If you have a credit card like the Chase Sapphire Reserve or the Ritz Carlton card, both issued by Chase, you might have noticed that they are both “Visa Infinite” cards. You might also be wondering what that really means.
Visa Infinite is the highest level Visa-branded credit card currently available. There are only a few cards available that carry Visa Infinite branding, and if you have one of these cards (or are thinking about getting one!) you definitely want to know all of the benefits that come with Visa Infinite.
Which Cards Are Visa Infinite?
While the World Elite MasterCard, which is MasterCard’s top-of-the-line offering, is available from a variety of issuers, Visa Infinite cards are much harder to come by. Within the U.S., there are only a few credit cards are branded as Visa Infinite. These cards are the Chase Sapphire Reserve, the Ritz-Carlton credit card and the Crystal Visa Infinite credit card.
These cards all come with hefty $450 annual fees, so you’ll want to make sure that you can use enough of the benefits and special privileges of the card to come out ahead after paying the annual fee.
Visa Infinite Benefits and Perks
Since there are a couple of different banks that offer Visa Infinite, you should know up front that they’re not all created quite equal. In general, you’ll see more benefits offered with Visa Infinite cards compared with Visa Signature cards or regular Visa cards. But each issuer can, to an extent, pick and choose the benefits and privileges that come with their card and even modify benefits slightly.
For that reason, this is a general list of Visa Infinite benefits, but you should always review the benefits of an individual credit card before you apply for it.
Save $100 On Round-Trip Domestic Airfare for Two or More People
This is arguably the biggest and best Visa Infinite benefit, and something you won’t get from MasterCard, American Express or others. Anytime you are booking airfare within the U.S. for two or more people, you can save $100 on your tickets as long as you book through the Visa Infinite Travel Portal.
For example, if a flight you want to book costs $200 per person, you would normally pay $400 to book for two people. If you have a Visa Infinite card with this benefit, you would instead only pay $300 for the same tickets! The discount is per itinerary, not per ticket, so you will always do best by booking two people at a time.
Keep in mind, however, that authorized cardholders must be traveling to use this benefit. So you couldn’t book one itinerary for yourself and one child (saving $100) and book another itinerary for your husband and second child (saving $100 more). Instead, you would need to book all four of you on the same itinerary, and you would save $100 total.
Unfortunately, this benefit does not come with the Chase Sapphire Reserve card.
Global Entry Fee Credit
Like many premium credit cards, Visa Infinite cards will reimburse you the $100 Global Entry application fee.
Visa Infinite Preferred Hotels Perks
If you use your Visa Infinite card to book your hotel stays through the Visa Infinite Hotels portal, you’ll be eligible for extra benefits like upgrades and complimentary breakfast. It’s very likely that Visa Infinite Hotels offers some of the same benefits as Visa Signature Hotels, but some of the perks are probably better.
Car Rental Discounts
Visa Infinite cardholders are offered exclusive discounts with Avis, National and Silvercar. Additionally, cardholders will receive extra benefits when renting cars from these three companies, including upgrades, preferred service and VIP amenities.
Visa Infinite Concierge
Visa Infinite cards also come with a dedicated concierge service, just like other premium credit cards. The Visa Infinite Concierge can assist with things like dining reservations, theatre tickets, travel, shopping and more.
Visa Infinite Car Rental Insurance Coverage
Most credit cards that charge an annual fee come with some sort of car rental insurance coverage, but in many cases it is secondary coverage. The Visa Infinite car rental coverage is better because it’s primary.
Secondary coverage means that you will need to go through your personal car insurance first and the credit card will only kick in if your personal coverage isn’t enough. Primary car rental insurance coverage is preferable because you don’t first need to go through your personal insurance.
Other Visa Benefits
In addition to the more notable benefits already discussed, Infinite cards come with a number of other Visa perks that are worth remembering, including potentially valuable travel insurance coverage, purchase protection and an extended warranty on new purchases.
Here’s a complete list:
- Trip Accident Insurance
- Trip Cancellation, Interruption and Delay Insurance
- Lost Luggage Reimbursement
- Extended Warranty
- Purchase Protection
- Return Protection
What’s the Difference Between Visa Infinite and Visa Signature?
Visa Infinite and Visa Signature are two different ways that Visa cards are branded. In general, they indicate what level of a Visa card you have, with Infinite being the more premium of the two.
Most Visa cards that are issued in the U.S. that have an annual fee are Visa Signature cards. Only three cards (Chase Sapphire Reserve, Ritz-Carlton and CNB Crystal) are issued as Visa Infinite cards.
There is some overlap in benefits offered by Visa Infinite and Visa Signature cards, like travel delay protection and purchase protection, but remember that this depends somewhat on the card and the issuer. Issuers have the ability to tweak the benefits on their cards.
In general, you will find that Visa Infinite cards offer more and better benefits than Visa Signature cards, but that they will also come with a larger pricetag in the form of a higher annual fee.
Are the Visa Infinite Perks Worth the Cost?
Visa Infinite cards really pack a punch in terms of the perks they offer, but you have to make sure that you can make use of enough of the benefits to justify paying a high annual fee for the card. At the time of writing, the only three Visa Infinite cards available in the U.S. have annual fees of $450.
Arguably, the best benefit is the $100 domestic companion airfare discount (though it’s only offered on two of the three cards). If you can make use of that benefit just a couple of times, you might already come out ahead!
As always, you need to think about your personal circumstances and decide for yourself whether or not a Visa Infinite card is worth it for you.