It’s a frequent sight these days: stressed-out travelers lining up outside an airport lounge. The past few years have seen an arms race to build high-end hideaways at terminals across the United States: American Express, Capital One, and Chase have opened a combined 40 lounges since 2020, at a cost that almost certainly stretches into the hundreds of millions of dollars. And yet there still aren’t enough seats for everyone toting a premium credit card.

Access to airport lounges remains one of the key benefits of carrying a card like the American Express Platinum, which now has an $895 annual fee, or the Chase Sapphire Reserve, which recently went up to $795. But as lounges come to feel more crowded than ever, some travelers are recalculating the value proposition of their cards.

“What matters isn’t that your bank has lounges—it’s whether those locations are where you actually travel,” says Gary Leff, a travel-rewards expert and the author of the View from the Wing blog. For his money, Leff says, the Capital One lounge network, though smaller than those of American Express and Chase, offers the best value—not least because there’s a Capital One Landing with catering from the José Andrés Group at Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport, where he frequently flies.

That calculus mirrors the larger rethink going on among points geeks—and everyday travelers. Recent annual-fee hikes and changes to the structure of rewards have made it more complex than ever to determine if a card is worth its cost. “These days, cards need to match your lifestyle to be worthwhile,” Leff says.

Investopedia editor in chief Caleb Silver concurs. “Many benefits are highly specific, so not all of them will be useful to every consumer,” Silver explains. “It’s important to do the math.”

Still, enticing sign-up offers from major issuers, including Citi, which recently revamped its Strata Elite card, can promise thousands of dollars in value. Consider the American Express Platinum, which the company says now comes with more than $3,500 in annual perks, including those for use on the Resy dining platform and at merchants like Lululemon. For its part, Chase offers customers a $300 dining credit—but it can only be used at a select list of restaurants, and only in two tranches of $150. Less complicated is the proposition of the Venture X card from Capital One. Its $395 annual fee is offset by the relatively straightforward offer of $300 in statement credits for any travel booked through the company’s online portal.

Despite the complexity, the right card can still be well worth the price, Leff says. “If your card gets you a tennis match with a star, or a private concert in a small venue with your favorite artist, you’re likely to see value in that.”

All four major issuers are doubling down on granting consumers VIP access to live events, whether it’s Art Basel Miami Beach, a Formula 1 grand prix, a film festival—or even the Winter Olympics, which kick off in Milan on February 6. “Experiences have become a form of social currency,” says Katie Swegle, managing vice president for premium card and airport lounge benefits at Capital One. And the chance to earn that currency may well be worth the annual fee.

My Reward Card Strategy

I’ve spent years writing about high-end cards, so people often ask me which is best. The truth is, I have two. My American Express Platinum gets me access to many lounges and elite status at hotels like the Park Hyatt Saigon. I’m also a fan of the dining credits I get through Resy at restaurants such as Rasarumah, in Los Angeles. But since the card only earns one point per dollar on everyday spending, I also carry the Capital One Venture X card. I use it to get at least two points per dollar on most purchases, which I can redeem for business-class seats. Call it the best of both worlds.

A version of this story first appeared in the February 2026 issue of Travel + Leisure, under the headline “Straight to the Points”

Read the original article on Travel & Leisure