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Annual Fees Are Climbing Industry-Wide, Not Just on Premium Cards
July 1, 2025
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Most of the 2026 annual-fee coverage has focused on marquee premium cards: the Amex Platinum jumping from $695 to $895, the Chase Sapphire Reserve from $550 to $795, and now the Citi® / AAdvantage® Executive World Elite Mastercard® from $595 to $695. But the increases aren't limited to the flagship cards getting headlines.
The Numbers
Across the entire card market, the average annual fee — including cards that charge $0 — sits at $28.25 in early 2026, up 18.95% from the same point in 2025. Narrow that to just fee-charging cards, and the average is $135, with a median fee of $111. Both figures point the same direction: fees got meaningfully more expensive over the past year, not just at the very top of the market.
The Premium Tier, Side by Side
[[ SINGLE_CARD * {"id": "106", "isExpanded": "false", "bestForCategoryId": "15", "bestForText": "Frequent Travelers", "headerHint": "Serious Points on Flights"} ]]
[[ SINGLE_CARD * {"id": "510", "isExpanded": "false", "bestForCategoryId": "15", "bestForText": "Frequent Travelers", "headerHint": "High-Value Perks"} ]]
[[ SINGLE_CARD * {"id": "544", "isExpanded": "true", "bestForCategoryId": "52", "bestForText": "Frequent Travelers", "headerHint" : "Airport Perks" } ]]
Those three increases alone total $545 in added annual cost across the three cards if you held all of them — a useful reminder of how quickly a multi-card premium strategy can get expensive even before counting mid-tier and co-brand cards.
Kudos shows you exactly how much cashback and rewards value each card in your wallet has actually delivered, so it's easy to see whether a card's fee is still earning its keep — not just guess.
What’s Driving It
The pattern extends to co-brand and mid-tier cards too, not just $500-and-up travel cards. Issuers appear to be testing how much cardholders will tolerate across their whole portfolios, not only on flagship products where the price increase makes national news. The one upside: fee increases have generally come bundled with new or expanded benefits — statement credits, lounge access, bonus categories — rather than a hike with nothing attached.
What To Do About It
An annual fee is only worth paying if the credits, categories, and perks attached to it actually get used. A card that charged $0 or a modest fee two years ago may now cost noticeably more to keep — worth auditing your full card lineup, not just the one card that made headlines, before your next renewal date.
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Editorial Disclosure: Opinions expressed here are those of Kudos alone, not those of any bank, credit card issuer, hotel, airline, or other entity. This content has not been reviewed, approved or otherwise endorsed by any of the entities included within the post.
