There are plenty of reasons why people love booking vacation homes on sites like Airbnb and Vrbo, including both charm and affordability. Fortunately, a number of travel credit cards offer rewards on vacation rentals beyond just hotel chains.
Considering that 1 in 4 Americans (27 percent) said they would go into debt to travel this year in Bankrate’s 2024 Discretionary Spending Survey, earning and saving extra cash on lodging for your next trip wouldn’t hurt. While a co-branded Airbnb or Vrbo rewards credit card is still only a pipe dream, there are general rewards credit cards that can help you earn or use points, miles or cash back when booking a vacation rental.
Check out our picks for Airbnb and Vrbo rewards cards.
Comparing the best credit cards for earning Airbnb and Vrbo rewards
Top cards for earning rewards on Airbnb and Vrbo stays
Best for credits and bonuses
The Capital One Venture X Rewards card is beloved by many luxury travelers for its generous rewards rates and bonuses. You can earn 2X miles on travel purchases outside of Capital One Travel, like Airbnb and Vrbo. Plus, you can redeem miles as a statement credit to cover recent travel expenses charged on the card, like vacation rentals. Just keep in mind that there are reported instances of Vrbo bookings not coding as travel on credit card statements. They may code as “property management” or “real estate,” which won’t qualify as a travel expense.
If you decide not to book an Airbnb or Vrbo, you can transfer your miles to book Wyndham Rewards vacation rentals or cottages or another of Capital One’s transfer partners.
Although this card comes with a hefty annual fee, the $300 annual Capital One Travel credit and 10,000-mile anniversary bonus (worth $100) can help justify the cost.
Pros
The hefty welcome bonus and anniversary bonus can offset the annual fee.
Capital One travel purchases earn the most rewards, but you can also earn on other travel expenses.
You can redeem your miles as a statement credit for travel purchases, like with Airbnb or Vrbo.
Cons
The high annual fee may not be worth it for infrequent travelers.
The $300 travel credit won’t go toward Airbnb or Vrbo stays, only Capital One Travel purchases.
Best for flat-rate rewards
The Capital One Venture Rewards card is a more basic version of Venture X, but still offers the option to redeem rewards for statement credit to cover travel purchases. You can also book travel with a transfer partner instead of Airbnb or Vrbo.
For a $95 annual fee, this Capital One credit card earns 5X miles on Capital One Travel purchases — although Airbnb and Vrbo aren’t available in the portal — and 2X miles on all other purchases.
Pros
The generous welcome bonus is worth $750 in travel, which can be redeemed as a statement credit for an Airbnb or Vrbo purchase.
If you’re using the card primarily to earn and use rewards for Airbnb and Vrbo, the Venture card might offer more value than the Venture X. For a lower annual fee, you’ll still earn 2X miles on those purchases.
Cons
You can’t book with Airbnb or Vrbo through Capital One Travel, where you get the highest earn rates.
Best for flexibility
If you want to earn a flat rate on vacation rentals but also want flexible redemption options, the Chase Sapphire Preferred card could be a good fit. For a $95 annual fee, you’ll earn 2X points on travel purchases not made through Chase Travel, including Airbnb and Vrbo stays. It’s worth noting that Chase Travel purchases earn 5X points.
You can redeem points as a statement credit worth 1 cent apiece to cover Airbnb or Vrbo purchases. But you can also book other types of vacation rentals through Chase Travel or transfer points to Chase airline and hotel partners.
Pros
The welcome bonus is worth $600 when redeemed as a statement credit to cover an Airbnb or Vrbo purchase.
Chase points have some of the highest redemption values when redeemed through Chase Travel or a transfer partner.
Cons
You can’t book with Airbnb or Vrbo through Chase Travel, but you can book other vacation rentals.
Best for luxury travel perks
If you want luxury travel benefits and 3X points on Airbnb on Vrbo stays (after earning the $300 travel credit), the Chase Sapphire Reserve card is the way to go.
Although the card charges a $550 annual fee, it’s quickly offset by a $300 travel credit — which covers Airbnb and Vrbo purchases — and perks like Priority Pass Select lounge access. After using up the travel credit, you can redeem points as a statement credit worth 1 cent apiece to cover Airbnb or Vrbo.
Pros
You can get $300 toward your vacation rentals every year just by using the card.
The complimentary lounge access is a huge perk for cardholders who like to travel in style.
This card has a high earn rate for travel purchases not made through Chase Travel, at 3X points (after earning the $300 travel credit).
Cons
The high annual fee isn’t worth it if you don’t use up the travel credit or visit the lounge.
You can’t book with Airbnb or Vrbo through Chase Travel for that 10X earn rate.
Best for earning cash back
The Citi Double Cash card is the right choice if you’d rather earn cash back when booking Airbnb and Vrbo stays. The generous flat rewards rate gets you 2 percent cash back on every purchase — 1 percent when you make the purchase and another 1 percent when you pay it off.
The card has no annual fee, and you can redeem your cash back as a statement credit or direct deposit to cover vacation rental purchases. You’ll even get a $200 welcome bonus after spending $1,500 on purchases in the first six months of account opening.
Pros
This card offers one of the highest flat-rate earnings among cash back cards.
A cash back card offers more straightforward rewards to cover expenses like Airbnb and Vrbo stays when compared to travel points or miles.
Cons
You’ll only get the remaining 1 percent cash back when you pay off your balance.
Don’t take this card on your international trip, as it charges a foreign transaction fee.
How to choose the best cards for Airbnb and Vrbo rewards
Compare annual fees. Luxury travel cards with high annual fees tend to offer high earning rates when booking through the card issuer portal, among other perks. But you usually can’t book Airbnb or Vrbo stays through issuer portals, which means you’ll earn a lower rate on those purchases. Unless you can maximize what a high annual fee gets you, a lower annual fee card might make more sense for these vacation rental purchases.
Consider extra perks. If you like stopping by airport lounges or flying through security with TSA PreCheck or Global Entry, then an upper- or mid-tier travel card makes sense for you. But if you prefer a no-frills, no-annual-fee card, consider a flat-rate cash back rewards card to earn on your vacation rentals.
Look at rewards redemption flexibility. The travel rewards cards above offer more flexibility for redeeming rewards than a co-branded credit card might. And Airbnb and Vrbo don’t have co-branded cards — yet. On the other hand, the cash back card above has the most straightforward redemption options, although cash back is usually worth less than points or miles.
Maximize welcome offers. If a card lets you earn a sizable welcome bonus, you could turn around and use it as a statement credit to cover a recent Airbnb or Vrbo purchase. After all, these bonuses might be worth between $200 and $750, which could cover multiple nights at a vacation rental for your next trip. Again, just keep in mind that cash value isn’t worth as much as points or miles.
How to earn points, miles and cash on Airbnb and Vrbo stays without a rewards card
You might be able to earn rewards on Airbnb and Vrbo purchases through another loyalty program without having to use a rewards card to book your stay.
Book an Airbnb with your airline membership
Despite rumors of an Airbnb loyalty program, there isn’t one yet. But you can earn airline miles through booking with Airbnb. For example, Delta offers SkyMiles members 1 mile per $1 spent with Airbnb when booking through the Delta Airbnb portal. And the British Airways Airbnb portal lets you earn 2 Avios per $1 spent with Airbnb.
Book a Vrbo with its loyalty program
One Key is a loyalty program among Expedia, Hotels.com and Vrbo. The program is free to join, and members can earn 2 percent in OneKeyCash on eligible Vrbo purchases. That cash can be redeemed at a 1:1 value for your next vacation rental.
Frequently asked questions
No, there isn’t currently a rewards program exclusive to Airbnb. But you can earn rewards by booking with Airbnb using a general travel rewards card, like the Capital One Venture or Chase Sapphire Preferred, or with some airline loyalty memberships.
In 2023, Expedia Groups launched the loyalty program One Key, which offers rewards on bookings made with Expedia, Hotels.com and Vrbo. When you become a free One Key member, you can use the OneKeyCash you earn on bookings from these sites toward your next Vrbo rental.
If you’re open to staying at a hotel or one of your card issuer’s vacation rental partners, you might get more bang for your buck — when using rewards, that is. That’s because points and miles are worth more when booking through the card issuer’s travel portal than if you redeemed them as cash or a statement credit to cover a general travel purchase like with Airbnb or Vrbo. Top-tier travel cards, like Capital One Venture X, offer the highest rewards rate on hotels booked through portals like Capital One Travel, at 10X miles per dollar.
What’s next?
The bottom line
Vacation rentals like Airbnb and Vrbo can be more convenient for large groups or travelers who want it to feel like home. Even though these brands don’t earn exclusive rewards with a credit card yet, you can still get 2X to 3X points, miles or percent cash back on your bookings with the right travel or cash back card.
