The best credit cards for Universal vacations

From Universal Studios Hollywood and Universal Orlando to Dollywood, Knott’s Berry Farm in California and beyond, there are more than 500 million annual visits to theme parks worldwide in a normal year.

Tickets to big-name parks often top $100 per day — or much more on holidays. In fact, theme park ticket prices are at an all-time high. Then, there are the other costs: hotels, food, parking, skip-the-line passes and getting yourself (and your family) from wherever you live to whatever park you’re visiting.

Luckily, you and your crew of Avengers can assemble at Universal’s parks for less, thanks to credit card points. Here’s a look at the best credit cards for Universal Studios trips.

Related: How Universal is stepping out of the mouse’s shadow to become the hottest theme park

Where you buy Universal tickets matters

Before we jump in, it’s worth explaining a few key terms. The best credit card for theme park ticket purchases depends on how the purchase will code on your credit card bill. Thus, where you buy your theme park tickets matters. The most likely bonus categories for theme park tickets are entertainment or travel.

When purchasing park tickets directly from the theme park, the charge should code as an entertainment purchase. On some credit cards, entertainment will code as a travel charge; most often, it doesn’t.

Related: The best travel credit cards

However, if you purchase park tickets from a travel agency (such as Undercover Tourist), charge them to your on-property hotel room or include them as part of a larger vacation package, that purchase will likely code as travel.

This matters because if you pay with the Chase Sapphire Reserve®, a $500 ticket purchase that codes as travel will earn 1,500 Ultimate Rewards points (3 points per dollar). If the purchase codes as entertainment, you’ll earn just 500 points since the card doesn’t have an entertainment bonus category.

Related: The best credit cards for entertainment spending

The best credit cards for Universal Studios

A mix of credit cards will be the best strategy for most people. Here’s a quick overview of the cards we’ll consider:

*The information for these cards has been collected independently by The Points Guy. The card details on this page have not been reviewed or provided by the card issuer.

Best credit cards for using a travel credit at Universal Studios

If you want to use the $300 Chase Sapphire Reserve travel credit on a Universal trip, it’s easiest to use it either for a hotel-only or a hotel + tickets package you book directly with Universal or via a travel agent.

If you only want Universal tickets, you can use your Sapphire Reserve travel credit to get those through a site like Undercover Tourist.

To use the annual $300 travel credit from Capital One Venture X Rewards Credit Card, you need to book eligible travel via Capital One’s Travel site. Luckily, this site often shows Universal hotels for booking.

The Platinum Card® from American Express also offers up to $200 in annual hotel credits for bookings with Fine Hotels + Resorts and The Hotel Collection (minimum two-night stay). You can use your credits at Universal properties and those nearby. Enrollment is required.

If you have the Citi Strata Premier℠ Card(see rates and fees)or Citi Prestige® Card (no longer open to new applicants), you can use your annual cardholder benefits at Universal hotels and those nearby. Premier cardholders can get $100 off a hotel reservation of $500 or more, available once per year. Prestige cardholders can get a fourth night free on stays of four or more nights, available twice a year. Both benefits require booking in the Citi Travel portal.

Best credit cards for using points on Universal Studios tickets

Luckily, multiple options exist for using your credit card points to pay for Universal tickets. Let’s start with the highest-value option and work our way down.

You can use the Chase Travel℠ portal to buy tickets with points. The card you have determines how much your points are worth. Those with the Chase Sapphire Reserve get a value of 1.5 cents per point. With the Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card and Ink Business Preferred® Credit Card, points are worth 1.25 cents apiece. If you have other cards, you can use points at 1 cent each toward the cost of park tickets.

Related: How to use points to save money at Universal Orlando

With Bilt Rewards, you can buy theme park tickets with points worth 1.25 cents apiece. See the full rewards and benefits terms.

If you have Citi ThankYou points, you can use them at 1 cent each to buy Universal theme park tickets through Citi Travel. This option is available even to those with no-annual-fee cards like the Citi Double Cash® Card (see rates and fees) and Citi Rewards+® Card (see rates and fees).

Unfortunately, Capital One miles and American Express Membership Rewards points can’t be used to buy theme park tickets in their travel portals. However, these are still good credit cards for Universal because of the hotel options we’ll cover next.

Best credit cards for using points on Universal Studios hotels

On top of booking hotels with the travel credits mentioned above, you can book Universal’s on-property hotels using points in several portals.

Again, the best value for your points is 1.5 cents per point, assuming you have the Chase Sapphire Reserve. You can get 1-1.25 cents per point for your redemptions with other Chase cards, booking through Chase’s travel portal.

Points from the Bilt Mastercard are worth 1.25 cents apiece for hotels in the Bilt Rewards portal.

Your Capital One miles are worth 1 cent each for hotel bookings in Capital One Travel.

Your Citi ThankYou points are worth 1 cent each in the Citi Travel portal, regardless of which credit card you hold. It’s worth mentioning the Strata Premier and Prestige cardholder benefits again. Strata Premier cardholders get $100 off a $500 hotel stay (once per year); Prestige cardholders get a fourth night free (twice per year). These benefits can be used at Universal hotels and those nearby, booked through Citi’s portal.

There are numerous hotels located near Universal Orlando and Universal Hollywood, as well. It’s worth mentioning hotel programs like Choice Hotels, Hilton Honors, IHG One Rewards, Marriott Bonvoy, World of Hyatt and Wyndham Rewards. Earning points from a credit card sign-up bonus in these programs could lead to multiple free hotel nights during your Universal vacation.

Consult the following for additional ideas:

Best credit cards for Universal Studios meals

You’ve got to eat during your trip. And while you can’t transfer your rewards points to the restaurant, there is good news.

Restaurant and dining purchases at Universal Studios and Universal Islands of Adventure should trigger the restaurant/dining category on your credit card if it has one. Consult our list of the best credit cards for restaurant purchases for ideas on which cards to use for extra earnings here.

Best credit cards for flights to Universal parks

Another great way your credit cards can help save you money on a Universal trip is if you use points and miles for free or discounted flights to Universal’s parks. Most of us don’t live near Hollywood or Orlando, after all.

For more on this topic, see the following:

How to choose the best credit card for Universal Studios

After considering the many parts of your upcoming trip to Universal, you’ve probably realized there isn’t the best credit card for Universal Studios. You should probably consider the best credit cards for Universal Studios.

Consider the following: A sign-up bonus from one credit card could provide the points and miles needed to fly to a Universal theme park. The bonus from another credit card could provide a few free hotel nights. Another credit card is the best for your meals at the park.

If you don’t have points for purchasing your tickets, know that how you buy them matters.

Your best bet for buying tickets is the Citi Travel portal, thanks to its elevated earning rates through December 31, 2025:

• 10 points per dollar on reservations for hotels, rental cars and eligible attractions with the Citi Prestige® Card (no longer open to new applicants)
• 5 points per dollar on these same bookings with the Citi ThankYou® Preferred Card (no longer open to new applicants) and the Citi Rewards+® Card.

If buying tickets directly from Universal, the purchase should code as “entertainment.” The Capital One Savor Cash Rewards Credit Card (no longer available to new applicants) earns 4% cash back on entertainment purchases and has a $95 annual fee. Similarly, the Capital One SavorOne Cash Rewards Credit Card earns 3% back on entertainment purchases and has no annual fee (see rates and fees). The Marvel Mastercard® also earns 3% back on entertainment and theme park tickets; it has no annual fee, but it’s currently closed to new applicants.

The information for the Citi Prestige, Savor Cash and Marvel Mastercard has been collected independently by The Points Guy. The card details on this page have not been reviewed or provided by the card issuer.

If you don’t have these cards, consider your best credit card for everyday spending. These can provide a good return on spending for ticket purchases.

* Value of rewards based on TPG’s August 2024 valuations and not provided by the issuer.

Another option is to buy your Universal tickets with a gift card.

Consult your local office supplies, warehouse clubs (such as Sam’s Club or Costco), grocery stores and even home improvement stores to see if they sell Universal gift cards. These may or may not be on sale, which is another discussion, but there are ways to make these purchases rewarding beyond just discounts.

Related: How to save money buying discounted Disney gift cards

The Ink Business Preferred® Credit Card earns 5% back on the first $25,000 spent at office supply stores, internet services, cable services and phone services each cardmember year (then 1% back). You can turn those earnings into Chase Ultimate Rewards points if you have a card that earns those points.

The American Express® Gold Card earns 4 points per dollar on your first $25,000 in annual spending at U.S. supermarkets (then 1 point per dollar). That’s an 8% return on spending, per TPG’s August 2024 valuations.

Buying Universal gift cards in this way provides extra points or cash back; then, you can use the gift cards to pay for park tickets — though only at the gate and not online.

For other options, check out the following:

Is there a Universal Studios credit card?

There are two Universal Studios credit cards. The no-annual-fee Universal Rewards Plus Visa Signature® Card earns 2% in rewards on qualifying Universal purchases and 1% on all other purchases.

The $99-annual-fee Universal Rewards Plus Visa Signature® Card earns 4% rewards on qualifying Universal purchases, 2% on travel, gas and dining purchases, and 1% on all other purchases. It also offers one single-day theme park admission ticket to Universal’s Islands of Adventure and Universal Studios Florida or Universal Studios Hollywood that you’ll earn on your annual card anniversary when you spend $6,000 or more in a year.

In our opinion, you will get better value from a more general cash-back card.

The information for the Universal Rewards Plus and Universal Rewards cards has been collected independently by The Points Guy. The card details on this page have not been reviewed or provided by the card issuer.

Are credit cards accepted at Universal Studios?

Universal has made a big push for guests to use Universal Pay, part of its app for park visitors. This advertising might make you think Universal Pay is the only payment method, but Universal still accepts all major credit cards, gift cards and cash in the parks.

Bottom line

It’s easy to have fun at a theme park. What’s trickier is bringing down the costs. Thankfully, your credit card rewards can go a long way toward taking the pain out of your vacation costs.

Options exist for using your credit card points to pay for Universal theme park tickets, hotels (both on and off property) and flights. plus there are good options for the right credit card to maximize earnings whenever you need to pay for elements of your trip.

See Bilt Mastercard rates and fees here.
See Bilt Mastercard rewards and benefits here.