Travel cards · UAE

Best travel credit cards in the UAE

Air miles, airport lounges and travel insurance. Compare how fast each card earns, which airline programme it feeds and what you pay for the privilege.

28cards
01
Dnata Platinum Credit CardFree for life · from AED 5,000
02
High Flyer Platinum Credit CardFree for life · from AED 10,000
03
Marriott Bonvoy® World Mastercard®Free for life · from AED 12,000

Travel buying guide

What actually decides a travel card's value

Two numbers decide whether a UAE travel card pays for itself: how many miles a dirham of ordinary spending earns, and what the bank charges on the foreign currency transactions you make while travelling. The second is where the value quietly leaks away.

A card paying one mile per dirham while charging close to 3% on foreign spend can hand back less than a plain cashback card over the same holiday. Check the currency conversion fee on each card page, and keep in mind that lounge access, hotel status and travel insurance often carry more usable value than the miles themselves.

Of the 28 travel cards on this page, 4 carry no annual fee and the most expensive costs AED 2,625 a year. Minimum salaries run from AED 5,000 to AED 30,000 a month, across 8 banks.

Miles are not interchangeable

Skywards, Etihad Guest, Marriott Bonvoy and the bank-run programmes all price redemptions differently, and miles rarely move between them. Pick the programme you already fly or stay with before you compare earn rates.

Read the earn rate by category

Headline rates usually apply to a narrow slice of spending - the bank's own travel portal, or airline tickets. Groceries, fuel, utilities and government payments commonly earn a fraction of the base rate, or nothing.

Lounge access has small print

Complimentary visits can be capped per year, limited to the primary cardholder, or delivered through a membership you have to activate first. Guests are usually chargeable.

Travel cards by minimum salary

Travel credit card questions

That depends on where you spend. The fastest earn rates sit on the cards with the highest annual fees and the highest salary requirements - the 28 travel cards here run from AED 5,000 to AED 30,000 a month. Compare the rate that applies to your largest spending categories, not the headline rate.

Most mid-tier and premium travel cards do, usually through a lounge network membership rather than the card itself. Each card page states whether lounge access is included and what the bank says about guest visits.

Neither is better in the abstract. The right one is the airline you actually fly from your home airport: Skywards suits Dubai-based travellers, Etihad Guest suits Abu Dhabi. If you split your flying, a bank programme that transfers into several airlines gives you more room.

Most airline programmes expire miles after a period of inactivity, and some expire them on a fixed schedule whatever you do. Those rules belong to the airline, not the bank, and the bank cannot extend them.

Rarely, once the annual fee is counted. Two trips a year usually earn less in miles than the fee costs. A free-for-life card, or a cashback card used for everything, tends to leave you better off.

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Product details are indicative and compiled from each bank’s official pages and Key Facts Statements; figures can differ between a bank’s marketing page and its Key Facts Statement, and fees, rates and VAT treatment change. We are not affiliated with, or authorised by, any bank - always confirm current fees, eligibility, rewards and terms directly with the issuing bank before applying. This page does not constitute financial advice.