Credit cards
Best Credit Cards for Cheap Flights
Cheap flights are usually bought with cash, not points. The right card is the one that lowers the total cost of a cheap ticket — bags, seats, insurance — and banks flexible points for the expensive trips.
Last verified August 9, 2026 — annual fees marked as verified were checked against the issuer's own pricing page. Welcome offers change frequently and are shown only where an editor has verified them in the last 24 hours.
The mistake is treating a card as a way to fly free. On a genuinely cheap fare, points redemptions are almost always poor value — you burn 25,000 miles on a $140 ticket. The card's job on a cheap fare is different: strip out the extras and protect the booking.
Then, separately, the card banks flexible points that you deploy on the expensive trip where cash prices are punishing. That two-mode approach is the whole strategy.
How Flying Frugal judges a card
We are a flight-deal site, so we evaluate credit cards on one question: does this card reduce the cost of travel you were going to do anyway? A card that earns a currency you cannot use, or whose benefits require spending you would not otherwise make, does not pass — no matter how large the welcome offer looks.
We do not currently have affiliate relationships with card issuers, so nothing on this page is an application link and no card is ranked because of a payout. When that changes, paid links will be labelled as advertising, and the editorial order will not move to accommodate them.
- Does the rewards currency reach airlines that actually serve your home airport?
- Are the recurring benefits ones you would use without changing your behaviour?
- Is the annual fee smaller than the fees, insurance and travel spending it displaces?
- Would you keep the card in year two, after the welcome offer is gone?
Where the money actually leaks on a cheap ticket
| Leak | Why it hurts on a cheap fare | Card feature that fixes it |
|---|---|---|
| Checked bag, both directions | Can be a large share of a sub-$200 fare | Airline co-brand with free checked bag |
| Seat selection | Basic fares assign seats last | Co-brand boarding/seat benefits, or accepting the random seat |
| Change or cancellation | Cheap fares are the most restrictive | Trip cancellation/interruption insurance on the card |
| Delay costs (hotel, meals) | Not refunded on a discount ticket | Trip delay reimbursement |
| Foreign transaction fees | Silently adds a few percent abroad | Any card with no foreign transaction fee |
Cards that lower the all-in cost of a cheap ticket
| Card | Annual fee | Points | Best for |
|---|---|---|---|
| Chase Sapphire PreferredChase | Fee: see issuer | Chase Ultimate Rewards · transferable | Cheap fares plus insurance |
| Citi Strata PremierCiti | Fee: see issuer | Citi ThankYou Points · transferable | Earning on everything else |
| Citi / AAdvantage Platinum SelectCiti | Fee: see issuer | American AAdvantage miles · airline-specific | Checked bags on American |
| Alaska Airlines VisaBank of America | Fee: see issuer | Alaska Mileage Plan miles · airline-specific | West Coast flyers |
| Bilt MastercardWells Fargo | No annual fee | Bilt Points · transferable | Renters with no annual fee |
Chase
Preferred
Chase Sapphire Preferred
Chase
Chase Sapphire Preferred
On a $180 fare, the trip delay and cancellation coverage is worth more than any points you earn on it. Cheap tickets are the least flexible ones, which is exactly when protection matters.
- Rewards
- Elevated earning on travel and dining with a modest annual fee.
- Travel benefits
- Trip cancellation and interruption insurance · Primary rental car collision coverage · No foreign transaction fees
- Flying Frugal analysis
- The card we would hand to someone starting from zero. Same transfer partners as the Reserve at a fraction of the fee, with the travel protections that actually matter for a leisure traveler. Most people never need to upgrade past it.
Fees and benefits summarised from Chase's own terms. Welcome offers change frequently — confirm current terms with the issuer before applying.
Citi
Premier
Citi Strata Premier
Citi
Citi Strata Premier
Cheap flights do not generate much spend. This card earns on the categories that do, then converts to airline partners when you need an expensive redemption.
- Rewards
- Elevated earning across air travel, hotels, restaurants, supermarkets and gas.
- Travel benefits
- Annual hotel booking credit · Broad bonus categories with no travel-portal requirement
- Flying Frugal analysis
- The most category-generous mid-fee card: it covers most of a household's spending without asking you to book through a portal. ThankYou transfer partners are strong for one-way international awards but weaker for domestic redemptions than Chase.
Fees and benefits summarised from Citi's own terms. Welcome offers change frequently — confirm current terms with the issuer before applying.
Citi
Travel
Citi / AAdvantage Platinum Select
Citi
Citi / AAdvantage Platinum Select
A checked bag both ways for you and companions is a fixed saving on every domestic American trip — the kind of benefit that survives a fare war.
- Rewards
- Elevated earning on American purchases, restaurants and gas.
- Travel benefits
- First checked bag free on domestic American itineraries · Preferred boarding
- Flying Frugal analysis
- A bag-fee card first and a rewards card second. The checked-bag benefit for the cardholder and companions on domestic American flights is the reliable value; AAdvantage award pricing is dynamic, so the miles are worth doing the arithmetic on rather than assuming a fixed rate.
Fees and benefits summarised from Citi's own terms. Welcome offers change frequently — confirm current terms with the issuer before applying.
Bank of America
Travel
Alaska Airlines Visa
Bank of America
Alaska Airlines Visa
A companion fare each year plus a free checked bag, which is real money on a cheap West Coast itinerary.
- Rewards
- Elevated earning on Alaska purchases, plus an annual companion fare benefit.
- Travel benefits
- Annual companion fare · Free checked bag on Alaska itineraries · No foreign transaction fees
- Flying Frugal analysis
- Alaska's own network is regional, but its partner award pricing has long been among the most useful for premium-cabin international redemptions, and the companion fare is a concrete annual benefit. Strongest for travelers based on the U.S. West Coast, including LAX.
Fees and benefits summarised from Bank of America's own terms. Welcome offers change frequently — confirm current terms with the issuer before applying.
Wells Fargo
Travel
Bilt Mastercard
Wells Fargo
Bilt Mastercard
Earns transferable points on rent, so your points balance grows from spending you already cannot avoid — no fee to recoup.
- Rewards
- Earns on rent without a processing fee (subject to a monthly transaction requirement), plus dining and travel categories.
- Travel benefits
- Cell phone protection · Trip cancellation and interruption coverage · No foreign transaction fees
- Flying Frugal analysis
- The only mainstream way to earn transferable points on rent, which for most renters is the largest line in the budget. It requires meeting the program's monthly usage conditions to earn on rent, so read the terms. As a general spending card it is unremarkable; as a rent card it is unique.
Fees and benefits summarised from Wells Fargo's own terms; annual fee verified August 9, 2026. Welcome offers change frequently — confirm current terms with the issuer before applying.
The two-mode rule
Run the arithmetic instead of guessing: divide the cash price by the points price to get cents per point, and only redeem above the threshold you have set for yourself.
- Cheap cash fare (roughly under $400 for domestic, under $700 transatlantic economy): pay cash, use the card for protection, keep the points.
- Expensive fare or a premium cabin: this is where transferable points earn their keep — see our transfer partner cheat sheet.
Frequently asked questions
- Should I use points on a cheap flight?
- Usually no. Divide the cash price by the points required; if the result is below your cents-per-point threshold, pay cash and keep the points for a trip where cash prices are high.
- Which card is best if I only fly one or two cheap trips a year?
- A no-annual-fee card with no foreign transaction fees, or a mid-fee card only if the trip insurance genuinely replaces a policy you would buy. At one or two trips a year, a premium fee is very hard to recover.
- Do airline cards help on budget airlines?
- Only that airline's own card does, and the benefit is nearly always the bag allowance. On ultra-low-cost carriers the bag and seat fees are the real ticket price, so a co-brand can change the math more than points ever will.
- American Express — card terms and pricing
- Chase — card terms and pricing
- Capital One — card terms and pricing
- Citi — card terms and pricing
- Flying Frugal credit-card methodology
Programs change their rules and pricing without notice. Confirm anything decision-critical on the official page before you book or apply. See our corrections policy.