Best Transit Credit Cards Of May 2024

The Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card allows you to earn bonus Chase Ultimate Rewards® on travel. Chase has a broad definition of what it considers travel, including trains, buses, taxies, ferries, parking lots and garages.

Rewards: Earn 5 points per dollar on travel purchased through Chase Travel℠, 3 points per dollar on dining, select streaming services, and online grocery purchases (excluding Walmart, Target and wholesale clubs), 2 points per dollar on all other travel purchases and 1 point per dollar on other purchases.

Welcome offer: Earn 75,000 bonus points after spending $4,000 on purchases in the first three months from account opening.

Annual fee: $95

Other benefits and drawbacks: If you’re heading home on the bus or train and don’t have time to cook dinner, the card provides a complimentary DoorDash DashPass subscription and an Instacart+ membership with $15 in statement credits every quarter through July 2024. This goes far to offset the $95 annual fee.

Also through March 2025, you’ll earn 5 points per dollar on Lyft rides, up from the normal 2 points per dollar. If you’re a heavy rideshare user, this is a big boost for simply paying with your card.

Finally, Chase Ultimate Rewards® transfer to a multitude of travel partners, allowing maximum flexibility in how you can redeem your rewards.

For ease of redemption and ease of earning, the Capital One Venture X Rewards Credit Card (rates & fees) takes the cake. With flat-rate rewards on all spending, there’s no need to worry about the right bonus category at the right time. To redeem your points, you have the choice to transfer them to a range of travel partners or cover purchases with a statement credit.

Rewards: Earn 2 miles per dollar on all eligible purchases, 5 miles per dollar on flights booked through Capital One Travel, 5 miles per dollar on Capital One Entertainment purchases through 12/31/25 and 10 miles per dollar on hotels and rental cars when booking via Capital One Travel.

Welcome offer: Earn 75,000 bonus miles after spending $4,000 on purchases within the first three months of account opening.

Annual fee: $395

Other benefits and drawbacks: You can earn 5 miles per dollar for flights and 10 miles per dollar for hotels and rental cars booked through the Capital One travel portal. You’ll also earn a $300 annual credit for the first $300 of travel booked via the portal each year.

The card has a slew of benefits including cellphone protection, auto rental collision coverage and no foreign transaction fees. For the cellphone benefit, as long as you’re paying your bill with your card, you’re covered against theft or damage.

The Chase Sapphire Reserve® is an ultra-premium card with top-tier rewards on all things considered travel, to which Chase has a long list. Plus, the Sapphire Reserve has some of the best travel protections and insurances of any card on the market today.

Rewards: Earn 5 points per dollar on flights and 10 points per dollar on hotels and car rentals when purchasing travel through Chase Travel℠ immediately after the first $300 is spent on travel purchases annually. Earn 3 points per dollar on other travel and dining and 1 point per dollar spent on all other purchases.

Welcome offer: Earn 75,000 bonus points after spending $4,000 on purchases in the first three months from account opening.

Annual fee: $550

Other benefits and drawbacks: Your first $300 of travel purchases, including commuting expenses, are credited back to your card, which covers more than half of the annual fee.

If you use rideshare services as part of your commute, consider using Lyft as you’ll earn 10 points per dollar on all your Lyft rides through March 2025, along with a complimentary two-year Pink All Access membership which comes with priority pickup and free ebike and scooter unlocks.

Lastly, the list of protections and insurances includes auto rental damage waivers, trip cancellation and interruption insurance, travel accident insurance, trip delay protection, lost luggage reimbursement and more.

The Capital One VentureOne Rewards Credit Card (rates & fees) offers flat-rate rewards on all your purchases—including transit. While this card doesn’t charge an annual fee, it isn’t light on benefits. You won’t pay foreign transaction fees and can transfer your points to travel partners.

Rewards: Earn 5 miles per dollar on hotels and rental cars booked through Capital One Travel and 1.25 miles per dollar on every other purchase.

Welcome offer: Earn 20,000 miles after spending $500 on purchases within 3 months from account opening, equal to $200 in travel.

Annual fee: $0

Other benefits and drawbacks: If you’re looking for an introductory travel credit card that doesn’t skimp on benefits, this card is a solid option. You can redeem your Capital One Rewards as statement credits, deposit them to your PayPal account, pay for Amazon purchases or transfer them to over 15 travel partners to get even more value.

The protections and insurances that come with this card are often found with cards that have annual fees. If you’re approved for the Visa Signature version of the card, you’ll get extended warranty coverage on products you purchase, auto rental collision coverage and even travel accident insurance.

The Platinum Card® from American Express (Terms apply. See rates & fees) is the best card for premium travel benefits, so you can find value in the high annual fee—assuming you’ll maximize the long list of perks. One of the easiest for rideshare users is the up to $200 annual benefit in Uber Cash, received as a monthly credit loaded directly to your Uber account for ease of use.

Rewards: Earn 5 Membership Rewards Points per dollar for flights booked directly with airlines or with American Express Travel on up to $500,000 per calendar year, 5 points per dollar on prepaid hotels booked with American Express Travel and 1 point per dollar on other eligible purchases.

Welcome offer: Earn 80,000 Membership Rewards Points after spending $8,000 on eligible purchases on the card in the first 6 months of card membership.

Annual fee: $695

Other benefits and drawbacks: This card offers over $1,500 in possible statement credits including a $200 hotel credit, $240 digital entertainment credit (up to $20 in statement credits monthly), $155 Walmart+ credit and more. In airports, you’ll get access to the Global Lounge Collection including Centurion and Priority Pass lounges—and even Delta Sky Clubs and Lufthansa lounges.

You can also enroll for Gold elite status with both Marriott and Hilton offering benefits such as room upgrades, bonus points and even food and beverage credits at certain hotels.

Points earned come in the form of Membership Rewards which can be transferred to travel partners. This means that you’ll be able to top off your favorite airline or hotel program balance and use your points for a dream vacation.

The American Express® Gold Card (Terms apply. See rates & fees) isn’t specifically for transit, but the benefits you’ll earn around your everyday transit purchases are where it shines.

Rewards: Earn 4 Membership Rewards® points per dollar at restaurants, plus takeout and delivery in the U.S., 4 Membership Rewards® points per dollar at U.S. supermarkets (on up to $25,000 per calendar year in purchases, then 1 point per dollar), 3 Membership Rewards® points per dollar on flights booked directly with airlines or through American Express travel and 1 point per dollar on other eligible purchases.

Welcome offer: Earn 60,000 Membership Rewards points after spending $6,000 on purchases in the first 6 months of card membership.

Annual fee: $250

Other benefits and drawbacks: On your way to or from work, consider picking up some food with GrubHub. The American Express Gold card comes with an additional $10 credit each month for GrubHub purchases and at select restaurants like Shake Shack and the Cheesecake Factory. Simply enroll and make the charges to your card to receive the credit.

You’ll also get a $10 monthly Uber credit automatically loaded to your account at the first of each month. This will help to offset the cost of some of your Uber rideshares.

Most hotel cards focus on the benefits at that specific hotel chain, but the Wyndham Rewards Earner® Plus Card* gives all that with strong earning potential added.

Rewards: Earn 6 points per dollar spent on eligible purchases made at Hotels by Wyndham as well as on qualifying gas purchases, 4 points on eligible dining and grocery store purchases (excluding Target and Walmart) and 1 points on other purchases.

Welcome offer: Earn 100,000 bonus points after spending $2,000 on purchases in the first six months of account opening, resort fees may apply.

Annual fee: $75

Other benefits and drawbacks: If you find yourself at Wyndham hotels, know that you’ll get Platinum elite status just by holding the Wyndham Rewards Earner® Plus Card*. This means you’ll earn extra points, get early check-in and late checkout benefits and more.

Cardholders receive an additional 7,500 points each anniversary year and a 10% discount on Go Free awards, meaning you can stretch your earnings even further.

The Capital One Venture Rewards Credit Card (rates & fees) provides flat-rate points for all your daily purchases, so you can use it anywhere—regardless of category.

Rewards: Earn 5 miles per dollar on hotels and rental cars booked through Capital One Travel, 5 miles per dollar spent on Capital One Entertainment purchases through 12/31/25 and an unlimited 2 miles per dollar spent on other purchases.

Welcome offer: Earn 75,000 miles once you spend $4,000 on purchases within 3 months from account opening.

Annual fee: $95

Other benefits and drawbacks: You’ll also earn 5 miles per dollar when you book hotels and car rentals through Capital One Travel. Those points can be redeemed for cash back, statement credits or even awards with airline and hotel partners.

You’ll also get a TSA PreCheck® or Global Entry credit, exclusive hotel credits and benefits and no foreign transaction fees when you’re traveling abroad.

The Citi Custom Cash® Card has a strong value proposition for people who spend a lot on transit. You’ll earn 5% cash back each month on your top two spending categories, including gas stations and select transit purchases. The limit is capped at $500 in spend, or $25 in cash back every month. Other categories include restaurants, grocery stores, travel, streaming services, drugstores, home improvement, fitness and live entertainment.

Rewards: Earn 5% cash back on purchases in a top eligible spend category up to the first $500 spent each billing cycle, 4% cash back on hotels, car rentals, and attractions booked on Citi Travel℠ portal through 6/30/2025 and 1% cash back on all other purchases.

Welcome offer: Earn $200 in cash back after spending $1,500 on purchases in the first 6 months of account opening. The bonus points come in the form of 20,000 ThankYou® Points that can be redeemed for $200 cash back.

Annual fee: $0

Other benefits and drawbacks: The card has no annual fee, which makes the earning potential even better. If you were to max out your top eligible spend category cash back earning each month you would earn $300 a year on top of cash back earned in all other categories.

The Citi Custom Cash® Card also comes with an intro APR allowing you to save money on interest: 0% introductory APR for 15 months from date of account opening on purchases and from date of first transfer for balance transfers completed within 4 months of account opening. After that, the variable APR will be 19.24% - 29.24%, based on creditworthiness. There is also a balance transfer fee of 5% of each balance transfer; $5 minimum.