USAA Eagle Navigator™ Credit Card Review

In some respects, the USAA Eagle Navigator™ Credit Card can compete with some of the travel rewards card heavyweights, offering 3 points per dollar spent on qualifying travel purchases including flights, vacation rentals and hotels and 2 points on everyday purchases including gas, dining, groceries and more.

You’ll also receive 10,000 bonus points each year after you book a hotel stay or rental car through the USAA Rewards Center—more than enough to cover the card’s $95 annual fee—plus a statement credit of up to $100 toward your application fee for Global Entry or TSA PreCheck every four years. While traveling, you can also enjoy certain trip protections and no foreign transaction fees.

The card offers the chance to earn a welcome bonus of 30,000 bonus points ($300 travel value) after spending $3,000 on qualifying purchases within 90 days of account opening. Many comparable travel credit cards offer bonuses worth $500 to $1,000, so you’re leaving a lot of upfront value on the table if you choose this card. And unless you’re an existing USAA member or qualify to join, it’s inaccessible anyway. You can join USAA if you’re an eligible member of the military community or the spouse, former spouse, widow or child of an existing member.

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Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card

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Welcome Bonus

75,000 bonus points

Annual Fee

$95

Credit Score

Excellent, Good

Regular APR

21.49%-28.49% Variable

Credit Score ranges are based on FICO® credit scoring. This is just one scoring method and a credit card issuer may use another method when considering your application. These are provided as guidelines only and approval is not guaranteed.

Earn 75,000 bonus points after you spend $4,000 on purchases in the first 3 months from account opening. That's over $900 when you redeem through Chase Travel℠.

Capital One Venture X Rewards Credit Card

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Rates & Fees

Welcome Bonus

Earn 75,000 bonus miles

Annual Fee

$395

Credit Score

Excellent

Regular APR

19.99% - 29.99% (Variable)

Credit Score ranges are based on FICO® credit scoring. This is just one scoring method and a credit card issuer may use another method when considering your application. These are provided as guidelines only and approval is not guaranteed.

Earn 75,000 bonus miles when you spend $4,000 on purchases in the first 3 months from account opening, equal to $750 in travel.

Capital One Venture Rewards Credit Card

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On Capital One's Website

Rates & Fees

Welcome Bonus

Earn 75,000 bonus miles

Annual Fee

$95

Credit Score

Excellent, Good

Regular APR

19.99% - 29.99% (Variable)

Credit Score ranges are based on FICO® credit scoring. This is just one scoring method and a credit card issuer may use another method when considering your application. These are provided as guidelines only and approval is not guaranteed.

Enjoy a one-time bonus of 75,000 miles once you spend $4,000 on purchases within 3 months from account opening, equal to $750 in travel

• $95 annual fee
• 3 points per dollar spent on qualifying travel purchases including flights, vacation rentals and hotels and 2 points on everyday purchases including gas, dining, groceries and more
• Global Entry or TSA PreCheck fee credit
• 10,000 bonus points each year when you book a hotel or car through the USAA Rewards Center
• No foreign transaction fees

Earning Rewards

The card offers a simple rewards structure: You’ll earn 3 points per dollar spent on qualifying travel purchases including flights, vacation rentals and hotels and 2 points on everyday purchases including gas, dining, groceries and more.

Most travel rewards credit cards offer accelerated points or miles on travel-related purchases, but some require you to book the card issuer’s travel portal, which isn’t the case here. Also, few travel cards offer such a high rewards rate on non-bonus spending.

The card offers a 30,000 bonus points ($300 travel value) after spending $3,000 on qualifying purchases within 90 days of account opening. If you’re comparing it to another card that offers 1 point per dollar on non-bonus spending and a welcome bonus worth $600, you’d have to spend $30,000 with the extra point per dollar you’re getting to catch up, so to speak.

Redeeming Rewards

The USAA Eagle Navigator™ Credit Card offers a handful of redemption options, but you’re likely to get the most value if you redeem your points for travel through the USAA Rewards Center. This option gives you a redemption rate of 1 cent per point.

Other redemption options include cash back, statement credits, gift cards, merchandise and charitable contributions. That said, cash back and statement credits give you a redemption value of just 0.7 cents per point, and USAA doesn’t disclose redemption rates for the other choices.

Rewards Potential

The card’s straightforward rewards structure makes it relatively easy to get an idea of how much value you can get from your everyday spending.

Forbes Advisor uses data from various government agencies to determine both baseline income and spending averages across various categories. The 70th percentile of wage earners brings in $116,000 annually and has $36,177 in total credit card spending each year. This puts annual earnings at 78,398 points. Here’s how that breaks down.

USAA Eagle Navigator™ Credit Card Rewards Potential
Category	Earning Rate	Estimated Annual Spend	Estimated Annual Earnings
Travel	3X	$6,044	18,132
All Other Purchases	2X	$30,133	60,266
			78,398 points

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That amount increases to 88,398 points if you book at least one hotel stay or rental car through the USAA Rewards Center—more on the requirements to earn that in a minute.

• Annual bonus points. Each calendar year, you’ll earn 10,000 points when you book a hotel, car rental or both through the USAA Rewards Center, in which you spend at least $100 and redeem a minimum of 100 points.
• Global Entry or TSA PreCheck fee credit. Up to a $100 TSA PreCheck or Global Entry fee credit every four years after paying the application fee with the card.
• Trip cancellation and interruption insurance. Up to $1,500 per covered person for non-refundable prepaid fares when your trip is canceled or interrupted due to a covered reason.
• Baggage delay reimbursement. Up to $100 per day for up to three days for essentials like clothing and toiletries if your checked baggage is delayed.
• Travel accident insurance. Up to $500,000 in coverage if you experience an accidental death or dismemberment during certain periods of your trip.
• Auto Rental Collision Damage Waiver: Up to 31 days of coverage worldwide when you decline the car rental agency’s coverage.

Interest Rates

• Regular APR: 20.15% to 28.40% variable
• Purchase intro APR: N/A
• Balance transfer intro APR: N/A

Fees

• Annual fee: $95
• Balance transfer fee: 5% of the amount of each balance transfer and convenience check
• Foreign purchase transaction fee: None

USAA Eagle Navigator™ Credit Card vs. Capital One Venture Rewards Credit Card

The Capital One Venture Rewards Credit Card has some similarities with the USAA Eagle Navigator™ Credit Card. It offers a base rewards rate of 2 miles per dollar and an application fee credit for Global Entry or TSA PreCheck. It also charges a $95 annual fee (rates & fees).

But that’s where the similarities end. The Venture Rewards Card also offers 75,000 miles once you spend $4,000 on purchases within 3 months from account opening—that’s worth $750 in travel. You’ll also 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.

When it’s time to redeem your hard-earned rewards, Capital One offers more flexibility. In addition to using miles to book trips through Capital One Travel, you can also book with travel providers directly and request a statement credit. You’ll also have the option to transfer your miles to various airline and hotel loyalty programs.

USAA Eagle Navigator™ Credit Card vs. Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card

The Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card arguably set the standard for mid-tier travel credit cards. As a new cardholder, you’ll earn 75,000 bonus points after spending $4,000 on purchases in the first three months from account opening. You’ll also get a chance to earn bonus points on a greater variety of spending categories, though the base rewards rate is low.

You’ll receive 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.

What makes the card even more impressive, though, is that you’ll get 1.25 cents per point when you redeem rewards for travel through Chase Travel (making the card’s welcome bonus worth $937.50). You can also transfer your rewards to several airline and hotel loyalty programs. Other perks include up to $50 in annual statement credits when you book a hotel stay through Chase and bonus rewards or savings with partners like Lyft, DoorDash, Instacart and Peloton. The card charges a $95 annual fee.

USAA Eagle Navigator™ Credit Card vs. Capital One Venture X Rewards Credit Card

If you travel frequently, it could make sense to consider the Capital One Venture X Rewards Credit Card. With a $395 annual fee (rates & fees), it’s not cheap. But you can get that value back through the card’s 10,000 anniversary bonus miles—worth $100 in travel—and $300 annual travel credit for bookings made through Capital One Travel.

The card also offers 75,000 bonus miles after spending $4,000 on purchases within the first three months of account opening, plus 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. Other card benefits include access to airport lounges in the Priority Pass, Plaza Premium and Capital One Lounge networks and a statement credit of up to $100 every four years toward your Global Entry or TSA PreCheck application fee.

The card’s rewards rates are impressive, especially the high base rate, which is what most of your purchases will earn. Also, while the card does charge an annual fee, it’s nice to have an easy way to get that value back every year. The membership hurdle is also a non-starter for anyone outside of the military community.

That said, if you’re a USAA member—or qualify to become one—and you want to keep all of your finances under the USAA umbrella, it’s one of the better USAA credit card options.

Forbes Advisor considers a variety of criteria when assigning credit cards a rating. Cards are graded based on numerous factors including:

• Annual fees
• Welcome bonus offers
• Ongoing earning rates
• Value of individual points or miles
• Included travel or merchant credits
• Additional cardholder benefits

Card features we expect cardholders to use the most often are weighted more heavily in our ratings. Altogether, the factors came together to provide a star rating for each individual card.

Read more: How Forbes Advisor Rates Credit Cards