I ranked the TOP 5 Airline Credit Cards

Added: 2026-05-31

[00:00:00]So, how many of you have seen a flashy welcome bonus for an airline credit card, gotten it, and then look back a year or two later and realize you've only used about half the benefits the card offers and feel pretty disappointed that you picked the wrong card to go with? Well, you're not surprised probably, but this happens to a ton of people out there all the time. which is why this video is meant to directly help that because I'm going to rank the top five airline credit cards objectively, not just based on one big factor, but across the five most important factors you need to be thinking about when considering an airline credit card. Now, which card comes in first? You'll have to stick around to find out, but it's going to surprise a lot of people. And again, that's probably just because the balanced objective rankings don't usually get talked about when you see a lot of stuff on TV or marketed or people shouting about the best credit cards today. If you're looking for an airline credit card or just want to see how yours stacks up, this is going to be a good one. So, let's dive right on in.

[00:01:10]Listen, some of you may love what you hear on this list and others may totally disagree, but that's part of the fun of it. Before I dive into the categories and tell you what we're going to rank these cards on, I have to shout out one important thing. This list may vary dramatically for you based on where you live. Still, the one thing that moves the needle more than any of these five factors is if you have the airlines out of your home airport that have good credit cards with them. Getting a credit card for an airline that doesn't fly out of your home airport or barely offers much service to your home airport could be the best credit card on this list, but it's not going to be that helpful.

[00:01:47]Don't forget that when thinking about these cards. Second, this is for the average traveler, so it's going to be a really balanced list for a typical person like you or me out there. Okay, there's five categories that matter that we're going to rate each of these cards on to come up with a total score. That score is objective, factbased, and it will help inform us to see what the best cards in the market are today. These categories are annual fee, signup bonus, point value, earnings rates, and card benefits. A little bit of hard data, a little bit of the eye test, but it's all going to come to one top card out there.

[00:02:22]So, let's dive right on in with card number five, the American Airlines Advantage Platinum Select World League Card. This is an interesting one coming from City. It's American Airlines mid tier credit card in their lineup and it does a really good job of sticking to its role, but it doesn't really have those top-end features that are going to wow people away, which is why I think it's settled in at number five. However, let's break down the card. Starting with its annual fee, it's got a free first year, which is an awesome benefit and really appreciated for anybody who gets the car and has a test period before deciding if they need to keep it. After that, it jumps up to $99. This is on the lower end of annual fees and one of the most compelling on this list, and it earns it a 4.5 out of five possible stars in that category. The signup bonus is also really surprisingly good. This card starts out strong. Typically, you'll see anywhere between 50 and 75,000 American Airlines advantage miles, which makes the card even more appealing. Even if you got no value from the benefits, you could hold this card for many, many years paying that annual fee before you dipped into the negative.

[00:03:30]For signup bonus, the card earns four out of five stars. And same with point value. Another four out of five star category on this credit card because American Airlines Advantage points are valued up to about 1.6 cents per point on average. That's way better than a lot of other points currencies on this list and means when you're earning American Airlines miles, you're going to feel good about it because a lot of the flights you'll book with American are going to cost less compared to their cash price than other flights with different point currencies you'd book in other airlines. However, where this card starts to fall off is in the next category, earnings rates. Though the card has that good sign up bonus and the points are really valuable, it's hard to earn points onto this card. That's because it only earns 2x miles on American Airline purchases, restaurants, and gas stations. Everything else outside those categories earns 1x. I highly encourage you not to do that. The hack here is to get a city card, which could earn way more than the American Airlines card. And because City and American have a relationship, you can send your city points on over to American and then get a lot of points coming in the door as well as valuable points when you redeem those for flights. Still, I have to give this card a 1.5 out of five stars for its really terrible earnings. Additionally, the benefits don't stack up well. You'll get a free checked bag for you and up to four companions on your reservation, preferred boarding, and some discounts on beverages. and also notably a 10% mileage rebate on award redemptions. I rated this one out of five stars and I think you'll see why compared to the other cards. At the end of this day, this card comes in at number five. It scores 15 out of 25 possible points.

[00:05:11]It's not going to blow you away, but it's definitely solid in five out of all the airline cards out there. That's nothing to be embarrassed about, but there are better cards on this list.

[00:05:21]Beginning with number four, Southwest Rapid Rewards Priority Credit Card. Now, Southwest tried its thing and try to be very unique. Now, it's shifted into pretty much looking like most of the other big airlines. That's for you to decide whether it's a good or a bad thing. But in this process, the card got a lot more powerful and expensive.

[00:05:40]Annual fee costs $229 to hold. gets a 3.5 out of five stars for that because even though it's quite a bit more than the first card we talked on, well, the total options of all airline cards you can get range into the five and 600. So, it's still a mid-tier play compared to those premium options that some other airlines offer. The signup bonus is constantly changing, but most of the time you'll see this between 50 and 70,000 rapid rewards points. And the key here for people is not only do you get the sign up bonus, but if you apply at the right time, you could get a big chunk of the way towards companion pass status, which for some can be an incredibly valuable benefit. We'll talk about that in the benefit section later.

[00:06:24]If you hit the upper end of those normal signup bonus ranges, you're getting roughly $930, $940 in real flight value from that welcome offer. That's a three out of five star category. Now, we have to look at point value. Points Guy rates Southwest Points pretty average, but lower than some of the best in this list at 1.25 cents a piece. That's good for two and a half out of five stars. And I found in my real world booking examples that that's a pretty accurate number.

[00:06:53]Southwest points don't really fluctuate between really good redemptions and really bad redemptions. They all stay right around that 1.2 1.25 range that the points guy suggested. After getting a 2.5 out of five stars in point value, it'll repeat that score for earnings rates. That's because it only gives 2x on gas stations and restaurants before giving 1x on everything else. But you do get 4x on Southwest flights, which could be a really big deal for some people booking a lot of flights on their Southwest Premium card. Still, overall, not great. And honestly, a lot of airline cards struggle with having good multipliers. Finally, here's where the Southwest card really builds its case.

[00:07:31]In benefits, it'll earn four out of five potential stars, which is really big for pushing this card. This card gets you a lot of the way towards companion pass status, and that's a buy 1 get one free ticket if you can earn 135,000 Southwest points in a given year. It'll provide you a 7,500 point anniversary bonus and 10,000 points toward companion pass status every single year. And you get some nice other benefits like getting to select a preferred seat at the time of booking. your first check bag free for you and up to eight companions. And if you want to spend all on the card towards A-list status, you'll get 2500 qualifying points for every $5,000 you spend working towards A-list. This gives Sky Miles Priority Card a 15.5 out of possible 25 stars. Coming in at number three has long been a favorite of mine.

[00:08:19]Was personally disappointed for where this finished, but you'll see why in just a few minutes, and that's the Delta Sky Miles Platinum card. The annual fee sits at $350. That's good for two and a half out of five stars. Again, it's not cheap, but it's not uber expensive compared to the topend range of airline credit cards. The signup bonus may seem complicated because this is always bouncing back and forth, but it's actually quite simple. It almost always stays between 50 and 90,000 points. And American Express, which issues the card, changes this all the time. So, you won't have to wait too long till you see one of those 85 to 90,000 point offers. That means it's your sign to get the card if you've been eyeing it in your own setup.

[00:09:01]The high end of this bonus would translate to roughly a little over $1,000 in Sky Mile value, and that's really solid and earns it a 3.5 out of five stars here. However, the card dips in its point value. It's going to be worse than American Airlines and worse than Southwest in my world when I've seen bookings. And the points guy reflects that by giving it an average valuation of 1.2 cents per point. I have to rate that at a two out of five potential stars. It's one of the weakest areas of this card. This card has some decent multipliers with the 3x on hotels and 2x on dining and groceries. I would never encourage anybody to swipe this card for everything. There are better earning cards out there, but I know some people will. and to be able to capture those earnings multipliers in those three important categories I just mentioned if you're swiping it all the time. Well, you could probably do worse with other cards. It's why I gave it a three out of five stars here. Finally, the benefits. They are ultra premium for what this card costs. There's a ton. So, I'll give you my big ones that really move the needle. The first check bag free for you up to eight companions on the same reservation. That's almost a given at this point. But you also get priority boarding, 15% off Delta award flights, and $150 Delta stays hotel credit. And each year after you complete your first year on the card, you'll qualify for a buy 1 get one free companion pass. That's only one ticket, so it's not quite as good as Southwest, but it makes up the annual fee for each year, basically on a flight that you're going to use with your companion. My only complaint with this card is lack of lounge access passes, but it still scores a respectable 16 out of 25 possible points. Now, as we head towards the top of this list, I want to talk about the sponsor of today's video, which is Max Rewards. Now, I've talked about Max Rewards before, but the team at Max Rewards has been doing an incredible job innovating, updating, and changing things on the app to make things better for you and me as we manage our credit cards to extract the most possible value. The app just went through a major update and it looks fantastic. The interface is customizable based on exactly what matters to you.

[00:11:09]There's a ton of different options to scroll through. You'll get better and more realtime insights on how much value your cards are providing to you, as well as the standards like budgetary insights, purchase tracking across all of your different credit cards, and things that we all know and love like the best card tool. It's honestly become a habit of mine to just check my credit card reward status and seeing them increase over time, making sure everything's right with my cards in terms of getting paid off and being on autopay that I've just become so accustomed to using this tool as my backbone for keeping my setup running well. If that sounds interesting to you, there's a free version out there. And if you use the QR code on your screen now or just the link below in my description, you'll qualify for 25% off their premium subscription. You get three gold credits and that's good for that. If you ever decide to upgrade from free into the premium tier and see what that can do for you. Thank you so much to Max Rewards for supporting the work I do on these videos and for being a great card management tool for so many of you guys out there who care about doing this right. Stepping up into the number two slot is the United Explorer credit card.

[00:12:17]This is a mid to low tier United Card, but it punches well above its weight for being in that mid-tier annual fee category. The annual fee is really obtainable for a lot of people. It's $150, but it's waved in the first year, giving you a lot of value right up front. I give that a four out of five stars. The signup bonus is also respectable as well. You'll get typically between 60 and 80,000 United miles, and that would be worth over $1,000 in flight value if you capture the upper end of that range. That's good for over 7x the annual fee. So, it makes it a worthwhile card, at least to even just get for the signup bonus. I give that a 3.5 out of five stars. And continuing the balance this card has is the point value that United Miles offer.

[00:13:02]Points Guy pegs them at 1.35 cents a piece. And in my rankings, that qualifies for a three out of five potential stars. The earnings rates I'm not extremely impressed with. With United, depending on your loyalty status, you could qualify for increased earnings, but the card gives you consistent 3x in addition to your loyalty status points. When you spend on the card, you'll get those standard 3x on United purchases, but you'll also get 2x on delivery services, hotel stays, and 1x on everything else. Just between delivery and hotel stays as your bonus categories, most people don't do a lot of spend there. So, the card's not going to be very valuable in that aspect. I have to give that a two out of five stars. However, benefits are really, really well-rounded. Quite impressive for a card with this low of an annual fee. You get the first check bag free for you and one companion. I think you're probably sensing a pattern here by now. Out of pattern, you'll get two one-time United Club passes, which could be really cool on the right trip. Taxes use United Club spaces. You'll get a Global Entry or TSA PreCheck credit. It offers 10% off award flights, and uniquely, it comes with two $50 hotel credits, which could be useful depending on how you like to travel. I give the benefits section a four out of five stars for the United Explorer card. And this card earns a 16.5 out of a possible 25 stars. Good for number two because of its balance, good benefits, and digestible annual fee. Now, coming in at number one, the best airline credit card by these metrics out there, the Atmos Rewards Summit card. Now, I know some of you just rolled your eyes while others of you are punching the air in celebration. This isn't a Delta card.

[00:14:41]It's not an American. And it's not even a Southwest card. It's relatively obscure depending on where you live in the country. So that could be a massive negative out there for some of you. But for those of you who have access to it, this card really is impressive. Its annual fee is not where it shines. It carries a $395 annual fee. Good for 2.5 out of five possible stars. The signup bonus is really, really good, though.

[00:15:05]I'll give it a 4 and a half out of five stars for this current package. You could get a 100,000 bonus Atmos rewards points. You could also get a 25,000 bonus point global companion award and a 50% discount on a future flight. When you put all that together, that could be over $1,400 in value just on sign up.

[00:15:25]And the good news is the point value in this card is really, really solid as well. Points Guy gives Atmos Rewards a 1.4 cent per point valuation, but the flexibility is really impressive, too.

[00:15:36]Amos is part of the One World Alliance, which means you can specifically book not only Alaska and Hawaiian Airlines flights, but all those other One World partners like Cath Pacific, Japan Airlines, British Airways, and even American Airlines at some really compelling valuations. That 3.5 out of five stars in the points value category keeps this card moving strong as we head into earnings rates. This card earns 3x points at Alaska and Hawaiian Airlines, 3x on dining worldwide, and in the first for any airline card I've seen in the market, 3x on all foreign purchases.

[00:16:12]Between the dining multiplier and the 3x on all foreign transactions, that's a unprecedented combination that can really allow you to use this card naturally and earn a ton of points in a valuable currency. That earns a four and a half out of five stars. Last but not least, of course, benefits. You had to know these are good, being the number one card on the list. You'll get eight Alaska lounge passes a year, issued as two per quarter. Plus, you get eight in-flight Wi-Fi passes. For most people, this will be plenty. For some rare travelers, it may not be quite enough.

[00:16:44]And with the card, you get 10,000 status points every year, plus 10% more points on all card purchases when you have an eligible Bank of America account open, which is a nice little hack there, too.

[00:16:55]And when you add in the options for accelerated elite status through your regular spending, the card stacks up really well for its benefits package. I gave it a four out of five stars in benefits here. This card is wellrounded and it's still relatively achievable for a lot of people at the price point who see value and could fly Alaska or its partner airlines regularly. That's why it earns 19 out of a possible 25 stars.

[00:17:19]Now, like I said, these may not be my favorite five cards, but by this unbiased ranking system, they're the five best airline cards on the market today. As you could see in the final rankings, any of these could be good.

[00:17:33]You're probably going to pick which one stands out most in your current situation. And I don't think you can go wrong with anything in the top five.

[00:17:40]Thanks for watching this one. And if you want to dive into any of my specific breakdowns of these cards or these families that they belong to, I'll throw two videos up in the screen that are going to be really helpful for those topics. Next,