It can be confusing to know what credit card is the best to use for booking Airbnbs.
Especially if you’re new to the idea of travel hacking.
With Airbnb offering a completely unique way for people to see the world, it’s only natural to choose a credit card that rewards the bookings you’re actually going to make for vacation.
Why sign up for a credit card that rewards staying in a fancy 5-star hotel when (even with the extra travel bonus points) you’d never dream of spending that much on one night of stay, much less a whole week of vacation.
How to Filter Through Credit Cards Quickly
Airbnb is not viewed as a hotel in the eyes of credit card companies.
Therefore, normal hotel credit card rewards and perks don’t apply… directly.
To solve this issue, we need to do three things when filtering through credit cards:
- Find out how many points you can earn for every dollar spent with Airbnb
- Make sure the credit card defines ‘travel’ charges broadly enough to include Airbnb
- Find out what your redemption rate is for redeeming points for Airbnb bookings
The goal is to find the credit card that codes Airbnb as a travel charge, allows you to earn points on the booking, and allows you to erase those charges on the back end using your travel points.
Want the Easy Answer?
The short and sweet answer is to find a credit card with the most flexibility.
If you leave this post taking away ONE thing, take this: the credit card with the most flexible earnings and redemption methods is going to be the best credit card to use for Airbnb.
This typically includes flexible travel hacking credit cards that offer a solid cash back redemption option.
Most credit cards have hotel loyalty programs or online travel portals they want you to use.
These perks will mean nothing to you if you primarily stay in Airbnbs.
This is why flexibility is key.
Take away: A credit card that offers flexible bookings and redemption options for points and / or offers a solid cash back option is the best credit card to use with Airbnb.
Discover It Miles
The Discover It Miles card ranks number one in the rewards flexibility department.
Not only are Airbnb charges coded as travel and can be erased with points on the back end of a trip, but you can also use the miles to book Airbnb stays on the front end.
Points earned per dollar spent on Airbnb: 1.5 points per dollar
Point value for redeeming Airbnb charges: 1 cent
Pros
- Earn 1.5 points per dollar spent, including Airbnb vacation rentals
- Use miles to redeem the total or partial amount* of an Airbnb booking
- Use points to book a trip with Airbnb on the front end of the planning process instead of having to wait to redeem miles after spending the cash**
- Redeem miles in three flexible ways
- Redeem points for cash back
- Erase Airbnb or related travel charges using the easy in-app tool
- Reimburse yourself by transferring the miles balance to your bank account
- Cash in on a unique and unlimited bonus sign-on bonus where Discover doubles all miles earned in the first year
- $0 annual fee – excellent for a first time travel credit card
*This perk is nice because you don’t have to wait for your points to accumulate to pay for an entire vacation if you don’t want to. You can use it to take off $100 from a trip to make it happen sooner rather than having to wait and save up an extra $100.
**While this is a perk if you don’t have the space in your travel budget to spend on your trip at the time of booking, it isn’t the best way to take advantage of earning the 1.5 points per dollar spent on that vacation rental first before erasing the charge.
Cons
- Miles earnings are capped at 1.5 miles per dollar. No extra incentives or bonus programs
- Points can’t be transferred outside of the app to any affiliate partners. So, no points stacking in this way.
Capital One VentureOne
This is my runner up suggestion for the best card to use with Airbnb. The flexibility and simplicity of the in-app travel purchase eraser is just *chef’s kiss*, so good.
I’ve personally used this card to erase countless trip costs.
Points earned per dollar spent on Airbnb: 1.25 points per dollar
Point value for redeeming Airbnb charges: 1 cent
Pros:
- Easy to use in-app purchase eraser
- 20,000 sign-on bonus
- Earn 1.25 points per dollar spent at Airbnb and other purchases
- $0 annual fee
- 5x miles on travel booked through Capital One Travel
Cons
- Static points earning rate of 1.25 with no availability for extra earnings bonuses outside of booking through the Capital One Portal (which doesn’t apply to Airbnb bookings)
Chase Sapphire Preferred
The Chase Sapphire Preferred credit card can be used for Airbnb currently.
As a travel credit card that typically highlights loyalty programs with hotel partners and encourages users to book stays through the Chase Ultimate Rewards Portal, the Sapphire Preferred card wasn’t the best to use with Airbnb.
You could use the Cash Back feature to reimburse yourself for an Airbnb booking, but you’d be penalized 0.25 per point value.
The deal Chase has been running for the past three months is allowing users to get the full 1.25 per point value when using the Pay Yourself Back feature in the app. As advertised in the app, users now get 25% more point value for redeeming points for Airbnb purchases.
The Chase Sapphire card wasn’t even going to make it on my list of Airbnb friendly credit cards until they made this switch. This was how I was able to erase nearly half of my overly-expensive Maui Airbnb.
Points earned per dollar spent on Airbnb: 2 points per dollar
Point value for redeeming Airbnb charges: 1 cent
Pros
- 60,000 points sign-on bonus
- 5x points for travel purchases made through the Chase Ultimate Rewards portal
- 3x points for dining and select rideshare, streaming, and grocery delivery services
- 2x points for all other travel purchases
- 1x points for all other purchases
Cons
- $95 annual fee (not really a perk)
- The current Pay Yourself Back policy is highlight favorable to giving users the full point value for Airbnb bookings, but Chase of course reserves the right to adjust this perk
Best Credit Cards to Use for Airbnb
That concludes my roundup. The following three credit cards are solid options for erasing Airbnb bookings.
- Discover It Miles
- Capital One VentureOne
- Chase Sapphire Preferred
Both the Discover and VentureOne cards win in how easy it is to redeem full point value for Airbnb bookings. Of the two, Discover comes out slightly ahead with 3 different ways to redeem points and the extra 0.25 cents per dollar point rate compared to the Capital One VentureOne.
The current Airbnb policy with the Chase Sapphire card allows users to redeem points for the full 1.25 cent value using the ‘Pay Yourself Back’ redemption option. This is 25% more value than the regular Pay Yourself Back option. Plus, you earn 2 points per dollar spent with Airbnb.
Best Entry-level $0 Annual Fee Credit Card for Airbnb: Discover It Miles
Best All-around Travel Credit Card for Airbnb: Chase Sapphire Preferred
