Most people think you need a Chase Sapphire or Amex Platinum to travel well. I used to think that too. Then I spent three years using the Truist Travel Rewards Card across 14 countries, and I realized most travel card advice is written by people who never actually pay for their own flights.
Here’s what I learned — the good, the bad, and the stuff the bank won’t tell you.
Why I Switched From Chase to Truist
I had the Chase Sapphire Preferred for two years. Great card. But I was paying $95 annually for benefits I wasn’t using — the travel insurance was solid, but I wasn’t booking enough rental cars or delayed flights to justify it.
The Truist Travel Rewards Card has no annual fee. That’s the first thing that caught my attention. But the real reason I switched was the earning structure on everyday spending.
Truist gives you 3x points on dining, grocery stores, gas stations, and airline purchases. That’s four categories I actually spend money on every month. Chase gives you 3x on dining and 2x on travel — but grocery and gas are only 1x. Over a year, that difference adds up to about $200-300 in extra points for me.
Points Value: The Hidden Math
Truist points are worth 1 cent each when redeemed for travel statement credits. That’s straightforward. No transfer partners, no blackout dates. You book a flight for $500, you redeem 50,000 points, done.
Chase points can be worth 1.25 cents if you use the Chase portal, or up to 2 cents if you transfer to Hyatt or United. But that requires work. I’ve missed two transfer windows because I forgot to check availability. Truist’s simplicity has saved me from that frustration.
The One Thing That Makes This Card Worth It
No foreign transaction fees. That’s standard for travel cards, but here’s the twist: Truist doesn’t charge them on any purchases abroad, including ATM withdrawals. Most cards still hit you with a 3% fee on cash advances. Truist doesn’t.
I tested this in Japan. Withdrew ¥50,000 from a 7-Eleven ATM. The fee from the ATM was ¥220 (about $1.50). Truist charged $0. My friend with a Capital One Venture card paid $3.50 on the same transaction.
Small difference? Over a two-week trip with five ATM visits, that’s $10-15 saved. Not life-changing, but it adds up.
Where the Truist Card Falls Short
I’m not going to pretend this card is perfect. Here are three real problems I’ve hit.
No Lounge Access
You get zero lounge passes. If you’re the type who needs a Priority Pass membership to survive a 3-hour layover, this card isn’t for you. I’ve spent many hours sitting on airport floors eating overpriced sandwiches. The Capital One Venture X ($395 annual fee) gives you unlimited lounge access. You pay for what you get.
No Travel Insurance
Truist doesn’t include trip cancellation, baggage delay, or rental car coverage. That’s the biggest trade-off. I bought a separate annual travel insurance policy for $89 from World Nomads that covers everything. It’s cheaper than paying a $95 annual fee for a card with insurance I might not use.
Points Expire After 12 Months of Inactivity
If you stop using the card for a year, your points vanish. I almost lost 22,000 points when I switched to a different card for six months. Set a recurring reminder to buy a coffee with it every two months.
How It Compares to the Competition
I’ve used all three of these cards. Here’s the straight comparison.
| Feature | Truist Travel Rewards | Chase Sapphire Preferred | Capital One Venture Rewards |
|---|---|---|---|
| Annual fee | $0 | $95 | $95 (waived first year) |
| Earning rate (dining) | 3x | 3x | 2x |
| Earning rate (groceries) | 3x | 1x | 2x |
| Foreign transaction fee | 0% | 0% | 0% |
| Travel insurance | None | Primary rental, trip delay | Secondary rental, trip cancellation |
| Lounge access | None | None | None (Venture X has it) |
| Points value | 1 cent flat | 1.25-2 cents (variable) | 1 cent flat |
Who Should Not Get This Card
If you fly business class twice a year, book expensive hotels, or need rental car coverage every month, this card will frustrate you. The lack of insurance alone makes it a bad fit for frequent international travelers who can’t afford to lose a $1,500 flight.
Also, if you’re the type who likes to optimize points — transferring to airline partners, finding sweet spots — the Truist card will feel limiting. It’s a blunt instrument. You get 1 cent per point, period. No Hyatt free nights, no first-class upgrades. Just cash back on travel.
For those people, the Chase Sapphire Preferred or American Express Gold ($250 fee, but 4x at restaurants and supermarkets) makes more sense. You pay for flexibility.
Three Mistakes I Made With This Card
I learned these the hard way so you don’t have to.
Mistake 1: Not Using It for Groceries
For the first six months, I only used this card for flights and hotels. I was leaving 3x points on the table at the grocery store. Truist counts supermarkets as a bonus category. I missed about 15,000 points because I was using my debit card like an idiot.
Mistake 2: Redeeming Points for Cash Instead of Travel
If you redeem Truist points as a direct deposit or statement credit (non-travel), they’re worth 0.8 cents each. That’s a 20% loss. I cashed out 10,000 points for $80 instead of using them for a $100 flight credit. Don’t do this.
Mistake 3: Ignoring the Bonus Categories
Truist sometimes has rotating bonus categories through their app — 5x at certain retailers or 4x on gas for a quarter. I ignored these for a year. That was probably another 5,000 points I could have earned. Check the app once a month.
The Verdict After Three Years
I still use this card. Not for everything — I carry a separate card for rental cars and a travel insurance policy — but for daily spending and international purchases, it’s my default.
Here’s my rule: if you spend less than $5,000 per year on travel, the Truist card is probably better for you than a premium card with an annual fee. The math is simple. A $95 annual fee means you need to earn at least 9,500 points more than a free card just to break even. The Truist card’s 3x on groceries and gas closes that gap faster than you’d think.
If you spend more than $10,000 on travel annually, get the Chase Sapphire Preferred or Capital One Venture X. The insurance and transfer partners will pay for themselves.
But for the average traveler — someone who takes two or three trips a year, eats out, buys groceries, and doesn’t want to think about points — the Truist Travel Rewards Card is the card I recommend most often. It’s not flashy. It doesn’t have a fancy metal finish. But it works, it’s free, and it saved me $340 in foreign transaction fees alone over three years.
That’s $340 I spent on actual travel instead of bank fees. That’s the whole point.
