Buying the right travel credit card

Travel credit cards are becoming popular among business people and professionals who have to frequently travel by air. The growing popularity of travel credit cards is due to the advantage of accumulating air miles by using these cards. The accumulated air miles can be redeemed for cash discounts while buying next airline ticket or booking a hotel room or even shopping at designated stores.

But different travel credit cards may offer different benefits, so how do you decide which travel card is most suitable for you? A travel-centric card may offer faster accumulation of air miles if you travel by a particular airline only. This will work to your advantage if the airline flies to all the destinations you may need to travel, but if there are some destinations not serviced by the airline, this card may not be suitable for you and you should opt for a travel credit card which offers flights to all the destinations you may need to fly. Better still, you should go for travel credit cards that offer air miles benefits for multiple airlines.

Travel credit card that offers air miles benefits across multiple types of purchases should be preferred over travel credit card that offers only air miles only for ticket bookings. So, a travel credit card offering redemption of air miles against hotel and taxi bookings as also purchases at designated stores is always better than a travel card offering only redemption against ticket bookings. Some travel credit cards offer exclusive access to airport lounges at domestic and international airports, which is an additional benefit.

Travel credit cards also offer multiple insurance benefits to the cardholder, including insurance against air accident, insurance against missing of connecting flight during transit, insurance against liability for lost card and loss of travel documents, insurance against the risk of a hijack of the airline, etc. You should check which of these benefits are offered before buying a travel card.

Lastly, you need to check if the card offers any sign–up bonus which can be utilised with minimum spending. Also, check the amount of annual fee you need to pay for using the card.