5 Credit Cards You'll Regret Ignoring For Your Family Travel Before You Enter Into 2027

If you do exactly what I say in this post, you could finally make your family's 2027 travel feel more luxurious and comfortable, from premium seats on the flight to Asia to the kind of fancy hotels you'd never pay cash for. Most influencers will tell you to chase whatever card has the biggest bonus this month, but I want to tell you something different.

These five cards work together like a team. One gets your family into business class to Asia for a fraction of the miles, two cover the kind of luxury hotels you would never pay cash for, and two keep your points growing so the next trip is already on its way. Each one either just changed, is about to change, or opens a door that a lot of families walk right past, so if you want 2027 to be the year your family finally travels in style and comfort, this is your list.

1. Chase United Explorer Card

I have said this more than ten times, and I will keep saying it: since United Airlines revamped its program and saver awards in April 2026, it has kept its promise and releases saver seats more often than before. I used to book United business class saver seats through Aeroplan all the time for example between San Francisco and London Heathrow, to Auckland New Zealand, Zurich back to San Francisco for all of us

Photo Credit: Maria Fung

But these days United Airlines rarely sends those saver award seats to Aeroplan and keeps them for its own elite members and credit card holders instead.

Next summer we are spending more than a month in Asia, and Hong Kong is one of our stops. On a lot of direct flights between the US and Asia in United Polaris business class, I see about 90K miles per person when I log in to my account as a co-brand cardholder. Without the card or elite status, that same seat costs 250K miles per person that is 60% + saving.

Photo Credit: Maria Fung

Your United miles also open the door to Star Alliance partners, and I have seen business class on EVA and ANA for around 100K miles.

Pro tip:

• Start with the Chase United Explorer Card. It has a $0 annual fee the first year and $150 a year after that, and it gives you access to those cardholder saver prices on United's own flights.
• There is also a separate perk that has nothing to do with business class. When your family flies United in economy, whether it's a domestic trip or an international flight, the card gets you a free first checked bag for you and a companion on the same reservation. For a family, that adds up fast.

2. Bilt Palladium

I know, I know, this is more brain work, especially after Bilt announced its 2027 program changes this week. Even with all of that, Bilt is still one of the strongest and most diverse points programs out there, right alongside Rove and Citi. There are rumors that Alaska could leave Bilt the way American Airlines did in 2024, but nothing is confirmed, so please take that with a grain of salt.

The good news first. If Asia Pacific is your goal, the airline partners are not changing, and Bilt points still transfer 1:1 to Cathay Pacific, Air Canada Aeroplan, United, Japan Airlines, British Airways Avios, Turkish Airlines, Alaska Atmos Rewards and Avianca LifeMiles.

Photo Credit: Maria Fung

Bilt also added Amtrak in September, which is a fun option for families who want a train getaway to see the fall foliage in the Northeast or a coastal trip down the West Coast.

Related Reading: You Can Now Use Bilt Rewards Points On Amtrak. Here’s What That Actually Means

There are three changes I don't want your family to miss for your travel.

• First, Bilt to Hyatt drops from 1:1 to 4:3 on January 1, 2027, so 40,000 Bilt points will only become 30,000 Hyatt points. It matters when you plan your family stay for 2027. If you already have a Hyatt stay planned for next year and you can see the award space, move those points before December 31, but please don't transfer "just in case.""

Photo Credit: Park Hyatt Hangzhou

• Second, your Bilt Cash now lasts 12 months after you earn it, so there is no more year-end scramble. I use them to turn on Point Accelerator which helps me to earn 3x on everything (except tax payment.)
• Third, starting January 1, you can only use Bilt Cash on hotel bookings twice a year instead of every month.

The part I care about most is the Point Accelerator. Every $200 in Bilt Cash turns on an extra point per dollar for your next $5,000 of spending, and you can do it up to five times a year, which adds up to 25,000 extra points. The 4% back in Bilt Cash on your everyday spending is what keeps refilling it.

Pro tip:

• If you want to keep that 4% Bilt Cash, you need to opt out of the new 2027 benefits in your card settings in the Bilt app before your card anniversary. If you don't, Bilt moves you to the new housing-focused system, and once you opt out you can't switch back and forth. The safest move is to take care of it this week.
• If you don't have the card yet, you need to be approved by December 31, 2026 to get that choice at all. 

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3. American Express Hilton Honors co-branded credit cards

If you follow what I tell you here, your family could stay at top-tier luxury hotels that usually cost more than $1,000 a night, or up to 250,000 Hilton Honor points a night, using free night rewards. Right now, all four Hilton Amex cards include a free night in their welcome offers through January 13, 2027.

The no-annual-fee Hilton Honors card and the $150 Hilton Surpass normally don't come with a free night when you open them, so this is a big deal. The Surpass also gives you another free night each year once you spend $15,000 on it in a calendar year. The Hilton Aspire always comes with a free night when you open the card and again every anniversary. Every summer, I use ours for a long weekend getaway from Tokyo at ROKU KYOTO, or for a stopover at the Conrad Tokyo, where we go on a shopping spree for the kids' skincare stuff.

You know the old saying that nothing lasts forever. Chase and IHG just revamped their hotel cards, and I wouldn't be surprised if Hilton tightens its rules at some point too. Please don't assume that being able to use these free nights on any night of the week, at almost any hotel, will last forever. If you can get them, get them and use them on a real trip.

If you plan it well, you could stack three or four free nights and cover almost a week...imagine spending that week at the Conrad Bora Bora Nui in the South Pacific (like we did a couple of years ago lol)

Photo Credit: Maria Fung

Pro tip:

• If you don't want to touch your Chase 5/24 count (and I know a lot of you are still protecting it), the Hilton Business card is a good one for you. Amex business cards don't usually show up on your personal credit report, and the Business card comes with a free night in its current offer too.

4. Chase IHG Premier Select

The Premier Select is IHG's new top-tier personal card, and it launched in October with a $350 annual fee. The launch offer is 200,000 IHG points after you spend $5,000 in the first three months, and it is only available through November 18, 2026.

For families, the value is pretty simple. Every year you get an anniversary free night worth up to 60,000 points, and you can add your own points if the hotel you have your eye on costs more.

• When you book four reward nights in a row, the fourth night is free, which makes a longer family stay go a lot further.
• You also get up to $300 a year for food and drinks at IHG hotels, given as $75 each quarter that you need to use within that quarter.
• Plus a $200 airline credit each year that can cover part of a flight.

Photo Credit: Regent Phu Quoc Vietnam

The card also comes with Platinum Elite status and 20 elite night credits every year, and the more you spend on it, the closer you get to Diamond status and club lounge access.

That part has a lot of moving pieces, so I'm saving it for my in-depth post on the Chase IHG card revamp, which is coming in two weeks. Stay tuned!

5. Citi Strata Elite

"You've become a Citi ThankYou girl!" is what I heard after my talk at a Points Travel Festival Chicago conference in October, and I have to admit it's true. What most people don't realize is that without this Citi Strata Elite card, you're leaving 6x points on the table. The Citi Strata Elite earns 6x on dining every Friday and Saturday night from 6 p.m. to 6 a.m. Eastern, which is one of the richest dining rates out there right now, and even takeout on family movie night counts. 

If Bilt is the diverse one, Citi is the one making the biggest moves this year. It added Japan Airlines in September and Copa just last weekend, and it now has more than 20 transfer partners, including Singapore KrisFlyer, Cathay Pacific, EVA, Turkish and Avios.

Photo Credit : Maria Fung (updated: 21 partners with Copa Airlines added in Oct 2026)

American Airlines is the partner getting the most attention, and for good reason. We used AAdvantage miles to fly Qatar Airways from Rome to Hong Kong through Doha for 75K miles per person at the business class price. Rome to Doha was business class, and the Doha to Hong Kong leg turned out to be first class, because Qatar was flying a plane it had borrowed from Cathay Pacific and rebranded. 

AAdvantage also books Etihad's First Apartment from 115K miles between Toronto and Abu Dhabi, although the Apartment is only on the A380, so check the aircraft before you book.

Photo Credit : Maria Fung

You can also use it for Air Tahiti Nui from LAX to Papeete or LAX to Paris, and for Japan Airlines in business, premium economy and economy.

If you follow the news, you know that American and STARLUX launched a codeshare in September, and STARLUX says a frequent flyer partnership is in the works. Nothing has been announced yet about using AAdvantage miles on STARLUX, but you don't want to be the last one to find out when it happens.

Photo Credit: Maria Fung

I especially love the $200 Splurge Credit. You choose up to two brands from a short list that includes American Airlines, Best Buy, Live Nation, 1stDibs and Future. Mine covers a good part of my flights to travel conferences by using this on American Airlines, and my friends love using theirs at Best Buy.

I almost forgot the $300 hotel credit, and it is one of the easiest credits I have ever used. You book a stay of two nights or more through Citi Travel, and the $300 comes right off what you pay, instead of you paying first and waiting for a statement credit the way it works with American Express. We used it this summer to cover our stay in Sapporo at a local hotel brand, because the big international brands aren't as common there.

Photo Credit: Maria Fung

Pro tip:

• The annual fee is a hefty $595, so if you want to earn it back faster, apply in December. The Splurge Credit resets every calendar year, which means you can use your 2026 credit right away and your 2027 credit a few weeks later, all before your second annual fee is due.

Quick takeaways

1. The United Explorer can bring a business class seat to Asia down from 250K to about 90K miles per person.
2. Bilt keeps its Asia airline partners, but you need to opt out before your card anniversary if you want to keep earning 4% Bilt Cash.
3. Every Hilton Amex card comes with a free night in its welcome offer through January 13, 2027.
4. The IHG Premier Select's 200,000-point launch offer ends on November 18, 2026.
5. The Citi Strata Elite earns 6x on weekend dining nights and takes $300 off a hotel stay of two nights or more.

Your luxury family trip to Asia starts with these five cards

Imagine boarding a flight to Asia in a lie-flat seat with your kids right next to you, spending a week in a luxury hotel you would never pay cash for, and coming home with enough points to start planning the next trip. That is what these five cards can do together if you follow everything in this post. The best offers on this list come with deadlines, so the time to start is now, and 2027 can be the year your family finally travels the way you always pictured.

Tell me in the comments which of these five cards is already in your wallet, which one you're eyeing for 2027, and where your family wants to go. I'll help you figure out which one fits your trip, so that you can open the right card the first time, skip hours of second-guessing, and know exactly what to do next.