Best Credit Cards for International Travel for April 2024

Whether you've caught the travel bug or you go abroad often for work, the best credit cards for international travel will help you save money on fees all while earning valuable rewards and providing travel perks and protections.

From big sign-up bonuses and luxury perks to trip insurance and whether the card will be accepted worldwide, here's what you need to know to pick the best credit card for your next international trip.

Visa and Mastercard are the most widely accepted credit cards beyond the U.S. Some international vendors may also accept American Express and Discover, but don't count on it -- if you're traveling outside the U.S., it's best to have at least one Visa or Mastercard, ideally both.

While cards in the travel credit card category are increasingly popular around the globe, some credit card issuers are more widely accepted than others. It's important to take into consideration where you'll be traveling most frequently -- even the best rewards credit cards for international travel are useless if they aren't accepted where you plan to travel.

The best travel credit cards help you stay on budget while traveling by offering comprehensive travel benefits and protections. Here are the top features and benefits to look for in the best rewards credit cards for international travel.

Welcome offer

Aim for credit cards with generous sign-up bonuses, but make sure you can meet the minimum requirements to earn the bonus. This will give you a solid boost if you're collecting rewards for an upcoming vacation, as many welcome offers are big enough to cover one (sometimes two) round-trip flights.

Rewards rate

You also want to pay attention to the rewards rate you'll earn on your regular spending to determine whether or not the credit card brings value past earning the sign-up bonus. Choose rewards credit cards that offer higher rewards rates (think three points per $1 spent on select categories), but also make sure that the bonus spending categories align with your spending habits.

Redemption options and point value

Travel credit card issuers will let you redeem points or miles for a variety of travel purchases or statement credits, but each issuer will assign different values to your points based on how you redeem them. Hotel credit cards, for instance, may give you more value when you redeem points for booked rooms with that hotel, while airline cards might give you better value when you redeem miles for flights. Figure out what rewards you'd like to earn upfront (rooms, flights, and general travel purchases), then do some research to find the card that will earn those rewards most efficiently.

Point value

Not all rewards points are created equal. One credit card might offer a larger sign-up bonus than another, but that doesn't necessarily mean it offers more value. Some rewards points are valued at $0.005 each while others are valued at $0.02 each. Do some research to figure out the true value of the rewards you'd be earning.

Foreign transaction fee

It's easy to rack up credit card fees while you're traveling abroad without even noticing it. The biggest one to avoid is the foreign transaction fee. The best credit cards for international travel come with no foreign transaction fee.

Rental car insurance

Most of our best international credit card picks have rental car insurance built into them, though you'll need to pay for the rental car with your credit card for the coverage to kick in. Many of these cards offer collision coverage and theft insurance, but double check to see if you're comfortable with the coverage it offers or need to complement it with your own policy.

Delayed and lost baggage insurance

Delayed and lost baggage insurance can help reimburse you for baggage mishaps, such as when your luggage doesn't arrive for several hours, or worse -- doesn't arrive at all. For this coverage to kick in, you must have charged the flight to your travel credit card.

Trip cancellation insurance

If your trip is canceled or interrupted due to eligible unforeseen circumstances, your credit card may reimburse you for any non-refundable reservations you've already made, such as flights and hotels. For this coverage to apply, you must have charged the canceled or interrupted reservations to your travel credit card.

When choosing the best international travel credit card, you'll want to compare three main features: fees, rewards, and benefits.

Comparing fees

The best travel credit card for you will be the one that earns you the most rewards without forcing you to dig into your own pockets. That means, before you apply for a card, take a look at its fees, such as annual fees, foreign transactions fees, and interest rates.

Many of the cards listed above don't have foreign transaction fees, but they'll charge interest for unpaid balances. Since you don't want interest to eat into your rewards, aim to pay off your card's balance every billing cycle. Even if the card has an intro 0% APR, it's a good habit to charge only what you can afford to pay off and avoid carrying balances from one billing cycle to the next.

Likewise, pick only annual fee cards that will earn you more rewards than the card costs you. Initially, this could mean picking a card that has a welcome offer that pays for the card's fee. But over time you want a travel card whose earn rate, rewards, and insurance more than pay for the card itself. Alternatively, you could choose one of our picks for best travel cards with no annual fees if you don't plan to use the card frequently.

Comparing rewards

The two most important things to look for when comparing rewards systems across different cards are:

• Cards with bonus spending categories that match your spending habits
• Cards with points or miles that can be easily redeemed for awards you actually want

Additionally, you'll want to compare the point value of different cards, do the math to figure out how much the welcome offer is worth, and figure out how much you'd earn in rewards monthly given your spending habits. This will help you break down which credit card would be the most lucrative for you.

Read more: Best Airline Credit Cards

Comparing benefits

Travel benefits, such as lounge access and rental car insurance, can be nice add-ons to a travel card that's earning you a slew of rewards. But sometimes the benefits can be super enticing, such as when a hotel card gives you free rooms or an airline card gives you a $100 credit for flight incidentals. Read the fine print in each credit card's benefits guide to figure out which ones offer the best insurance.

A credit card for international travel might be right for you if:

• You travel internationally at least a couple of times per year
• You don't plan on carrying a balance
• You can handle using a credit card without overspending

If you don't travel much internationally, you might want to consider one of the best credit cards geared toward consumers in general, which might offer more flexible perks and rewards that can apply to your everyday life. If you plan on carrying a balance, you should look into either a low interest credit card or a 0% intro APR credit card to save money on interest.

Read more: Check out The Ascent's list of the Best Travel Credit Cards With No Annual Fee

Our travel credit cards methodology

At The Motley Fool Ascent, we rate travel credit cards on a five-star scale (1 = poor, 5 = best). Our rating criteria Includes rewards systems and bonus categories, rewards redemption flexibility, and sign-up bonuses.

Our highest-rated travel credit cards have:

• Rewards system and bonus categories (the earn rate of flat-rate rewards, or tiered spending categories)
• Rewards redemption flexibility and points programs (booking travel, transfer partners, statement credit, etc.)
• Sign-up bonuses that can drastically boost card value in the first year
• Perks that can offset annual fees like airport lounge access, travel credits, and TSA PreCheck reimbursement

We combine these factors with an evaluation of brand reputation and customer satisfaction to ensure you're getting the best travel card recommendations. Our aim is to maintain a balanced best-of list featuring top-scoring travel credit cards from reputable brands.

Ordering within lists is influenced by advertiser compensation, including featured placements at the top of a given list, but our product recommendations are NEVER influenced by advertisers. Learn more about how The Ascent rates credit cards.