Credit Card Perks You Can Gift for the Holidays

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The holidays are quickly approaching, and you may be looking for some last-minute gifts to give. If you're reading this right now, it likely means that you love to travel, so finding travel-related gifts is right up your alley. Even better, you can use benefits from your credit cards as gifts for others to enjoy, meaning you may not even have to spend any money out of pocket.

Let's look at the many options you have for giving holiday gifts via your credit card perks.

TSA PreCheck, Global Entry, and CLEAR

For starters, everyone should have the benefit of saving time and hassle (and leaving their shoes on!) at the airport. To do this you need TSA PreCheck. You can enroll in TSA PreCheck by itself; however, if you frequently travel internationally, Global Entry may serve you better since it saves you time upon re-entry to the U.S. and it includes TSA PreCheck benefits.

Credit: CLEAR

Another airport time-saving option is CLEAR Plus. CLEAR is a private company that offers biometric identity verification and priority screening at 50+ airports and select sporting venues in the U.S. You can have both TSA PreCheck and CLEAR.

Many credit cards offer a statement credit for application fees to security programs like TSA PreCheck, Global Entry, and CLEAR Plus. Furthermore, the names don't need to match between the applicant and the credit card used to pay the application fee. This means that you can use a card with a statement credit for one of these programs to pay for a friend or family member's application. You'll get the statement credit and they'll get expedited airport services for free.

One thing to note: These programs typically require the cardholder to be present at the time of enrollment verification.

Hotel Free Night Award

Many hotel programs offer free night awards as a credit card perk or a benefit of having status with the hotel's loyalty program. Generally, you can make a reservation using the free night certificate and then add a friend or family member's name to the reservation so that they can enjoy a free hotel stay. Each program has specific rules for gifting award stays, which are as follows:

• Best Western: You can gift a free night stay to immediate family members, which Best Western defines as your spouse, partner, children, parents, in-laws, and siblings.
• Choice: You can book an award stay for immediate family members. According to the terms, this includes your spouse, partner, children, parents, in-laws, and siblings.
• Hilton: You can book the room yourself and add the person's name to the reservation. We recommend calling the hotel ahead of time to confirm that the second name on the reservation will be the person checking in.
• Hyatt: You gift a free night certificate by calling Hyatt and transferring the certificate to another person or by booking a reservation and including their name as the second person. Again, we'd recommend calling the hotel to confirm ahead of time.
• IHG: You can book an award night for anyone else, as long as you include their name on the reservation. Note that the greater China area is excluded from this.
• Marriott: You can book an award stay for another member up to five times per calendar year, and you need to call Marriott to make the reservation.

Bring a Friend As Your Companion

Several airlines offer companion tickets that allow you to bring a friend or family member along on your trip. Each airline has different rules for how to earn and use the ticket, so let's go over your options.

• Alaska Airlines Visa Signature^® credit card: Alaska Airlines offers a companion ticket to cardholders who spend $6,000 within a cardmember year. The ticket is good for one round-trip economy flight on Alaska Airlines starting at $122 ($99 base fare plus applicable taxes and fees starting at $23).
• British Airways Visa Signature^® Card: A Travel Together ticket is available to cardholders who spend $30,000 or more on purchases in a calendar year. You just have to pay the taxes and fees, which vary by itinerary, to bring a companion on your flight when you book a redemption with Avios. Alternatively, you can fly alone and get a 50% discount on the Avios needed for your flight.
• American Airlines: Three co-branded American Airlines cards offer companion tickets after meeting a spending threshold. The flight booked with the certificate costs $99 plus taxes and fees. The AAdvantage^® Aviator^® Red World Elite Mastercard^® and AAdvantage^® Aviator^® Silver Mastercard^® each offer a companion certificate after spending $20,000 on the card in the cardmember year — though the Aviator Silver companion ticket is valid for two companions. The Citi^® / AAdvantage Business™ World Elite Mastercard^® offers a companion ticket after spending $30,000 on the card in the cardmember year.
• Delta Air Lines: Four Delta credit cards which include companion tickets among their perks. There are two personal cards — the Delta SkyMiles^® Platinum American Express Card and Delta SkyMiles^® Reserve American Express Card — and two business cards: the Delta SkyMiles^® Platinum Business American Express Card and Delta SkyMiles^® Reserve Business American Express Card. The companion ticket is available once per card year, and you just need to pay the taxes and fees. Note that only certain fare classes are valid for travel with the companion ticket.

Additionally, you can use free hotel nights to bring a friend along even if the program doesn't allow you to gift the stay to them to use without you. That could turn into a flight + hotel combo anyone would love to receive as a gift.

Credit: AdobeStock

Use Annual Credits To Buy Gifts

Many credit cards come with annual and/or monthly credits that you could use to buy presents, monthly memberships, gifts, or gift cards for your loved ones:

• The Platinum Card^® from American Express charges an annual fee of $695 (Rates & Fees) and comes with up to $100 in Saks Fifth Avenue credit, up to $240 in digital entertainment credit, and up to $300 in Equinox fitness credit. It also comes with a credit to offset a Walmart+ membership and up to $200 in credit for prepaid hotels booked through Amex Travel (The Hotel Collection requires a minimum two-night stay). Enrollment is required for select Amex benefits.
• The Business Platinum Card^® from American Express comes with $400 in Dell credit, a $360 Indeed credit, and a $150 Adobe credit.
• The Southwest Rapid Rewards^® Priority Credit Card (Rates & Fees) includes an annual $75 credit that you could use to buy a flight or a gift card for a friend or family member.
• Multiple Chase cards offer a subscription to Instacart+ and monthly statement credits to go with it.

Pay for Airline Incidentals

Cover the cost of airline incidentals for your friend by paying with a card that has annual travel credits. Each card's benefit defines the travel credit differently. Some apply broadly, while others only apply to things like seat upgrades, booking and change fees, checked luggage fees, in-flight entertainment, food and beverage purchases, and airport lounge fees. The following cards offer an annual airline incidentals credit:

• Bank of America^® Premium Rewards^® credit card: Up to $100 airline incidentals credit, valid on U.S. domestic airlines only.
• Bank of America^® Premium Rewards^® Elite Credit Card: $300 airline incidentals credit, valid on qualifying U.S. domestic airlines only.
• The Business Platinum Card^® from American Express: Up to $200 in statement credits for airline incidentals on one airline you choose in advance when enrolling for the benefit.
• Crystal^® Visa Infinite^® Credit Card: $350 airline incidentals credit on U.S. domestic airlines only.
• Hilton Honors American Express Aspire Card: $200 in flight credits, valid on payments made directly with airlines or Amex Travel; available as up to $50 per quarter.
• The Platinum Card^® from American Express: Up to $200 in statement credits for airline incidentals on one airline you choose in advance when enrolling for the benefit.

Related: Best Credit Cards with Travel Credits and Airline Incidental Credits

Credit: Daniel Pelaez Duque/Unsplash

Book Travel for Someone

Use travel credits from one of your cards to book travel for a loved one. The Chase Sapphire Reserve^® (Rates & Fees) includes a $300 annual travel credit, so book a hotel or flight for a friend and get a statement credit to recoup the cost. Similarly, the U.S. Bank Altitude™ Reserve Visa Infinite^® Card offers a $325 annual credit on any travel purchases. Both the Capital One Venture X Rewards Credit Card and Capital One Venture X Business offer $300 in annual travel credits for bookings you make through Capital One Travel.

Along the same lines, you can book a flight or hotel for a friend or family member using your points or cash. You will just need to be sure to follow any guidelines required by the award program for booking in other people's names. For hotels, these will be the same rules as what we mentioned above regarding using a free night certificate for someone else. We also have an article covering each of the airlines' rules for booking a flight in someone else's name.

Gift Points

If you'd rather gift your points instead of booking travel for someone else, you have options. There are quite a few rewards programs that allow you to send your points to another person, so this would be a great way to help a friend or family member book a trip. Here are the hotel and airline options that allow you to transfer points to another person for free:

• Hilton Honors
• Marriott Bonvoy
• World of Hyatt
• Air Canada Aeroplan
• Air France–KLM Flying Blue
• ANA Mileage Club
• British Airways Executive Club
• Etihad Guest
• Frontier Miles
• JetBlue TrueBlue
• Norwegian Rewards CashPoints
• Qantas Frequent Flyer

Additionally, a few of the major banks allow you to send your points to another person. Both Capital One and Citi allow you to move points to another member. However, be aware that Citi limits transfers to 100,000 points per year, and, once transferred, points expire after 90 days. So be sure your loved one has a plan to use the points quickly.

Credit: Priority Pass

Lounge Access

The last thing we want to mention is the gift of lounge access. Who doesn't love to relax in an airport lounge while waiting for their flight instead of squeezing into a tiny airport chair while the intercom bleats at you incessantly? Throw in free food and drinks and you have a win-win situation. There are a few ways to give the gift of lounge access.

You can add a friend or family member as an authorized user on your Capital One Venture X or Sapphire Reserve, then they can use that card to sign up for a Priority Pass membership. You can add four authorized users for free on the Capital One Venture X, but authorized users cost $75 each on the Sapphire Reserve. The Business Platinum Card and Amex Platinum both offer access to the Global Lounge Collection for eligible authorized users as well; however, adding an authorized user with a Platinum version of the card costs $350 (Rates & Fees) and $195 (Rates & Fees), respectively, so it becomes a very pricey gift. Enrollment is required for select Amex benefits.

The Citi^® / AAdvantage^® Executive World Elite Mastercard^® lets you add three authorized users at $175 for the first three authorized users, then $175 each. Each of these authorized users gets complimentary Admiral's Club^® access. If you have American Airlines lovers in your life, this is a great gift option.

Final Thoughts

The holidays are an expensive time of year for all of us, but we still want to make sure our loved ones feel appreciated. Thankfully, many credit cards that you may already hold come with perks that are perfect for gifting. From free night awards to companion tickets or lounge access, there's something for everyone. Instead of using those perks yourself or letting them go to waste, gift them to a friend or relative this holiday season.

For rates and fees of the cards mentioned in this post, please visit the following links: The Platinum Card^® from American Express (Rates & Fees), Southwest Rapid Rewards^® Priority Credit Card (Rates & Fees), Chase Sapphire Reserve^® (Rates & Fees), and The Business Platinum Card^® from American Express (Rates & Fees)

AwardWallet Tip of The Day

Did you know you can see the transaction history for most of your loyalty program accounts in AwardWallet? In your AwardWallet account dashboard, click the + sign next to the account you want to view. Then, click the History tab to see your individual transaction history.
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