People often associate the most expensive thing with being the best in its class. Of course, that is ultimately a subjective question, but nevertheless, the mysterious allure of a highly priced commodity usually brings with it the notion that it’s “better” than its lower-priced competition. Credit cards with hefty annual fees are no exception.

Cards like the American Express Platinum and the Chase Sapphire Reserve have garnered a reputation for being the “best” travel cards on the market, especially for travelers new to the credit card space who are looking to get in on the action.

These days, the annual fees on these high-end cards are slowly creeping their way towards the $1,000 threshold, and marketing teams are hard at work trying to showcase how the perks that come with these cards offer more back-end value than what it costs to keep them open every year.

Travel Perks That Made Sense

When these premium cards first started taking the world by storm a decade ago, the perks that came with them were the things that frequent travelers would most certainly find useful: lounge access, free TSA Pre Check, credits for airline incidentals, hotel status, and more.

Travelers could easily recoup the couple hundred-dollar initial investment they paid to have the card without much effort, given that most of these perks coincide with the actual act of traversing around the globe. Not to mention, lucrative sign-up bonuses and spending categories enable the quick and easy accrual of valuable points that can be used to subsidize future travel.

More Credits, Less Clarity

Fast forward to 2025, and many of these perks remain. But annual fees are on the rise, and those increases are not being offset by offering new or expanded value of travel-related perks. Instead, the cards now offer a laundry list of statement credits that are intended to be geared towards everyday spending, allowing customers to take advantage of them.

While some of these credits can naturally be useful for those in the right demographic, the reality is that the majority of them are either for relatively peripheral goods and services (such as Saks Fifth Avenue, Peloton, or StubHub) or are irritatingly specific: dining credits (but only at certain restaurants), digital entertainment credits (only for certain platforms), or hotel credits (at certain properties with mandatory minimum night requirements) render these cards more like lifestyle coupon books rather than comprehensive travel cards.

These credits are also not without their caveats, with most being split up into use-it-or-lose-it monthly or semi-annual allotments that can be easy to lose track of.

Diminishing Benefits and Smarter Alternatives

Sure, the cards still do offer extensive travel perks and benefits, but even some of those benefits aren’t as valuable as they used to be. Take, for example, lounge access, which is increasingly becoming more scrutinized as lounge operators continue to battle the nagging issue of overcrowding.

Delta Sky Club lounges now impose annual restrictions on the number of times its American Express cardholders can enter, and United recently rolled out a tightening of its guest access policy for its top-tier cardholders as well. Not to mention, some of these benefits (like TSA PreCheck credits and free checked baggage) can still be found on some lower-tiered credit cards with more palatable annual fees that customers don’t have to worry about recovering over the year.

Does that mean these high-end credit cards should be avoided moving forward? Definitely not.

On the surface, those who can take full advantage of all these credits and benefits will most assuredly come out ahead. But it is undeniable that it is becoming increasingly more difficult to actually do so. Only those whose lifestyles and spending habits already coincide with the perks that these cards have to offer will be able to justify paying the hefty annual fees.

In the end, purchasing something you wouldn’t otherwise spend money on just to trigger a statement credit or two isn’t necessarily indicative of any value add.

Silver Lining?

The good news is that these premium cards aren’t the end-all-be-all in the travel credit card space. For the average traveler seeking to obtain decent value out of a card, there are plenty of options out there with more affordable annual fees that still pack a mighty punch.

While premium cards may work for some, they most certainly will not make sense for all. And just because something is the most expensive, it doesn’t necessarily have to mean that it’s the best.