Best Credit Cards for Airbnb for 2024

No doubt about it: Chase Sapphire Reserve^® is a premium travel credit card. That means premium perks like airport lounge access, Global Entry or TSA PreCheck application fee credit, and a $300 annual travel credit. The annual travel credit alone can more than halve the annual fee, but the $550 annual fee is going to be hard for some travelers to stomach.

If you can front the fee, you can use the annual travel credit to slash $300 off the cost of an Airbnb — or earn 3x points on the stay once your credit is used. Then, travel to your getaway in style by zipping through TSA PreCheck security before heading to the airport lounge.

Want premium travel perks but can’t justify the high annual fee of premium travel cards? The Capital One Venture Rewards Credit Card may be your Goldilocks card. Despite only a reasonable $95 annual fee, you’ll get premium travel perks like Global Entry or TSA PreCheck application fee credit and foreign transaction fees of None.

This card generally earns 2 Miles per dollar on every purchase, every day; 5 Miles per dollar on hotels, vacation rentals and rental cars booked through Capital One Travel. You can redeem miles for any past travel purchase — such as Airbnb stays — or transfer miles to over a dozen Capital One airline and hotel partners.

The Capital One Venture X Rewards Credit Card is a fairly new entrant into the premium travel credit card ecosystem. And Capital One clearly wanted to make a splash. Although sporting an annual fee far below its competitors, the Capital One Venture X Rewards Credit Card still delivers a slew of premium travel perks — including a Global Entry or TSA PreCheck application fee credit, airport lounge access via Priority Pass and Capital One’s growing network of lounges, Hertz President’s Circle.

The $395 annual fee is going to spook a lot of travelers, but the card can easily pay for itself. You’ll get a $300 travel credit for bookings through the Capital One travel portal. Plus, cardholders get an anniversary bonus of 10,000 miles each year. That’s worth at least $100 when redeemed for travel purchases. Maximize those two perks to get $400 in value, more than offsetting the annual fee.

Earn — don’t burn — American Express points when paying for Airbnb using the American Express® Green Card. This card sports a solid earning rate of Earn 3X Membership Rewards® Points on eligible purchases at restaurants worldwide, including takeout and delivery in the US. Also earn 3X Membership Rewards® points on travel including airfare, hotels, cruises, tours, car rentals, campgrounds, and vacation rentals. Additionally, earn 3X Membership Rewards® Points on transit purchases including trains, taxicabs, rideshare services, ferries, tolls, parking, buses, and subways and 1X points on other Purchases.

Being able to earn 3X points on Airbnb purchases is excellent for a card with an affordable annual fee. But, to get the most out of your American Express® Green Card earnings, you’re going to need to get to know American Express Membership Rewards.

The best way to redeem Membership Rewards points directly for Airbnb is to redeem points for Airbnb gift cards. And you’ll only get a $70 Airbnb gift card for every 10,000 points redeemed.

The Chase Sapphire Preferred^® Card is a great starter travel card, recently made even better. Chase recently improved the card with a new $50 hotel credit, a 10% anniversary points bonus, and improved earning rates on dining, online grocery purchases, select streaming services, and travel purchased through the Chase Ultimate Rewards® travel portal.

The 5x on travel purchased through Chase Ultimate Rewards®, 3x on dining and 2x on all other travel purchases And the 1x earning rate on all other purchases means it trails competitors like the Capital One Venture Rewards Credit Card. However, it remains a winner thanks to the card’s many other perks and protections.

If you’re looking for simple earning and redeeming with a $0 annual fee, the Bank of America^® Travel Rewards credit card credit card takes the top prize. You’ll earn an unlimited 1.5 points per $1 spent on all purchases, with no annual fee and no foreign transaction fees and your points don’t expire, with no exceptions or bonus categories to remember. And you can redeem points for 1 cent each toward any dining or travel purchase. No award availability searches or complicated award charts required.

In addition to $0 annual fee, you won’t pay foreign transaction fees on international purchases. That’s a rare perk for a no annual fee card.

The card gets a lot more rewarding for savers. Bank of America Preferred Rewards® members can get up to a 75% boost on their earning rate. That boosts your effective earning rate as high as 2.625% — an excellent earning rate for everyday purchases.

While it isn’t a travel card, the $0 annual fee Prime Visa can be a top way to pay for Airbnb stays — in an unconventional way. Instead of paying for Airbnb stays directly, you can purchase Airbnb gift cards through Amazon in any increment you want and get it delivered to you by email.

As an Amazon purchase, you’ll earn unlimited 5% back at Amazon.com, Amazon Fresh, Whole Foods Market, and on Chase Travel purchases with an eligible Prime membership, unlimited 2% back at gas stations, restaurants, and on local transit and commuting (including rideshare), and unlimited 1% on all other purchases. This makes it as close as you’re going to get to an Airbnb credit card.

The Discover it^® Miles lets you earn 1.5 Miles per dollar on all purchases. Instead of a traditional sign-up bonus, Discover matches your earnings from the first year for new cardholders shortly after your account anniversary. That means you’re effectively earning 3x miles for the first year as a cardholder — an excellent earning rate on everyday purchases. Miles can be used for any travel purchase posted in the past 180 days. So, you can plan an Airbnb stay around your first anniversary as a cardholder and utilize the Cashback Bonus® to slash or even eliminate the cost of your stay.

If you own a small business, the Ink Business Preferred^® Credit Card is an excellent card for racking up points — on Airbnb stays and elsewhere. Despite a modest $95 annual fee, cardholders earn 3 points per $1 on the first $150,000 spent in combined purchases on travel, shipping purchases, Internet, cable and phone services, advertising purchases made with social media sites and search engines each account anniversary year. Earn 1 point per $1 on all other purchases-with no limit to the amount you can earn.

You’ll earn 3x points on Airbnb stays, since they fall under the Ink Business Preferred^® Credit Card‘s broad travel category. These Ultimate Rewards points can be redeemed for cashback at 1 cent per point, for 1.25 cents toward travel purchased through Ultimate Rewards or for much higher value through Chase’s airline and hotel transfer partners.

The Blue Business^® Plus Credit Card from American Express is an appealing card for small businesses looking to earn a high rate of Membership Rewards points for no annual fee. You’ll earn 2X points on everyday business purchases such as office supplies or client dinners. 2X applies to the first $50,000 in purchases per year, 1 point per dollar thereafter. Terms and limitations apply.

You’ll earn 2X Membership Rewards points on your Airbnb stays with The Blue Business^® Plus Credit Card from American Express. Note, you can also redeem points for Airbnb stays through the Amex travel portal, but you’ll get a terrible redemption value (only 0.7 cents per point). You’re better off transferring these points to one of Amex’s transfer partners.