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Weddings can be a wonderful time in your life — but they can also be expensive and complicated. Since a lot of couples pay for some or all of their wedding expenses, using the right card can help you stock up on rewards as you plan your special day.
But there’s not a single credit card that will work for everyone in every circumstance. To help you sort through all of the options, here’s a guide to help you find the best credit card for your wedding and honeymoon needs.
Whether you’re looking to earn lots of points on your flowers or some free nights for your honeymoon, this guide will walk you through it all.
What to Look For in a Credit Card for Weddings and Honeymoons
Planning a wedding or a honeymoon is an exciting activity, but it’s also a time when you’ll probably be spending large amounts of money in a small period of time. While your bank account might be taking a hit, this is a good time to take advantage of credit cards with the best credit card welcome bonuses that also tend to come with high minimum spending requirements.
While there are a lot of ways to hit the minimum spending requirement on a credit card, many people still find it hard to hit the requirement needed to earn a welcome bonus. So, when you have larger than normal purchases coming up, such as a ring or jewelry, a wedding dress, a photographer, or a florist, it’s a great time to consider getting a new credit card.
In addition, there are bonus categories that you will often see on rewards credit cards like travel, dining, and groceries.
However, lots of wedding expenses won’t fall into any of those categories, so it might be a great idea to find a credit card that offers bonus points on all purchases. These cards will make the most out of all of your wedding-related purchases, not just the ones that fit into a bonus category.
Since you will undoubtedly make some large purchases for your upcoming nuptials, you might want to consider a card that offers purchase protection, extended warranty, or return protection.
When you are planning a big trip like a honeymoon, it’s good to have some trip insurance just in case. The good news is that if you have the right credit card, you don’t have to purchase an additional insurance policy — your coverage is built into your credit card!
Overall, you should shoot for a credit card that:
Has an excellent welcome bonus for those big-ticket purchases
Offers bonus points on relevant categories such as travel or catering (or earns bonus points on all purchases without having to worry about bonus categories)
Includes travel insurance for your honeymoon itinerary or purchase protection for your wedding expenses
Incorporates travel benefits such as lounge access to make you and your newlywed spouse feel like a VIP when traveling on your honeymoon
The 8 Best Credit Cards for Weddings and Honeymoons
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:
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 the Amex 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.
Other ways to use Amex points consist of cash-back, charity, Amex Travel bookings, gift cards, merchandise, and statement credits, but we generally don’t recommend these methods.
2. Capital One Venture X Rewards Credit Card
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. Indeed, this credit card boasts a generous welcome offer as an initial infusion of rewards.
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 an up to $300 annual travel credit on Capital One Travel bookings, plus unlimited complimentary access for you and two 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 bonus 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 protection, no foreign transaction fees, and up to 4 authorized users for no additional annual fee!
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
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 Lyft purchases through March 31, 2025
5x points on Peloton equipment and accessory purchases over $250 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 5x points would be equivalent to a maximum return on spending of 10%! That’s incredible from a card with a mild annual fee.
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®
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.
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.
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
10x points on Peloton equipment and accessory purchases over $250 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:
50% redemption bonus on bookings made through the Chase travel portal
25% to 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. Blue Cash Everyday® Card from American Express
The Amex Blue Cash Everyday card offers some great benefits if you’re looking for a card without an annual fee and need maximum payment flexibility for your wedding or honeymoon.
It also has the option of carrying a balance or paying in full every month, plus up to 3% cash-back:
3% cash-back at U.S. supermarkets on up to $6,000 in purchases per calendar year (1% after that)
3% cash-back at U.S. gas stations on up to $6,000 in purchases per calendar year (1% after that)
3% cash-back at U.S. online retailers on up to $6,000 in purchases per calendar year (1% after that)
1% cash-back on other purchases
Other card perks include statement credits for Home Chef (up to $15 per month, enrollment required) and eligible subscriptions to The Disney Bundle (up to $7 per month when you spend at least $12.99 per month, enrollment required), secondary rental car insurance, fraud protection, and authorized users for no additional annual fee (rates and fees).
8. 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.
Why We Like Earning Citi ThankYou Rewards Points
Although the Double Cash card’s rewards are ThankYou Points, these can only be transferred to a tiny list of partners like JetBlue or Choice Privileges, unless you also have a ThankYou Rewards credit card like the Citi Premier card. After that, you can access the full list of transfer partners.
If so, you stand to earn a 3.2% return on spending with the Double Cash card, which is awesome for a card without an annual fee.
You’ll get the best value from these points by transferring your points to partners for reward travel. But if that doesn’t suit your tastes, you can use points for a lower value on cash-back, statement credits, gift cards, online shopping, and more.
Final Thoughts
Planning your wedding and honeymoon often comes with a lot of expenses. Making the most of those expenses with a good travel rewards credit card is a smart way to earn lots of bonus points or cash-back for every dollar you spend.
Whether you want to earn as much cash-back as possible or earn perks for your honeymoon hotel stay, there is a travel rewards credit card that can help you out.
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 regarding the Chase Freedom Unlimited® was independently collected by Upgraded Points and not provided nor reviewed by the issuer. 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. For rates and fees of the Blue Cash Everyday® from American Express, click here.
Featured Image Credit: Upgraded Points
Frequently Asked Questions
Yes, most vendors will be happy to take a credit card. The more wedding expenses you can put on a credit card, the more rewards points or cash-back you will be able to earn. Just be sure to pay off your bill in full each month to avoid hefty interest fees.
There are lots of great credit cards out there for couples. To choose the best one, you should know what your goals are. If you want a card that earns flexible points, look at a card like the Chase Sapphire Preferred card. If you would prefer cash-back, check out a card like the Freedom Unlimited card, which has great bonus categories and earns 1.5% cash-back on all purchases outside of those categories.
There are lots of great credit cards out there for newlyweds. Look for a card that earns bonus points on categories you will use often. The Amex Gold card earns 4x points on categories like restaurants worldwide and U.S. supermarkets, and even comes with up to $120 in annual dining credit.
Our favorite cards for weddings and honeymoons are the Amex Platinum card, Capital One Venture X card, Chase Sapphire Preferred card, Freedom Unlimited card, Amex Gold card, Chase Sapphire Reserve card, Amex Blue Cash Everyday card, and Double Cash card.
Stephen is an established voice in the credit card space, with over 70 to his name. His work has been in publications like The Washington Post, and his Au Points and Awards Consulting Services is used by hundreds of clients.
Disclaimer: Any comments listed below are not from the bank advertiser, nor have they been reviewed or approved by them. No responsibility will be taken by the bank advertiser for these comments.
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