3 Crucial Features You Need for Your Next Travel Credit Card

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Summer is upon us, and it’s a great time to take a vacation! A travel credit card is a great way to pay for the associated costs. You can take advantage of perks like travel insurance, free checked baggage on flights, and possibly even airport lounge access.

All of these come with certain travel cards. But here are three other vital features that you’re more likely to find with a wider range of cards. Look for them when you’re choosing a travel rewards card.

1. Bonus rates for travel spending

A handful of flat-rate travel credit cards reward you the same rate across all your spending, regardless of what you’re buying. But for the most part, the best travel rewards cards offer bonus rates on the kinds of spending you’re more likely to do when taking a trip. This includes:

• Airline tickets

• Hotel stays

• Rental cars

• Other transit

• Dining

If you’re hoping to simplify your spending, some cards can easily handle an entire vacation from start to finish. I used one of The Ascent’s favorite travel cards for a trip to Northern England earlier this year — I booked my tickets and arranged a few nights at a hotel in the middle of the trip before I left, then took the card with me and used it to cover bus and tram tickets, some stellar restaurant meals, and museum admissions.

2. No foreign transaction fees

If you’re planning to travel internationally, this next feature has the potential to save you about 3% on every transaction. Credit cards with foreign transaction fees often charge an additional 3% on top of what you spend in currencies other than U.S. dollars.

That 3% might not sound like much, but it adds up. Spend $2,500 on your trip, and you’ll owe an extra $75. Surely you’d rather spend that $75 on a nice meal out or something cool from a museum gift shop (just me?).

3. A high credit limit

Remember how I put an entire trip on one travel credit card? I was able to do that because of the high credit limit on that card — in fact, it’s my highest-limit card right now. It’s a good idea to tread lightly with your credit limits (both overall and on individual cards) because spending too much of your limit can result in credit score damage.

Your credit utilization ratio is a significant part of your credit score — it’s responsible for 30% of your FICO® Score. It’s best to keep your credit utilization below 30%. So if your card has a $10,000 limit, you should keep your card balance under $3,000.

You don’t have much control over how high your credit limit is on a card. As you become more established as a credit card user and your earnings grow, you’ll qualify for higher limits. In the meantime, you might check out our list of the best high-limit credit cards — there are some travel standouts on it.

Another reason to target a higher credit limit is to give yourself additional runway for spending when you travel. You likely don’t want to bring an entire wallet full of credit cards on vacation — I know I sure don’t. When I took my England trip a few months ago, I took my high-limit card as well as another travel card with a smaller limit as a backup (that I didn’t end up using). I felt good knowing I had a solid amount of credit at my disposal in case I needed it.

Travel rewards credit cards can help make your next vacation cheaper and easier. Focus on these features to choose a good one.

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