The news: Visa launched Visa Destinations, a global consumer travel platform that connects Visa cardholders with exclusive experiences across 10 locations, per a press release.

Visa Destinations is a mobile-first platform and exclusive to Visa cardholders. Travelers can use Visa Destinations to shop tax-free while abroad.

Global partners for the platform include Santander Group, Global Blue, Star Alliance, and Trip.com.

How we got here: Payment providers are in an arm’s race to acquire millennial and Gen Z aspiring affluent consumers. To compete, they’re deepening their rewards programs—and experiential-driven travel and dining rewards have resonated with capturing this cohort’s loyalty. 

• 79% of millennials and Gen Zers are likely to search out local excursions and workshops related to their travel destination, per American Express’s 2026 Global Travel Trends report. 
• And 66% of the cohort target eating local cuisine and snacks not found at home.

Why this matters: Visa’s massive network reach and new travel perks incentivises issuers to run their cards on its network over competitors like Mastercard. 

This also gives Visa a response to Mastercard’s updates to priceless.com last year, which also enhanced its cardholders’ ability to secure early access tickets to live entertainment. 

Implication for networks: Younger, affluent cardholders want rich travel and dining rewards, and prioritizing the mobile experience is a good first step; this is where young people turn to shop first: Smartphone penetration has hit 98.8% among 18-35 years olds and retail mcommerce accounts for nearly 50% of all retail ecommerce sales, per our forecasts.

Beyond mobile, networks need to meet this cohort where they increasingly go to research and discover—AI chatbots. Making perks surfaceable through credit card providers’ in-app chatbots or through plug-ins on major AI platforms can increase the visibility of perks and their value to cardholders.