Seven Travel Cards for International Travel in 2026, Excluding Amex and Bilt

For a trip abroad, pay the $395 fee on Capital One Venture X when you will use its travel credit. Chase Sapphire Preferred and Capital One Venture both charge no foreign transaction fee and cost less than a third of that fee, so they fit travelers who will not use the credit. Bank of America Travel Rewards fits anyone who wants no annual fee at all.

This comparison covers seven cards from five issuers: Chase, Capital One, Citi, Bank of America and Discover. This page covers seven cards from five issuers and leaves out American Express and Bilt cards. Financeradar data: Of the 58 personal credit cards Financeradar lists, 33 charge no annual fee, as of October 25, 2026 (credit card rankings). That count is a starting filter. The three numbers that decide a card abroad are the foreign transaction fee, the rate on travel and whether the credits cover the annual fee.

Seven cards compared

Figures are the annual fees, variable APRs, welcome offers and rewards printed on each issuer's card page as of October 2026. The source links are at the end of this page. Card terms change, so check the issuer before you apply.

Capital One Venture X: the premium card if you will use its credits

Product page: Capital One Venture X.

Venture X prints no foreign transaction fee outside the United States. It also prints a $300 annual credit for hotels, flights, vacation rentals and more through Capital One Travel, and up to $100 for Global Entry or TSA PreCheck, once every four years. That credit applies only to purchases made through Capital One Travel, and only for the primary cardholder. Each anniversary adds 10,000 miles, so the bonus keeps paying after the first year.

The earn rates depend on where you book. Hotels and rental cars booked through Capital One Travel earn 10x, flights and vacation rentals booked there earn 5x, and everything else earns 2x. A hotel booked directly earns the 2x base rate, so the 10x figure is a portal rate, not a card-wide one.

Who should pay: a traveler who books through Capital One Travel and uses the credit every year. Who should skip: anyone who books direct and expects a rate above 2x. The weakness is the fee itself, and the variable APR applies to any balance you carry.

Chase Sapphire Preferred: bonus rates in everyday categories

Product page: Chase Sapphire Preferred.

The card page prints 3x points on dining, 3x on gas stations, EV charging and vacation homes at top brands, and 3x on top streaming services and online grocery, with exclusions. It prints 5x on Chase Travel, 2x on other travel and 1x on everything else. It has no foreign transaction fee, and it offers up to $100 in statement credits each anniversary year for hotel stays bought through Chase Travel.

Who should pay: a traveler whose spending runs through dining, gas, streaming and Chase Travel bookings. Who should skip: anyone who books hotels outside Chase Travel, because the hotel credit would go unused. The weakness is the base rate: 1x on everything outside those categories, and the 5x rate needs a Chase Travel booking. For a grocery-focused comparison, see best credit cards for groceries.

Capital One Venture: a flat 2x card with a first-year stays credit

Product page: Capital One Venture.

The Venture card page prints unlimited 2x miles on every purchase, every day, and 5x on hotels, vacation rentals and rental cars booked through Capital One Travel. It has no foreign transaction fee and no blackout dates. The welcome offer is 75,000 bonus miles once you spend $4,000 in the first three months, and the card includes $300 to use on hotel and vacation rental bookings through Capital One Travel in the first cardholder year.

Who should pay: a traveler who wants one rate on everything and will book hotels through Capital One Travel. Who should skip: a traveler who wants a higher rate on dining or flights, since the flat 2x applies to both. The weakness is the credit's timing: it is a first-year benefit, and the 5x rate needs a Capital One Travel booking.

Citi Strata Premier: 10x on cititravel.com, 3x on air and dining

Product page: Citi Strata Premier.

Citi's card page prints 10 points per dollar on hotels, car rentals and attractions booked on cititravel.com, and 3 points per dollar on air travel, other hotel purchases, restaurants, supermarkets, and gas and EV charging. Everything else earns 1 point. The card has no foreign transaction fee. The welcome offer is 60,000 points after spending the required amount in the first three months, and the once-per-calendar-year $100 hotel benefit covers one stay of $500 or more booked through cititravel.com or Citi's phone line.

Who should pay: a traveler who books hotels, car rentals and attractions through cititravel.com and spends on air travel and dining. Who should skip: a traveler who books hotels direct, since those earn 3x and the 10x rate is lost. The variable APR depends on creditworthiness, as the table shows.

Chase Sapphire Reserve: the premium card that pays on Chase Travel

Product page: Chase Sapphire Reserve.

Reserve charges $795 a year plus $195 for each authorized user, with no foreign transaction fee. The card page prints 8x points on purchases through Chase Travel, 4x on flights and hotels booked direct, 3x on dining worldwide and 1x on everything else. It also prints a $300 annual travel credit for travel-category purchases, Priority Pass lounge access, and Sapphire Lounges by The Club with up to two guests. The 100,000-point bonus needs $6,000 in purchases within three months.

Price history: Chase's Reserve page showed a $550 annual fee in a January 15, 2025 snapshot on the Internet Archive. The live fee is 45% higher.

Who should pay: a traveler who spends heavily through Chase Travel and dining and values lounge access enough to cover the fee. Who should skip: a traveler whose trips abroad are infrequent, since the fee is paid before any rewards arrive.

Bank of America Travel Rewards: no fees and a flat 1.5 points

Product page: Bank of America Travel Rewards.

Bank of America's card page prints no annual fee and no foreign transaction fees. It earns 1.5 points for every $1 on everyday purchases with no category to track, and points redeem as statement credits for flights, hotel stays, vacation rentals, baggage fees and restaurant meals. The welcome offer is 25,000 online bonus points after $1,000 in purchases within 90 days, labeled a $250 value. The 0% intro APR runs for the first 15 billing cycles on purchases, then a variable APR applies.

The weakness is the lack of a travel rate: a flight or hotel earns the same 1.5 points as groceries. Who should pay: a traveler who wants no fees and no category tracking. Who should skip: anyone who wants lounge access or a travel credit.

Discover it Miles: no fee and a first-year match, with a foreign fee to confirm

Product page: Discover it Miles.

Discover it Miles has no annual fee and earns 1.5 miles per dollar on every purchase. Discover matches the miles you earn in your first 365 days at the end of that year, with no limit, but its footnote excludes rewards processed after the match period, statement credits and transfers from Discover or Capital One deposit accounts. The card has no spending welcome offer. Redemption is 100 miles for $1 for cash or travel credit, so each mile is worth one cent at the printed rate. Discover says redemption rates may vary and are subject to change. The 0% intro APR runs for 15 months, then a variable APR applies. The foreign transaction fee is not printed on the card page.

Who should pay: a traveler who wants a flat rate, no annual fee and a first-year match, once the foreign transaction fee is confirmed with Discover. Who should skip: anyone who will not confirm that fee with Discover before a trip abroad.

What the credits do to the fee

Venture X and Reserve show the trade-off at two price points. Subtracting Venture X's $300 credit from its $395 fee leaves $95, so the credit removes about three quarters of the fee, but only for purchases made through Capital One Travel by the primary cardholder. Subtracting the same amount from Reserve's $795 leaves $495. Chase's credit covers travel purchases generally, so the two net fees are not like-for-like. Reserve's net fee is $400 higher, so it would need about $400 more in rewards each year than Venture X to break even on fees. These figures use printed fees and credits alone and ignore rewards, which is why the earn rates above matter as much as the sticker fee. For the no-fee field, see the no-annual-fee travel card comparison.

Where the trap is

• Portal rates. Venture X's 10x and 5x rates, Venture's 5x rate and Citi's 10x rate all need a booking through the issuer's travel site. Chase Preferred's 5x rate needs a Chase Travel booking too.
• First-year credits. Venture's stays credit runs for the first cardholder year, so the card's value drops once that year ends.
• Bonus hurdles. Reserve's 100,000 points need $6,000 in three months, and Bank of America's 25,000 points need $1,000 in 90 days. A light spender may never reach either.
• Redemption value. Discover's card page prints 100 miles for $1, while Bank of America labels its 25,000-point bonus a $250 value. Check the redemption terms before you count a bonus as cash.
• Cash abroad. Withdrawing cash on a credit card carries fees and interest that the rewards rate does not offset. See credit card cash advance fees.

Which card fits which trip

Venture X fits travelers who book through Capital One Travel and will use its credit. Capital One Venture and Chase Sapphire Preferred fit travelers who want a lower fee with no foreign transaction fee, and Preferred fits those who spend in its bonus categories. Bank of America Travel Rewards fits travelers who want no annual fee and a flat rate. Discover it Miles fits the same traveler, once the foreign transaction fee is confirmed with Discover. Citi Strata Premier fits travelers who book hotels through cititravel.com. Reserve fits heavy Chase Travel and dining spenders who want lounge access.

For the difference between the two card types, read charge card vs credit card. For fees across issuers, see credit card fees compared. Trip-related credits such as Global Entry and TSA PreCheck are covered in credit cards that pay for Global Entry and TSA PreCheck.

Methodology: how we compared

Each figure is the issuer's printed term as of October 2026, and the arithmetic uses only those figures. Cards are listed in editorial order by fit, not by a score, and the numbered rows in the table match the card sections above. For category context, see credit card statistics.

Financeradar may earn a commission from some links, and that never affects rankings (how we make money).

Source pages

Card terms come from each issuer's card page: Capital One Venture X, Capital One Venture, Chase Sapphire Preferred, Chase Sapphire Reserve, Citi Strata Premier, Bank of America Travel Rewards and Discover it Miles.

Archived copies: Capital One Venture X, January 15, 2024 and Capital One Venture X, January 28, 2026 each print the same $395 annual fee as the live page.

FAQ

Which card has no annual fee and no foreign transaction fee?

Bank of America Travel Rewards. Its card page prints no annual fee and no foreign transaction fees, and it earns 1.5 points for every $1 on everyday purchases. Discover it Miles also has no annual fee, but its foreign transaction fee is not printed on the card page.

Is Capital One Venture X worth its annual fee for international travel?

It can be, if you book through Capital One Travel and use the credit. Venture X charges no foreign transaction fee, and its travel credit removes about three quarters of the annual fee by our arithmetic. Without that credit, the fee is harder to justify.

What is the annual fee for Chase Sapphire Reserve?

Chase's card page prints $795 a year, plus $195 for each authorized user, as of October 2026. The card has no foreign transaction fee, and its 8x rate applies to purchases through Chase Travel.

Which cards pay 3x on dining?

Chase Sapphire Preferred, Chase Sapphire Reserve and Citi Strata Premier each pay 3x on dining. Capital One Venture X and Capital One Venture earn 2x on everyday purchases, and Bank of America Travel Rewards and Discover it Miles earn 1.5 points or miles per dollar.

Do the travel credits require booking through an issuer portal?

Several do. Venture X's credit works through Capital One Travel, Venture's first-year credit covers bookings through Capital One Travel, and Citi's hotel benefit applies to cititravel.com or Citi's phone line. Chase Sapphire Preferred's hotel credit covers stays bought through Chase Travel. Reserve's travel credit applies to travel-category purchases.

What are the variable APRs on these cards?

Variable APRs run from 17.74% to 28.74% across the seven cards, as printed on each issuer's card page as of October 2026. Bank of America Travel Rewards and Discover it Miles start with 0% intro APRs for 15 billing cycles and 15 months, respectively.

Bottom line

If you travel abroad several times a year and book through Capital One Travel, Venture X fits, provided you will use its credit. If you do not, the lower-fee cards in the table fit better, and Bank of America Travel Rewards is the no-fee option with no foreign transaction fee printed on its card page.

This page is general information, not personalized financial advice. Confirm terms with each provider before you apply.

Cite this: Financeradar, "Best Credit Cards for International Travel in 2026", October 2026.