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With such a large variety of travel credit cards, it can be confusing trying to decide which card to use for particular circumstances. One of the scenarios we get asked about on a regular basis about redeeming rewards: Which credit card should I use to pay award ticket taxes and fees?
Without hesitation, the three cards we recommend for paying the fees and taxes on award stays and flights are the Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card (Rates & Fees), the Chase Sapphire Reserve® (Rates & Fees), or — if you can get it — The Ritz-Carlton™ Credit Card.
Not only do these cards offer some of the best travel insurance benefits of any credit card available today, but they will also earn bonus rewards points on travel spend. You only need to book a portion of the travel using either card (or its reward points) for the insurance and benefits to apply.
There are a handful of other cards to consider using to pay award taxes and fees, which we'll cover as well. But we'll show why these are our top three.
Paying Award Fees and Taxes With the Sapphire Preferred, Sapphire Reserve, or Ritz-Carlton Card
Equal parts art and science, searching for award bookings with low fees and taxes is one of the most time-consuming activities when redeeming points and miles. It can require hours of searching different routing over multiple carriers, figuring out how to get points from program A to program B — and occasionally on to program C — without losing any value. And speaking of losing value, who wants to suddenly be in the cold if their trip is derailed?
What makes these Chase travel cards better than cards from other issuers? It’s all in the details.
Chase allows you to book award travel using frequent flyer miles or rewards points from any program. As long as you use your Sapphire Preferred, Sapphire Reserve, or Ritz-Carlton Card to pay a portion of the ticket (in this case, the fees and taxes), you’re covered under the travel insurance and benefits of the card.
As an example, we’ve clipped the exact wording from the terms and conditions of some of the cards that qualify for Trip Delay Insurance and included them below.
Benefits language of Sapphire Preferred and Sapphire Reserve
A covered trip under baggage delay insurance for the Chase Sapphire Reserve card is defined as:
“Travel booked through a Travel Supplier when some portion of the fare for such transportation has been charged to the Cardholder’s Account “
Language like this is common to travel protections. All protections where only a portion of the trip needs to be charged to the card in order to be eligible are:
- Baggage Delay Insurance
- Emergency Evacuation and Transportation (CSR-only benefit)
- Emergency Medical and Dental (CSR-only benefit)
- Lost Luggage Reimbursement
- Travel Accident Insurance
- Trip Cancellation/Interruption Insurance
- Trip Delay Reimbursement
Related: How to File a Flight Delay Claim with Chase
Other Cards You May Want to Use to Pay Award Taxes and Fees
While we certainly encourage you to book using the Sapphire Preferred or Sapphire Reserve where possible, there are some other choices to consider. Just note that you must charge the full amount to receive coverage.
Other Chase cards
While most other Chase cards don't have the same level of coverage as the Sapphire Preferred or Sapphire Reserve, they still offer coverage if you charge only a portion of the trip to your card. Some of these cards include:
- Chase Freedom®
- Chase Freedom Unlimited® (Rates & Fees)
- The New United℠ Explorer Card (Rates & Fees)
- Southwest Rapid Rewards® Priority Credit Card (Rates & Fees)
- The World of Hyatt Credit Card (Rates & Fees)
Capital One cards
The language from the Capital One Visa Signature guide to benefits mirrors the Chase terms, making these cards a good choice if you need coverage. However, the overall level of protection is lower for their Visa Signature products. The only card where you'll have comparable protection is the Capital One Venture X Rewards Credit Card.
The Platinum Card® from American Express
Language from The Platinum Card® from American Express trip delay insurance benefit:
“You must charge the full amount of a Covered Trip to your Eligible Card or in combination with your Eligible Card and accumulated points on your Eligible Card or redeemable certificates, vouchers, coupons, or discounts awarded from a frequent flyer program or similar program.”
As you can see, this is not nearly as broad as the three Chase cards we mentioned above. However, it appears you may still be covered in the case of some award travel.
Barclays cards
Now let's compare the language from a Barclays credit card for trip cancellation/interruption insurance:
“This travel insurance plan is provided to Barclaycard World Elite MasterCard cardmembers, automatically when the entire cost of a Common Carrier passenger fare(s) is charged to a World Elite MasterCard account whilethe insurance is effective.”
This statement implies that award tickets are not covered at all. We'd recommend avoiding these cards if you need to pay award taxes and fees.
Citi cards
Avoid using most Citi cards if you want to get travel protections on award tickets or paid travel. In 2019, Citi removed the majority of the travel insurance coverage previously offered on their cards. The refreshed Citi Strata Premier and AA Executive Card both offer decent travel protection benefits, but you need to check the coverage closely to see if your trip is covered, as both have relatively strict rules around what purchases qualify.
Final Thoughts
As the saying goes, the devil's in the details for which card you use to pay award taxes and fees. When you start examining the wording of each policy, cards from Chase, Capital One, and Amex each offer a way of covering your trip just by paying the fees and taxes on an award ticket.
The most ideal option covers you when you use any portion of points from a respective program! Carefully review the language before deciding to use a particular card. But in general, know that you are covered if you use the Sapphire Reserve or Ritz-Carlton Card.
One more thing to note: in the case of the Sapphire Reserve, the fees and taxes on award bookings will be credited as travel spend. This automatically qualifies for a statement credit using the Chase Sapphire Reserve $300 annual travel credit.
How does this work in practice? Book an award ticket using points or miles from any loyalty program, pay the award fees and taxes with your Sapphire Reserve, have the charges credited back to your account using the $300 travel credit, and you have genuinely free travel covered with the best trip protection available.
The Ritz-Carlton Card also offers a travel credit. However, the Ritz-Carlton Card travel credit is designed to be a credit to cover incidental fees — such as seat selection fees, checked baggage fees, and in-flight food and drink. With that said, you might luck out and get your award taxes and fees credited back to you.
For those not confident they will take advantage of all the benefits of the Sapphire Reserve, we still rate the Sapphire Preferred as the best beginners card out there. With benefits like those above, it’s easy to see why!
For rates and fees of the cards mentioned in this post, please visit the following links: Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card (Rates & Fees), Chase Sapphire Reserve® (Rates & Fees), Chase Freedom Unlimited® (Rates & Fees), The New United℠ Explorer Card (Rates & Fees), Southwest Rapid Rewards® Priority Credit Card (Rates & Fees), and The World of Hyatt Credit Card (Rates & Fees)
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