The Best Credit Cards for Military Members in 2025
Tl;dr:
Active duty military members can qualify for premium credit cards with no annual fee.
Top picks: Citi Strata Elite, Bilt Mastercard, Amex Platinum, Hilton Aspire, Chase Sapphire Reserve.
Potential value: $1,000+ per year in credits and perks—for free.
At LazyPoints, we don’t mind annual fees, but generally prefer cards that pay for themselves, like the Capital One Venture X ($400 worth of annual credits/points for a $395 annual fee) or IHG Premier (a free hotel stay for a ~$100 fee). But what if you could get all those benefits without having to pay the fee? If you’re an active duty military member—or married to one—that might be an option! You could get $1,000+ in annual value with a card or two, all for free.
Why military service is a credit card superpower
To protect servicemembers from onerous financial obligations, Congress passed two laws: the Servicemembers Civil Relief Act (SCRA) and the Military Lending Act (MLA). The SCRA applies to credit and debt incurred before service, while the MLA applies to debt incurred during service. Among the benefits provided by these laws is a limit on interest (for a summary, check out this handout from the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau).
The law may not be crystal clear about how this applies to credit card annual fees, but whether out of risk-averse compliance or out of appreciation for our military, some banks waive annual fees on their credit card products under one or both of these programs–sometimes even on their ultra-premium products.
American Express and Chase are the most generous in this respect, waiving fees on all their personal cards, whether you sign up pre-service or while on active duty. It can be a bit of a mixed bag with other banks. Capital One, Citi, Bank of America, and Barclays typically waive fees under SCRA, but your mileage may vary under MLA. US Bank and Wells Fargo may not always waive fees under either program. Always check with your bank prior to applying for a card if you are relying on a fee waiver.
Also note that these benefits end when you leave active duty, so be sure to keep track of when your annual fee would be due, and cancel before getting charged if you don’t value a card’s perks enough to pay full price for it.
Top premium cards for military members
For those who have the credit score and income to qualify, there are several ultra-premium cards that can unlock hundreds of dollars in premium benefits–all free for active duty military. Here are our favorites.
Citi Strata Elite
My #1 recommendation is the Citi Strata Elite. Other cards might offer bigger statement credits or more luxurious perks, but this card has a few advantages over the others:
Simplicity: there are only a few credits, but they’re large and easy to use
Earning: the Strata Elite matches or beats the competition in dining and general spending, leaving it as the best choice in most (but not all) spending situations
Points: In my opinion, Citi points are quite a bit stronger than Amex or Chase points, at least for those looking for easy, valuable economy redemptions
The card has a $300 credit toward a hotel stay (minimum 2 nights) booked via Citi, a $200 “splurge” credit valid for American Airlines or Ticketmaster purchases, and $200 in credits toward chauffeur service (which might be more useful than you think).
It’s a powerful earner earning 1.5 points per dollar minimum, with 3x on dining (6x on Friday and Saturday evenings), and travel booked via Citi earns 6x on flights and 12x on hotels, car rentals, and attractions.
And the points are outstanding. You can use them to book travel via Citi at a value of 1¢ per point, but you can do better than that by transferring to partner rewards programs. Citi has two standout options: 1:1 transfers to American Airlines and 1:2 transfers to Choice Privileges. AA is great for low-cost, low-fee, high-availability international flights. Choice has some surprisingly good deals, and thanks to Citi’s transfer ratio, you could book free nights for as little as 4,000 Citi points. And if you become a points nerd, others like Avianca, Flying Blue, and Virgin Atlantic offer opportunities for awesome, if sometimes complicated or expensive, redemptions.
So while the other cards on the list are great to accumulate perks, I think the Strata Elite is the best option for actual day-to-day spending and redeeming.
We think 100,000 points or more is the right welcome offer to get this card.
Amex Platinum
After that, your mileage may vary. The Amex Platinum is the most well-rounded option to upgrade your travel experience, with a vast airport lounge network, elite status with Hilton and Marriott, and lucrative (if sometimes tricky to redeem) statement credits, including up to: $300 toward entertainment, $200 in Uber Cash, $400 in rebates at Resy-linked restaurants, $300 at Lululemon, and $200 toward airline incidental fees. (That’s not even the whole list.) But it only earns a single point per dollar on most purchases, which can be borderline criminal in some cases (e.g. dining). The Amex Platinum is a card to have, not a card to use.
But you can always pair it with an Amex Gold and get several hundred dollars in additional credits, plus 4x points on dining and groceries. Add a Delta card (like the Reserve, below) and you’ll get 15% off your Delta flights booked via SkyMiles, which can make for some incredible redemptions.
We think 150,000 points or more is the right welcome offer to get this card.
Chase Sapphire Reserve
The refreshed Sapphire Reserve offers Priority Pass access with guests and arguably the best proprietary lounges. It also sports over $2,500 in potential credits:
$300 travel credit
$120 in Lyft credits ($10/month)
$300 StubHub credits ($150 twice/yr)
$300 dining credit at Chase’s premium restaurant network ($150 twice/yr)
$500 credit toward Chase “The Edit” Hotels ($250 twice/yr)
$250 credit toward certain hotel brands via Chase (starting 2026)
$250 toward Apple TV+ and/or Apple Music subscriptions
$120 DashPass membership
$300 DoorDash promos
$120 Peloton credits
There’s not much to criticize with the Reserve, but I have two (ahem) reservations about it. First, a lot of the credits lean high-end, creating the temptation to overspend to take advantage of them. Second, I don’t value the points nearly as highly as Citi or Amex points. Hyatt is a solid transfer partner, but their portfolio is limited and I don’t find it hard to find good value on hotels. Chase lacks a premier airline partner that offers easy, low-cost, low-fee transoceanic redemptions. It’s still 100% worth getting as long as the fee is waived—I just wouldn’t start here, or settle for a sub-par welcome offer.
We think 125,000 points or more is the right welcome offer to get this card. You can support us by applying via our referral link. We’ll get some points too—but we don’t want them if you can find a better deal elsewhere, so please double check the current public offer and consider the card’s offer history.
Hilton Aspire
The Hilton Aspire is my personal favorite. Although it doesn’t offer airport lounge benefits (which you could get with another card anyway), it offers top-tier Diamond status with Hilton. Its annual free night can be redeemed at almost any Hilton property—including many luxury hotels that can run $1,000+ per night. If you get a second card or have a spouse with one, you could get a full weekend at some of the best hotels in the world. The $200 semi-annual resort credit is also sneakily useful, with many resorts bookable for around $200 per night. The $50 flight credit each quarter is also valuable and easy to use, while the 7x earning rate on dining, flights, and rental cars is very respectable.
We think 175,000 points or more is the right welcome offer to get this card.
Marriott Bonvoy Brilliant
The Marriott Bonvoy Brilliant is another well-rounded option, offering both elite status with Marriott and lounge access via Priority Pass while flying. Most people will get solid value from the free night and $300 dining credit. However, it only earns Marriott points, and not at a particularly impressive rate.
We think 185,000 points or more is the right welcome offer to get this card.
Amex Delta Reserve
Finally, the Delta Reserve offers hundreds of dollars in credits, valuable whether you fly Delta or not. But if you do, you’ll get (limited) access to both Delta and Amex lounges, placement on the upgrade list, and a companion certificate each year. You’ll also start halfway to elite status. United and AA also offer cards with statement credits and lounge access, but don’t offer upgrade possibilities or an automatic companion fare. See more about those cards below.
We think 100,000 points or more is the right welcome offer to get this card, but it has had a recent offer of 125,000, so you might want to wait and see if that comes around again.
Honorable mention:
Delta Amex Platinum: $150 hotel credit, $120 in rideshare credits, checked bags, upgrades
United Club: United Club access, $150 in rideshare credits, priority services
United Quest: $200 United travel credit, $100 in rideshare credits, 10k points discount on award travel
AA Executive Club: Admiral’s Club access, $120 Lyft credits, $120 Grubhub credits, $120 Avis/Budget credit, priority services
Amex Gold: $120 Uber Cash, $120 dining credit, $100 Resy credit, $84 Dunkin credit
Special Mention (Use with Caution ⚠️)
I think the Atmos Summit is one of the best cards on the market… and maybe ever. If you’re stationed abroad, the 3x earning on all foreign purchases could be game-changing. Plus, the annual 25k-point discount on a companion award ticket and the fast-track to Oneworld status are fantastic as well.
But Bank of America doesn’t automatically waive fees for active duty under MLA. Some members have reported getting MLA fee waivers, perhaps by having a small closing balance that causes the fees to exceed the MLA interest rate cap, but proceed with caution, and only apply if you’re prepared to pay the annual fee.
This card is new, and debuted with a welcome offer of 100,000 points plus a 25k-point companion award discount. We think 100,000 points or more is the right welcome offer to get this card, but we have lower confidence on this one.
What if I don’t qualify for a premium card?
Don’t worry—many mid-tier cards also offer great value! The Chase Sapphire Preferred offers solid earnings and a redemption bonus along with a $50 annual hotel credit when booking through Chase. The USAA Eagle Navigator has simple (albeit less valuable) rewards, and 10,000 points ($100) toward travel each year. The Citi Strata Premier, meanwhile, offers bonus points on a ton of useful categories (3x on dining, groceries, gas, flights, and hotels) and a $100 hotel credit on $500+ stays booked via Citi. Finally, the Delta Amex Gold comes with a $100 hotel credit, discounts on Skymiles redemptions, and perks like free baggage and priority boarding when flying Delta.
Lazy Take 🦥
If you’re on active duty, thank you for your service! If it makes sense for your financial situation, consider taking advantage of the opportunity to earn hundreds, maybe even thousands of dollars in purchase credits and travel perks by signing up for a credit card with a military fee waiver. Some of these even ranked as among our top credit cards, being essentially free to hold even with the annual fee. Just be sure to hold out for a top-tier bonus–follow our weekly roundup to see which cards currently have those offers.
Rent a new place every time you PCS? Consider getting a Bilt Mastercard to earn points on your rent with no fees.
Just getting started with credit cards? Check out our short Points Basics guide.
Last updated: November 2025