Best Cards For Airfare Within Europe

ThankYou Points are a lot like Capital One Miles in that you can book EasyJet or Ryanair flights with your card and then use the points to pay your bill. Something uniquely great about the ThankYou Points are the transfer partners. Citi transfers to some awesome international partners, like Avianca, Cathay, Etihad, Air France, Singapore KrisFlyer and Virgin Atlantic. And they retain great value when transferring. So even though we normally throw a Chase card front and center when we’re talking about any kind of travel partners, we love this particular Citi card for traveling inside of Europe.

Here's the great thing with Capital One Miles: You can use them for anything. For example, if you decide to use EasyJet or Ryanair to buy a one way ticket from Bordeaux, France to Barcelona, Spain, you can use your points to erase the charge for a modest $30. Points are also transferrable to airlines like Avianca LifeMiles, Cathay Pacific, Air France and other European-heavy airlines.

Chase Sapphire should be on everyone's list of cards for pretty much everything -- and the main reason is the flexibility. Flying throughout Europe is no exception. They have so many transfer partners available with a high retained value, including Avianca LifeMiles, Singapore KrisFlyer, Virgin Atlantic and Flying Blue (where you can book Air France or KLM). With all the transfer partners that are available using Ultimate Rewards, you can fly through any alliance, big or small. Another great option is to book flights directly through the Chase portal, where each point is worth 50% more. If you have a tight itinerary and know your dates and destinations, it’s a great time to check availability in the portal and see what kind of routes they’re offering.

Avios can be kinda tricky, so we’re not going to say they’re good for everything. But they did make the Europe list for a couple of different reasons. You can use them on British Airways, but make sure you look at the actual fees and surcharges before you buy. If your flight includes a layover in London, you’ll be paying the carrier charges and fees anyways, so you may want to consider this as a stopover -- which is an option when you're booking through the British Airways portal. You can also use your Avios to book seats on OneWorld Alliances like Aer Lingus, Iberia or Finnair. So when looking at more popular destinations, you’ll probably find booking through an alliance to be a better option.

American Airlines is part of OneWorld Alliance, meaning you can use AA Miles to book on 13 different world-class airlines. But which ones are you looking at for Europe? British Airways, Iberia and Finnair have more than 100 daily flights to 23 destinations in Europe, not to mention the OneWorld Affiliates throughout Europe, including Nordic Regional Airlines, SUN-AIR of Scandinavia and OpenSkies. So these might say “American Airline Miles,” but look beyond the name and you’ll be impressed with how many different airlines and loyalty programs it encompasses.