The best credit cards for booking Airbnb, VRBO and more: Get rewarded for your next vacation rental

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The offer mentioned below for the Chase Sapphire Reserve® is no longer available.

Vacation home rentals through sites like Airbnb and VRBO are great options for large groups, families, budget travelers or anyone who needs accommodations in remote locations.

Short-term rental sites aren't known for having rewarding loyalty programs like hotels. So if you want to maximize your rewards, you'll want to use one of the best credit cards for booking with Airbnb or VRBO.

With the right card, you can earn bonus travel rewards or cash back on your vacation home rentals. And since there are no complicated loyalty programs to navigate, redeeming points for home rentals is straightforward.

Who's this for? The Capital One Venture Rewards Credit Card is a no-nonsense card with a flexible, yet easy-to-navigate rewards program and a reasonable $95 annual fee.

Standout benefits: You earn at least 2X miles on every purchase, which includes not only Airbnb and VRBO bookings but also vacation rentals booked through smaller sites — as well as all other everyday spending, such as groceries and household supplies. The card also comes with various travel protections, a statement credit of up to $120 to cover Global Entry or TSA PreCheck® membership.

How to redeem rewards: You can transfer Capital One miles to a long list of airline and hotel partner programs. You also have the option to use your miles to offset recent travel purchases at a rate of one cent per mile. This option is a great way to cover the cost of a home rental booked in the last 90 days.

Who's this for? The Chase Sapphire Reserve added to first mention is a top-tier travel credit card with a strong suite of travel protections, useful benefits and an excellent rewards program. The card has a hefty $550 annual fee but its benefits can easily offset this cost.

Standout benefits: Airbnb and VRBO bookings earn 3X points with the Sapphire Reserve. Also, every year, you'll get an up to $300 travel credit, which can be applied toward Airbnb and VRBO stays. To make your journey to and from the rental more comfortable, this card comes with airport lounge access and up to $120 in credit toward your Global Entry or TSA PreCheck application fee. The card also has other benefits that can come in handy when you're at home or on vacation, like a complimentary DoorDash DashPass membership (complimentary access to DashPass which unlocks $0 delivery fees and lower service fees for a minimum of one year when you activate by December 31, 2027) and 12 months of Instacart+.

How to redeem rewards: You can redeem Chase Ultimate Rewards® points for statement credits at a rate of one cent per point. And you'll get 1.5 cents per point when you use points to book travel through Chase Travel℠. To book flights and hotels, you can also transfer Chase points to a number of valuable airline and hotel rewards programs, like World of Hyatt, Air Canada Aeroplan and United Airlines MileagePlus.

Who's this for? If you like to keep things simple, you'll love the Citi Double Cash Card. It has no annual fee and earns a flat 2% cash back everywhere (1% back when you make a purchase and 1% back when you pay off the charge).

Standout benefits: The Citi Double Cash Card is a very straightforward card so you don't have to put much effort into maximizing its benefits or spending categories. That doesn't mean it's not a valuable card, though, as getting 2% cashback on your vacation rental is a pretty good deal for very little effort.

How to redeem rewards: As its name suggests, the Citi Double Cash Card offers cold hard cash back. If you have certain other Citi credit cards, like the Citi Strata Premier^® Card (see rates and fees), you can transfer your rewards to various Citi ThankYou® travel partners.

Who's this for? The Bank of America® Customized Cash Rewards card is ideal for anyone who loves cashback and wants to maximize their return across a wide range of purchases. And it's even more rewarding if you're a Bank of America Preferred Rewards member.

Standout benefits: Cardholders earn 3% cash back in a category of their choice, which can be travel or any of the following: gas, online shopping, dining, drug stores and home improvement and furnishings. You'll also earn 2% back at grocery stores and wholesale clubs and the 3% or 2% bonus cash back applies to the first $2,500 in combined purchases each quarter, then you'll earn 1%.

You can boost the cash back you earn with this card by 25% to 75% if you qualify for the Bank of America Preferred Rewards program. Your rewards tier is determined by how much money you have deposited in your Bank of America deposit and Merrill investment accounts, including retirement accounts. To earn the 75% rewards bonus you'll need to reach the Platinum Honors tier, which requires a three-month average daily balance of $100,000 or more. But at that tier, you'll earn a massive 5.25% cash back in the bonus category you choose each month, like travel which includes bookings with Airbnb or VRBO.

How to redeem rewards: You can redeem your cash back for a statement credit, check or as a deposit into an eligible Bank of America or Merrill account.

Who's this for? Small business owners (including freelancers or anyone with a side hustle) who want to earn travel rewards should consider the Chase Ink Business Preferred® Credit Card. It earns bonus points in a range of categories including shipping, advertising and travel (Airbnb and VRBO bookings included).

Standout benefits: Cardholders earn 3X points on travel purchases, including home rentals with Airbnb and VRBO (on up to $150,000 a year in combined purchases in travel, shipping, internet, cable and phone services and advertising). The Ink Business Preferred also comes with generous cell phone coverage, purchase protection benefits and primary car rental insurance.

How to redeem rewards: The Chase Ultimate Rewards® points you earn with this card can be redeemed for one cent each as a statement credit or for gift cards and more when you pay for travel through Chase Travel^SM. You can also transfer Chase points at a 1:1 ratio to 14 partner travel programs, which can greatly increase the value of the travel you can book.

• Should you get a credit card for your Airbnb or VRBO booking?
• How to choose a credit card for home rental purchases
• How to earn extra rewards when booking Airbnb rentals
• How to redeem credit card rewards for vacation rentals

Unless you're a frequent traveler who regularly stays at Airbnbs or VRBOs, it might not be worth opening a new credit card just to book a single homestay. However, it is worth using whatever travel rewards credit card you have to pay for your vacation rental as earning some rewards is better than earning no rewards.

Depending on how many credit cards you're comfortable having, it may be worth opening a credit to pay for your vacation rental because you can earn a valuable welcome bonus at the same time. Then you can use that bonus to book your next vacation. You'll just want to make sure it's a card that's useful for more than just booking vacation home rentals.

When choosing a credit card for your vacation home rental spending, consider what cards you're likely to qualify for and which ones are the most rewarding for you.

The top travel and rewards credit cards typically require you to have good credit or excellent credit. If you're in the process of rebuilding your credit, you may need to start with a secured credit card or another card that's designed to help you repair your credit score.

Credit card rewards generally fall into two categories: intro bonus and ongoing benefits. Sign-up bonuses are typically the most valuable credit card benefit, but they are one-time bonuses. The rewards for your purchases and other ongoing perks should make the card worth it for you over the long haul and justify the annual fee if there is one.

In addition to the rewards you can earn with a credit card, Airbnb has partnerships that allow you to earn extra frequent flyer miles on your bookings.

You can earn 1X Delta SkyMiles on Airbnb stays when you book through Delta and 3X Avios points on Airbnb stays and experiences when you book through British Airways. Before you make these bookings be sure you have cookies enabled in your browser, otherwise, the purchase won't track property and you won't receive the bonus miles.

Redeeming credit card rewards for vacation rentals is easy because it doesn't require you to understand how to maximize a complicated rewards program. Instead, you can use your credit card rewards to offset the bookings you make at sites like Airbnb and VRBO.

How you redeem your credit card rewards depends on what specific card you have. Cashback is straightforward and can be used to simply offset the cost of your home rental. You can usually redeem flexible travel rewards to pay for travel purchases at a rate of one cent per point, but this isn't universal. So you'll need to research how your specific cards work. If you have a cobranded airline or hotel credit card, you typically won't have a way to directly redeem the points and miles you earn for a vacation rental.

Booking a vacation home rental with sites like Airbnb or VRBO is a great option for family vacations or anyone who wants extra space or access to unique amenities that aren't available at hotels. But vacation rental sites don't offer the same level of rewards (if any at all) you can earn with hotel loyalty programs.

If you want to earn or redeem rewards for your vacation home rental, you'll need to find the right credit card for the job. The best credit cards for booking with Airbnb and VRBO earn bonus rewards on these types of purchases and allow you to use your rewards to pay for bookings.

At CNBC Select, our mission is to provide our readers with high-quality service journalism and comprehensive consumer advice so they can make informed decisions with their money. Every credit card review is based on rigorous reporting by our team of expert writers and editors with extensive knowledge of credit card products. While CNBC Select earns a commission from affiliate partners on many offers and links, we create all our content without input from our commercial team or any outside third parties, and we pride ourselves on our journalistic standards and ethics. See our methodology for more information on how we choose the best travel credit cards.

To determine which cards offer the best value for vacation rental bookings, CNBC Select analyzed over 230 of the most popular credit cards available in the U.S. We compared each card on a range of features, including, the credit card's rewards, welcome bonus, introductory and standard APR, balance transfer fee and foreign transaction fees, as well as factors such as required credit and customer reviews when available. We also considered additional perks, the application process and how easy it is for the consumer to redeem points.

Information about the Bank of America® Customized Cash Rewards credit card has been collected independently by Select and has not been reviewed or provided by the issuer of the card prior to publication.