The 7 Best Credit Cards for Weddings and Honeymoons [September 2023]

Top Choices (Quick Summary)

Card	Welcome Offer	Annual Fee	Best For
The Platinum Card® from American Express	Earn 80,000 points after spending $8,000 on purchases in the first 6 months.	Annual fee of $695 (rates and fees)	Welcome Offer & Worldwide Lounge Access
Capital One Venture X Rewards Credit Card (rates and fees)	Earn 75,000 miles when you spend $4,000 on purchases in the first 3 months.	Annual fee of $395	Welcome Offer & Everyday Purchases
Chase Sapphire Preferred®	Earn 60,000 points after spending $4,000 on purchases in the first 3 months.	Annual fee of $95	Welcome Offer & Travel Insurance
Chase Freedom Unlimited®	INTRO OFFER: Earn an additional 1.5% cash back on everything you buy (on up to $20,000 spent in the first year) - worth up to $300 cash back!	Annual fee of $0	Everyday Purchases & Low Intro APR

The Best Credit Cards For Weddings and Honeymoons

1. The Platinum Card^® from American Express (Best for Welcome Offer & Airport Lounge Access)

Hot Tip: Check to see if you’re eligible for a welcome bonus offer of up to 125k (or 150k) points with the Amex Platinum. The current public offer is 80,000 points. (This targeted offer was independently researched and may not be available to all applicants.)

The Amex Platinum card offers legendary prestige, amazing travel benefits, and one of the biggest welcome bonuses in the business.

These are all fantastic reasons to get this card for wedding and honeymoon purchases. To start off, you can expect to earn 5x Membership Rewards points as follows:

• 5x points on flights purchased directly with the airline or with Amex Travel (up to $500,000 per year in these purchases)
• 5x points on prepaid hotel stays booked through Amex Travel
• 1x points on all other purchases

Even though the bonus rewards are based on travel-related purchases, you can also enjoy some amazing benefits with this card, including:

• Access to the American Express Global Lounge Collection, including Centurion Lounges, Priority Pass (upon enrollment), Delta Sky Club, Plaza Premium Lounges, and more
• Access to Fine Hotels & Resorts for benefits such as free breakfast, upgrades, late checkout, and more
• Complimentary elite status with Hilton Honors (Gold) and Marriott Bonvoy (Gold Elite) (enrollment required)
• Rental car benefits with Avis, Hertz, and National
• Up to $200 airline incidental fee credit
• Up to $200 prepaid hotel credit
• $189 CLEAR credit
• Up to $200 Uber Cash
• Up to $240 digital entertainment credit
• Up to $155 Walmart+ credit
• Up to $300 Equinox credit
• Up to $100 Saks Fifth Avenue credit
• Global Entry/TSA PreCheck application fee statement credit

The Amex Platinum card even comes with no preset spending limit, purchase protection, extended warranty, cell phone protection, and high-end travel insurance. Lastly, you won’t find any foreign transaction fees (rates and fees) on this card.

Why We Like Earning American Express Membership Rewards Points

American Express Membership Rewards is one of the best rewards currencies out there. We value these points around 2.2 cents each, which essentially translates to an 11% return on spending on purchases that earn 5x points.

To get the best value possible, you should transfer your points to Amex’s travel partners to book award travel. In some cases, you can get more than 5 cents per point of value, which could skyrocket your total return on spending to 25% for purchases earning 5x points.

2. Capital One Venture X Rewards Credit Card (Best for Welcome Offer & Everyday Purchases)

Our runner-up credit card is the Capital One Venture X card, which offers some fantastic benefits with a lower annual fee price tag than the Amex Platinum card.

You’ll also notice the 10x Capital One miles in maximum rewards:

• Earn 10x miles on hotels and rental cars booked through Capital One Travel
• Earn 5x miles on flights booked through Capital One Travel
• Earn 2x miles on all other purchases

This astonishing rewards structure is fantastic for wedding and honeymoon purchases. You can earn 2x miles on all other purchases to pay for wedding expenses like the wedding planner, dress, and venue while you can earn 10x miles on your honeymoon travel booked through Capital One Travel.

It gets even better; you’ll enjoy a $300 annual travel credit on Capital One Travel bookings, plus unlimited complimentary access for cardholder and 2 guests to 1,300+ lounges, including Capital One Lounges and the Partner Lounge Network.

Every account anniversary year, you’ll get a bonus of 10,000 extra miles. On an ongoing basis, utilize the complimentary Hertz President’s Circle status, a TSA PreCheck or Global Entry application fee statement credit, and cell phone protection.

The list of benefits is wrapped up with return protection, extended warranty, no foreign transaction fees, and up to 4 authorized users for no additional annual fee!

Why We Like Earning Capital One Miles

Capital One Miles is a leading rewards system. These miles can be transferred to travel partners for luxury award travel, making each worth around 1.8 cents per mile.

And with a maximum earning of 10x miles, that’s equal to a return on spending of 18%, which could be even higher depending on how you use your rewards.

Other ways to use Capital One miles include Capital One Travel bookings, statement credits, gift cards, and online shopping.

3. Chase Sapphire Preferred^® Card (Best Overall Value Card, Sub-$100 Annual Fee, Travel Insurance)

The Chase Sapphire Preferred card is an awesome product to keep in your wallet for your wedding and beyond, especially if you’re in the market for a card with a low annual fee.

This credit card excels with a fantastic welcome bonus and the ability to earn up to 5x Ultimate Rewards points:

• 5x points on travel booked through Ultimate Rewards
• 5x points on Lyft purchases through March 31, 2025
• 3x points on dining at restaurants, including eligible delivery services and takeout
• 3x points on online grocery purchases (excluding Target, Walmart, and wholesale clubs)
• 3x points on select streaming services
• 2x points on other travel purchases
• 1x points on other purchases

The Chase Sapphire Preferred card comes with a 10% anniversary rewards bonus, $50 statement credit every account anniversary year for hotel stays booked through Ultimate Rewards, a 25% redemption bonus at the Chase travel portal and Pay Yourself Back, a complimentary DoorDash DashPass subscription, and more.

Hot Tip: The Chase Sapphire Preferred card will likely give you better rewards on dining than the Chase Sapphire Reserve^® thanks to the 10% anniversary bonus.

Plus, this credit card offers some of the best travel insurance out there, as well as no foreign transaction fees and authorized user cards for no additional annual fee.

Why We Like Earning Chase Ultimate Rewards Points

Chase Ultimate Rewards points are some of the most popular and valuable out there. Worth 2.0 cents per point, earning up to 5.5x points (which includes the 10% anniversary bonus) would be equivalent to a maximum return on spending of 11%! That’s incredible from a card with a mild annual fee.

To get the most value from your Ultimate Rewards points, we recommend transferring them to airlines and hotels to book luxury award travel.

If that doesn’t work for you, other ways to use points include Pay Yourself Back, bookings made through the Chase travel portal, cash-back, statement credits, gift cards, merchandise, and charitable donations.

4. Chase Freedom Unlimited^® (No Annual Fee, LOW Intro APR)

The Freedom Unlimited card is one of Chase’s most popular credit cards without an annual fee.

Although it doesn’t come with a massive welcome bonus to offset wedding expenses, one of the top perks you might enjoy is the 0% introductory APR offer. That can help you avoid accruing interest fees if you need to carry a balance on purchases made for your wedding.

It also earns up to 5% cash-back:

• 5% cash-back on travel through Chase Ultimate Rewards
• 5% cash-back on Lyft purchases through March 31, 2025
• 3% cash-back on dining and drugstores
• 1.5% cash-back on other purchases

That means you can earn 1.5% cash-back on all of those miscellaneous wedding purchases like flowers, tuxedo rentals, and a DJ.

Best of all, the cash-back rewards you earn can be converted to Ultimate Rewards points if you also have the right credit card like the Chase Sapphire Preferred card. The rewards would be converted at a 1% to 1x ratio, which would double your return on spending up to 10%.

This credit card gets you access to a free credit score through Chase Credit Journey, purchase protection, extended warranty, basic travel insurance, and zero liability protection. There are also no annual fees for authorized users with the Freedom Unlimited card.

5. American Express^® Gold Card (Best for Earning Points)

Hot Tip: Check to see if you’re eligible for a welcome bonus offer of up to 90,000 points with the Amex Gold card. The current public offer is 60,000 points. (This targeted offer was independently researched and may not be available to all applicants.)

The Amex Gold card is one of the best cards for weddings and honeymoons, especially if you plan on spending a lot on food.

Expect to earn up to 4x Membership Rewards points, plus an exceptional welcome bonus. The rewards are broken down below:

• Earn 4x points at restaurants, including takeout and delivery in the U.S.
• Earn 4x points at U.S. supermarkets (up to $25,000 per calendar year)
• Earn 3x points on flights purchased directly with the airline or at Amex Travel
• Earn 1x points on other purchases

Impressively, 4x, 3x, and 1x points are worth 8.8%, 6.6%, and 2.2%, respectively (according to our valuations).

Plus, the Amex Gold card has up to $120 in dining credits ($10 per month) at The Cheesecake Factory, Goldbelly, Grubhub, Milk Bar, select Shake Shack locations, and Wine.com.

It also comes with up to $120 in Uber Cash every year ($10 per month) for rides and Uber Eats orders in the U.S., access to The Hotel Collection, no preset spending limit, purchase protection, extended warranty, authorized user cards for no additional annual fee, no foreign transaction fees, and more (rates and fees).

Bottom Line: If you’re planning on spending a significant amount of money on food, you could see a huge ROI when using the Amex Gold card, thanks to its bonus rewards at restaurants and U.S. supermarkets.

6. Chase Sapphire Reserve^®

The Chase Sapphire Reserve card is the ultra-premium credit card offering for Chase loyalists. That makes it a great choice for honeymoon travel. Indeed, it has a great welcome bonus and a maximum of 10x Ultimate Rewards points earned:

• 10x points on Chase dining, car rentals, and hotels booked through Chase Ultimate Rewards
• 10x points on Lyft purchases through March 31, 2025
• 5x points on airfare booked through Chase Ultimate Rewards
• 3x points on all other travel and dining purchases
• 1x points on all other purchases

That’s equal to a maximum return on spending of 20%, according to our valuations!

There are plenty of perks that pay for its annual fee, including:

• $300 travel credit annually
• Complimentary Priority Pass Select membership
• Global Entry/TSA PreCheck/NEXUS application fee credit
• Access to The Luxury Hotel & Resort Collection
• 50% redemption bonus on bookings made through the Chase travel portal
• 50% redemption bonus on select rotating categories through Pay Yourself Back
• Top-notch travel insurance

Of course, our discussion of this credit card wouldn’t be complete without mentioning that it comes with purchase protection, extended warranty, and no foreign transaction fees.

7. Citi^® Double Cash Card

The Double Cash card happens to be one of Citi’s most popular credit cards. There’s no welcome bonus, but there’s a 0% introductory APR on balance transfers, which can help you consolidate existing high-interest credit card debt to avoid continuing to accrue interest.

This card earns 2% cash-back (1% when you buy and 1% when you pay, earned as ThankYou Points), making it a fantastic rewards credit card for all purchases.

The best part is that you can transfer these points to a huge list of partners like Emirates and Singapore Airlines if you also happen to have a card like the Citi Premier^® Card or Citi Prestige^® Card. That means your 2% cash-back can become a 3.2% return on spending.

The Double Cash card also gets you access to Citi Entertainment, fraud alerts, contactless payments, and zero liability fraud protection for unauthorized charges. Authorized users can also be added for no additional annual fee.

For Capital One products listed on this page, some of the above benefits are provided by Visa® or Mastercard® and may vary by product. See the respective Guide to Benefits for details, as terms and exclusions apply.

Enrollment required through Capital One website or mobile app. Upon enrollment, eligible cardholders will remain at upgraded status level through December 31, 2024.  Please note, enrolling through the normal Hertz Gold Plus Rewards enrollment process (e.g. at Hertz.com) will not automatically detect a cardholder as being eligible for the program and cardholders will not be automatically upgraded to the applicable status tier.  Additional terms apply.

For the purchase protection and extended warranty benefits of The Platinum Card^® from American Express, eligibility and benefit level varies by card. Terms, conditions and limitations apply. Visit americanexpress.com/benefitsguide for more details. For the cell phone protection benefit of The Platinum Card^® from American Express, eligibility and benefit level varies by card. Terms, conditions and limitations apply. Visit americanexpress.com/benefitsguide for more details. Underwritten by New Hampshire Insurance Company, an AIG Company. 

For the purchase protection and extended warranty benefits of the American Express^® Gold Card, eligibility and benefit level varies by card. Terms, conditions and limitations apply. Visit americanexpress.com/benefitsguide for more details.

The information for the Citi Prestige^® Card has been collected independently by Upgraded Points and not provided nor reviewed by the issuer.

For rates and fees of The Platinum Card^® from American Express, click here.
For rates and fees of the American Express^® Gold Card, click here.