Ever since the pandemic wreaked havoc on the travel industry and car companies like Hertz and Avis sold off their fleets to avoid bankruptcy, rental cars are harder to come by than ever.
That's not great news if you, like many Americans, are looking to take a summer vacation. Gone are promotions advertising $9.99-per-day economy rentals. Currently, a Kayak.com search for car rentals in Denver for the first week of June start at $149 per day, turning what you may have hoped would be an easy, week-long joy ride into a $1,000+ expense.
Unfortunately, there's not much that having a credit card with car rental insurance can do to lower rental car costs, other than help pay if the car gets damaged. However, you can use travel rewards and/or cash back to make your vacation more affordable.
Below are some of our top-rated travel cards that let you redeem your rewards for car rentals. We pulled these selections from our best travel credit cards list. With each of the cards ahead, you can earn hundreds in travel rewards within your first year of account opening that you can then use to offset the cost of renting a vehicle. Depending on your spending habits, some of these cards can help you earn up to $2,000 over the next five years according to our methodology.
Before you sign up for a new card, it's important to make sure you can pay off your balance on time and in full each month, since many of these cards have high interest rates.
Credit cards that can save you money on car rentals
Best for earning rewards on rentals
The Capital One Venture Rewards Credit Card has a reasonable annual fee and earns flexible travel rewards, which makes it a great travel card for beginners or heavy travelers.
- 5 miles per dollar on hotel and rental cars booked through Capital One Travel
- Receive up to a $120 credit for Global Entry or TSA PreCheck®
- No introductory APR
- There’s a $95 annual fee
Highlights
Highlights shown here are provided by the issuer and have not been reviewed by CNBC Select's editorial staff.
- LIMITED-TIME OFFER: Enjoy $250 to use on Capital One Travel in your first cardholder year, plus earn 75,000 bonus miles once you spend $4,000 on purchases within the first 3 months from account opening - that's equal to $1,000 in travel
- Earn unlimited 2X miles on every purchase, every day
- Earn 5X miles on hotels, vacation rentals and rental cars booked through Capital One Travel
- Miles won't expire for the life of the account and there's no limit to how many you can earn
- Receive up to a $120 credit for Global Entry or TSA PreCheck®
- Use your miles to get reimbursed for any travel purchase—or redeem by booking a trip through Capital One Travel
- Enjoy a $50 experience credit and other premium benefits with every hotel and vacation rental booked from the Lifestyle Collection
- Transfer your miles to your choice of 15+ travel loyalty programs
- Top rated mobile app
Balance transfer fee
$0 at the Transfer APR, 4% of the amount of each transferred balance that posts to your account at a promotional APR that Capital One may offer to you
Best welcome bonus
The Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card packs a punch for a $95 annual fee card, offering annual travel credits, comprehensive travel protections and more.
- You can transfer rewards to all of Chase's travel partners including World of Hyatt, Southwest Rapid Rewards and many more
- Long list of travel and shopping protections
- $50 annual Chase Travel hotel credit
- Has an annual fee
- Requires a high credit score
Highlights
Highlights shown here are provided by the issuer and have not been reviewed by CNBC Select's editorial staff.
- Earn 75,000 bonus points after you spend $5,000 on purchases in the first 3 months from account opening.
- Enjoy benefits such as 5x on travel purchased through Chase TravelSM, 3x on dining, select streaming services and online groceries, 2x on all other travel purchases, 1x on all other purchases
- Earn up to $50 in statement credits each account anniversary year for hotel stays through Chase TravelSM
- 10% anniversary points boost - each account anniversary you'll earn bonus points equal to 10% of your total purchases made the previous year.
- Count on Trip Cancellation/Interruption Insurance, Auto Rental Collision Damage Waiver, Lost Luggage Insurance and more.
- Complimentary DashPass which unlocks $0 delivery fees & lower service fees for a min. of one year when you activate by 12/31/27. Plus, a $10 promo each month on non-restaurant orders.
- Member FDIC
Balance transfer fee
Either $5 or 5% of the amount of each transfer, whichever is greater
Best for luxury travel
The Chase Sapphire Reserve® is a standout premium credit card with plenty of luxury perks and statement credits to justify its annual fee.
- Access over 1,300 airport lounges worldwide with a complimentary Priority PassTM Select membership, plus every Chase Sapphire Lounge® by The Club with two guests.
- Up to $300 in annual travel credit each account anniversary year
- You can transfer rewards to all of Chase's travel partners including World of Hyatt, Southwest Rapid Rewards and many more
- Top-tier travel and shopping protections
- High annual fee
- Requires a high credit score
Highlights
Highlights shown here are provided by the issuer and have not been reviewed by CNBC Select's editorial staff.
- Earn 150,000 bonus points after you spend $6,000 on purchases in the first 3 months from account opening.
- Get $3,000 in annual value with Sapphire Reserve.
- Earn 8x points on all purchases through Chase TravelSM, including The EditSM and 4x points on flights and hotels booked direct. Plus, earn 3x points on dining worldwide & 1x points on all other purchases
- $300 annual travel credit as reimbursement for travel purchases charged to your card each account anniversary year.
- Access over 1,300 airport lounges worldwide with a complimentary Priority PassTM Select membership, plus every Chase Sapphire Lounge® by The Club with two guests. Plus, up to $120 towards Global Entry, NEXUS, or TSA PreCheck® every 4 years
- Get up to $150 in statement credits every six months for a maximum of $300 annually for dining at restaurants that are part of Sapphire Reserve Exclusive Tables.
- Count on Trip Cancellation/Interruption Insurance, Auto Rental Coverage, Lost Luggage Insurance, no foreign transaction fees, and more.
- Get complimentary Apple TV+, the exclusive streaming home of Apple Originals. Plus Apple Music — all the music you love, across all your devices. Subscriptions run through 6/22/27 — a value of $288 annually
- Member FDIC
Balance transfer fee
Either $5 or 5% of the amount of each transfer, whichever is greater
Best for earning cash back
TD First Class℠ Visa Signature® Credit Card
Rewards
3X miles earned on every $1 spent on travel and dining, plus 1X mile earned on every $1 spent on everything else
Welcome bonus
25,000 miles when you spend $3,000 within the first six billing cycles
Annual fee
$89, waived for the first year
Intro APR
0% APR for the first 12 billing cycles on balance transfers
Regular APR
16.99% variable
Balance transfer fee
$5 or 3% of transfer, whichever is greater
Foreign transaction fee
None
Credit needed
N/A
Terms apply
Pros
- 3X miles on every $1 spent on travel and dining
- 25,000 miles when you spend $3,000 within the first 6 billing cycles
- 0% APR during the first 12 billing cycles on balance transfers
- No fee charged on purchases made outside the U.S.
Cons
- No additional travel credits, like TSA PreCheck/Global Entry application credit
- Points aren’t worth more if you book travel through a special portal
Read more
Our methodology
To determine which cards will put the most money back in your pocket, Select evaluated 35 popular travel credit cards offered by major banks, financial companies and credit unions that allow anyone to join. We compared each card on a range of features, including travel rewards (points and miles), annual fee, welcome bonus, introductory and standard APR, one-time perks, annual perks, redemption rates, as well as factors such as required credit and customer reviews when available.
Select teamed up with location intelligence firm Esri. The company's data development team provided the most up-to-date and comprehensive consumer spending data based on the 2019 Consumer Expenditure Surveys from the Bureau of Labor Statistics. You can read more about their methodology here.
Esri's data team created a sample annual budget of approximately $22,126 in retail spending. The budget includes six main categories: groceries ($5,174), gas ($2,218), dining out ($3,675), travel ($2,244), utilities ($4,862) and general purchases ($3,953). General purchases include items such as housekeeping supplies, clothing, personal care products, prescription drugs and vitamins, and other vehicle expenses.
We then estimated how much the average consumer would redeem over the course of a year, two years and five years, assuming they would attempt to maximize their rewards potential by earning all welcome bonuses offered and using the card for all applicable purchases. All rewards total estimations are net the annual fee and assume that you are paying your credit card balance on time and in full each month so as not to incur interest charges.
It's important to note the value of a point or mile varies from card to card and based on how you redeem them. When we calculated the estimated returns, we assumed that cardholders are redeeming points/miles for a typical maximum value of 1 cent per point or mile. (Extreme optimizers might be able to achieve more value.)
Our final picks are weighted heavily toward the highest five-year returns, since it's generally wise to hold onto a credit card for years. This method also avoids giving an unfair advantage to cards with large welcome bonuses.
While the five-year estimates we've included are derived from a budget similar to the average American's spending, you may earn a higher or lower return depending on your travel habits.
