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American Express Platinum Card® is my #1 recommended card
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The best credit cards for reserve military are my standard top recommendations:
- American Express Platinum Card®
- Chase Sapphire Reserve® Card
- American Express® Gold Card
- Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card
If you go on active duty Title 10 or Title 32 orders for 30 days or more, you are eligible for annual fee waivers on all of these cards.
Chase waives all annual fees on their personal credit cards for active duty servicemembers and Reservists or National Guard called to active duty orders for 30 days or more. American Express also offers special military protections. This is to comply with the Servicemembers Civil Relief Act (SCRA) and the Military Lending Act (MLA).
In this article I'll review how to check your MLA status and my top recommended card for military reservists.
How to Check MLA Status for Military Reservists
The easiest way to check your Military Lending Act or MLA status is to head over to the MLA database. Once there create an account and run a report with your name, date of birth, branch of service, and social security number. The MLA database is an official DOD database so your SSN should be safe.
The MLA website should look something like this:'
Once you've inputted your information, you should get a PDF that confirms you ARE or ARE NOT eligible for MLA benefits. If you are eligible, then cleared hot to apply for some awesome annual fee waived travel rewards credit cards!
If you are not eligible, and you are on 30 day orders, make sure that your personnel shop has properly updated your status because you SHOULD be eligible for full MLA benefits.
You should also check that your spouse is also eligible for benefits. You can run a check on the same website. As long as he or she is properly loaded in DEERS, he or she should also be eligible for MLA benefits and can get all the cards listed below with no annual fees.
Best Cards for Reservists
Read about the American Express special military protections here.
After you've confirmed your active duty status in the MLA database, you and your spouse should get automatic MLA fee waivers applied to your accounts. Here are my top recommended cards, in order, that you should apply for while you have MLA benefits.
I recommend you also read my optimal order to apply for the best military credit cards, my article on credit cards that waive annual fees for the military, and sign up for my Ultimate Military Credit Cards Course.
Chase Sapphire Reserve® Card
Learn how to apply on our partner's secure site
- $795 annual fee waived to $0 for US military + spouses with Chase MLA policy
- bonus_miles_full
- Earn 8x points on all purchases through Chase Travel℠ including The Edit℠
- 4x points on flights and hotels booked direct
- 3x points on dining worldwide
- 1x points on all other purchases
- Get a $300 annual travel credit as reimbursement for travel purchases charged to your card each account anniversary year.
- Live the lounge life at over 1,300 airport lounges worldwide with a complimentary Priority Pass™ Select membership, plus every Chase Sapphire Lounge® by The Club with two guests.
- Up to $120 towards Global Entry, NEXUS, or TSA PreCheck® every 4 years which saves you a ton of time
- Up to $150 in statement credits every six months for a maximum of $300 annually for dining at restaurants that are part of Sapphire Reserve Exclusive Tables.
- Trip Cancellation/Interruption Insurance, Auto Rental Coverage, Lost Luggage Insurance, no foreign transaction fees, and more.
- Complimentary Apple TV+ and Apple Music. Subscriptions run through 6/22/27 – a value of $250 annually
- Member FDIC
- Learn more in the Chase Sapphire Reserve review
Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card
Learn how to apply on our partner's secure site
- Earn 75,000 bonus points after you spend $5,000 on purchases in the first 3 months from account opening.
- 5x points on travel purchased through Chase Travel℠
- 3x points on dining (includes takeout, delivery, and dine-in), select streaming services and online groceries
- 2x points on all other travel purchases
- 1x points on all other purchases
- Earn up to $50 in statement credits each account anniversary year for hotel stays through Chase Travel℠
- 10% anniversary points boost – each account anniversary you'll earn bonus points equal to 10% of your total purchases made the previous year
- No foreign transaction fees, great for overseas OCONUS assignments, TDY, and PCS
- Primary rental car insurance coverage & trip cancellation/interruption insurance, and more.
- DashPass is complimentary which unlocks $0 delivery fees & lower service fees for a minimum of one year when you activate by 12/31/27. Plus, a $10 promo each month on non-restaurant orders.
- Upgrade to a Chase Sapphire Reserve after 1 year (compare Reserve vs Preferred)
- $95 annual fee waived for military and spouses with Chase Military Lending Act
- Member FDIC
If you go TDY often, you should also get the 4 best military hotel credit cards to ensure upgraded rooms, free breakfast, executive lounge access with free happy hour, and much more.
If you are not that interested in travel, check out the best cash back cards for military. You can earn $1,000s in cash back with just your everyday spending.
Whether you are in the Air National Guard, National Guard, US Army Reserve, Air Force Reserve, Naval Reserves, Marine Corps Reserves, or Coast Guard Reserves, you should take a look at maximizing your annual fee waived credit card benefits.
How Long Do Reserve MLA Benefits Last?
Technically as soon as you come off active duty orders you may be on the hook for an annual fee. But both Chase and Amex will warn you before charging you an annual fee, so I think it's worth the risk. If you are getting value from the card, keep the account open. If you are not getting value, then just close the account.
If you can get on active duty orders again, you can submit your orders to re-confirm your active duty status and continue to get your fees waived. It just depends on how often Amex or Chase check the MLA database.
Yes! Under the Military Lending Act, military reservists can get Chase cards with no annual fees if they are on active duty orders of 30 days or more. American express also offers special military protections. These are awesome benefits that not many reservists know about.
If you are Guard or Reserves on Title 10 or Title 32 orders for 30 days or more, you can get your Amex Platinum Card® protected with the Military Lending Act or MLA.
I might recommend a strategy of something like this: Before a deployment apply for cards like Venture X, AMEX Delta Blue, and the Hilton Honors card making sure to get those three bonuses. Then once you deploy upgrade the Delta Blue to the Delta Reserve, then the Hilton Honors to the Hilton Aspire and get the free waived for the Venture X card. Then while deployed you can apply for and get the bonus for the AMEX Platinum (Walmart+ would probably be nice for your wife to make things easier for her while you are gone.) Then once you have completed your bonus on the AMEX Platinum get the Marriott Bonvoy Brilliant and get that bonus. Then you have 5 premium travel cards without paying any annual fees. I can’t guarantee how long you will have these fees waived, but some people I know have had them waived for a few years passed coming home from their deployments on AMEX cards. I don’t know anyone with experience with the Venture X card yet, maybe I will apply for it and see how the SCRA benefits work with that card and add another comment then.