Ever since the pandemic wreaked havoc on the travel industry and car companies like Hertz and Avis sold off their fleets to avoid bankruptcy, rental cars are harder to come by than ever.
That's not great news if you, like many Americans, are looking to take a summer vacation. Gone are promotions advertising $9.99-per-day economy rentals. Currently, a Kayak.com search for car rentals in Denver for the first week of June start at $149 per day, turning what you may have hoped would be an easy, week-long joy ride into a $1,000+ expense.
Unfortunately, there's not much that having a credit card with car rental insurance can do to lower rental car costs, other than help pay if the car gets damaged. However, you can use travel rewards and/or cash back to make your vacation more affordable.
Below are some of our top-rated travel cards that let you redeem your rewards for car rentals. We pulled these selections from our best travel credit cards list. With each of the cards ahead, you can earn hundreds in travel rewards within your first year of account opening that you can then use to offset the cost of renting a vehicle. Depending on your spending habits, some of these cards can help you earn up to $2,000 over the next five years according to our methodology.
Before you sign up for a new card, it's important to make sure you can pay off your balance on time and in full each month, since many of these cards have high interest rates.
Credit cards that can save you money on car rentals
Best for earning rewards on rentals
Capital One Venture Rewards Credit Card
Rewards
5 Miles per dollar on hotel and rental cars booked through Capital One Travel, 2X miles per dollar on every other purchase
Welcome bonus
Earn 75,000 bonus miles once you spend $4,000 on purchases within 3 months from account opening
Annual fee
$95
Intro APR
N/A for purchases and balance transfers
Regular APR
19.99% - 29.99% (Variable)
Balance transfer fee
$0 at the Transfer APR, 3% of the amount of each transferred balance that posts to your account at a promotional APR that Capital One may offer to you
Foreign transaction fee
None
Credit needed
Excellent/Good
See rates and fees. See our methodology, terms apply.
Pros
- 5 miles per dollar on hotel and rental cars booked through Capital One Travel
- Global Entry or TSA PreCheck application fee credit up to $100 every 4 years
Cons
- No introductory APR
- There’s a $95 annual fee
Best welcome bonus
Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card
Rewards
$50 annual Ultimate Rewards Hotel Credit, 5X points on travel purchased through Chase Ultimate Rewards®, 3X points on dining, 3X points on select streaming services and online grocery purchases (excluding Target, Walmart and wholesale clubs), 2X points on all other travel purchases, and 1X points on all other purchases
Welcome bonus
Earn 60,000 bonus points after you spend $4,000 on purchases in the first 3 months from account opening. That's $750 when you redeem through Chase Ultimate Rewards®.
Annual fee
$95
Intro APR
None
Regular APR
21.49% - 28.49% variable on purchases and balance transfers
Balance transfer fee
Either $5 or 5% of the amount of each transfer, whichever is greater
Foreign transaction fee
None
Credit needed
Excellent/Good
See our methodology, terms apply.
Read our Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card review.
Pros
- Points are worth 25% more when redeemed for travel via Chase Ultimate Rewards®
- Transfer points to leading frequent travel programs at a 1:1 rate, including: IHG® Rewards Club, Marriott Bonvoy™ and World of Hyatt®
- Travel protections include: auto rental collision damage waiver, baggage delay insurance and trip delay reimbursement
- No fee charged on purchases made outside the U.S.
Cons
- $95 annual fee
- No introductory 0% APR
Best for luxury travel
Chase Sapphire Reserve®
Rewards
Earn 5X total points on flights and 10X total points on hotels and car rentals when you purchase travel through Chase Ultimate Rewards® immediately after the first $300 is spent on travel purchases annually. Earn 3X points on other travel and dining & 1 point per $1 spent on all other purchases plus, 10X points on Lyft rides through March 2025
Welcome bonus
Earn 60,000 bonus points after you spend $4,000 on purchases in the first 3 months from account opening. That's $900 toward travel when you redeem through Chase Ultimate Rewards®
Annual fee
$550
Intro APR
None
Regular APR
22.49% - 29.49% variable
Balance transfer fee
5%, minimum $5
Foreign transaction fee
None
Credit needed
Excellent
See our methodology, terms apply.
Read our Chase Sapphire Reserve® review.
Pros
- $300 annual travel credit for travel purchases
- Global Entry or TSA PreCheck application fee credit up to $100 every four years
- Priority Pass™ Select lounge access at 1,000+ VIP lounges in over 500 cities worldwide
- Points are worth 50% more when redeemed for travel via Chase Ultimate Rewards®
- Special benefits at The Luxury Hotel & Resort Collection
- Complimentary year of Lyft Pink membership
Cons
- High annual fee, but it can be offset by taking advantage of all the card’s perks
- No introductory APR
- Estimated rewards earned after 1 year: $1,469
- Estimated rewards earned after 5 years: $3,346
Rewards totals incorporate the points earned from the welcome bonus
Best for earning cash back
TD First Class℠ Visa Signature® Credit Card
Rewards
3X miles earned on every $1 spent on travel and dining, plus 1X mile earned on every $1 spent on everything else
Welcome bonus
25,000 miles when you spend $3,000 within the first 6 billing cycles
Annual fee
$89, waived for the first year
Intro APR
0% APR for the first 12 billing cycles on balance transfers
Regular APR
14.99% variable
Balance transfer fee
$5 or 3% of transfer, whichever is greater
Foreign transaction fee
None
Credit needed
N/A
See our methodology, terms apply
Pros
- 3X miles on every $1 spent on travel and dining
- 25,000 miles when you spend $3,000 within the first 6 billing cycles
- 0% APR during the first 12 billing cycles on balance transfers
- No fee charged on purchases made outside the U.S.
Cons
- No additional travel credits, like TSA PreCheck/Global Entry application credit
- Points aren’t worth more if you book travel through a special portal
- Estimated rewards earned after 1 year: $752
- Estimated rewards earned after 5 years: $2,403
Rewards totals incorporate the points earned from the welcome bonus
Read more
Our methodology
To determine which cards will put the most money back in your pocket, Select evaluated 35 popular travel credit cards offered by major banks, financial companies and credit unions that allow anyone to join. We compared each card on a range of features, including travel rewards (points and miles), annual fee, welcome bonus, introductory and standard APR, one-time perks, annual perks, redemption rates, as well as factors such as required credit and customer reviews when available.
Select teamed up with location intelligence firm Esri. The company's data development team provided the most up-to-date and comprehensive consumer spending data based on the 2019 Consumer Expenditure Surveys from the Bureau of Labor Statistics. You can read more about their methodology here.
Esri's data team created a sample annual budget of approximately $22,126 in retail spending. The budget includes six main categories: groceries ($5,174), gas ($2,218), dining out ($3,675), travel ($2,244), utilities ($4,862) and general purchases ($3,953). General purchases include items such as housekeeping supplies, clothing, personal care products, prescription drugs and vitamins, and other vehicle expenses.
We then estimated how much the average consumer would redeem over the course of a year, two years and five years, assuming they would attempt to maximize their rewards potential by earning all welcome bonuses offered and using the card for all applicable purchases. All rewards total estimations are net the annual fee and assume that you are paying your credit card balance on time and in full each month so as not to incur interest charges.
It's important to note the value of a point or mile varies from card to card and based on how you redeem them. When we calculated the estimated returns, we assumed that cardholders are redeeming points/miles for a typical maximum value of 1 cent per point or mile. (Extreme optimizers might be able to achieve more value.)
Our final picks are weighted heavily toward the highest five-year returns, since it's generally wise to hold onto a credit card for years. This method also avoids giving an unfair advantage to cards with large welcome bonuses.
While the five-year estimates we've included are derived from a budget similar to the average American's spending, you may earn a higher or lower return depending on your travel habits.
