Visa has wide acceptance within the United States and worldwide, so it’s a good idea to have at least one Visa card in your wallet. The payment network has a broad range of card options from a variety of third-party issuing banks, including Bank of America, Capital One, Chase and Wells Fargo.
See our best credit card bonuses here.
Choosing one “best” Visa card is impossible. The best card for you might not be the best card for your neighbor. It all depends on your spending, reward preferences and other personal factors. With that in mind, we came up with a few Visa credit cards that lead the pack. For other spending preferences, see our post Best Credit Cards For Points and Miles By Spending Category.
When using a credit card, remember to pay your balance in full and on time each month.
For more credit card tips, click here.
Best Visa Credit Cards
To come up with our list of the best Visa credit cards, we weighed in a number of factors, including:
And without further ado, here are the Visa credit cards that made the cut:
| CREDIT CARD | BONUS CATEGORIES | ANNUAL FEE |
| Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card | Travel Dining | $95 |
| Chase Sapphire Reserve® | Travel Dining | $550 |
| Chase Freedom FlexSM | Rotating categories | $0 |
| Chase Freedom Unlimited® | None | $0 |
| Ink Business Preferred® Credit Card | Travel Shipping Telecom Digital advertising | $95 |
| Capital One® Venture® Rewards Credit Card | None | $95, $0 1st year |
| Marriott Bonvoy Boundless® Credit Card | Marriott | $95 |
| The World of Hyatt Credit Card | Hyatt Restaurants Airfare Local transit Fitness clubs | $95 |
| United℠ Explorer Card | United Restaurants Hotel stays | $95, $0 1st year |
Let’s go into more detail with each card below:
We know we sound like a broken record, but the Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card is pretty amazing. You’ll get an incredibly generous sign-up bonus and extra points on dining and broadly-defined travel. Plus, Chase Ultimate Rewards® points are one of the most valuable rewards currencies out there with the ability to transfer to numerous airline and hotel partners.
CHASE SAPPHIRE PREFERRED® CARD
The Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card currently has an offer for 60,000 bonus points after you spend $4,000 on purchases in the first 3 months from account opening.
Redeeming the 60,000 bonus points through the Chase Ultimate Rewards program, which is praised by users, will get you $750 in value towards travel. The 60K bonus points are worth $750 because you get 25% more value whenever you redeem for airfare, hotels, car rentals and cruises through Chase Ultimate Rewards.
Even better, strategize with Chase Ultimate Rewards points transfer partners to potentially get even more value. Each point can be worth up to 2 cents apiece (60k points = ~$1,200). Read more on this here.
The Chase Sapphire Reserve® has a huge annual fee, but you can easily offset that by taking full advantage of all the perks that come with it. Benefits include a big sign-up bonus, extra points on dining and loosely-defined travel, travel credits every year, lounge access via Priority Pass Select, statement credit for your Global Entry or TSA PreCheck application fee and much more. Like Chase Sapphire Preferred, the Chase Ultimate Rewards® points you earn hold a lot of value.
CHASE SAPPHIRE RESERVE®
The Chase Sapphire Reserve® card is offering 80,000 bonus points (worth up to $1,600 in travel per our valuations). You’ll need to spend $4,000 on purchases in the first 3 months from account opening to qualify for the bonus. These 80k points are redeemable for $1,200 toward travel through Chase Ultimate Rewards.
This is a premium travel card with a premium annual fee of $550. But, you’ll receive premium benefits such as 5X points on air travel, 10x points spent on hotels and car rentals when you purchase travel through Chase Ultimate Rewards® immediately after earning your $300 annual travel credit, 3X points on all other travel and dining, and 1 point per dollar spent on all other purchases.
The card also features an application fee credit (up to $100) for Global Entry or TSA Pre✓®, access to 1,300+ airport lounges with Priority Pass Select, and 50% more in travel redemption through Chase Ultimate Rewards. With Pay Yourself BackSM, your points are worth 50% more for existing purchases in select, rotating categories.
The Chase Freedom FlexSM doesn’t have the biggest earning potential, but it does come with no annual fee. And if you pair it with the Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card, Chase Sapphire Reserve® or Ink Business Preferred® Credit Card, you can convert the cash back you earn into valuable Ultimate Rewards® points.
CHASE FREEDOM FLEX℠
The Chase Freedom Flex℠ credit card is going to earn you a $200 bonus after you spend $500 on purchases in the first 3 months from account opening. The welcome bonus comes in the form of 20,000 Ultimate Rewards points. This card has no annual fee.
The Chase Freedom Unlimited® offers low-cost, flat-rate cash back. Like the Chase Freedom Flex℠, you can pair it with another card in the Ultimate Rewards® family to convert your cash back into transferable Ultimate Rewards points. With a possible 3% return when paired, we highly recommend this card for your everyday spending.
CHASE FREEDOM UNLIMITED®
The Chase Freedom Unlimited® credit card has an offer for an additional 1.5% cash back on everything you buy, on up to $20,000 spent in your first year of card membership, for up to $300 cash back.
The Ink Business Preferred® Credit Card is a solid choice for business spending with a giant sign-up bonus, Ultimate Rewards points on common small-business expenses, free employee cards and more. The Ultimate Rewards points you earn with Ink Business Preferred can transfer to partner airline and hotel programs, so they hold a lot of value.
INK BUSINESS PREFERRED® CREDIT CARD
The Ink Business Preferred® Credit Card from Chase has a new cardmember offer for 100,000 bonus points after you spend $15,000 on purchases in the first 3 months after opening.
These bonus points are worth $1,250 towards travel when you redeem through Chase Ultimate Rewards. Or, transfer points over to Ultimate Rewards travel partners to potentially get even more value – up to an average $2,000 for 100k points. Read more about this here.
This card earns 3 points per $1 on the first $150,000 spent in combined purchases on travel, shipping purchases, internet, cable and phone services, and on advertising purchases made with social media sites and search engines each account anniversary year. You’ll earn unlimited 1 Point Per $1 spent on all other purchases.
The Ink Business Preferred® Credit Card earns Ultimate Rewards points. This makes it a great choice for pairing with the non-business Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card or Chase Sapphire Reserve®. You’ll be able to pool points together for faster rewards.
This card has a $95 annual fee.
The Capital One® Venture® Rewards Credit Card became a serious contender in the points and miles world with their recent addition of airline transfer partners. And if you’re looking for simple travel rewards, then Capital One Venture has your name on it. You’ll earn a flat rate of double miles on all your purchases. Plus, you’ll enjoy a statement credit for your Global Entry or TSA PreCheck application fee, which is a rare benefit for a mid-tier card.
CAPITAL ONE® VENTURE® REWARDS CREDIT CARD
The Capital One® Venture® Rewards Credit Card currently earns 100,000 bonus miles when you spend $20,000 on purchases in the first 12 months from account opening. Or if are unable to meet the $20k spending requirement, you can still earn 50,000 bonus miles for spending $3,000 in the first 3 months. These bonus miles are equal to $1000 or $500, respectively, in travel and are easy to redeem as a statement credit towards the cost of your travel purchases. Take advantage of Capital One’s travel partners and these up to 100k miles can be worth around $1400 in value.
This card will earn an ongoing 2 miles for every dollar you spend on all purchases. 100 miles is equal to $1 in travel rewards. If you don’t redeem towards travel purchases, your miles will have less value.
The annual fee is $95.
MARRIOTT BONVOY BOUNDLESS® CREDIT CARD
The Marriott Bonvoy Boundless® Credit Card from Chase has an offer for 3 Free Nights after spending $3,000 on purchases in your first 3 months from account opening.
New to the card, you will earn 3x Bonvoy points on the first $6,000 spent in combined purchases each year on grocery stores, gas stations, and dining. The card is also offering an Elite Night Credit towards Elite Status for every $5,000 spent.
The Marriott Bonvoy Boundless® Credit Card earns 17 points for every $1 spent at over 7,000+ participating Marriott Bonvoy hotels. You’ll receive 2 points per $1 spent on all other purchases.
You’ll get a Free Night Award (valued up to 35,000 points) every account anniversary year and automatic Silver Elite Status. Additionally, you’ll receive 15 Elite Night Credits each calendar year.
This card has no foreign transaction fees and the annual fee is $95.
The World of Hyatt Credit Card has a very rewarding earning structure. You’ll get generous earning rates to accrue points at Hyatt (on top of the points you earn as a World of Hyatt member) and points on transit and commuting, dining, airfare and gym memberships. As a cardmember, you’ll also enjoy automatic Discoverist elite status for as long as your account is open, one free night per year and more.
THE WORLD OF HYATT CREDIT CARD
The World of Hyatt Credit Card from Chase has an offer for up to 60,000 Bonus Points. Earn 30,000 bonus points after you spend $3,000 on purchases within the first 3 months. Get another 30,000 bonus points with 2 Bonus Points per $1 spent on purchases that earn 1 Bonus Point up to $15,000 in the first 6 months of account opening. Our valuations put 60k points at around $1,020 in value.
You’ll earn up to 9 points total per $1 spent at Hyatt with this card. That’s 4 bonus points per $1 with the card and 5 base points per $1 as a World of Hyatt member. The card also earns 2 bonus points per $1 spent at restaurants, on airline tickets bought directly from airlines, on local transit and commuting, and on fitness club and gym memberships.
This card has a $95 annual fee.
Made for loyal United Airlines flyers, the United℠ Explorer Card offers more ways to earn miles with a big sign-up bonus and miles on United, hotel and restaurant purchases.
You’ll also enjoy a wide range of travel perks, including one free checked bag for you and up to six travel companions on United flights, priority boarding, two United Club passes every year, Global Entry/TSA PreCheck application fee credit and more.
CHASE UNITED℠ EXPLORER CARD
The Chase United℠ Explorer Card from Chase has an offer for up to 50,000 bonus miles after you spend $3,000 total in the first 3 months. We value these 50k miles at around $700.
The card earns 2X miles on dining and eligible delivery services, hotel stays and United® purchases. United purchases include:
- Tickets
- Economy Plus
- Inflight food, beverages, Wi-Fi
- Other United charges
You’ll earn 1 mile per $1 spent on all other purchases.
Other benefits include up to $100 as a statement credit for the Global Entry or TSA PreCheck™ application fee every 4 years. You and a traveling companion on the same reservation will each receive the first standard checked bag free. This card provides priority boarding privileges and 2 one-time passes each year to United Clubs.
The Chase United Explorer Card has a $0 introductory annual fee for the first year, then $95 thereafter.
Additional Guides
While we focused on credit cards for travel purchases in this post, you’ll want to choose a card with additional earning potential that matches your spending behavior. Click here for our guide on the best credit cards in other categories or check out these other posts:
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