Citi is no longer accepting applications for the Citi Custom Cash® Card product as of May 28, 2026.
Nothing lasts forever, especially not loyalty programs and travel card benefits. Welcome bonuses, benefits and eligibility rules are always in flux. The best deals can last for years or end in a matter of weeks.
I’ve identified three opportunities for 2026 that are too good to last. If you’re not already taking advantage of them, time may be running out.
Best travel credit card deals
The simple beauty of the Capital One Venture X Rewards
In 2025, we saw the release of several new premium cards and the overhaul of Chase Sapphire Reserve® (see rates and fees) and American Express Platinum Card®. Both of these luxury cards were refreshed with higher annual fees and benefits that are trickier to earn.
When Amex increased the Platinum card’s annual fee to a staggering $895 (see rates and fees), it also added hundreds of dollars in new benefits — many of which require extra steps or careful timing to use. That hasn’t stopped applicants: Account approvals doubled compared to pre-refresh levels, according to Amex’s Q3 2025 earnings report. If increasing the card’s cost and offsetting it with progressively complicated perks is good for business, it’s not hard to imagine this trend will continue.
That’s what makes the Capital One Venture X Rewards Credit Card stand out. Its annual fee is $395, or less than half of what the most expensive luxury consumer cards charge. And the benefits are refreshingly simple: Each year, you receive a $300 travel credit that can be used to pay for Capital One Travel bookings, including hotels, flights, rentals, vacation packages and activities.
The Capital One Venture X Rewards Credit Card is a premium credit card with a myriad of benefits and a lower annual fee than other high-end cards with similar features.
- Annual $300 credit for bookings through Capital One Travel
- 10,000 bonus miles after every card anniversary
- Unlimited complimentary access to 1,300+ airport lounges, including Capital One Lounge and Landing locations
- Long list of valuable travel and shopping protections, including return protection, rental car coverage and trip delay reimbursement (Benefit(s) only available to accounts approved for the Visa Infinite card. Terms apply.)
- Limited bonus spending categories compared to other premium credit cards
- High annual fee
- High credit score requirement (excellent credit)
Highlights
- Earn 75,000 bonus miles when you spend $4,000 on purchases in the first 3 months from account opening, equal to $750 in travel
- Receive a $300 annual credit for bookings through Capital One Travel, where you’ll get Capital One’s best prices on thousands of trip options
- Get 10,000 bonus miles (equal to $100 towards travel) every year, starting on your first anniversary
- Earn unlimited 10X miles on hotels and rental cars booked through Capital One Travel and 5X miles on flights and vacation rentals booked through Capital One Travel
- Earn unlimited 2X miles on all other purchases
- Enjoy access to 1,300+ lounges worldwide, including Capital One Lounge and Landing locations and participating Priority Pass™ lounges, after enrollment
- Use your Venture X miles to easily cover travel expenses, including flights, hotels, rental cars and more—you can even transfer your miles to your choice of 15+ travel loyalty programs
- Enjoy a $100 experience credit and other premium benefits with every hotel and vacation rental booked from the Premier Collection
- Receive up to a $120 credit for Global Entry or TSA PreCheck®
- Top rated mobile app
Balance transfer fee
$0 at the Transfer APR, 4% of the amount of each transferred balance that posts to your account at a promotional APR that Capital One may offer to you
Foreign transaction fees
Normally, I don’t book through a card issuer’s travel site because I prefer to shop around for the best price. That said, I’m comfortable using the Venture X to book through Capital One Travel because it offers an excellent price match guarantee. I price-matched rental car bookings at least six times in 2025, and each time it took only a 10-minute phone call.
As long as the lower price is publicly available for an identical reservation within 24 hours of your original booking, you’ll receive the difference as a travel credit. And for select flights, Capital One Travel offers price drop protection, which automatically gives you a travel credit of up to $50 if the price goes down within 10 days of booking.
With just two benefits, the Venture X is more affordable for me to keep than its cheaper sibling, the $95 Capital One Venture Rewards Credit Card. It’s also one of the cheapest ways for me to access top-tier credit card travel insurance, such as trip delay coverage that applies to delays of six hours or more (instead of the standard 12-hour delay requirement), primary rental car insurance and travel accident insurance.
The Capital One Venture Rewards Credit Card has a reasonable annual fee and earns flexible travel rewards, which makes it a great travel card for beginners or heavy travelers.
- Valuable welcome offer worth at least $750 in travel
- You can transfer miles to over 15 Capital One partners, including Emirates Skywards, Choice Privileges and Singapore Airlines KrisFlyer
- No foreign transaction fees
- Lacks ongoing travel benefits such as statement credits or lounge access
- Limited bonus spending category that only applies to certain Capital One Travel bookings
Highlights
Highlights shown here are provided by the issuer and have not been reviewed by CNBC Select’s editorial staff.
- Earn a one-time bonus of 75,000 miles once you spend $4,000 on purchases within 3 months from account opening, equal to $750 in travel
- Earn unlimited 2X miles on every purchase, every day
- Earn 5X miles on hotels, vacation rentals and rental cars booked through Capital One Travel
- Miles won’t expire for the life of the account and there’s no limit to how many you can earn
- Receive up to a $120 credit for Global Entry or TSA PreCheck®
- Use your miles to get reimbursed for any travel purchase—or redeem by booking a trip through Capital One Travel
- Enjoy a $50 experience credit and other premium benefits with every hotel and vacation rental booked from the Lifestyle Collection
- Transfer your miles to your choice of 15+ travel loyalty programs
- Top rated mobile app
Balance transfer fee
$0 at the Transfer APR, 4% of the amount of each transferred balance that posts to your account at a promotional APR that Capital One may offer to you
Foreign transaction fee
The Capital One Venture X Business Credit Card has all the benefits you expect with a premium business card, including flexible travel rewards, airport lounge access and travel insurance.
- Extremely valuable welcome bonus
- 10,000 bonus miles after every card anniversary
- Unlimited complimentary access to 1,300+ airport lounges, including Capital One Lounge and Landing locations
- Annual $300 credit for bookings through Capital One Business Travel
- Limited bonus spending categories compared to other business credit cards
- High annual fee
- No airport lounge access for employee cardholders
Highlights
Highlights shown here are provided by the issuer and have not been reviewed by CNBC Select’s editorial staff.
- Earn 150,000 bonus miles once you spend $30,000 in the first 3 months from account opening
- Earn unlimited 2X miles on every purchase, everywhere—with no limits or category restrictions
- Earn 10X miles on hotels and rental cars and 5X miles on flights and vacation rentals booked through Capital One Business Travel
- With no preset spending limit, enjoy big purchasing power that adapts so you can spend more and earn more rewards
- Empower your teams to make business purchases while earning rewards on their transactions, with free employee and virtual cards. Plus, automatically sync your transaction data with your accounting software and pay your vendors with ease
- Redeem your miles on flights, hotels and more. Plus, transfer your miles to any of the 15+ travel loyalty programs
- Every year, you’ll get 10,000 bonus miles after your account anniversary date. Plus, receive an annual $300 credit for bookings made through Capital One Business Travel
- Receive up to a $120 credit for Global Entry or TSA PreCheck®. Enjoy access to 1,300+ airport lounges worldwide, including Capital One Lounge and Landing locations and participating Priority Pass™ lounges, after enrollment
- Enjoy a $100 experience credit and other premium benefits with every hotel and vacation rental booked from the Premier Collection
- Your card is designed to be paid in full. However you have the option to carry over a portion of your balance with interest if needed. Pay at least the minimum payment amount by your payment due date, otherwise you’ll be charged a 2.99% late fee
- Top rated mobile app
No-annual-fee airport access with the U.S. Bank Altitude Connect
Airport lounge access and a Global Entry or TSA PreCheck application fee credit are perks typically associated with credit cards with annual fees. The U.S. Bank Altitude® Connect Visa Signature® Card bucks that trend by offering both, albeit in a limited fashion.
You receive a Priority Pass™ Select airport lounge membership with four complimentary visits per year. Plus, once every four years, you can receive up to $100 back for Global Entry or TSA PreCheck application fees.
Even if you already have unlimited complimentary visits with another travel credit card, the lounge benefit is surprisingly useful. You can use the passes to receive Priority Pass restaurant credit (typically around $28 per pass), a feature that’s been removed from most other cards’ lounge access.
- Intro APR for balance transfers
- Global Entry and TSA PreCheck® application fee credit
- Limited to four free lounge visits per year
- You cannot transfer points to travel programs
Those benefits are already substantial for a no-annual-fee card, but the U.S. Bank Altitude® Connect also features trip delay reimbursement, trip cancellation and interruption insurance and two additional, easy-to-overlook perks: SmartDelay and a complimentary GigSky mobile data plan.
The SmartDelay benefit grants lounge access to the cardholder and up to three travel companions when a flight is delayed by 120 minutes or more. You just need to register at least two hours before your flight departs. The lounge passes are emailed when you have an eligible delay.
GigSky is an eSIM service that keeps you connected while abroad. All U.S.-issued Visa Signature and Visa Infinite cardholders can receive a complimentary 15-day plan with 3GB of data for Visa Infinite cards and 1GB for Visa Signature cards.
The Altitude Connect is a Visa Signature, but it exceeds the standard benefit for both cards by offering 5GB of data for 15 days at no cost to cardholders. There is no limit to the number of 5GB/15-day plans you can get — you just need to wait until the previous plan expires.
The enhanced GigSky perk is slated to end in November 2026, although the expiration date has been extended before.
American Airlines’ partner awards chart
Over the years, one airline after another has switched to dynamic pricing. American Airlines made this shift a few years ago, but its variable-award pricing applies only to American Airlines flights. It still has generous fixed-reward prices for partner airlines, and many of these flights are shockingly good deals.
You can redeem American Airlines AAdvantage miles for flights on world-class airlines to far-flung destinations. This includes bucket-list awards with Etihad, Qatar Airways, Japan Airlines and Cathay Pacific.
You can explore American Airlines’ partner prices on its site. Some of the most tantalizing options include:
- 22,500 miles for off-peak economy flights from the U.S. to Europe
- 57,500 miles for business-class flights from the U.S to Europe
- 80,000 miles for business-class flights from the U.S to the South Pacific, including New Zealand and Australia
- 60,000 miles for business-class flights from the U.S to the Asia 1 region, which includes Japan and Korea
- 80,000 miles for first-class flights from the U.S to the Asia 1 region
To give you a sense of how favorable these prices are, you can usually earn 50,000 to 100,000 AAdvantage miles from a single American Airlines co-branded credit card bonus.
For example, the Citi® / AAdvantage® Executive World Legend Mastercard® has a limited time bonus of 125,000 American Airlines AAdvantage® bonus miles after $15,000 in purchases in the first 5 months of account opening.
The Citi® / AAdvantage® Executive World Legend Mastercard® is one of the best ways to get access to American Airlines’ network of Admirals Club® airport lounges.
- Access to nearly 100 Admirals Club® and partner airport lounges
- Global Entry or TSA PreCheck® application fee credit
- High annual fee
- Additional fee for authorized users
- No bonus rewards outside of American Airlines purchases
Highlights
Highlights shown here are provided by the issuer and have not been reviewed by CNBC Select’s editorial staff.
- For a limited time, earn 125,000 American Airlines AAdvantage® bonus miles after $15,000 in purchases in the first 5 months of account opening.
- The only card with Admirals Club® membership. Membership includes access for you and up to two guests or immediate family members traveling with you.
- Global Entry® or TSA PreCheck® application fee credit of up to $120 every 4 years.
- Earn a 10,000 Loyalty Point bonus after reaching 50,000, 90,000, 165,000 and 240,000 Loyalty Points in the same status qualification year.
- First checked bag is free on domestic American Airlines itineraries for you and up to 8 companions traveling with you on the same reservation.
Balance transfer fee
5% of each balance transfer; $5 minimum
A potential American Airlines partner award devaluation in 2026 is pure speculation on my part, but something happened in 2025 that has me on edge: AAdvantage miles became easier to earn.
American Airlines has long been the lone major U.S.-based carrier not to partner with a transferable travel rewards program. Outside of a brief partnership with Bilt and a previous limited-time option to transfer Citi ThankYou® Points to American Airlines, the only way to accumulate AAdvantage miles with a credit card was by having a co-branded Citi or Barclays American Airlines card.
However, Citi is taking over as the sole issuer of American Airlines credit cards. Along with this change, it has also added the American Airlines AAdvantage program as a ThankYou® Rewards transfer partner.
American Airlines cards are generally subpar for earning rewards on non-American Airlines purchases, but Citi offers several highly rewarding cards. You can earn up to 2% cash back (earned as 2X ThankYou® Points) everywhere with the Citi Double Cash® Card (1% as you buy and 1% as you pay) and 5% cash back (earned as 5X ThankYou® Points) on up to $500 spend on your top eligible category each month with the Citi Custom Cash® Card (then 1%).
What makes the Citi Double Cash® Card special is that it sits near the top of its class in several categories. It is an excellent option if you want flat-rate rewards, a balance transfer intro-APR or no annual fee.
- Balance transfers get a long intro APR
- Generous flat-rate cash-back rewards structure
- Earns transferable rewards
- No annual fee
- It has a foreign transaction fee
- Intro APR only applies to balance transfer
- Points transfer ratios are reduced compared to premium cards
Highlights
Highlights shown here are provided by the issuer and have not been reviewed by CNBC Select’s editorial staff.
- Earn $200 cash back after you spend $1,500 on purchases in the first 6 months of account opening. This bonus offer will be fulfilled as 20,000 ThankYou® Points, which can be redeemed for $200 cash back.
- Earn 2% on every purchase with unlimited 1% cash back when you buy, plus an additional 1% as you pay for those purchases. To earn cash back, pay at least the minimum due on time. Plus, earn 5% total cash back on hotel, car rentals and attractions booked with Citi Travel.
- Balance Transfer Only Offer: 0% intro APR on Balance Transfers for 18 months. After that, the variable APR will be 18.24% – 28.49%, based on your creditworthiness.
- Balance Transfers do not earn cash back. Intro APR does not apply to purchases.
- If you transfer a balance, interest will be charged on your purchases unless you pay your entire balance (including balance transfers) by the due date each month.
- There is an intro balance transfer fee of 3% of each transfer (minimum $5) completed within the first 4 months of account opening. After that, your fee will be 5% of each transfer (minimum $5).
Balance transfer fee
There is an intro balance transfer fee of 3% of each transfer (minimum $5) completed within the first 4 months of account opening. A balance transfer fee of 5% of each transfer ($5 minimum) applies if completed after 4 months of account opening.
Foreign transaction fee
While I love having access to more AAdvantage miles, rewards — like money — can lose value over time due to inflation.
The Citi Strata Elite℠ Card offers luxury travel benefits and heightened rewards on travel and restaurant purchases — while still earning 1.5X points on all other purchases.
- Exceptional rewards rate on travel booked through cititravel.com
- Earns flexible points that transfer to popular airline and hotel partners, like American Airlines
- Features roughly $1,500 in value through statement credits, airport lounge access and more
- High $595 annual fee
- $75 annual fee for each authorized user
- Limited rewards categories
Highlights
Highlights shown here are provided by the issuer and have not been reviewed by CNBC Select’s editorial staff.
- Earn 75,000 bonus Points after spending $6,000 in the first 3 months of account opening.
- Earn 12 Points per $1 spent on Hotels, Car Rentals, and Attractions booked on cititravel.com and 6 Points per $1 spent on Air Travel booked on cititravel.com
- Earn 6 Points per $1 spent at Restaurants including Restaurant Delivery Services on CitiNights℠ purchases, every Friday and Saturday from 6 PM to 6 AM ET. Earn 3 Points per $1 spent any other time
- Earn 1.5 Points per $1 spent on All Other Purchases
- Up to $300 Annual Hotel Benefit: Each calendar year, enjoy up to $300 off a hotel stay of two nights or more when booked through cititravel.com.
- No Foreign Transaction Fees
Balance transfer fee
Balance transfer fee applies with this offer 5% of each balance transfer; $5 minimum.
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For rates and fees of the American Express Platinum Card®, click here.
Information about the Citi Custom Cash® has been collected independently by CNBC Select and has not been reviewed or provided by the issuer of the card prior to publication.
Editorial Note: Opinions, analyses, reviews or recommendations expressed in this article are those of the Select editorial staff’s alone, and have not been reviewed, approved or otherwise endorsed by any third party.