With my high personal savings rate and general thriftiness on things I find “not worthwhile”, some people assume that I sit at home all day with all the lights off, doing nothing but counting the pennies I save every day. Nothing could be further from the truth, and one of my favorite money spending activities is traveling. Although my wife and I have not finished our “bucket list” of various country/city visits due to the military way of life with TDYs, exercises, deployments, etc., we have been to quite a few places and hope to finish off that list by the end of my current OCONUS tour. While so many of my peers balk at the suggestion of staying a literal 2 minute walk from the Buckingham Palace, or at the Waldorf in Amsterdam or at Versailles, or any other fine lodging at the areas that get brought up, we are able to do just that.

The fact is, it is NOT prohibitively expensive to do these trips in style. And the secret? Credit cards.

Whether you are enlisted or commissioned, a ton of credit card companies want to do business with military folks. In today’s post I am going to bring up what I believe are the best military friendly credit cards to keep in your wallet. This is going to be a relatively basic post, so we will NOT be discussing any Manufactured Spending here or the like. I will also assume that you have fairly good credit (700+) to take advantage of the better cards out there. Lastly, full discretion, some of the following links will be with my referral code. I would greatly appreciate for you to use my referral codes if this write-up helps you out. Here we go then!

First of all, dismiss the idea in your brain that credit cards are bad. Credit card are NOT bad. Without even getting into the travel perks, most cards will offer you anywhere between 1.5-5% cash back on certain categories that you are just leaving on the table by paying with your debit card, or cash. So, first things first – get a credit card, use it responsibly, and pay it off every month.

As I mentioned, many credit card companies want military business. We have a safe income, we are more likely to pay off debts due to a higher likelihood of having a (top) secret clearance, and – let’s face it – there are plenty of people that just want to spend, spend, spend the moment they get a paycheck and those companies want in on that action and the high interest rates that follow should one not pay off those monthly statements. But you? You’re smarter than that! That’s why you’re here, right?

Because of the government trying to stop predatory lending for military members, they passed a couple things called the the Service Members Civil Relief Act (SCRA) as well as the Military Lending Act (MLA). Both of these give protection to uniformed members and in some cases their spouses from various lending related issues. More importantly, many credit card companies have gone above and beyond with both of these measures and fully WAIVE annual fees for credit cards – with some of them also lowering the APR of the card as well. The following credit companies are currently known to do so with a little more info on each:

Chase

As of September 2017, due to Chase’s interpretation of the Military Lending Act, they will waive all card annual fees for active duty member’s accounts started after this date. They will also waive fees for spouses in many cases (but not always). Chase is fairly stringent on new accounts, so if you have more than 5 credit cards in the last 2 years (known as the 5/24 rule), you will get denied. This is why this one is our first stop and we will start talking about the Chase Sapphire line.

The “baby” card is the regular Chase Sapphire Preferred (CSP). The only reason to get this card over the below is the slightly higher bonus point offering. The 60,000 points are claimed by Chase to be worth up to $750 towards travel as the CSP redemption values are 1 point = 1.25 cents

Conversely, the next card we discuss – the Chase Sapphire Reserve (or CSR) – offers only 50,000 points, but their redemption values are 1 point = 1.5 cents, so you effectively still get $750 value towards travel. You will also get 3x points on dining instead of 2, and other non-immediate financial benefits you can find out about more in the links above. Unless you know for sure you will not do any traveling on the year (or other qualifying expenses to take advantage of the $300) or eat out much to take advantage of the 3x points, this choice is an obvious one. The only times I can see the CSP being better is if you’re at a 365 where you are not able to leave the base for the duration.

Overall, the CSR is one of the best travel/dining cards out there, and it’s even better for us military folks due to a waiving of the annual fee which clocks in at a whopping $550/year. To recap, the $300 travel credit on ANY travel related expense every year is instantly refunded, you get unlimited airport lounge access, no foreign transaction fees, and 3x points on dining and travel, which can be redeemed for MORE travel (or cashed out for lower valuations). At the worst case it is at least a free $300/year credit towards travel!

Up next we have the hotel cards. These are your Hyatt, IHG, and Marriott/Bonvoy cards. They’re all pretty similar in that they give you one free night per year with some restrictions on the category of the hotel and some other criteria. They all also give you some level of status with the associated hotel group. If you are using all three, you can fly into one city, and bounce around from one place to the next, and fly out on the 4th day with your lodging all paid for. Pair that with a friend that can do the same, or your spouse, and that’s up to 6 nights stay per year. On top of the above $300 credit!

Lastly, I want to give a shout out to the Southwest card. If you fly Southwest a lot, 100 flights get you a current and next year companion pass. Alternatively, if you have a business, or friends with a business, or any way to get to 125,000 qualifying points in a year to include buying gift cards, or whatever else, that will ALSO earn you a companion pass. You can pair that WITH the bonus points that is offered by the card, so you really only need to find ~50,000 points the first year for this perk. This can be a HUGE travel benefit and one that I will definitely be taking advantage of should I find myself in a location that SW serves after my current OCONUS tour. They also provide you with bonus annual points, $75 annual SW travel credit, and 4 auto upgrades if they are available. Not bad.

American Express

Next up we have AMEX. Fees are waived for Service Members and spouses on Personal cards only as of 2020. Accounts are maxed at 5 personal credit cards (no limit as of now on charge cards such as the Green/Gold/Platinum cards). You can only get a welcome bonus one time per card.

The obvious one that gets brought up by everyone is the AMEX Platinum card. Right now, they are offering 60,000 points after meeting minimum spending. Some people will ONLY get and use this card. These people are WRONG. The platinum is a GREAT card, but it offers very little day to day besides a 5x point bonus on flights and hotels booked through the AMEX portal. Sometimes this is a great deal, while other times you will end up spending more money just chasing points. There are also many co-branded Plat cards such as the Charles Schwab card, that will allow you to cash out your points for 1.25 cents/point into your investment account.

The main benefits, in no particular order:

Lounge access similar to the CSR above, however they also have their very own Centurion lounges at select airports. These are a huge step up over regular lounges through the Priority Pass program. AMEX also has $50 Saks Ave (not off fifth) credit every 6 months. You can pair this with their clearance items online, or if you have access to a physical store location, can buy $50 gift cards every 6 months and save them for a larger purchase. Also, you have your Uber credits – which unfortunately for us OCONUS people, are only valid in the US – of $15/mo with an extra $20 in December. Airline incidental fees (of your choice of airline for the calendar year) of $200, even though the have unfortunately closed the loophole of being able to buy gift cards with this $200, but you can still enjoy drinks, food, and even seat upgrades. You also get status levels with Hilton and Marriott for at least free breakfasts as well as an on call 24/7 concierge that will help you make bookings and reservations (just had them get me very hard to get reservation for a particular restaurant!). Lastly, there are special perks for luxury hotels, cruise lines, an additional year of warranty on all purchases, and a 90 day theft/breakage protection for purchases also.

Up next, the Hilton Aspire. One of my favorite cards. In fact, I have TWO of these cards (not counting the wife’s #3!). As of writing this, they are offering 150,000 points after hitting the minimum spending – which is fairly high for them. There is SOME overlap with benefits like the regular Priority Pass lounge access. You also get an additional $250 credit in airline fees. Trip delay/cancellation insurance, and the extended warranty bit. Instead of the 5x travel/hotel points, you get 14x points on any Hilton purchase with the card and 7x points for using the AMEX travel site, restaurants, and some car rental agencies. Keep in mind that the points you get ARE different. The Platinum card gives you AMEX reward points while the Hilton card will give you Hilton specific points.

In addition to the above you get a lot of Hilton specific perks. Instead of the gold, you get the diamond status which gives you access to their executive lounge, 48 hour booking room guarantee, better wifi, better room upgrades, and extra bonus points on all stays. You also get $100 credit when you stay 2 nights at any Waldorf or Conrad resort property booked through the card. Additionally, you get a one night free coupon every card anniversary, which can be used at even their top level properties. Lastly, you get $250 credits every year to stay at any Hilton resort. This can be used on room rates as well as restaurants that are considered part of the resort.

To give an example of the above bit, my wife and I went to Malta last December. We stayed 3 nights through the use of 2 cards and got all that returned. We were also upgraded to a 1 bedroom suite upon arrival. We had phenomenal breakfast for free through our status as well as free drinks and snacks in the lounge in the afternoon. The hotel also featured a Thai restaurant that was absolutely phenomenal – which was also covered through our resort credit – as well as a nice lounge restaurant, and yet another restaurant that focused on seafood. Overall, we spent roughly $1400 on round trip travel, lodging, food, and entertainment on the island. After the credits hit, we were on the hook for $360. How? The travel, to include airfare and island rides were a total of $330 and were mostly refunded by my CSRs $300/year credit. The hotel room rate was $170/night, and the restaurants cost us $370 total for the three very nice dinners that we had. Our three Aspires picked up all of those expenses sans $160 or so. We also bought tickets to see the Cirque du Soleil show that ran us the extra $200.

In addition to the above perks, I planned on staying at the Waldorf in Amsterdam this spring, but of course the military struck again (well before COVID was even getting mentioned) and sent me out for a deployment. No problem, we’ll spend 3 nights in a Waldorf castle like property in Rome come September or so to make up for it!

Following the Hilton, AMEX also has their own Marriott/Bonvoy card offering. As this is a relatively new card, I actually do not have one, but it is on the list for my wife. This one is like the Chase card, but on steroids. You get gold status instead of silver. You get a free night right away instead of waiting for a year. You also get $300 in credits every year towards Marriott properties! Similarly to the Hilton Aspire, you get $100 spending credit if you stay at their top-line properties like the St Regis and Ritz hotels

Next, let’s talk about the AMEX Delta card. There is only one reason this card is in my wallet, and that’s the companion pass for any domestic flight, to include first class seats. It’s also transferable to your friends or family members. So if, for example, your Delta flight costs $500, your S/O, friend, or whoever else can sit next to you for just a few cents of covering the same taxes and fees. Alternatively, if your friends or family want to come visit you at your duty station, you can gift them the companion code and they can save some money (or just pay you back the amount). You do also get things like a free checked bag, but that wouldn’t be too applicable for us since military usually gets free bags 9/10 times anyways.

Lastly, the Blue Cash Preferred. Super basic, but has the best return on groceries and gas (outside of special “quarterly category” nonsense). You simply get 6% cash back on all grocery coded purchases up to $6000/year as well as various streaming services and 3% back on gas and transit purchases. Yes, the commissary does count as a grocery store!

CitiBank

Although Citi has been the GTC vendor for years, they just recently started waiving fees under SCRA and MLA. Unless you are churning bonuses, they only have one good long-term benefit card as of now.

Enter the Citi Prestige. It’s basically a CSR-lite. Instead of $300, you get $250 credit and if you go through their travel website, you get 2 free “4th night” stays at hotels a year. Same priority pass lounges, but this one also gives phone insurance for free if you are paying for your plan with this card!

USBank

Similar to Citi, these guys have only recently started waiving fees under SCRA and MLA for active duty as well. Also, similar to Citi, they only have one really solid card offer. Unlike the above companies, you have to have a USBank account opened up before applying to any of their cards.

The US Bank Altitude Reserve. Also similar to the CSR, although this one gives you back $325 in travel credits every year. It also offers 5x points on travel purchases made through their website and 3x on mobile wallet purchases.

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So there you have it. The all encompassing list of the best military credit cards. All in all, you can’t go wrong with any of the above and can easily get into a position of over $2000 in annual credits (before counting the cost of the free nights at the hotel cards) with a combination of these cards. Add in a spouse and you’re looking at $4000 a year just for travel! I would also highly recommend getting these cards when you are able to hit the bonus categories to take advantage of the welcome point offers, but it is not as necessary if you’re getting them for the long term.

Make sure you take advantage!

-Art