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Although many of the best credit cards charge annual fees of $95 or more, they usually offer travelers money-saving perks that more than make up for it. Along with sign-up bonuses potentially worth thousands of dollars, benefits like free checked bags and annual companion tickets can save you hundreds each year.

One of the most common yet overlooked benefits airline credit cards offer is discounts on inflight purchases such as food, beverages, Wi-Fi, and even audio headsets. Unfortunately, the reason many airline credit cards offer such a benefit is that airlines have begun charging for more and more of these amenities. That makes carrying a rewards credit card a good way to deal with nickel-and-diming by airlines.

While the concept is relatively simple, as with all things related to travel rewards cards, there is a lot of fine print that can affect how much you save, and on what. Before using your card for inflight impulse buys, be sure you know what purchases your discount applies to and how much you can expect to save.

Here are the best credit cards that offer discounts on inflight purchases, listed by airline.

We're focused here on the rewards and perks that come with each card. These cards won't be worth it if you're paying interest or late fees. When using a credit card, it's important to pay your balance in full each month, make payments on time, and only spend what you can afford to pay.

Airline Credit Cards With Inflight Discounts

Even infrequent flyers can find some value in the inflight purchase discounts offered by many airline credit cards. Again, be sure you know how much you will be saving and on what specific purchases — like food but not Wi-Fi, or vice versa — before committing to a card and using it onboard.

Alaska Airlines

Both the Alaska Airlines Visa® Credit Card and the Alaska Airlines Business Credit Card are eligible for 25% rebates on inflight food, beverages, and Wi-Fi purchases. The discount manifests as a statement credit refund within seven days of the transaction posting date.

Even if you only use this perk a few times a year, your savings can add up and more than compensate for the personal card's Alaska Airlines Visa® Credit Card annual fee or the business card's annual fee of Alaska Airlines Business Credit Card.

American Airlines

American Airlines credit cards are issued by both Citi and Barclays, nearly all of which offer inflight savings. The following cards all offer 25% savings on inflight food and beverage purchases:

The most impressive option of any airline card is the AAdvantage® Aviator® Silver Mastercard®. While it's not available to new applicants, if you have the AAdvantage® Aviator® Red Mastercard®, you might be able to upgrade to it.

The AAdvantage® Aviator® Silver Mastercard® gives cardholders up to $25 back per day as a statement credit toward inflight food and beverage purchases. If you were somehow able to completely max out this benefit, you could save an eye-popping $9,125 per year.

Cardholders also get up to $50 back per account year on Wi-Fi purchases on American Airlines flights.

Delta

All seven Delta credit cards offer consistent inflight savings – 20% off in the form of statement credits after you use your card to pay for inflight purchases of food, beverages, and audio headsets. Unfortunately, this benefit does not apply to Wi-Fi.

Here are the cards to choose from:

Hawaiian Airlines

You need to be a HawaiianMiles Pualani Gold or Platinum elite member to take advantage of the Hawaiian Airlines® Bank of Hawaii World Elite Mastercard® annual perk of up to $100 in statement credits toward inflight purchases including premium meals, beverages, and onboard entertainment. There is a daily maximum rebate of $10.

JetBlue

All three of JetBlue's co-branded credit cards offer an impressive 50% savings on inflight food and beverage purchases including cocktails, wine, and beer on JetBlue flights. You will notice that it doesn't apply to Wi-Fi, because JetBlue offers free Wi-Fi.

JetBlue's cards are:

Southwest

Not all of Southwest's credit cards include inflight purchase discounts — but that's made up for in other ways. Take a look:

United Airlines

United's credit cards offer a mostly uniform rebate on inflight purchases in the form of a statement credit. But one card, the United Quest℠ Card, outperforms the rest.

Here are all the United Airlines credit cards that give you a discount on inflight food, beverages, and Wi-Fi:

Credit Cards With Annual Travel Credits

You don't necessarily need a cobranded airline credit card to get discounts on inflight purchases. Several credit cards come with annual travel credits. This is useful if you don't frequent one particular airline since you can use your card to pay for things like food and beverages and be automatically reimbursed.

You can choose from:

Just note that, for cards that offer airline incidental credits, you may not be automatically reimbursed for some inflight purchases. Either the transaction may code funnily, or it simply may not qualify. For example, some inflight Wi-Fi isn't actually charged by the airline, so it won't count as a qualifying purchase.

Airline Credit Cards With Inflight Discounts Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)

Do you have to pay with your airline card to get inflight discounts?

Yes, you will have to use your co-branded airline credit card to make the purchase, as the discount will appear as a statement credit in your account later.

Which inflight purchases are discounted? 

Each airline makes its own rules as to what inflight purchases are discounted with a credit card. For example, American Airlines gives you a discount on Wi-Fi but Delta does not. You'll have to check the specifics of your card to be absolutely sure.

Is a card with inflight discounts worth it?

Honestly, opening a travel credit card with inflight discounts as the primary motivation is almost certainly not a good idea. Unless you fly constantly and make purchases constantly, this benefit isn't likely to move the needle much for you.

Many of these cards have additional benefits that, when combined with inflight discounts, make them very enticing. You'll often get preferred boarding, a free checked bag, and more.

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The Best Credit Cards With Airline Inflight Discounts of 2023