Credit Score Ranges Required for Popular Airline and Travel Credit Cards
If you’re looking for an airline or travel credit card, you may be under the impression that those cards are reserved for people with the highest credit scores.
But many lucrative airline and travel credit cards don’t require anywhere near a “perfect” credit score to qualify. However, it’s difficult to pinpoint the exact credit score requirements of a new card since issuers use different credit bureaus and criteria to determine eligibility.
The data listed below shows the low and high credit score range required by major issuers for a particular card.
Know that some issuers also impose restrictions on the number of cards you can have or apply for. For example, Chase won’t approve you for a new Chase card if you’ve applied for more than five cards from any issuer in the past 24 months (known informally as the Chase 5/24 rule), and American Express limits the number of American Express cards you can carry to five.
Know also that issuers will also look at your income and current debt levels when reviewing your application to determine whether to approve you for a card.
| Credit score ranges for popular airline and travel credit cards | ||
| Low score | High score | |
| American Express | ||
| Amex EveryDay® Credit Card from American Express* | Excellent | Excellent |
| Amex EveryDay® Preferred Credit Card from American Express* | Good / Excellent | Good / Excellent |
| American Express® Business Gold Card | Good / Excellent | Good / Excellent |
| Delta SkyMiles® Gold American Express Card | Good / Excellent | Good / Excellent |
| Marriott Bonvoy Brilliant® American Express® Card | Good / Excellent | Good / Excellent |
| The Platinum Card® from American Express | Good / Excellent | Good / Excellent |
| Bank of America | ||
| Bank of America® Travel Rewards credit card | Good / Excellent | Good / Excellent |
| Chase | ||
| British Airways Visa Signature® Card | Good / Excellent | Good / Excellent |
| Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card | Excellent | Excellent |
| Marriott Bonvoy Boundless® Credit Card | Good / Excellent | Good / Excellent |
| Southwest Rapid Rewards® Premier Credit Card | Excellent | Excellent |
| United℠ Explorer Card | Good / Excellent | Good / Excellent |
| Capital One | ||
| Capital One Venture Rewards Credit Card | Good / Excellent | Good / Excellent |
| Citi | ||
| Citi Strata Premier℠ Card | Good / Excellent | Good / Excellent |
| Citi® / AAdvantage® Executive World Elite Mastercard® | Good / Excellent | Good / Excellent |
As expected, the combined average credit score for the cards mentioned above falls in the good-to-excellent range (670-850, according to FICO®). This isn’t a surprise since these cards are often targeted to the banks’ best customers, and people who travel a lot tend to be a bit more well off than average.
What stands out is the lower credit scores for many cards. The credit scores listed above show that you may not need a 700+ credit score to qualify for the best mile and travel credit cards. Some cards like the Bank of America® Travel Rewards credit card and the United℠ Explorer Card offer wider acceptance beyond just “perfect” credit scores as issuers try to make rewards more accessible.
Credit card approval can also depend on your income or relationship with a bank, or even how many other rewards cards you’ve recently applied for.
What to know before applying
If your credit score is below 700 and you’re looking to open a miles or travel credit card, keep a few things in mind:
Consider an airline-branded credit card. It’s not clear why, but co-branded airline cards from the major airlines, including American, Delta, Southwest and United, tend to have some of the lowest typical credit scores approved. That means if you have just good or fair credit, you may have a better shot at getting approved for an airline card.
Consider checking prequalified offers. See if you’re prequalified for a card before you apply. Many major travel rewards card issuers, including Capital One, Discover, Citi and American Express, have pre-qualification tools that allow you to see if you have a good chance of being approved before you fill out an application. Pre-qualification helps you shop around for the best card offers without hurting your credit score. While pre-qualification isn’t a guarantee of approval, it can help you narrow down your choices.
Review your credit report. Before you apply for a credit card, review your credit report from all three bureaus so you can make sure everything that’s on there is correct. Credit card issuers can pull one or all three reports from the major credit bureaus (Experian, Equifax and TransUnion). Applicant comments on CreditBoards.com show which credit bureaus the most reports were pulled from for each issuer:
- Amex: Experian
- Bank of America: Experian
- Barclays: TransUnion
- Capital One: Tends to pull all three
- Chase: Experian
- Citi: Experian
- Discover: Mix of the three
Once approved for a card, make sure you pay off your balance on time and in full each month. Any earned miles aren’t worth the interest charges and late fees that you’ll incur if you carry a balance month to month or pay late.
Other than that, you shouldn’t be too afraid of rejection. If you have a steady income, aren’t carrying a lot of other debt and a solid credit history, you could be eligible for that coveted miles or travel card.
For Capital One products listed on this page, some of the benefits may be provided by Visa® or Mastercard® and may vary by product. See the respective Guide to Benefits for details, as terms and exclusions apply
The information related to the Amex EveryDay® Credit Card from American Express, Amex EveryDay® Preferred Credit Card from American Express, American Express® Business Gold Card, Delta SkyMiles® Gold American Express Card, Marriott Bonvoy Brilliant® American Express® Card, The Platinum Card® from American Express, Bank of America® Travel Rewards credit card, British Airways Visa Signature® Card, Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card, Marriott Bonvoy Boundless® Credit Card, Southwest Rapid Rewards® Premier Credit Card, United℠ Explorer Card, Capital One Venture Rewards Credit Card, Citi Strata Premier℠ Card and Citi® / AAdvantage® Executive World Elite Mastercard® has been collected by LendingTree and has not been reviewed or provided by the issuer of this card prior to publication. Terms apply.