The best travel credit cards come with numerous perks, making it challenging to keep track of them. These benefits include airport lounge access, fee credits for Global Entry or TSA PreCheck membership, and annual travel credits. This is why I have several cards I am more than happy to pay the annual fees on each year, including both flexible travel credit cards and airline credit cards.
But, some credit card benefits are more important to me than others, mostly because they actually help me save money. And among them, my absolute favorite perk I get with a credit card is free checked bags with airlines.
How I save money with free checked bags
While I’ve had several airline credit cards over the years, my current favorite is the Delta Reserve(R) Credit Card from American Express discontinued_disclaimer, as I almost exclusively fly Delta and its SkyTeam partners at this point in my life. While this premium card comes with a annual_fees annual fee, it offers enhanced benefits like 15 visits to Delta Sky Clubs per year, Sky Club guest passes, an MQD Boost toward elite status, a $200 annual credit for Delta Stays, an annual companion certificate and more. American Express is a CardRatings advertiser. See Rates and Fees
It also comes with flight-related perks like priority boarding and free checked bags for the cardholder and up to eight companions on every itinerary. Since checked bags on Delta typically cost $35 each way, this perk alone saves me $70 on each flight I take or $280 for each round-trip itinerary when I travel with my family of four.
How to get free checked bags with a credit card
Since most free checked bag benefits come from co-branded airline credit cards, the first step to securing this benefit is narrowing down an airline. If you mostly fly with Southwest Airlines, for example, you’ll want to look at Southwest cards that offer a free checked bag benefit. The same rule applies if you mostly fly with United, American, JetBlue or another popular carrier that offers co-branded credit cards.
From there, you can sign up for a free loyalty program account if you don’t have one already. Once you are assigned a loyalty program number, you can apply for a co-branded credit card from your chosen airline that offers free checked bags as a perk.
To get free checked bags each time you fly, you’ll need to book your flights using your credit card and add your loyalty number to the reservation. Most free checked bag benefits also apply to a certain number of companions on your itinerary, so make sure you book on the same itinerary as your family or friends if you want others to benefit from this perk as well.
Best credit cards for free checked bags
While quite a few credit cards include free checked bags as a cardholder benefit, the other benefits they offer vary quite a bit. The same is true for the annual fees they charge, thus you can expect to pay anywhere from $95 to $650 per year for travel credit cards that offer this perk.
The chart below includes the best credit cards for free checked bags with most of the major carriers:
Credit cards with a free checked baggage perk
Alaska Airlines
American Airlines
- Citi(R) / AAdvantage(R) Platinum Select(R) World Elite Mastercard(R)
- Citi(R) / AAdvantage(R) Executive World Elite(TM) Mastercard(R)
- Citi(R) / AAdvantage Business(TM) World Elite Mastercard(R)
Citi is a CardRatings advertiser
Delta Air Lines
- Delta SkyMiles(R) Gold American Express Card discontinued_disclaimer
- Delta SkyMiles(R) Gold Business American Express Card discontinued_disclaimer
- Delta SkyMiles(R) Platinum American Express Card discontinued_disclaimer
- Delta SkyMiles(R) Platinum Business American Express Card discontinued_disclaimer
- Delta Reserve(R) Credit Card from American Express discontinued_disclaimer
- Delta Reserve for Business Credit Card discontinued_disclaimer
Frontier Airlines
- Frontier Airlines World Mastercard®
JetBlue
- JetBlue Plus Card
- JetBlue Premier Card
- JetBlue Business Card
Southwest Airlines
- Southwest Rapid Rewards(R) Plus Credit Card
- Southwest Rapid Rewards(R) Premier Credit Card
- Southwest Rapid Rewards(R) Priority Credit Card
- Southwest(R) Rapid Rewards(R) Premier Business Credit Card
- Southwest(R) Rapid Rewards(R) Performance Business Credit Card
United Airlines
The bottom line
Is free checked baggage a good credit card perk? Considering this benefit can easily save you $70 or more each time you fly, it is one of the most lucrative credit card perks available for frequent flyers. The savings also increase the more often you travel, and they can compound even faster when you fly with multiple family members or friends on your itinerary.
Just remember to pick your airline and co-branded airline credit card carefully based on your past and future travel plans. The more you fly with a specific airline, the more you can maximize savings and extract more value out of your favorite travel credit card.
Delta Reserve(R) Credit Card from American Express See Rates and Fees
