Update: Some offers mentioned below may have changed or are no longer available. View current credit card offerings from our partners at CardCritics here on the issuer’s website.

                By                    Gabrielle Olya

Our Top Airline Card

Best Airline Credit Cards 2021

Keep reading to see the rest of the Best Airline Credit Cards of 2021.

Delta SkyMiles Platinum American Express Card

Benefits

  • Earn 3x miles on Delta purchases and hotels and 2x miles on restaurants and supermarkets
  • No foreign transaction fees
  • A host of other perks including fee credit for Global Entry or TSA PreCheck, first checked bag free, priority boarding and more
  • Fly to 300 destinations with Delta

Drawbacks

  • This card has a $250 annual fee

Key Features

  • 3x miles per dollar on Delta purchases
  • 3x miles per dollar at hotels
  • 2x miles per dollar at restaurants
  • 2x miles at US supermarkets
  • 1x miles on all other eligible purchases

Sign-Up Bonus

  • Earn 90,000 bonus miles and 10,000 Medallion  Qualification Miles (MQMs) after you make $3,000 in  purchases on your new Card in the first 3 months. Offer ends 11/10/2021.

Destinations

Misc. Travel Benefits

  • $39 Delta Sky Club Access per visit/per person
  • 20% back on in-flight purchases
  • Fee credit for Global Entry or TSA PreCheck®
  • First checked bag free
  • Priority boarding
  • Status boost after $25,000 and $50,000 eligible purchases

How To Get This Card

Annual Fee

APR

Foreign Transaction Fees

2019 Enplaned Passengers

Chase United QuestSM Card

Key Benefits

  • 3x miles per dollar spent on United purchases

  • 2x miles per dollar spent on all other travel

  • 2x miles per dollar spent on dining

  • 2x miles per dollar spent on select streaming services

  • 1x miles on all other purchases

  • Earn 80,000 bonus miles after you spend $5,000 on purchases in the first 3 months your account is open.

  • Two 5,000-mile anniversary award flight credits

  • Free first and second checked bags

  • Global Entry or TSA PreCheck® fee credit

  • Priority boarding

  • 25% back on United inflight purchases

  • Earn 500 PQP (status update points) for every $12,000 you spend on purchases

  • Receive complimentary cardmember benefits at luxury hotels and resorts worldwide

On Chase’s site

Chase UnitedSM Explorer Card

  • 2x miles per dollar spent on United purchases

  • 2x miles per dollar spent on dining

  • 2x miles per dollar spent on hotel stays when booked with the hotel

  • 1x miles per dollar spent on all other purchases

  • Earn 40,000 bonus miles after you spend $2,000 on purchases in the first 3 months your account is open

  • 2 United Club one-time passes per year

  • Free first checked bag

  • Priority boarding

  • Global Entry or TSA PreCheck® fee credit

  • 25% back on United inflight purchases

  • Earn 500 PQP (status update points) for every $12,000 you spend

  • Receive complimentary cardmember benefits at luxury hotels and resorts worldwide

Delta SkyMiles Gold American Express Card

  • 2x miles per dollar at restaurants

  • 2x miles per dollar at US supermarkets

  • 2x miles on Delta purchases

  • 1x miles on all other eligible purchases

  • Earn 70,000 bonus miles after you make $2,000 in purchases on your new Card within your first 3  months. Offer ends 11/10/2021

  • $100 Delta flight credit, after $10,000 spent in first year

  • 20% back on in-flight purchases

  • First checked bag free

  • Priority boarding

On Delta’s site

First Bankcard Sun Country Airlines® Visa Signature® Card

  • 3x miles per dollar spent on Sun Country purchases

  • 2x miles per dollar spent on gas

  • 2x miles per dollar spent on groceries

  • 1x miles per dollar spent on all other purchases

  • Earn 35,000 miles when you spend $1,500 or more in the first three months

  • 1 free premium drink per flight

  • 50% off seat selections & first bag

  • Priority boarding on Sun Country flights

  • 10,000 point anniversary bonus when you spend $10,000 in a year

On Sun Country’s site

Chase United ClubSM Infinite Card

  • 4x miles per dollar spent on United purchases

  • 2x miles per dollar spent on all other travel

  • 2x miles per dollar spent on dining

  • 1x miles per dollar spent on all other purchases

  • Earn 75,000 bonus miles after you spend $3,000 on purchases in the first 3 months

  • United Club membership

  • Free first and second checked bags

  • Premier Access® travel services

  • Global Entry or TSA PreCheck® fee credit

  • 25% back on United inflight purchases

  • Earn 500 PQP (status update points) for every $12,000 you spend on purchases

  • Receive complimentary cardmember benefits at luxury hotels and resorts worldwide

Chase United GatewaySM Card

  • 2x miles per dollar spent on United purchases

  • 2x miles per dollar spent at gas stations

  • 2x miles per dollar spent on local transit and commuting

  • 1x miles per dollar spent on all other purchases

  • 15,000 bonus miles after you spend $1,000 on purchases in the first 3 months

  • 25% back on food, beverage and Wi-Fi purchases onboard United

  • Receive complimentary cardmember benefits at luxury hotels and resorts worldwide.

Barclays AAdvantage® Aviator® Red World Elite Mastercard®

  • 2x miles per dollar spent on American Airlines purchases

  • 1x miles per dollar spent on all other purchases

  • Earn 60,000 miles after a Net Purchase is made within the first 90 days, as well as the annual fee

  • Up to $25 back as statement credits on inflight Wi-Fi purchases

  • Anniversary Companion Certificate

  • Receive 25% inflight savings as statement credits on food and beverages

  • First checked bag free

  • Preferred boarding

  • Round up your purchases to the nearest dollar so you can get more AAdvantage® miles

On Barclays’ site

Chase Southwest Rapid Rewards® Priority Credit Card

  • 3x miles per dollar on dining (first year only)

  • 2x miles per dollar spent on Southwest purchases

  • 1x miles per dollar spent on all other purchases

  • Earn 40,000 points after you spend $1,000 on purchases in the first 3 months

  • 7,500 anniversary points each year

  • $75 Southwest annual travel credit

  • 4 Upgraded Boardings per year when available

Chase Southwest Rapid Rewards® Premier Credit Card

  • 6,000 anniversary points each year

  • Unlike many generic travel rewards cards, airline cards are tied to specific airlines. As a result, you can’t transfer miles between airlines. However, there’s one workaround: You can often use one airline’s miles to book reward flights on another carrier in the same airline alliance. For example, you can use United Airlines miles to book reward flights with fellow Star Alliance member Lufthansa.

  • Airline credit cards can award impressive bonuses in different areas. The JetBlue Plus Card from Barclays, for example, grants six points per $1 spent on JetBlue purchases, which is an outstanding earnings rate. When it comes to sign-up bonuses, the Chase United Quest Card provides $1,000 in value. The Delta SkyMiles Reserve American Express Card offers a high number of different travel perks, with a total of nine benefits.

  • Getting approved for an airline credit card depends on a number of factors. In most cases, you’ll face the best chances for approval if you have a good credit score of at least 720. However, customers with credit scores in the mid-600s have also reported getting approved for various cards. Your chances for approval for any card will go up if you always pay your bills on time and keep your outstanding balances and credit utilization low. Some credit card issuers, including Discover, let you enter basic information to see if you are prequalified for any of their cards.

  • You should only get a credit card if you can handle your finances responsibly. Even the best airline rewards credit cards will be detrimental to your overall financial condition if you end up paying 15% or more in monthly interest charges. That being said, many customers – particularly flyers who are loyal to a particular airline – can benefit from the freebies offered by airline credit cards. Between the sign-up bonuses and rewards categories that provide additional miles, frequent flyers can earn rewards toward free airfare, even in premium cabins like business and first-class. But, if you’re more of a general traveler who will fly on whichever airline offers the cheapest fare, you might be better off with a travel rewards card that isn’t tied to a particular airline.

  • Although individual card promotions are subject to change at any time, you usually can’t earn points or miles for a balance transfer from a different credit card. Unlike purchases, balance transfers don’t generate any interchange fees for card issuers, so the only benefit you’re likely to receive is a promotional balance transfer APR.

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John Csiszar contributed to the reporting for this article.

Last updated: Oct. 19, 2021