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Best credit cards for Airbnb
Many of us are avoiding travel during the pandemic.
But if you have to shelter in place under quarantine once you get to your destination, wouldnât you rather do it in an environment that at least seems more within your control?
If the choice is between a hotel where you must trust your experience to a faceless corporation or a local host you can talk to through homestay sites like Airbnb and Vrbo, the latter may be the better option for these times (provided you donât violate their party guidelines).
Whatever option you choose, credit card issuers now reward homestays with points and cash back in the same way theyâve long doled out rewards for hotels and other travel expenses.
These are the best cards on the market for homestays like Airbnb.
See related: Strategies for planning 2021 travel
Wells Fargo Propel American Express® card: Best no-annual-fee, high rewards option
Wells Fargo Propel American Express® card: Best no-annual-fee, high rewards option
The Wells Fargo Propel American Express card includes arguably one of the highest rates of return on points for some of the most popular redemption categories out there, including homestays like Airbnb and Vrbo.
The greatest advantages of this card â besides earning 3 points per dollar spent on some popular spending categories â are that thereâs no point limit or expiration, no annual fee and no rotating categories that you constantly have to remind yourself to activate. You get three times the points in the relevant categories all the time without restriction, with travel â including all homestays â and transit being one of those prominent categories.
The card also charges no foreign currency conversion fee, so buying things abroad is less expensive. If that werenât enough, hereâs what you also get:
- 3 points per dollar spent on travel and transit purchases
- 3 points per dollar spent on eating out and ordering in
- 3 points per dollar spent on gas and rideshares
- 3 points per dollar spent on select streaming services such as Hulu, Netflix, Sirius XM and Spotify Premium
- 1 point per dollar spent everywhere else
- No annual fee
- No points limit or expiration
- Premium access to presale tickets, offers and protections from American Express
- 20,000 points when you spend $1,000 in the first three months
ProudMoney.
Chase Sapphire Reserve: Best introductory bonus
Before the Wells Fargo Propel card debuted, Chase Sapphire Reserve was the go-to credit card option for Airbnb fans. It offers a 50,000-point introductory bonus when you spend $4,000 in your first three months of membership. Those points are worth up to $750 when you book travel through Chase Ultimate Rewards.
Though equipped with fewer spending categories offering 3X points and carrying a large annual fee of $550, the benefits of the Chase Sapphire Reserve card are more specifically geared toward frequent travelers.
At the same time, that large annual fee is offset by a $300 annual credit that will reimburse any travel expense â including Airbnb. And from June 1, 2020, to June 30, 2021, gas station and grocery store purchases count toward the travel credit.
Add to that a $100 credit covering the application to Global Entry/TSA Precheck every four years and the annual fee is almost completely offset in the first year.
Meanwhile, there are even more travel benefits:
- 50,000 bonus points after you spend $4,000 in the first three months (worth up to $750 in travel)
- 3 points per dollar spent on travel (excluding purchases covered by the $300 travel credit)
- 3 points per dollar spent on dining (including delivery and takeout) and travel; $1,000 in grocery purchases, including eligible pick-up and delivery services, from Nov. 1, 2020 to April 30, 2021
- Complimentary airport lounge access through Priority Pass Select Membership
- Trip cancellation/interruption insurance
- Primary car rental insurance
- Lost luggage reimbursement
Bank of America® Premium Rewards® credit card: Best for bonus rewards
While the points per dollar offered by Bank of America Premium Rewards credit card on travel and Airbnb are fewer than the credit cards above, the sign-up bonus and up to $200 in annual statement credits make it a decent option, even with less flexibility on what qualifies as a credit than the credit cards above.
This card should absolutely move to the top of your list if you are already a Bank of America Preferred Rewards client. That designation automatically increases your return even higher than what the other credit cards above offer on travel and dining â you can get a rewards bonus of up to 75%.
Combine that with a generous sign-up bonus and the Bank of America Premium Rewards is one of the most potent rewards cards for Preferred Rewards clients.
The card includes:
- Introductory bonus: 50,000 points when you spend $3,000 in the first 90 days (worth up to $500 in free travel)
- 2 points per dollar spent on dining and travel purchases, including Airbnb and Vrbo
- 1.5 points per dollar spent on everything else
- Get up to $200 in travel statement credit rewards, including $100 for incidental spending per year and $100 toward a TSA Precheck/Global Entry application every four years
- No foreign transaction fees
- Bank of America Preferred Rewards clients earn up to 3.5 points per dollar on travel and dining purchases and up to 2.62 points per dollar on all other purchases
- $95 annual fee
Travel loyalty programs offer extended perks in pandemic
Capital One Venture Rewards Credit Card: Best flat-rate miles option
The Capital One Venture Rewards Credit Card is remarkably similar to Bank of Americaâs Premium Rewards card, right down to the $95 annual fee, but without the additional benefits afforded to Bank of America Preferred Rewards clients.
However, Capital One Venture Rewards offers 2 points per dollar spent on every purchase, not just travel and dining.
- Earn 60,000 travel miles after you spend $3,000 in purchases in the first three months â equaling $600 in travel credit
- Earn 2 miles per dollar spent on every purchase, every day
- Points can be redeemed for statement credit on travel purchases, including Airbnb
- $95 annual fee
- No foreign transaction fees
Amazon Prime Rewards Visa Signature card: Best for online shopping
You may be wondering why the Amazon Prime Rewards Visa Signature card is on a list highlighting the best credit cards for AirBnb, Vrbo and other homestays.
Shouldnât this card be limited to the âbest credit cards for online shoppingâ list? Not when Amazon offers Airbnb gift cards and the Amazon Prime Rewards card gives you 5% cash back on Amazon.com purchases as long as you have a Prime membership, which essentially acts as the annual fee ($119).
Just purchase an AirBnb gift card from Amazon with the card, and itâs as if you are getting 5% cash back for your AirBnb stay when you apply the gift card towards it. Itâs the highest rate on this list, Amazon or not.
Youâll receive the following additional benefits:
- 5% cash back on Whole Foods and Amazon purchases (with Prime membership)
- 2% cash back on purchases at drugstores, gas stations and restaurants
- 1% cash back on all other purchases
- A $100 Amazon gift card upon credit card application approval
- No foreign transaction fees
- $500,000 travel accident insurance
- $3,000 per passenger lost luggage reimbursement
- Baggage delay insurance of up to $100 a day for three days
- Extended warranty coverage for an additional year
See related: How to pay off Amazon purchases over time
Discover it® Miles: Best no-fee option
Though the points per dollar on this card are lower than any other credit card on the list, Discover it Miles gives you much more freedom in how you can manage your points and account.
You can redeem miles in any amount, your miles donât expire even if you close your account and 1% of your miles can be converted directly into cash for your bank account.
Discover it Miles offers:
- 1.5 miles for every dollar spent on every purchase (matched at the end of the first year)
- Points can be redeemed for statement credit on travel expenses, including Airbnb, gas stations and restaurants.
- Miles can be converted into cash at rate of 1 cent per mile and transferred directly into your bank account
- Redeem miles in any amount
- Miles never expire and you donât lose them even when you close your account
- No late payment fee or penalty APRÂ on your first late payment, up to $40 thereafter
- No foreign transaction fees
- No annual fee
- 0% APR on purchases for 14 months (11.99% to 22.99% variable APR after that)
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