I love using credit cards to travel hack. Leveraging points can help make travel more affordable and accessible. My two favorite credit cards have low annual fees with tons of travel perks and the ability to earn high value travel points.

Chase Sapphire Preferred

Due to flight cancellations, we ended up being stuck in Florida for three extra days for our Spring Training Disney/Clearwater trip. While we made the best of our circumstances, I regretted that I had not signed up for the Chase Sapphire Preferred card previously. The Chase Sapphire Preferred and Reserved cards both include travel protection benefits that would have been useful for our unexpected trip extension. The Chase Sapphire Preferred includes Trip Cancellation/Interruption Insurance with reimbursement up to $10,000 per person and $20,000 per trip for pre-paid, non-refundable travel expenses. The card also offers Trip Delay Reimbursement for unreimbursed expenses up to $500 per ticket.

The Chase Sapphire Preferred has a $95 annual fee and includes a $50 annual hotel credit along with other tons of other perks. I took advantage of the current 75,000 point sign up bonus Chase is currently offering and am already daydreaming of where to visit with my points.

Southwest Rapid Rewards Priority Card

I love flying Southwest Airlines due to the flexibility and free bags. The Southwest Rapid Rewards Priority Card is my choice amongst the various Southwest credit cards offered by Chase. While the card has an annual fee of $149, it comes with a $75 Southwest annual travel credit and 4 Upgraded Boardings each year along earning Southwest Rapid Rewards points. The Upgraded Boardings help alleviate some of the stress that can come along with Southwest’s boarding assignment process while booking flights with Southwest points mean that I will be automatically refunded my points if I need to cancel my flight.