Credit card points are often considered the best type of points for an award traveler to have. Banks offer customers several ways to redeem these points, whether it’s through a travel portal or transferring them directly to airline and hotel loyalty programs.
NerdWallet’s travel team evaluated six credit card points programs across several categories to come up with this year’s winner. We spent months collecting and analyzing data to not only determine the best credit card points for travel, but also the best airline and hotel rewards programs, the best award search tool and more for 2026. Check out all of our winners.
Best credit card points for travel in 2026: Chase Ultimate Rewards®
Chase Ultimate Rewards® is NerdWallet’s 2026 winner for best credit card points for travel. The transferable currency offers an impressive roster of airline and hotel partners, as well as plenty of ways to rack up points.
When picking the best credit card points for travel, our team considered several factors, such as the number of partners each program has, the value of those partners’ currencies, the ease of earning points with each program and the annual fees for each program’s credit cards.
Chase’s program excels because of its strong roster of transfer partners, particularly its relationship with World of Hyatt. NerdWallet considers Hyatt to be one of the best transfer partners among major loyalty programs, because it still uses fixed award charts to determine award pricing. That means you can find some really great hotel deals when booking with Hyatt points.
On the airlines side, Chase also partners with popular domestic programs like United MileagePlus, JetBlue TrueBlue and Southwest Airlines Rapid Rewards. Its international partners include Air France-KLM Flying Blue, Air Canada Aeroplan and Virgin Atlantic Flying Club. These programs can offer excellent sweet spots, especially if you’re looking at long-haul premium cabin travel.
Expert award travelers know that another airline offers a similar roster of transfer partners: Bilt Rewards, which has not only World of Hyatt, United MileagePlus and Southwest Rapid Rewards, but also Alaska Airlines’ Atmos Rewards. However, it falls short when it comes to the ease of earning points. Chase offers a much more robust credit card portfolio with generous welcome offers and spending bonus categories, giving it the edge over Bilt, which took third place in our rankings.
Runner up: Citi ThankYou Points
Citi ThankYou Points are the second best when it comes to credit card points for travel. The program’s value shot up significantly in 2025 when it announced American Airlines as a 1:1 transfer partner for its lineup of Citi Strata cards. Citi also has some lesser-known transfer partners that can provide great value, such as EVA Air (1:1 transfers) and Choice Privileges (1:2 transfers).
Best credit card points for travel: Complete ranking
Chase Ultimate Rewards®Citi ThankYou PointsBilt RewardsCapital One MilesAmerican Express Membership RewardsWells Fargo Rewards
Methodology: Best credit card points for travel
How we picked the programs to evaluate
Eligible credit card rewards programs were selected by NerdWallet’s travel experts and offer at least one card that earns transferable rewards to travel transfer partners, including: Bilt Rewards, Chase Ultimate Rewards®, Capital One Miles, American Express Membership Rewards, Citi ThankYou Points and Wells Fargo Rewards. Some of the eligible credit card reward programs include products from NerdWallet partners, but this did not influence our selection of the winner.
How we chose the winner
When choosing our winner for the best credit card points for travel, we considered the following factors:
Total number of airline and hotel transfer partners.Value of transfer partners.Rewards rate for booking with points through each rewards program’s travel portal.Ease of earning points, including bonus categories, sign-up bonuses, and the number of cards that earn the rewards. Card annual fees.
How we verified our data
Information about credit card loyalty programs was verified on the issuers’ websites.
How to maximize your rewardsYou want a travel credit card that prioritizes what’s important to you. Here are some of the best travel credit cards of 2026:Flexibility, point transfers and a large bonus: Chase Sapphire Preferred® CardNo annual fee: Wells Fargo Autograph® CardFlat-rate travel rewards: Capital One Venture Rewards Credit CardBonus travel rewards and high-end perks: Chase Sapphire Reserve®Luxury perks: American Express Platinum Card®Business travelers: Ink Business Preferred® Credit Card
Benjamin Din writes for NerdWallet. Email: bdin@nerdwallet.com. Twitter: @benjamindin.
The article The Best Credit Card Points for Travel of 2026 originally appeared on NerdWallet.
