When one credit card rewards gives you a reward for spending tourism or food cost, it may not mean what you think. Each card issuer applies different criteria to charges that qualify for these rewards, and you may not receive the bonus reward you expected.
In this guide, we’ll take a closer look at what travel rewards credit card offers bonuses on travel and dining purchases, and more importantly, which expenses will qualify for additional points and miles. We’ll then provide some tips and tricks to help you maximize your rewards.
American Express
Many popular Amex card earn Member reward points offers bonuses on different types of travel purchases.
Among the most popular are American Express Platinum® Cardprovide:
- 5 points per dollar on flights booked directly with the airline or through American Express Travel (up to $500,000 per calendar year, then 1 point per dollar)
- 5 points per dollar for prepaid hotels booked through Amex Travel
The American Express® Gold Card provide:
- 3 points per dollar on flights booked directly with the airline or through Amex Travel
The American Express® Green Card offers the broadest perk here, as it earns you 3 points per dollar on future visits travel purchases (including transit):
- Airline tickets
- Many hotels
- Cruise reservations
- Trip
- Car rental
- Campsite
- Vacation rentals
- Third-party travel sites (e.g. trajectory, Expedia, Price line)
- Train
- Taxi
- Ride-hailing service
- Ferry
- Tolls
- parking lot
- Bus
- Subway
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Information about the Amex Green Card has been independently collected by The Points Guy. The card details on this page have not been reviewed or provided by the card issuer.
When it comes to restaurants, some American Express cards offer bonuses, but some cards only offer bonuses at qualifying restaurants. In these cases, the following are excluded:
- Purchase at a restaurant located in another facility (for example, a restaurant inside a hotel, casino, or event venue).
- Shop at bars, nightclubs and convenience stores
- Purchases are made through a third-party food delivery service outside the United States
Additionally, purchases may not be eligible for additional points if the merchant sends the purchase using a mobile or wireless card reader or if you use a mobile or digital wallet.
The Amex card offers bonuses on every dollar of eligible restaurant purchases including:
Related: Why Amex Gold is the perfect ‘in between’ card
Barclays
Luckily, Barclays defines food expenses simply as charges from restaurants and fast food establishments, with no obvious exceptions.
These cards issued by Barclays offer dining bonuses:
Information about Frontier, JetBlue Plus and Hawaiian Airlines cards has been obtained independently by The Points Guy. The card details on this page have not been reviewed or provided by the card issuer.
Bank of America
Bank of America® Travel Rewards credit card offers 1.5 points per dollar on all purchases, and points can be redeemed for statement credits for travel expenses. Luckily, Bank of America has gone to great lengths to identify travel, even revealing the actual qualifying merchant code.
Bank of America® Premium Rewards® Credit Card gives you 2 points per dollar on travel and dining and 1.5 points per dollar on all other purchases.
Meals include:
- Restaurants, including fast food
- Drinking establishments, such as bars or pubs
Travel includes:
- Airlines
- Many hotels
- Guest house
- Share time
- Trailer park
- Trailer
- Recreational car rental
- Campsite
- Car rental agency
- Rent trucks and trailers
- Ship
- Travel agency
- Tour operators
- Real estate agent
- Passenger train operator
- Bus
- Taxi
- Limousine car
- Ferry
- Boat rental
- Parking lot and garage
- Tolls and tolls
- Tourist attractions and exhibitions such as art galleries, amusement parks, festivals, circuses, aquariums, zoos and the like.
Capital One
The Capital One Venture Rewards Credit Card offers 2 miles per dollar on purchases, and no annual fee Capital One VentureOne Rewards Credit Card offers 1.25 miles per dollar spent. These miles are worth one cent per mile because credit report for travel expenses.
Capital One defines travel expenses as purchases made from:
- Airlines
- Many hotels
- Railway
- Car rental agency
- Limousine service
- Bus routes
- Ship
- Taxi
- Travel agency
- Share time
The Capital One Savor Cash Rewards Credit Card gives you 4% cashback on popular dining, entertainment and streaming services and Capital One SavorOne Cash Rewards Credit Card offers 3% cash back on dining, entertainment, popular streaming services, and at grocery stores (excluding supermarkets like Walmart and Target).
Capital One defines qualifying food purchases as those from:
- Restaurant
- Cafe
- Bar
- Waiting room
- Fast food chain
- bakery
Information about the Savor Cash Rewards Credit Card has been collected independently by The Points Guy. The card details on this page have not been reviewed or provided by the card issuer.
Related: The best way to maximize Capital One miles
Chase
The Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card offers 2 points per dollar on all travel and 3 points per dollar on dining and expenses Reserve Chase Sapphire® offers 3 points per dollar on travel and dining.
Businessman on tour categories (as defined by Chase) include and exclude the following:
| Qualified Seller | Seller is not qualified |
|---|---|
| Airlines Bus Campsite Car rental agency Ship Discount travel sites Ferry Many hotels Limousine car Guest house Parking lot and garage Passenger train Taxi Share time Toll bridges and highways Travel agency |
Educational merchants arrange travel In-flight goods and services Goods and services on cruise ships Sightseeing activities Excursion Tourist attraction Sales people in hotels and airports Merchants rent cars for transportation Gift card seller |
For Chase, dining category includes “merchants whose primary business is dine-in or dine-in, including fast food restaurants as well as fine dining establishments.” Chase added that “some food and beverage merchants located within larger merchants such as sports stadiums, hotels and casinos, theme parks and department stores may not be included.” to this directory.”
Here are some other Chase credit cards that offer bonuses on dining or travel:
- United℠ Explorer Card — 2 miles per dollar at restaurants (including eligible delivery services) and hotels (purchase directly with hotels)
- United℠ business card — 2 miles per dollar at restaurants (including eligible delivery services) and local transportation and travel (including taxis, public transportation, tolls and ride-hailing services)
- Hyatt World Credit Card — 4 points per dollar on Hyatt purchases and 2 points per dollar on airline tickets purchased directly from the airline, local transit, taxis, public transit, tolls, services Parking and hailing as well as at restaurants
- Ink Business Cash® Credit Card — 2% cash back (2 points per dollar) on the first $25,000 spent on combined purchases per account anniversary year for restaurants and gas
- Ink Business Preferred® Credit Card — 3 points per dollar over the first $150,000 of combined purchases made annually for travel, transportation, telecommunications, and social and search engine advertising
Related: The sweet spot: The best ways to use Chase Ultimate Rewards points
city
Card in Citi ThankYou rewards program offers some bonuses for travel and dining. Citi Premier® Card (see exchange rates and fees) offers 3 points per dollar on airfare, hotels, gas stations, restaurants and supermarkets and 1 point per dollar on all other purchases.
Eligible dining purchases and exclusions include:
| Qualifying purchases | To exclude, to expel |
|---|---|
| Cafe Bar Waiting room Fast food restaurant |
bakery Food supplier Restaurant/cafe inside another business Third-party food delivery service |
Other Citi credit card Dining bonus offers include:
Information about the Citi® / AAdvantage® Platinum Select® World Elite credit card has been independently collected by The Points Guy. The card details on this page have not been reviewed or provided by the card issuer.
Detect
The Explore it Miles The card earns 1.5 miles per dollar on all purchases and lets you redeem rewards on travel purchases. Discover includes airline tickets, hotel rooms, car rentals, travel agencies, online travel sites, transportation, restaurants and gas stations when purchasing travel. However, any restrictions are moot since you can redeem miles for cash anyway.
Information about the Discover it Miles credit card has been collected independently by The Points Guy. The card details on this page have not been reviewed or provided by the card issuer.
Tips and tricks
Pay attention to stores that have warehouses
Many banks will exclude purchases from warehouse stores from being eligible for rewards. These stores negotiate steep discounts on the fees that card issuers charge, and banks really don’t want to offer additional rewards when they make less money on these transactions.
Be careful with travel agents
In some cases, purchases from travel agents are considered tourism, while in others they are not. For example, most card issuers will classify fees from travel agents as travel fees; however, some cards only award bonus points on travel specifically classified as flights purchased from the airline or issuer’s travel portal. Be sure to know the policy stated on your card before purchasing from an online travel agency.
Call to appeal
If you have expenses that you consider eligible but don’t earn rewards or are not eligible to redeem rewards, consider contacting the card issuer and asking for an exception. This doesn’t always work, but the credit card industry is fiercely competitive and banks have good reason to work these issues out in your favor.
Be careful outside the US
American Express excludes foreign transactions from many of the bonus categories it offers. While other card issuers are less clear on this issue, foreign transactions are also more likely to be classified incorrectly. Therefore, if you have large travel or food expenses during your trip abroad, be sure to double check that they have been properly recorded when you return. And of course, remember to swipe your credit card There are no foreign transaction fees to avoid being hit with lower rewards and additional fees when making purchases.
Bottom line
It’s a good way to review a credit card’s bonus earning categories and see which purchases are eligible to earn bonus points versus which aren’t included. Based on your spending habits, some credit cards and their strict definitions around travel and dining purchases may not allow you to maximize your points-earning potential. Keeping a variety of credit cards in your wallet is a good idea to get around any restrictive purchase categories.
