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I frequently hear from people who want to earn travel rewards from their credit cards but are strongly against paying annual fees. For some,...

Best No-Annual-Fee Credit Cards That Earn Transferable Points for Travel

I frequently hear from people who want to earn travel rewards from their credit cards but are strongly against paying annual fees. For some, the opposition is justified by their modest spending, and others simply refuse to pay on principle. Thankfully, there are several credit cards that don’t chard an annual fee and also offer travel rewards that you can transfer to travel partners, including airline and hotel loyalty programs.

2 Types of No-Annual-Fee Cards That Earn Flexible Points

The first kind of no-annual fee cards that feature transferable (often called “flexible”) travel rewards are ones that do so on a stand-alone basis. If you absolutely refuse to pay an annual fee to use any credit card, but you still want the option of transferring your rewards to airline or hotel loyalty programs, you need a card that can do that without you needing to pair it with another card that does have an annual fee.

Then there are no-annual-fee cards that offer rewards that can be transferred to airline and hotel programs, but only in combination with another card that has an annual fee and is part of the same rewards program. We’ll take a look at both types of no-annual-fee rewards cards below.

Stand-alone Cards With Transferable Points and No Annual Fee

Amex EveryDay® Credit Card from American Express

Current bonus: 10,000 Membership Rewards points after you spend $1,000 within three months of account opening

Promotional financing offer: 15 months of 0% APR on new purchases and balance transfers, with no balance transfer fee (then a variable rate of 15.24% to 26.24%)

Rewards from spending: 2x at US supermarkets (on up to $6,000 per year) and 1x points on all other purchases; 20% points bonus when you make 20 transactions during a statement period

Other benefits: Purchase protection, price protection and a free ShopRunner subscription

You can transfer the Amex Membership Rewards points you earn with this card to 18 airline partners, including Air Canada Aeroplan, Delta and Etihad Guest, and three hotel programs (Choice Privileges, Hilton Honors and Marriott Bonvoy).

The information for the Amex EveryDay® Credit Card has been collected independently by The Points Guy.. The card details on this page have not been reviewed or provided by the card issuer.

Capital One VentureOne Rewards Credit Card

(Photo by Eden Batki / The Points Guy)
(Photo by Eden Batki / The Points Guy)

 

Current bonus: 20,000 Capital One miles after you spend $1,000 on purchases within three months of account opening

Promotional financing offer: 12 months of 0% APR on new purchases (then a variable rate of 14.24%-24.24%)

Rewards from spending: 1.25 Capital One miles per dollar spent on all purchases and 10x Capital One miles on reservations made at Hotels.com/Venture through January 2020

Other benefits: Extended warranty coverage and no foreign-transaction fees

Capital One only recently got into the transferable points game, adding airline transfer partners in late 2018. You can move your Capital One miles to 14 airline programs, including Air Canada Aeroplan, Etihad Guest and Singapore KrisFlyer.

Capital One Spark Miles Select for Business

(Photo by Isabelle Raphael/The Points Guy)
(Photo by Isabelle Raphael/The Points Guy)

 

Current bonus: 20,000 Capital One miles after you spend $3,000 on purchases within three months of account opening

Promotional financing offer: 9 months of 0% APR on new purchases (then a variable rate of 15.24%-23.24%)

Rewards from spending: 1.5 Capital One miles per dollar spent on all purchases

Other benefits: Purchase protection, extended warranty coverage, lost luggage reimbursement, price protection and no foreign-transaction fees

The Blue Business℠ Plus Credit Card from American Express

Current Bonus: None

Promotional financing offer: 12 months of 0% APR on new purchases and balance transfers, with a $5 or 3% balance transfer fee, whichever is greater (after 12 months, a variable rate of 15.49%, 18.49% or 21.49%; see rates & fees)

Rewards from spending: 2x Membership Rewards points on up to $50,000 spent each year and 1x afterwards

Other benefits: Extended warranty and purchase protection

Cards With No Annual Fee That Transferable Points in Combination With Other Cards

While you can’t use the cards below to transfer rewards to airline or hotel loyalty programs, you can earn rewards that can be transferred when you have another card in the same rewards program. These no-annual-fee cards can be a great choice for several reasons.

First, some of these cards have unique category bonuses which you can use to complement another card that earn transferable points. With Chase cards, you can transfer your Ultimate Rewards points to another household member. The Citi ThankYou Rewards program allows you to transfer points to anyone.

You could also start earning rewards with one of these no-annual-fee cards below, with the intention of upgrading the card or complementing it later. Finally, all of these cards can help you to retain your points balance that you earned from other cards that you may wish to cancel.

Chase Freedom

Current bonus: $150 (15,000 Ultimate Rewards points) after you spend $500 within three months of account opening

Promotional financing offer: 15 months of 0% APR on new purchases and balance transfers, with a $5 or 3% balance transfer fee, whichever is greater (after 15 months, a variable rate of 17.24%-25.99%)

Rewards from spending: 5% cash back (5x Ultimate Rewards points) on up to $1,500 spent each quarter at featured merchants and spending categories (after enrollment) and 1% back elsewhere

Other benefits: Purchase protection and extended warranty coverage

Works with: Chase Sapphire Preferred Card, Chase Sapphire Reserve and Ink Business Preferred Credit Card

You can transfer Chase Ultimate Rewards points to 9 airline partners, including British Airways, United and Singapore, and 3 hotel partners (Hyatt, IHG and Marriott).

Chase Freedom Unlimited

Current bonus: 3% cash back (or 3x Ultimate Rewards points) in the first year on up to $20,000; then 1.5% cash back

Promotional financing offer: 15 months of 0% APR on new purchases and balance transfers, with a $5 or 3% balance transfer fee, whichever is greater (after 15 months, a variable rate of 17.24%-25.99%)

Rewards from spending: 1.5% cash back (1.5x Ultimate Rewards points) on all purchases with no limits

Other benefits: Purchase protection and extended warranty coverage

Works with: Chase Sapphire Preferred, Chase Sapphire Reserve and Ink Business Preferred

Ink Business Unlimited Credit Card

Current bonus: $500 (50,000 Ultimate Rewards points) after you spend $3,000 within three months of account opening

Promotional financing offer: 12 months of 0% APR on new purchases (after 12 months, a variable rate of 15.49%-21.49%)

Rewards from spending: 1.5% cash back (1.5 Ultimate Rewards points) on all purchases with no limits

Other benefits: Purchase protection and extended warranty coverage

Works with: Sapphire Preferred, Sapphire Reserve and Ink Business Preferred

Ink Business Cash Credit Card

(Photo by Eric Helgas for The Points Guy)
(Photo by Eric Helgas for The Points Guy)

 

Current bonus: $500 (50,000 Ultimate Rewards points) after you spend $3,000 within three months of account opening

Promotional financing offer: 12 months of 0% APR on new purchases (then a variable rate of 15.49%-21.49%)

Rewards from spending: 5% cash back (5x Ultimate Rewards points) on the first $25,000 spent in combined purchases at office supply stores and on internet, cable and phone services each account anniversary year; 2% cash back on the first $25,000 spent in combined purchases at gas stations and restaurants each account anniversary year and 1% on all other purchases

Other benefits: Purchase protection and extended warranty coverage

Works with: Sapphire Preferred, Sapphire Reserve and Ink Business Preferred

Citi Rewards+ Card

Current bonus: 15,000 ThankYou points after you spend $1,000 within three months of account opening

Promotional financing offer: 12 months of 0% APR on new purchases and balance transfers, with a $5 or 3% balance transfer fee, whichever is greater (after 12 months, a variable rate of 15.74%-25.74%)

Rewards from spending: 2x at supermarkets and gas stations on your first $6,000 spent per year; then 1x and 1x elsewhere. Round up to the nearest 10 points on every purchase; receive 10% points back on up to 100,000 points you redeem per year

Other benefits: Citi Private Pass and Citi Price Rewind

Works with: Citi Premier Card and Citi Prestige Card

You can transfer Citi points to 15 airline partners, including JetBlue, Thai Airways and Virgin Atlantic.

Citi Rewards+ Student Card

Current bonus: 2,500 ThankYou points after you spend $500 within three months of account opening

Promotional financing offer: 7 months of 0% APR on new purchases (then a variable rate of 16.74%-26.74%)

Rewards from spending: 2x at supermarkets and gas stations on your first $6,000 spent per year; then 1x and 1x elsewhere. Round up to the nearest 10 points on every purchase; receive 10% points back on up to 100,000 points you redeem per year

Other benefits: Citi Private Pass and Citi Price Rewind

Works with: Citi Premier and Citi Prestige

AT&T Access Card From Citi

Current bonus: 10,000 ThankYou points after you spend $1,000 within three months of account opening

Promotional financing offer: None

Rewards from spending: Earn 2 points for every dollar spent on purchases made online at eligible retail and travel websites; 2 points for every dollar spent on products and services purchased directly from AT&T and 1x elsewhere

Other benefits: Citi Private Pass and Citi Price Rewind

Works with: Citi Premier and Citi Prestige

For rates & fees of the Blue Business Plus Card, click here.

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