Primary pick
Chase Sapphire Preferred
Chase Ultimate
- Welcome bonus
- 75,000 pts
- Annual fee
- $95
after $5,000 spend in 3 months
United Kingdom · Family trip points
Best credit card for a family trip to London
Avoid British Airways — fuel surcharges are punitive. Iberia (transferred from UR or MR) is the sweet spot at 34K off-peak from the East Coast. Hyatt has surprisingly cheap central London options.
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The honest math (family of 4, 5 nights)
286,000
points total · cash equivalent $5,325 · 1.86¢ per point realized
Flights
136,000 pts
American AAdvantage · 34,000/traveler RT
Hotel
150,000 pts
World of Hyatt · Andaz London Liverpool Street (Cat 7)
The two cards to earn for this trip
Sapphire Preferred earns transferable Ultimate Rewards to Hyatt (the right hotel program for London) and to Iberia partners via Aer Lingus. Amex Gold adds MR points → Virgin Atlantic and Flying Blue, expanding the carrier options into Heathrow.
Apply for Chase Sapphire Preferred
Pair with it
Amex Gold
American Express
- Welcome bonus
- 100,000 pts
- Annual fee
- $325
after $8,000 spend in 6 months
FAQ
How many points does a family of 4 actually need for London?
286,000 points total covers a family of 4 with 5 hotel nights at saver / off-peak pricing — 136,000 for flights (American AAdvantage at 34,000/traveler round-trip) and 150,000 for the hotel (World of Hyatt at 30,000/night). Cash equivalent ≈ $5,325, which works out to about 1.86¢ per point.
Why these two cards specifically?
Sapphire Preferred earns transferable Ultimate Rewards to Hyatt (the right hotel program for London) and to Iberia partners via Aer Lingus. Amex Gold adds MR points → Virgin Atlantic and Flying Blue, expanding the carrier options into Heathrow.
What if I already have one of these cards?
If you already have one, look at whether you've actually earned that card's welcome bonus and the second-card pick still makes sense on its own. If both are already in your wallet, run the London math in the Family Trip Calculator with your actual scenario — you may already be close to the point total without a new application.
Should I apply for both at once?
Generally no — space applications 60–90 days apart so each welcome bonus has a clean spend window and neither pulls double-counts against Chase's 5/24. The Family Trip Calculator's earning math assumes one welcome bonus at a time.