2026 U.S. Premium Credit Card Comparison

Fully updated, with Bilt and Atmos Summit added; both are reasonably useful cards.

Overall Comparison

【Emphasizing again】If you can fully use the credits on each premium card, or use tips from this site or Knowledge Planet to cash out all of the credits, and the value you get is higher than the annual fees, then there is absolutely nothing wrong with holding multiple premium credit cards without overthinking it!

For people who do not have any premium cards yet, or who only want to hold 1-2 of them, I will also give an overall recommendation. That said, the rankings below are purely my personal opinion. Everyone values credits and benefits differently, so you can decide after reading the detailed discussion below.

Application difficulty: AMEX cards are relatively easier to get approved for, especially if you already have an AMEX card. Co-branded cards are easier to get approved for than AMEX’s own Platinum. The remaining cards are actually similar in difficulty: if you already have a decent total credit limit across your other cards, or you have a checking account or existing credit card with the corresponding bank, they are easier to get. The exception is Capital One Venture X: when you apply, check whether you have a pre-approval. If not, please do not blindly try your luck.

• AMEX Hilton Aspire<AMEX Marriott Bonvoy Brilliant<AMEX Platinum<BofA Premium Rewards Elite=Citi Strata Elite=Chase Sapphire Reserve

Bilt Palladium and BofA Atmos Rewards Summit are both relatively new, so for now I am not forcing them into the application-difficulty ranking. Summit in particular is a BofA card, so it is more appropriate to evaluate it according to BofA’s own application rules.

Value for the annual fee: Aspire has $400 in Hilton Resort credits and $200 in airline credits each year, totaling $600, which already exceeds the $550 annual fee, and it also comes with a free night certificate with no category restriction. If you would stay at Hilton Resorts anyway and fly every year, I think this is still one of the easiest premium cards to keep. Citi Strata Elite’s credits are also relatively easy to use; if you hold something like Citi Gold, after factoring in benefits and credits, you can even make the card effectively have a negative annual fee. AMEX Platinum’s annual fee looks scary, but if you go line by line and use all the credits, the return is actually very high. The downside is that it takes effort to track everything. For BofA Premium Rewards Elite, Capital One Venture X, and Marriott Bonvoy Brilliant, the fixed benefits can now basically push the actual cost of keeping the cards very low. Sapphire Reserve has many benefits on paper, but aside from the $300 travel credit, most of them are limited to specific merchants and split monthly or semiannually. Whether they can offset the $795 annual fee depends heavily on your personal spending habits.

• AMEX Hilton Aspire>Citi Strata Elite>AMEX Platinum>BofA Premium Rewards Elite=Capital One Venture X=AMEX Marriott Bonvoy Brilliant>Chase Sapphire Reserve

There are two special exceptions here. Bilt Palladium has a $495 annual fee, but it offers $400 in hotel credits and $200 in Bilt Cash each year. If you would use Bilt anyway, the fixed benefits can already cover the annual fee. BofA Atmos Rewards Summit has an annual fee of only $395 and gives a 25,000-point Global Companion Award each year. Based on our current valuation of Atmos Rewards at about 1.5c/p, that corresponds to up to roughly $375 in mileage value. If you would use Alaska or partner airlines to book two-person award tickets anyway, this card is also very easy to keep. However, both cards depend quite heavily on specific use cases, so I did not force them into the general ranking above.

Overall breadth: As a long-established premium card, AMEX Platinum still has an advantage among premium cards in airlines, hotels, and credits. Whether it is FHR or airport lounges, it is top-tier. Chase has expanded its own Sapphire Lounge network quickly in recent years, while Citi and Capital One also have their own premium hotel and lounge ecosystems, so the gap with AMEX has narrowed quite a bit compared with before. AMEX’s two hotel cards are actually very good if you specifically need those hotel chains, but their other benefits are just average.

• AMEX Platinum>Chase Sapphire Reserve=Citi Strata Elite>Capital One Venture X>BofA Premium Rewards Elite>AMEX Marriott Bonvoy Brilliant>AMEX Hilton Aspire

Bilt Palladium is actually fairly well-rounded too, with travel credits, Priority Pass, cell phone protection, points transfers, and rent and mortgage strategies. Atmos Rewards Summit is clearly more airline-focused: people who frequently fly Alaska or Hawaiian, or who often redeem on oneworld partners, will find it very useful, while its value drops a lot for people who do not fly those airlines. Overall, we prioritize recommending AMEX Platinum and Citi Strata Elite.

About Premium Credit Cards

Premium credit cards generally refer to cards with high annual fees, usually above $350. In addition to rewards on everyday spending, such high annual fees naturally need to come with high-quality benefits and perks, such as hotel elite status, airport lounge access, travel credits, and so on. These benefits often overlap, so holding one premium card long-term is usually enough. It is worth noting that although the annual fees are high, if you make full use of the various benefits, they can be even more cost-effective than holding a mid-tier card. This article compares the benefits and perks of various premium cards to help you choose. Note that while premium cards have high annual fees, various credits can make them worth the price. Read this article carefully, and you may find your first premium credit card. This article mainly analyzes the following common premium credit cards, which should be among the most worthwhile premium credit cards on the market to apply for and keep long-term.

• Chase Sapphire Reserve
• AMEX Platinum
• Citi Strata Elite
• Capital One Venture X
• Bilt Palladium
• BofA Premium Rewards Elite
• BofA Atmos Rewards Summit
• AMEX Hilton Aspire
• AMEX Marriott Bonvoy Brilliant

For some cards that cannot be applied for directly, we will also briefly comment on them, such as:

• Citi Prestige
• US Bank Altitude Reserve
• Chase Ritz-Carlton

Below, we will first give brief comments, then compare the cards by category. Since cardholders focus on different things, they may choose different premium credit cards. If you are interested in certain benefits, you can focus on those sections.

Brief Comments

For premium cards, cash back or points on spending, annual fees, and statement credits are the most basic pieces. A major feature of premium cards is that they often come with various credits or free night certificates. If you can use these benefits, the cost of holding the card—its effective annual fee—goes down, so there is no need to be scared off by a premium card’s annual fee. Do the math and you will know whether it is worth keeping. This article mainly recommends cards that are still relatively suitable for a broad audience to apply for, with fairly comprehensive benefits. If you are especially loyal to a specific airline or hotel program, you can look for the corresponding co-branded card. First, here is a summary table.

Card	Annual Fee	Credits	Benefits	Apply
Chase Sapphire Reserve	$795	$300 travel, $500 The Edit hotels, $300 dining, $300 StubHub, $300 DoorDash, $288 Apple TV + Apple Music, $120 Lyft	Priority Pass + Sapphire Lounge, Air Canada Lounge, primary rental car insurance	Apply
AMEX Platinum	$895	$600 hotels, $200 airline incidental fees, $200 Uber, $400 Resy, $300 Lululemon, $300 entertainment/media, $120 Uber One, up to $219 CLEAR+	Centurion Lounge + Priority Pass lounges and more, Marriott Gold, Hilton Gold, FHR, rental car elite benefits	Apply
Citi Strata Elite	$595	$300 hotels, $200 Splurge Credit, $200 Blacklane	Priority Pass, 4 AA Admirals Club Passes per year, travel insurance	Apply
BofA Premium Rewards Elite	$550	$300 airline incidental fees, $150 Lifestyle Credit	Up to 4 Priority Pass Select memberships, Visa Infinite hotel/rental car benefits, 20% discount on airfare booked with points	Apply
Capital One Venture X	$395	$300 Capital One Travel, plus 10,000 anniversary bonus points each year	Primary cardholder Priority Pass + Capital One Lounge, Hertz President's Circle, Premier Collection hotel benefits	Apply
Bilt Palladium	$495	$400 Bilt Travel hotels, $200 Bilt Cash each year	Priority Pass + 2 complimentary guests, Bilt airline and hotel transfer partners, cell phone insurance	Apply
AMEX Hilton Aspire	$550	$200 airfare, $400 Hilton Resort, annual Free Night Reward, up to $219 CLEAR+	Hilton Diamond, annual free-night certificate valid at most available standard rooms	Apply
AMEX Marriott Brilliant	$650	$300 restaurants, annual 85,000-point Free Night Award	Marriott Platinum Elite, Priority Pass, 25 Elite Night Credits each year	Apply
Detailed analysis: Premium Credit Card Comparison

Chase Sapphire Reserve

Chase Sapphire Reserve is a credit card with a $795 annual fee. This card earns 8x points on flights, hotels, car rentals, and activities booked through Chase Travel, and 4x when booked directly through airline or hotel websites. We estimate UR points to be worth 1.6c/p, so that is equivalent to 12.8% and 6.4% back, which is still very strong. In addition, this card comes with Priority Pass airport lounge access, including free access for the cardholder plus 2 guests, rental car insurance, and no foreign transaction fees (FTF) on purchases outside the U.S. Holding this card also lets you transfer UR points to airline miles such as United Airlines (UA), Air Canada, and British Airways (BA), or to Hyatt points. Award flights and hotel stays booked with points can sometimes be much cheaper than booking directly with cash. After the revamp, certain business-class flights or high-end hotels booked through Chase Travel can get up to 2c/p in value through Points Boost, but not every booking is automatically redeemed at a fixed 2c/p rate. The annual fee looks scary, but the card comes with more than $2,000 in various credits and subscription benefits. Among them, the $300 annual travel credit is very easy to use: buying flights or booking hotels with this card can trigger the credit automatically. The other credits are listed below. If you can use the big hotel credit, the rest of the benefits are basically upside.

• $500 Edit Credit (details): Up to $250 back per eligible prepaid hotel booking, up to $500 per year, with a minimum stay of at least two consecutive nights. Hotels in this category are generally not cheap, so you will likely still need to pay some money out of pocket.
• $300 Dining credit via Sapphire Reserve Tables, $150 every six months. A free nice meal.
• $300 StubHub credit via $150 semi-annually: use it yourself, or buy popular tickets and resell them.
• $300 DoorDash credit via $25/month: split into three pieces, $5 + $10 * 2, which is annoying, but it is usable.
• $120 DoorDash membership
• Apple TV + Apple Music: subscriptions are currently included directly, and Chase values them at about $300 per year.
• $120 Lyft credit $10/month: basically one ride credit each month; if you cannot use it, there is not much you can do.
• $120 Peloton credit, up to $10 per month; eligible Peloton equipment and accessory purchases also earn 10x.

The downside is that this card is subject to Chase 5/24, and the starting credit limit is relatively high. Applying for this card requires a $10,000 credit limit, so you need some credit history and income support. If you really cannot get approved outright, you can consider moving credit limit from another Chase card to reach $10,000 and then upgrading.

AMEX Platinum

AMEX Platinum is a charge card with an $895 annual fee. It earns 5x MR on flights booked directly with airlines or through AMEX Travel, and also 5x MR on prepaid hotels booked through AMEX Travel. In terms of benefits, it offers $200 in annual airline incidental fee credits, $200 Uber Cash, $120 Uber One, $600 Hotel Credit, $300 Lululemon credit, $400 Resy dining credit, $300 digital entertainment credit, $300 Equinox credit, up to $219 CLEAR+ credit, $200 Oura Ring Credit, and more. The Saks credit has been discontinued as of July 2026. If you would already use these benefits, their value far exceeds the annual fee. The downside is also obvious: the credits are very fragmented, and you have to remember to use them. For airport lounges, cardholders can access AMEX’s own lounges as well as Priority Pass and other lounges. The card also includes Marriott Gold status, Hilton Gold status, and Leaders Club Sterling status. For luxury hotels, AMEX has its signature FHR program with exclusive benefits. For car rentals, AMEX lets you purchase a very cost-effective rental car insurance option, and the claims process is very smooth and powerful. You can also now enroll for complimentary Hertz President's Circle status, Hertz’s highest tier. This card is one of the easiest premium cards to get approved for, especially for users who already have a relationship with AMEX; the application difficulty is usually not that high.

Citi Strata Elite

Citi Strata Elite is a credit card with a $595 annual fee. It earns 12x on hotels, car rentals, and activities booked through Citi Travel; 6x on flights; 6x at restaurants and on delivery on Friday and Saturday nights; 3x on dining at other times; and 1.5x on all other purchases. So it offers relatively high return rates across many travel-related categories. The card also has an annual $300 hotel credit, which requires booking at least two nights through Citi Travel; a $200 Splurge Credit that can be used at merchants such as AA; and a $200 Blacklane premium car service credit. For people with some travel needs, these credits can basically earn back the annual fee. In addition, the card provides Priority Pass membership, and the primary cardholder can bring two guests. It also includes 4 AA Admirals Club one-time passes for AA’s own airport lounges. If you are a Citi Gold Private client, the first-year annual fee is waived via a $595 credit; Gold and Gold Private clients receive a $145 annual fee discount each year. In terms of points, TYP can be transferred to AA miles, as well as Singapore Airlines, Avianca, and Air France, so all three major alliances are covered. The hotel partners are just average. Because of the addition of AA as a partner, the value of TYP has increased significantly to 1.5c/p, so the 12x on hotels booked through Citi Travel mentioned above is equivalent to 18% back! Very good. However, as a World Legend card, this card has a somewhat high threshold, with approved credit lines starting at $10,000.

Capital One Venture X

Capital One Venture X is a credit card with a $395 annual fee. This card gives a $300 travel credit each year, which must be used through Capital One Travel, and after paying the annual fee it also gives 10,000 anniversary miles. If you value the miles at only 1c/p for directly offsetting travel purchases, the effective annual fee is just -$5. Based on our current valuation of 1.3c/p, these 10,000 miles are worth about $130, making the effective annual fee about -$35. This card earns 2x miles on all purchases, 10x on hotels and car rentals booked through Capital One Travel, and 5x on flights and vacation rentals. The card’s miles can be transferred to airline miles, which creates some opportunity for additional value. In addition, the card includes Priority Pass and Capital One Lounge access, as well as Hertz President's Circle status. However, the lounge benefits were significantly reduced in February 2026. The Venture X primary card’s complimentary Priority Pass benefit now only covers the cardholder and no longer includes free guests; guests at Capital One’s own lounges also generally require a fee. Only after spending $75,000 per year on the card can you unlock complimentary guest access for 2 guests at Capital One Lounge and 1 guest at Capital One Landing. Authorized users also no longer automatically receive lounge benefits and must pay an additional fee to activate them. Capital One approvals are among the most unpredictable: people with high credit scores can still be denied, while people with lower scores may be approved. In short, it is best to check for pre-approval before applying. If you do not have a pre-approval, I personally do not recommend applying blindly; it is much more reliable to apply with a pre-approval.

Bilt Palladium

Bilt Palladium is a premium credit card with a $495 annual fee, and it is also the top-tier card in Bilt 2.0. All non-bonus purchases earn 2x Bilt Points, on top of Bilt’s own rent and mortgage features. Bilt has many transfer partners, including Hyatt, United, Alaska, and more. We currently value Bilt Points at 1.6 cents per point, so 2x is already equivalent to about 3.2% in value. This card offers up to $400 in Bilt Travel hotel credits each year, split as $200 every six months. You must book eligible hotels through Bilt Travel, and the stay must be at least two nights. In addition, it also has $200 in Bilt Cash each year. If you can use both benefits, that is already $600 in face-value benefits against a $495 annual fee. This card also comes with Priority Pass, with two complimentary guests; paying your cellphone bill with the card also provides cellphone insurance. Overall, this card does not have as many messy credits as the AMEX Platinum, and is instead relatively straightforward. If you are already using Bilt to pay rent or a mortgage, or you often transfer Bilt points, I think this card is worth including in comparisons of premium cards. Note that the $400 hotel credit has a two-night requirement, and the $200 Bilt Cash is not the same as $200 in cash, so you should not simply think of it as everyone being able to come out $105 ahead. If you are already in the Bilt ecosystem, these benefits can be very valuable; if you do not use Bilt at all, there is no need to force yourself into the card just for the credits.

Bank of America Premium Elite

BofA Premium Rewards Elite is a credit card with a $550 annual fee. It offers a $300 annual airline incidental credit and a $150 annual lifestyle credit. Both credits are easy to use, so the effective annual fee is only $100. The Priority Pass benefit on this card is also quite generous: one account can enroll up to 4 people as Priority Pass Select members for free, and those 4 people do not have to be authorized users on the credit card. The member and accompanying guests can use eligible Priority Pass lounges and airport experiences for free; what exactly is available depends on what is shown in the Priority Pass app. In terms of rewards on spending, this card is fairly average, and the points cannot be transferred to airline miles. The only decent redemption feature is a 20% discount when redeeming points for airfare.

BofA Atmos Rewards Summit

BofA Atmos Rewards Summit is a premium airline credit card with a $395 annual fee. This card clearly is not trying to offset the annual fee with a pile of lifestyle credits; instead, it concentrates its value on Atmos Rewards, Alaska/Hawaiian, and award tickets. The most important benefit is one 25,000-point Global Companion Award every cardmember anniversary. When two people use Atmos Rewards points to book the same itinerary, it can reduce the companion’s award ticket by up to 25,000 points. It can be used not only on Alaska and Hawaiian, but also on partner airlines, including business class and first class. If spending reaches $60,000 in a cardmember anniversary year, you can also earn another Global Companion Award worth up to 100,000 points. Based on our current valuation of Atmos Rewards at 1.5 cents per point, 25,000 points are worth about $375, so if you can use this companion award every year, it basically comes close to covering the $395 annual fee. For earning rates, Alaska Airlines, Hawaiian Airlines, dining, and eligible purchases outside the U.S. all earn 3x. The 3x on overseas purchases is quite rare. In addition, this card comes with 8 Alaska Lounge Day Passes each year, issued as 2 per quarter; 10,000 Atmos status points every cardmember anniversary; and 1 status point for every $2 spent on the card. It also includes benefits such as waived partner booking fees on award tickets, a free checked bag for the cardholder and up to 6 companions on the same reservation, and waived same-day flight change fees. So this card is very good for people who often fly Alaska/Hawaiian, or who heavily use Atmos Rewards to redeem partner airline awards; if you normally do not use Atmos Rewards at all, then it is not a general-purpose premium card.

AMEX Hilton Aspire

AMEX Hilton Aspire is a card with a $550 annual fee. Each year it offers up to $400 in Hilton Resort Credit, split as $200 every six months; it also has up to $200 in airline fee credits, split as $50 per quarter. It also gives one uncapped free night certificate every year, which can absolutely be used at Waldorf Astoria and Conrad hotels in popular travel cities. Based on our current conservative valuation of Hilton free night certificates at $350, if the $600 in credits and the free night certificate can all be used normally, that is equivalent to $950 in benefits against a $550 annual fee, for an effective annual fee of about -$400. It is still a case where the issuer is effectively paying for attention. This card earns Hilton points: 14x at Hilton hotels, 7x on airfare, dining, and car rentals, and 3x on other purchases. In addition, this card directly grants Hilton’s top-tier Diamond status, with top-level treatment such as room upgrades, lounge access, and dining benefits. This card no longer has Priority Pass benefits, so do not include airport lounge access in its value anymore. Like the AMEX Platinum, this card has a relatively low barrier to entry... there are even data points of people being approved without an SSN by using other identity verification methods.

AMEX Marriott Bonvoy Brilliant

AMEX Marriott Bonvoy Brilliant is a hotel co-branded card with a $650 annual fee. However, this card provides up to $300 in dining credits each year and an 85,000-point free night certificate. Based on our current valuation of Marriott points at 0.7 cents per point, and applying a 20% discount to the free night certificate, the conservative value of this certificate is about $475. That means the $300 dining credit plus the $475 free night certificate already exceed the $650 annual fee, for an effective annual fee of about -$125, though of course the premise is that the free night certificate can really be used for that value. In terms of points, it earns 6x at Marriott Bonvoy hotels, 3x on airfare purchased directly from airlines and at restaurants, and 2x on other purchases, which is fairly average. But this card directly grants Marriott Bonvoy Platinum status, which includes breakfast and lounge benefits, making the perks quite good. For airport lounges, this card also provides Priority Pass benefits, and it also comes with 25 Elite Night Credits each year.

Discontinued Cards

The following premium cards can no longer be applied for directly, but they can still be obtained in certain ways. If you are not fixated on a welcome bonus but really like these cards, you can read our guides on how to obtain and keep them long term.

• Citi Prestige is a credit card with a $495 annual fee. It earns 5x TYP on airfare, third-party travel booking sites, and dining; and 3x on hotel bookings and cruise purchases. This card provides a $250 travel credit every year, which is automatically applied after eligible purchases, effectively reducing the annual fee to $245. Another major feature is that when you use points or cash to book hotels through Citi Travel with this card, a three-night booking gets the fourth night free, up to 2 times per year, effectively making any hotel 25% off. This card also provides Priority Pass airport lounge access with the ability to bring two companions for free. This card can no longer be applied for directly; whether it can still be obtained through a Product Change from another Citi card depends on whether Citi’s system has that target product available at the time, so it is not guaranteed.
• US Bank Altitude Reserve: This is a credit card with a $400 annual fee, and it is no longer available for direct applications. It now earns 3x points on travel purchases and on the first $5,000 in mobile wallet spending each billing cycle; bookings through US Bank Travel earn 10x on hotels and 5x on flights. It also comes with a $325 annual US Bank Travel credit, so if you would have booked travel through US Bank’s own platform anyway, the effective annual fee is only $75. The biggest change to this card in 2026 is that it finally added points transfer functionality. Current transfer partners include Avianca LifeMiles at 1:1, Air France-KLM Flying Blue at 1:1, Qantas at 1:1, Ethiopian Airlines at 1:1, and Accor at 2:1, making the points much more flexible than simply redeeming them for travel at 1c/p. In addition, Priority Pass now includes 8 complimentary visits per year, and each entry by the primary cardholder or a guest counts as one visit.
• Chase Ritz-Carlton is a credit card with a $450 annual fee. This card offers up to $300 in annual airline incidental credits and one 85,000-point free night certificate each year. Using the same free night certificate valuation method we currently use, this certificate has a conservative value of about $475, so the airline credit and free night certificate alone already exceed the annual fee. This card earns Marriott points: 6x at Marriott-family hotels; 3x on flights purchased directly from airlines, car rentals, and dining; and 2x on other purchases. It also comes with Marriott Gold Elite status, which provides some benefits. For airport lounge access, this card also offers PPS benefits, and authorized users receive their own separate access with no authorized user annual fee. After January 15, 2026, both primary cardholders and authorized users can each bring up to two guests for free with Priority Pass. This card is no longer available to new applicants, but you can get it by upgrading from another Chase Marriott card.

Airline Benefits

For premium cards, a good flight experience is essential when traveling. The most useful benefit is airport lounge access.

• Chase Sapphire Reserve offers Priority Pass Select (PPS) airport lounge access, with complimentary access for the primary cardholder plus two companions. Authorized users can also receive their own separate PPS membership. Chase’s own Sapphire Lounge network has also grown to a meaningful size. The trip delay insurance trigger is 6 hours, which is also among the better tiers.
• AMEX Platinum also offers PPS, with complimentary access for the primary cardholder plus two companions. In addition to PPS lounges, the Platinum also provides access to its own Centurion Lounges. However, by default it no longer allows two guests for free; you must reach $75,000 in eligible spending in a calendar year to unlock the benefit of bringing two guests for free each time, otherwise guest access requires a fee. If you are flying on eligible Delta flights, you also get 10 Delta Sky Club Visits per year; spending $75,000 in a calendar year unlocks unlimited visits. The Platinum now also has trip delay insurance, triggered when an eligible round-trip itinerary is delayed by more than 6 hours, so the statement that “the Platinum has no delay insurance” is no longer true.
• Citi Prestige and Citi Strata Elite also offer PPS, with complimentary access for the primary cardholder plus two companions. Citi Strata Elite authorized users can also get PPS benefits, but authorized users have an annual fee.
• Capital One Venture X: The Priority Pass membership now included for the primary cardholder only covers the cardholder for free and no longer includes complimentary guests. Bringing guests to Capital One Lounges generally also requires a fee, and you must spend $75,000 per year to unlock some complimentary guest benefits. For family travel, this devaluation is still quite significant.
• Bilt Palladium: Includes Priority Pass, and the primary cardholder can bring two guests for free. For a $495 premium card, this is a fairly standard 1+2 setup.
• BofA Atmos Rewards Summit: This is not Priority Pass. Instead, it gives 8 Alaska Lounge Day Passes per year, 2 per quarter. Each pass can be used for multiple entries to Alaska Lounges on the same day and can include up to two accompanying children. If you mainly fly Alaska/Hawaiian, this benefit is more direct than a regular PPS membership.
• US Bank Altitude Reserve currently provides a total of 8 Priority Pass visits per year. Each entry by you or a guest counts as one visit, so one visit for a family of three would use 3 visits.
• Marriott Bonvoy Brilliant offers PPS.
• Chase Ritz-Carlton: Offers PPS. Authorized users can be added for free, and they also receive their own PPS membership; both primary cardholders and authorized users can currently bring two guests for free each time.

For trip delay insurance, we also have a dedicated article explaining the coverage on various cards, so we will not go into detail here.

• Best Credit Cards for Flight Delay Insurance [Fully Updated for 2025]

In addition, some credit cards provide extra airline benefits once annual spending reaches a certain level, such as the Chase Sapphire Reserve. The BofA Atmos Rewards Summit also falls into this category: it automatically gives 10,000 Atmos status points each year, and credit card spending also earns 1 status point per $2 spent; after spending $60,000, you can also receive a 100,000-point Global Companion Award. We will not expand on that here; you can find the details on the individual card review pages.

Hotel Benefits

For premium cards, the hotel experience is also indispensable. Elite status and luxury hotel benefits are must-haves too!

• Chase Sapphire Reserve: Its current luxury hotel program is called The Edit by Chase Travel. Similar to FHR, it offers benefits such as breakfast, hotel credits, room upgrades, and late checkout. Some eligible premium hotels with Points Boost can be redeemed at up to 2c/p in value. After spending enough each year, you can also receive IHG Diamond status as an additional benefit.
• AMEX Platinum includes Marriott Gold Elite status and Hilton Gold status. At many Hilton brands in the U.S., the benefit is now a daily food and beverage credit, while hotels overseas often still provide breakfast. AMEX’s signature FHR program for booking luxury hotels usually provides solid benefits, such as room upgrades, complimentary breakfast for two, a $100 hotel credit, guaranteed 4 p.m. late checkout, and more. After the update, it also added Leaders Club Sterling status. In addition, it now provides a $600 Hotel Credit each year, which can be used on eligible prepaid FHR or The Hotel Collection bookings.
• Citi Prestige’s biggest highlight is its fourth-night-free benefit, which can be used twice per year. Citi also has its own luxury hotel benefits.
• Citi Strata Elite: It offers a $300 annual hotel credit, requiring a booking of at least two nights through Citi Travel. Citi also has The Reserve by Citi Travel, where luxury hotel bookings can receive FHR-like benefits such as a $100 hotel credit, complimentary breakfast for two, room upgrades, early check-in, and late checkout.
• Bilt Palladium: It has a $400 annual Bilt Travel hotel credit, issued as $200 every six months, requiring a Bilt Travel booking with a stay of at least two nights. It does not directly provide elite status with major hotel groups, but Bilt Points themselves can be transferred to hotel partners such as Hyatt.
• US Bank Altitude Reserve: It now earns 10x points on hotel bookings through US Bank Travel, and the annual $325 travel credit also needs to be used through US Bank Travel. It is not as unique as before, but existing cardholders now have points transfer partners, so the overall points strategy is actually richer than it used to be.
• AMEX Hilton Aspire grants Hilton Diamond status, which makes it easier than Gold status to get top-tier elite benefits such as suite upgrades and executive lounge access. For dining, most U.S. brands provide a daily Food & Beverage Credit according to the rules, while many hotels overseas still provide breakfast. In addition, you get an annual free night certificate with no category cap and a $400 Hilton Resort Credit.
• Chase Ritz-Carlton: grants Marriott Gold status. Each year, you also get 3 Ritz-Carlton Club Level Upgrade Certificates, which can be used to upgrade eligible paid stays to Club Level, with each certificate covering up to 7 nights. If you book an eligible rate for a consecutive two-night stay at Ritz-Carlton or St. Regis, you can also receive a $100 hotel credit. The included 85,000-point free night certificate has a very broad range of uses, and it is still quite easy to redeem it for high value at tourist destinations.
• AMEX Marriott Bonvoy Brilliant: grants Marriott Platinum status, with breakfast and lounge benefits, and upgrades up to suites. If you book an eligible rate for a consecutive two-night stay at a Ritz-Carlton/St. Regis hotel, you can receive a $100 hotel credit. The included 85,000-point free night certificate also has a wide range of uses, and together with 25 Elite Night Credits each year, it is very practical for Marriott regulars.
• Capital One Venture X: offers an annual $300 travel credit for hotels booked through Capital One Travel. Premier Collection is not a fourth-night-free benefit; instead, each eligible hotel booking comes with a $100 Experience Credit, complimentary breakfast for two, complimentary Wi-Fi, and, subject to availability, room upgrades, early check-in, and late checkout.

Overall, for hotel benefits, my top pick is still the AMEX Platinum. Gold status in two major hotel programs plus FHR and a $600 Hotel Credit are still quite solid. Next, if you are loyal to a specific hotel group, the AMEX Hilton Aspire and AMEX Marriott Bonvoy Brilliant may be more direct: one gives Hilton Diamond, the other gives Marriott Platinum, and both cards come with an annual free night certificate. Bilt Palladium does not directly grant high-tier hotel elite status, but the $400 hotel credit is fairly practical, so it can be considered another approach.

Travel Benefits

Rental car benefits are another area where premium credit cards show their characteristics. Overall, rental car benefits vary by card, so you can choose based on your needs.

• Chase Sapphire Reserve provides primary rental car collision coverage, which is one of the more useful benefits among premium travel cards.
• AMEX Platinum does not include free primary rental car insurance, but you can purchase AMEX Premium Car Rental Protection separately. In addition, this card grants elite status with Avis, Hertz, and National Car Rental.
• Citi Prestige: no especially notable rental car elite status benefits.
• Citi Strata Elite: $200 in Blacklane chauffeur service credits each year, issued as $100 every six months, official website link
• US Bank Altitude Reserve still has Visa Infinite-related travel and rental car protections, but the parts of this card now more worth paying attention to are US Bank Travel, 3x on mobile wallet payments, and the newly added transfer partners.

In addition to rental cars, some cards also provide rideshare benefits.

• AMEX Platinum provides $200 in Uber Cash plus a $120 Uber One Credit each year
• Chase Sapphire Reserve provides a $10 monthly Lyft Credit, up to $120 per year
• Bilt Palladium can earn higher Bilt points back when used with Lyft, and Bilt Cash can also be used for certain Lyft purchases.

Authorized User Benefits

Authorized user benefits on premium credit cards should also have some substance.

• Chase Sapphire Reserve now charges a $195 annual fee for each authorized user card. Authorized users can have their own separate Priority Pass and access Chase Sapphire Lounge.
• AMEX Platinum currently charges $195 per year for each Additional Platinum Card on most accounts. Authorized users can receive their own Priority Pass, Centurion Lounge access, 10 Delta Sky Club Visits per year, and other premium travel benefits. For the small number of older accounts that have not yet migrated to the new fee structure, follow what your own account shows.
• Citi Prestige, Citi Strata Elite: Citi Strata Elite charges a $75 annual fee for each authorized user card, and eligible authorized users can also have their own Priority Pass.
• Capital One Venture X: regular authorized user cards no longer automatically receive lounge benefits. If you want an authorized user to access Capital One Lounges and participating Priority Pass lounges, you need to pay an additional $125 per year lounge benefits fee for that authorized user card.
• Chase Ritz-Carlton: authorized user cards have no annual fee. Authorized users can have their own separate Priority Pass, and each visit now includes two complimentary guests.
• BofA Premium Rewards Elite: this card’s Priority Pass benefit is more unusual. A single credit card account can register up to 4 people as Priority Pass members over the lifetime of the account, and those people do not have to be authorized users on the credit card.

Overall, for authorized user benefits, Chase Ritz-Carlton and BofA Premium Rewards Elite are still the standouts. Ritz-Carlton authorized user cards have no annual fee and include an independent PPS; BofA lets you directly register up to 4 people as PPS members.

How to Choose a Premium Credit Card

For me personally, the main things to consider are the following:

• Effective annual fee: if you can use these credits or hotel free night certificates, the effective annual fee can become negative, making it easy to hold multiple premium credit cards. Remember not to travel or spend specifically just to use a credit; otherwise, the banks may still push back against that behavior.
• Travel benefits: premium credit cards are still mainly far ahead in travel-related benefits. If you want a better flight experience and hotel stay experience, you can choose based on your travel habits. Even if some credits go unused, as long as you can truly use the travel benefits a few times, it is still very easy to get enough value to offset the annual fee.
• Welcome bonus: premium cards generally have very generous welcome bonuses. In the first year, it is usually not hard to break even when you include the welcome bonus. In the second year, look at your own usage and decide whether to keep, downgrade, or close the card. Many premium cards have downgrade paths, but not every card can be downgraded directly to a no-annual-fee version, so it is best to check the relevant product family in advance.

Other Premium Cards

• Citi AAdvantage Executive Credit Card: the annual fee has now risen to $695, and the core benefit is still Admirals Club membership. However, after the 2026 refresh, it added several credits including AA Vacations, AA purchases, Avis/Budget, and Lyft, as well as Omni hotel and Avis status. People who often fly AA can make use of it, but if you do not fly AA, there is still no need to force yourself to keep it just for these fragmented credits.
• AMEX Delta Reserve Card: The annual fee is $650. Its core value is Delta Sky Club access, the annual companion certificate, and helping you pursue Delta elite status. It now also has multiple credits for Delta Stays, Resy, rideshare, and more, so it is no longer a card with “no credits at all to offset the annual fee.” Overall, though, it is still better suited for people who fly Delta frequently.
• Chase United Club Infinite Card: The annual fee is now also $695. Its core value is United Club membership and two free checked bags, but after the refresh it also added quite a few travel, hotel, and mileage-related credits. If you often fly UA, this card is worth doing the math on; if you do not fly UA often, there is no need.

There are also some business cards, but I will not go into them here.