For years, we've considered the *capital one venture card and the more premium *venture x* to be the best cards for booking vacation rentals with the likes of Airbnb and Vrbo.
The logic was two-fold: both cards earn unlimited 2x miles on every purchase (including vacation rentals), and you can use the rewards to cover the transaction at 1 cent per mile. That means you could book a $500 vacation rental, earn 1,000 Capital One miles on the purchase, and then redeem those miles (plus any extra you have stashed away) to bring down your out-of-pocket cost.
But after Chase announced a slew of changes to the ultra-popular *csp* earlier this month, it's got us singing a different tune.
That's because the Sapphire Preferred now earns 3x points on vacation homes at top brands like Airbnb, Vrbo, and others. That makes it the single most rewarding card on the market for these purchases. And while redeeming points to cover your purchase isn't quite as seamless as using Capital One miles, it's just as rewarding (more on that in a bit).
Read on to see our full slate of best cards for booking your next Airbnb or Vrbo.
Chase Sapphire Preferred® Credit Card
In addition to a bigger $100 Chase Travel℠ hotel credit, up to a $120 credit for TSA PreCheck®, Global Entry, or NEXUS, a complimentary year of Apple TV (activate by Dec. 31, 2026), and increased earning on gas station and EV charging purchases, the Sapphire Preferred now earns 3x points on vacation rentals.
That's not a crazy increase from the 2x points you'll earn on all other travel purchases, but it does make the Sapphire Preferred best-in-class for this kind of spending.
What's more, Chase points are worth 1 cent each when redeemed to an eligible Chase bank account or as a statement credit. While you can often get more bang for your buck – err, points – by transferring them to the bank's stable of airline and hotel partners, that means you can effectively use them to offset the cost of your vacation rental.
Here's how it would work in practice. Say you're looking to book a stay in Santa Rosa Beach, along Florida's scenic Highway 30A. This two-bedroom bungalow costs $985 for a four-night stay in November.
If you used your Sapphire Preferred to pay, you'd earn nearly 3,000 Chase Ultimate Rewards for the purchase. You could then apply those points as a statement credit, taking $30 off the purchase price. While that's not the biggest discount, it's better than nothing.
Unlike major hotel chains such as Hyatt, Hilton, IHG, and Marriott, Airbnb doesn’t have a loyalty program, making this one of the only ways to redeem points for a free night.
And if you've already got a stash of points lying around – say, from the Sapphire Preferred's current limited-time offer – you might not be out-of-pocket much, if anything, at all.
Current welcome offer: bonus_miles_full
Annual fee: annual_fees
Learn more about the *csp*
Capital One Venture Cards
Both the Capital One Venture Rewards and Venture X Cards earn unlimited 2x miles on all purchases – including vacation rentals.
That alone makes them attractive options if you find yourself turning to Airbnb or Vrbo when booking lodging, but it's not the only reason these cards are near the top of this list. While many travel rewards cards let you earn bonus points or miles on travel purchases like hotels and vacation rentals, only Capital One gives you a straightforward way to use those miles for Airbnb (or Vrbo) bookings — and even for Airbnb’s experiences and premium services, like hiring a private chef or booking a local excursion.
With Capital One’s “Cover Travel Purchases” feature, you can use miles to cover nearly any travel purchase – including vacation rentals – at a rate of 1 cent per mile. Simply pay for your Airbnb or Vrbo with your Capital One Venture or Venture X card, and then give it a few days for the purchase to post to your account.
The second (and final) step in this process is to go back and cover the cost of your Airbnb or Vrbo with your Capital One miles.
Again, when redeeming Capital One miles for travel purchases, each mile is always worth 1 cent. For example, a $500 Airbnb reservation can be completely covered with 50,000 miles.
Don't have enough miles – or don't want to spend them all? You can even redeem miles to cover just part of a purchase. So if your Airbnb booking costs more miles than you have in your account, you can opt to use as many or as few miles as you'd like.
Current welcome offer: bonus_miles_full.
Annual fee: annual_fees
Learn more about the *capital one venture x*
Current welcome offer: bonus_miles_full.
Annual fee: annual_fees
Learn more about the *capital one venture card*
Bilt Palladium Card
The new(ish) Bilt Palladium Card is another solid option for your vacation rental spending. On the surface, this card earns a flat 2x points on all purchases – but thanks (??) to the convoluted Bilt Cash system that runs parallel to the Bilt points you earn, you can actually do even better.
At a high level, Bilt Cash is a currency you can earn through certain activities and redeem for everyday expenses – in addition to points. Think of it as Bilt’s attempt to bridge the gap between travel points and the painful reality of paying for rent, utilities, and groceries.
One of the more useful redemption options is something Bilt calls a Point Accelerator. Once you redeem $200 in Bilt Cash to turn it on, you’ll earn an extra 1x points per dollar on all eligible purchases – up to $5,000 in spending. Since you'll earn an additional $200 in Bilt Cash for every $5,000 you spend – and you can activate this up to five times per year – this effectively turns the Bilt Palladium into a 3x everywhere earner … including vacation rentals (up to $25,000 in annual spending).
While there isn't a way to redeem Bilt points for vacation rentals at a good value, Bilt's long list of airline and hotel partners makes them worth earning for nearly any traveler. There's no such thing as too many Bilt points, in my opinion.
Current welcome offer: 50,000 Bilt Points + Gold Status after spending $4,000 on everyday purchases in the first 3 months + $300 of Bilt Cash.
Annual fee: annual_fees (see rates & fees)
Learn more about the Bilt Palladium
American Express Green Card®
Long overshadowed by its more popular siblings – the *amex gold* and *amex platinum* – the American Express® Green Card is a surprisingly good option for booking vacation rentals.
With this card, you'll earn 3x points per dollar spent on travel (including vacation rentals), transit, and at restaurants. Like the Bilt Palladium Card, there isn't a great way to use Amex points to cover the cost of your vacation rental – but since American Express Membership Rewards can be transferred to a slew of valuable partners, you're getting a pretty solid return on your spending.
Beyond the increased point-earning, there's another reason the Amex Green makes a lot of sense for these vacation rental purchases: Amex Offers. If you haven't used Amex Offers before, think of them as digital coupons exclusively for Amex cardholders for purchases like airfare or hotels, as well as dining, entertainment, or everyday shopping.
It's not uncommon to see Amex offering a statement credit or bonus points for purchases with different vacation rental platforms like Airbnb. Just a couple of months ago, there was a targeted offer where you could spend $250 or more with Airbnb and earn 5,000 bonus points.
If you had this offer on the Amex Green Card and spent exactly $250 on an Airbnb, you'd earn a total of 5,750 points. That's like earning a whopping 23x points per dollar spent! To be clear, these offers are targeted and it's very unlikely you'd spend exactly $250, but these kind of offers are a real sweetener for Amex cardholders.
All information about the American Express® Green Card has been collected independently by Thrifty Traveler and has not been reviewed by the issuer.
Current welcome offer: Earn 40,000 points after you spend $3,000 in eligible purchases within the first 6 months.
Annual fee: $150 (see rates & fees)
Learn More about the American Express® Green Card (for full disclosure, this is not an affiliate link)
Honorable Mentions
Those four cards are the cream of the crop when it comes to booking a vacation rental, but there are some other solid choices. Best of all, the rest of the cards on this list don't even charge an annual fee.
The Blue Business Plus® Credit Card from American Express
*blue biz plus* offers a straightforward earning structure that lets you earn 2x Membership Rewards points on everyday business purchases (up to $50,000 a year, then 1x). So long as you spend $50,000 or less on the card per year, you'd be earning 2x points on vacation rentals (and everything else).
Now, it's worth noting that this is a business card, so it won't make sense (or even be an option) for everyone. But before you write it off altogether, you might be surprised to know that you don't need a full-time business with huge revenue streams to qualify.
In fact, many people will qualify and get approved even if their small business is just a part-time side hustle, a freelance job, a gig economy job, or even by selling goods on online marketplaces like Etsy, Facebook Marketplace, Craigslist and more.
Best of all, this is a no-annual-fee card (see rates & fees), meaning you won't be on the hook for a big upfront cost just to earn those points.
Learn more about *blue biz plus*.
Citi Double Cash® Card
The Citi Double Cash® Card (for full disclosure, this is not an affiliate link) has long been among the most rewarding cashback credit cards on the market, allowing cardholders to earn a total of 2% cash back on all purchases … including vacation rentals.
Since this is a cashback card, you can turn around and use those rewards to help offset the cost of your purchase. Or let them build up for a bigger redemption later on.
While we love the power transferable points and miles, there really is something to be said about the value and flexibility of cash rewards credit cards like this.
All information about the Citi Double Cash® Card has been collected independently by Thrifty Traveler and has not been reviewed by the issuer.
Learn more about the Citi Double Cash® Card (for full disclosure, this is not an affiliate link).
Wells Fargo Active Cash® Card
Another no-annual-fee cash rewards card to consider when booking vacation rentals is the Wells Fargo Active Cash® Card (for full disclosure, this is not an affiliate link). This card earns unlimited 2% cash back on all purchase – and once again, that include vacations rentals like Airbnb or Vrbo.
Just like the Citi Double Cash, you can use your cashback to cover the cost of an Airbnb or Vrbo, making this card a pretty solid choice for those purchases.
If you have a Wells Fargo Autograph or Autograph Journey Card, you can even combine your cash back and Wells Fargo Rewards points and then move them to the bank's growing list of travel partners.
All information about the Wells Fargo Active Cash® Card has been collected independently by Thrifty Traveler and has not been reviewed by the issuer.
Learn more about the Wells Fargo Active Cash® Card (for full disclosure, this is not an affiliate link).
Bottom Line
With Chase recently making big changes to the *csp* – including the ability to earn 3x points on vacation homes – it tops our list of best cards for purchases with Airbnb or Vrbo. If you don't have a Sapphire Preferred Card, now is a great time to add one to your wallet with the card's current 100,000-point bonus.
Beyond the Sapphire Preferred, you can do quite well with any of the other cards on this list from banks like Capital One, American Express, Citi, Bilt, and even Wells Fargo.
