Do You Really Need a $700 Travel Card?

• Written by Jasmin Baron, CCC™
  

  Jasmin Baron, CCC™

  Credit Cards, Travel Rewards, Loyalty Programs, Family Travel, Credit Building, Credit Scores

  Jasmin Baron is a NACCC Certified Credit Counselor™ and CardCritics’ senior editor, responsible for editing and writing credit cards, travel rewards, loyalty program, and other credit-related content. She is passionate about personal finance education and enjoys sharing tips and tricks for making the most of credit card points and miles with her readers. Her expertise in maximizing credit card travel rewards originated from over two decades of aviation industry experience, including 18 years working as a pilot and college professor/flight instructor in her native Canada. Her work has appeared on sites such as CNN Underscored Money, Business Insider, The Points Guy, and point.me. When she’s not planning her next trip with credit card rewards, you’ll probably find her tinkering around in the kitchen, hanging out with her three kids, or playing with her dog, Benji.

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• Edited by Antonio Ruiz-Camacho
  

  Antonio Ruiz-Camacho

  Credit cards, travel rewards, points and miles, credit building, budgeting, premium travel, consumer credit

  Antonio has two decades of experience leading editorial teams and a decade covering personal finance. Before joining CardCritics, he served as senior director of credit cards content at Bankrate and associate director of life insurance content at Policygenius. His work has been featured in U.S. News, Newsweek, USA Today and CNET. He was nominated for a National Magazine Award. Antonio's favorite credit card is The Platinum Card® from American Express. His favorite loyalty programs include World of Hyatt and Southwest Rapid Rewards. His favorite credit card perk is the annual CLEAR credit offered by his Amex Platinum card.

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• Last Updated Oct 8, 2026

You’ve likely encountered TV commercials and online ads for premium credit cards with fancy travel and “lifestyle” benefits — and most have hefty annual fees attached. A $700 annual fee is no small sum, but if you travel often, these travel credit cards can offer enough rewards and benefits to make the cost worth it.

The catch is that you have to actually use those benefits. And that can take a lot of effort.

For some frequent travelers, airport lounge access, travel credits, elite status and other perks can easily add up to more than the annual fee. For others, paying hundreds of dollars every year for perks they rarely use doesn’t make much sense.

Before you apply for a high-fee credit card, consider how you actually travel — and whether you need all those frills in the first place.

What Are You Getting for That $700 Annual Fee?

High-end travel cards typically justify their annual fees with a combination of elevated rewards and upscale travel benefits. Depending on the card, those might include airport lounge access, hotel or airline perks, travel and dining credits, Global Entry or TSA Pre✓® credits, and other premium extras.

That can be valuable if you’re regularly traveling and would otherwise pay for those things out of pocket. But it’s important to distinguish between a benefit’s advertised value and the return it actually provides to you. A $200 travel or dining credit isn’t worth $200 if you wouldn’t have ordinarily made the purchase without the credit. The same goes for lounge access if you rarely fly through airports with participating lounges.

Ask yourself a few questions before committing to a card with a large annual fee:

• How often do I travel? 
• Which benefits would I actually use?
• Would I pay for those benefits without the credit card?
• How much work is required to maximize the card’s benefits?
• Am I comfortable paying the annual fee every year?

Your answers can tell you more about a card’s value than its list of advertised perks.

When a High Annual Fee Can Make Sense

A high-fee travel card can be an excellent deal for frequent travelers who can consistently take advantage of its benefits. For example, someone who travels several times a month may place significant value on access to airport lounges. At the same time, a traveler who frequently stays with a particular hotel chain may benefit from day-of-travel perks or elite status with a hotel credit card.

The key is to look at the benefits you’ll realistically use rather than adding up every perk on the card’s benefits page. If you’re regularly using enough benefits to offset the annual fee, a high-end travel card may be worth the cost.

But if you’re paying primarily for benefits you might use someday, a card with a more manageable annual fee is likely a better fit.

A Lower-Fee Card Can Still Offer Meaningful Travel Rewards

You don’t necessarily need to pay hundreds of dollars a year to earn rewards on your travel spending. For instance, the Navy Federal Credit Union Flagship Premier Visa Signature® Credit Card charges a $95 annual fee¹ and earns:

• 4x points on eligible travel purchases, with no booking portal required²
• 3x points on eligible dining purchases²
• 1x points on other eligible purchases²

Eligible travel purchases generally include airlines, hotels, car rentals, cruises, transit, taxis, bus lines, parking and timeshares. Purchases must be coded as eligible travel transactions to earn bonus points.

The card also offers a $100 annual airline statement credit after spending at least $100 on eligible airline purchases.³ If you spend at least $100 on eligible airline purchases each year, that credit can effectively offset the $95 annual fee.¹

Other benefits include up to $120 in statement credits toward eligible Global Entry or TSA Pre✓® application fees once every four years⁴ and no foreign transaction fees.¹

Don’t Overlook the Rewards You Earn Every Day

Travel cards aren’t just about what happens at the airport or hotel. In fact, a card can provide more value when you can earn rewards throughout the year, even when you’re not traveling. With the NFCU Flagship Premier Card, eligible dining purchases earn 3x points, while other eligible purchases earn 1x points.²

You can redeem points for cash back, travel, gift cards, and more, giving you flexibility in how you use your rewards. Plus, there’s no cap to earning points.

New cardholders can also earn a limited-time welcome offer: You can earn 50k points when you spend $4,000 within the first 90 days of opening. Offer valid for accounts applied for between 10/1/2026 and 01/03/2027.⁵ A welcome offer provides a nice initial boost, but it shouldn’t be the only reason you choose a credit card. Once the introductory period ends, the card’s ongoing rewards and benefits are what determine its long-term value. 

How To Decide Which Travel Card Is Right for You

There’s no universal answer to whether a $700 annual fee is worth paying. It depends on how often you travel, which benefits you value and how much effort you’re willing to put into maximizing them. Some folks love squeezing every penny of value from their credit cards — a solid strategy if you’re willing to invest the time in tracking spreadsheets and setting up calendar reminders to use certain perks before they expire.

But if you’re an occasional traveler who primarily wants to earn rewards on airfare, hotels, dining and other travel expenses, the Flagship Premier Card may be a better fit if you don’t want to jump through those hoops. Before paying hundreds of dollars for a travel credit card, do the math based on your own habits — not the card’s theoretical maximum value.

Sometimes, the better deal isn’t the card with the biggest list of benefits. It’s the one that gives you the rewards and perks you’ll actually use, at a fee you’re comfortable paying.

¹As of 02/02/2026, the Purchases, Balance Transfers, and Convenience Checks APRs range from 15.74% to 18%, are based on creditworthiness, and will vary with the market based on the U.S. Prime Rate. The Cash Advance APR is 18%. The Penalty APR is 18% and may apply to an account if it becomes over 60 days past due. ATM cash advance fees: None if performed at a Navy Federal branch or ATM. Otherwise, $0.50 per domestic transaction or $1.00 per foreign transaction. $95 annual fee for Flagship Premier Visa Signature® applies.

²Flagship Premier Visa Signature® Credit Cards earn 4 points for every $1 of eligible purchases made on travel, 3 points for every $1 of eligible purchases made at restaurants (dining), and 1 point for every $1 of other eligible purchases. Eligible purchases are purchases for goods and services, minus returns and other credits. Eligible purchases do not include fees, interest charges, balance transfers, gambling, convenience checks, cash advances, or other cash-equivalents (e.g., money orders, gift cards, prepaid cards). Merchants are assigned codes by payment networks based on what they primarily sell. We rely on this information to identify travel and restaurant purchases. Travel is typically coded as airline, hotel, car rental, bus lines, taxis, cruise lines, time shares, parking, rideshare, and transit. A travel or restaurant purchase may only earn 1 point per dollar spent, depending on the code used to process the transaction. If the purchase is not identified as a travel or restaurant purchase, it will receive 1 point per dollar spent. For example, purchases made at restaurants within another establishment (e.g., casino, grocery store, event venue) may not be assigned a restaurant code, which means they will only receive 1 point per dollar spent. For more information, view the Program Description for the Flagship Premier Card.

³Receive a $100 statement credit each year after you spend a total of $100 or more on eligible airline purchases using your Flagship Premier Visa Signature® Card. Your eligibility for the credit begins on the date your account is opened and renews each year on that date. This date appears in the Member Since field under My Profile in the Navy Federal Rewards Center. Any unused credit will not carry over to the next year. The $100 spending requirement may be met through a single purchase or multiple purchases totaling at least $100. Merchants are assigned codes by payment networks based on what a business primarily sells. Only purchases coded as airlines or air carriers qualify as eligible airline purchases and will count toward the required $100 or more to earn the statement credit. Charter or private jet flights do not qualify. After the $100 in eligible airline purchases posts to your account, it may take 6-8 weeks for the statement credit to appear. The statement credit may not be posted or may be reversed if the purchase(s) is/are canceled, modified, or returned. Your account must be open and not in default when the statement credit is scheduled to post to your account. Only the primary cardholder is eligible for this credit. Purchases made by authorized users count toward the $100 spending requirement. Navy Federal may modify or end this offer at any time without notice.

⁴Receive up to $120 in statement credits for Global Entry or TSA Pre✓® charges that are processed after the Global Entry program application fee or TSA Pre✓® application fee is charged to your Flagship Premier Visa Signature® Card. Flagship Premier Visa Signature® Cardholders are entitled to up to $120 in statement credits per eligible Flagship Premier Visa Signature® Credit Card number every 4 years per Global Entry or TSA Pre✓® program. The 4-year period is based on the date of the first qualified transaction. Statement credits are applied to application fee charges made on or after account opening. Please allow 6-8 weeks after the applicable program application fee is charged for the statement credit(s) to post to your account. Cardholders are responsible for payment of all charges until the statement credit(s) post(s) to their account. Visa® and Navy Federal Credit Union reserve the right to modify or cancel this offer at any time and without notice. Global Entry is a U.S. Government program, operated by U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP). TSA Pre✓® is an expedited airport security program operated by the U.S. Transportation Security Administration (TSA) that allows low-risk travelers within the United States to speed through security at select airports. Visa and Navy Federal Credit Union have no liability with regards to the Global Entry and TSA Pre✓® programs and have no control over either program, including, but not limited to, the application, approval process or enrollment, and fees charged. For complete details on the Global Entry program, including full terms and conditions, go to cbp.gov/global-entry/about. For more information about TSA Pre✓® and the application process, visit tsa.gov/precheck. The TSA Pre✓® trademark is used with the permission of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security.

⁵Offer valid for members who apply for a new Flagship Premier account between 10/1/2026 and 01/03/2027 and are approved. To earn the 50k bonus points, you must make at least $4k in eligible purchases within 90 days of account opening. Eligible purchases include purchases of goods and services, minus returns and credits, and exclude fees, interest, balance transfers, gambling, convenience checks, cash advances, and cash equivalent transactions (e.g., money orders, gift cards, prepaid cards, person to person money transfers). Bonus points will post within eight weeks after the 90 day period. Your account must be open and not in default at the time the bonus points are scheduled to post. Limit of one promotional offer at account opening. Offer may change or end without notice.