees worldwide!
• Zero foreign transaction fees (notice a theme with these two cards?)
• No monthly service fees regardless of account balance
• Minimum deposit to open account ($0)
• Earn interest on account balance

The one issue with this account is the tedious enrollment process. This account must be linked to a Schwab brokerage account and requires a hard credit inquiry. You are under no obligation to use the brokerage account (I don’t), but it must be opened along with a checking account. The brokerage account is the reason for the credit inquiry.

Lucky for you, I’ve already went through the process and created a step by step tutorial:

• How to set-up a Schwab checking account

A note on transparency

For those not already familiar with this website, know that it was developed as an experiment to try and become a travel blogger from scratch. Any type of advertisement, affiliate marketing, etc. will be explicitly stated so. That being said, I have no current affiliation with Schwab or Chase and receive zero compensation. This information is being provided because these are the accounts that I currently use myself.