Last updated: Sept 18, 2022.

When it comes to long-term traveling, credit cards are probably the most important item you can bring with you on your trip. Credit cards come with all sorts of different benefits and they can be very complicated but they can also become really handy if you choose the right ones and allows you to save a lot of money.

We have been traveling for over a year now and did extensive research on what kinds of credit cards are out there for traveling, what types of cards are beneficial, and how to save money.

In this article, I am going to explain how to choose the best credit cards for your travels and take full advantage of credit card benefits to make your travel easier.

Disclaimer: This article is solely written for long-term travelers up to 1 year by traveling digital nomad style from a Japanese perspective. The same information can be beneficial for short-term travelers as well but may not fit others like expats, and long-term visa holders. I try to be up-to-date as much as possible but this information tends to change over time. Please do your own research before you make any purchases of your own credit cards.

Table of Contents

Travel Insurance
Priority Pass Membership
Hotel or Airline Loyalty Programs
Zero foreign transaction fee
Hold at least 3-4 credit cards from each VISA, MASTERCARD, AMEX

1. Travel Insurance

Many credit cards offer different types of travel insurance, whether it is free or paid annually. There are mainly 2 ways you can purchase your travel insurance. Buy travel insurance directly from insurance companies or you can save a lot of money by taking advantage of credit card travel insurance.

If you are looking for solid travel insurance, you should make sure that you have enough coverage for the following expenses.

Medical (Disease and Injury)
Flight Cancellation/Delay
Trip Cancellation
Lost Baggage
Damaged Personal Items

Here we have made a quick comparison of 3 different digital nomad-friendly online travel insurance plans. There are plenty of other insurance choices so if you want to do a quick search, go to travelinsurance.com to find out more.

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If you can find a credit card that allows you to activate the travel insurance while traveling by making a payment for your transport, you can take advantage of multiple credit cards as we did.

In fact, we’ve traveled to 6 countries in the past year and saved about $750 for me and my wife by using these tactics.

Let’s say your travel period is 1 year
Sign up for 4 or more credit cards that come with good travel insurance (free or paid)
Use one of those credit cards for transport payment (if required to activate) when you need to activate your 90 days travel insurance period.
Before your 90 days end, make the next transport payment to activate the next card
This way you can have a consecutive sequence of travel insurance through your credit card by just making transport payments.
You may also buy your travel insurance directly from travel insurance and pay monthly for 12 months to cover your trip or do both. If you have 2 or more travel insurances at the same time, your coverage will add up so the more you have, you are better off with bigger coverage amount limits.

2. Priority Pass Membership

When you are flying domestically or internationally from an airport, you would usually come to the airport at least 1-2 hours or 2-3 hours prior to your departure time, respectively. Since COVID, the airports tend to be very busy and long queues are expected. But if you get lucky you have an extra hour or two to kill. That’s when lounges come into play. Speaking of lounges, there are 3 types: Airline Lounges, American Centurion Lounges, and Airport Lounges and they all come with different price tags, but I recommend the priority pass membership which comes with credit cards as their benefit. In lounges, you will get to have free drinks, snacks, meals, wifi, and sometimes shower and bed before your flight. If you have a partner who is traveling with you, I recommend both of you own a membership so you both do not need to pay to enter. If you are the only one owning the membership, your companion also can use the lounge if you pay $23.

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3. Hotel or Airline Loyalty Program Credit Card

If you are going to hold a set of credit cards, you might as well hold at least one credit card which has a solid reputation for travelers. You can also have hotel or airline co-branded credit cards which help you accumulate points or airline miles to be used for your next trip or book with a loyalty member discount.

I own a Marriott Bonvoy Premium credit card issued in Japan and it has saved thousands of dollars in our last year for its strong loyalty program benefits. If you want to earn free nights at hotels, this is the way to go.

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If you are based in Japan and want to apply for a Marriott Bonvoy Card, please check this article that explains our view on the benefits of the card (only Japanese) or send us a DM for a referral.

4. Zero Foreign Transaction Fee

Did you know that most credit cards charge you up to 2-3% of foreign transaction fees for overseas payments? You would most likely receive around 1% of points but you are still paying 1-2% of extra fees for every overseas payment. This is not a big deal for short-term travelers but this will add up for longer travelers.

The workaround for this is to own a zero foreign transaction fee card. There are not many options out there so if you can not find any don’t worry. A debit card called revolut card offers zero foreign transaction fee.

5. Hold at least 3-4 credit cards from each VISA, MASTERCARD, AMEX

The 3 most widely accepted credit cards are VISA, MASTERCARD, and American Express. If you own one or more of each of these networks, you will have no issues with payments globally. AMEX is the least accepted out of these three but I hold 3 AMEX cards because they have really good benefits.

The other reason why I recommend you to hold 3-4 credit cards is that sometimes your credit card does not go through at the cashier for some reason but you don’t know the reason. It’s always good to have a backup.

Also, I once got a call from my credit card company for fraudulent activity online. This transaction that was attempted was not mine so my credit card had to be stopped immediately. If this happens to you, a credit card can become out of use so backup cards come really handy in these kinds of situations.

That’s all for today. Thanks for reading!

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