Best credit cards for traveling with kids

04.08.2023 - 19:41 / lonelyplanet.com

This series of articles about credit cards, points and miles, and budgeting for travel is brought to you in partnership with The Points Guy.

Traveling with kids is an exciting and rewarding experience but can also be expensive. To help make the trip more affordable, many families opt for credit cards that offer rewards and benefits specifically tailored to travel.

A good family travel credit card should provide a generous welcome bonus redeemable for flights, hotels and other travel-related purchases. It should also offer recurring benefits such as free checked bags, flight and hotel discounts and no foreign transaction fees. These features can help make your family’s vacation more affordable by reducing the cost of airfare and accommodations while abroad. 

In addition to these perks, some cards offer additional benefits such as priority boarding or airport lounge access. This can be especially helpful for families traveling with young children who may need extra care when boarding a flight or waiting at the airport. 

When selecting a credit card for family travel, it’s important to compare your options carefully to find one that best meets your needs. Be sure to look for cards that offer generous welcome bonuses and recurring benefits like free checked bags or no foreign transaction fees so you can maximize your savings on each trip you take with your family.

Here are our top picks for the best credit cards for traveling with kids:

If you’re traveling with kids, you probably want a card that saves you money on flights. The Alaska Airlines Visa® credit card is an excellent way to save money on both paid and award tickets. 

While the Companion Fare is restricted to economy class tickets on Alaska Airlines, there are plenty of routes where this can result in massive savings. For example, flights to Hawaii can get pricey during the high season. Booking up to two companion tickets for just $99 plus taxes can translate to significant savings. 

The card can also help you book discounted flights using airline miles. The card earns up to 3 miles per dollar on various spending categories, plus a 10% annual rewards bonus. Alaska Airlines is part of the Oneworld airline alliance, meaning you can use your miles for flights on carriers like American Airlines, Cathay Pacific, Qatar Airways and more.

Best of all, Alaska Airlines offers some of the cheapest award tickets within the Oneworld alliance. For example, you can book a domestic economy class ticket starting from 5000 miles each way, costing you 7500 miles with American Airlines. International flights also tend to be cheaper with Alaska Mileage Plan. A one-way business class ticket to Asia starts at just 50,000 Alaska miles instead of 60,000 American miles. Your