Best Credit cards for rewards

[disneyhorselover]

I am looking to get a new credit card since I've been spending quite a bit on it lately and want to earn something with it! What rewards cards do people have that they like?

 

[MomToOne]

My general use card these days is the Citibank Double Cash Back card. It amounts to 2% back on all charges, with no annual fee. I prefer cash rewards that I can use however I want vs. something like airline miles.

There are other general cards with annual fees that might be a better deal for you, you just have to do the math based on your particular spending patterns/the rewards/the annual fee to see if you come out ahead or not. In my case, the extra rewards I would get are less than the annual fee, so I don't have them.

I used to be a big fan of the Barclay Arrival+ card, even though it had an annual fee. But they've cut the perks on that one, so the Citibank Double Cash Back card is now a better deal for me.

I also have other cards I use selectively:
- Chase Freedom for the 5% cash back each quarter at select types of stores - I use it pretty much only for my charges in those 5% categories. No annual fee.
- American Express Blue Sky - I use it just for the special AmEx deals. No annual fee.
- Some airline cards where I get free checked bags - These have annual fees. I only keep the ones where I save at least as much in baggage fees each year as the annual fee is.

 

[alymae1010]

Are you more interested in straight cash back, or travel rewards?

 

[ICF]

We use the Hilton Honors AMEX for pretty much everything.....except for those times when we have a Southwest Visa card.

I think your best rewards card will depend on what you are looking for....airline miles, cash back, Disney dollars, hotel pts....etc.

 

[ajwolfe]

I really like my Amazon Visa. Something like 3% on Amazon purchases, 2% on gas and maybe restaurants and 1% on everything else.
We also have the Disney Visa but it doesn't get much traffic since it's only 1%.

 

[a742246]

If you travel and live near an airport that has southwest air. I would rec the southwest visa that gives you 50,000 points. ( www.southwest.com/inflight ) then read up on how to get the companion pass! It cost $99 a year but they give you about $99.00 worth of points so it really is a wash.

 

[Albort]

It depends on what you use it on the most and what you want to do with your points.
The Chase Freedom card is great as previously mentioned. I would also get a Discover IT card that covers identical categories but at different times. Chase freedom was, Q1 Groceries, Q2 Restaurants, Q3 Gas Stations, Q4 Amazon(10%). Discover IT was, Q1 Gas & Transportation, Q2 Food & Fun, Q3 Summer stuff?, Q4 Holiday shopping.

If your looking for travel points, it depends on what your nearest airports are nearby. I currently use a mix of Chase Freedom and Chase Sapphire Preferred as i can transfer my Chase Freedom points to my CSP to redemn better stuff.

For a regular card, just for cash back, best to just stick with those 2% ones.

 

[MillauFr]

I like to keep it simple so I would recommend one of the 2% cash back cards like the Citibank double cash back cards.

 

[platamama]

Ditto what others are saying for simplicity's sake, the Citibank Double Cash Back card makes a lot of sense - though I personally don't have one since I get better value out of my other cards. By that, I mean I value airline miles and hotel points so I do that.

One that hasn't been mentioned yet is the American Express Blue Cash Preferred. You get 6% cash back on groceries (and any gift cards bought at grocery stores [hint, hint]) up to $6000 spent in grocery stores annually, 3% on gas and department stores, then 1% on everything else. There are many AMEX Offers linked to your card once you've registered online for additional savings (you do have to click on the offer to have it loaded to your card) so I always make up the annual fee of $75 on the AMEX offers alone. Recently there was an AMEX Offer for $30 off a purchase of $150 at Undercover Tourist, I have one for $15 off a $60 purchase at Amazon, etc.

 

[MrPTato]

Gonna throw this one out there...Disney rewards Visa? This is the card that my wife always uses. She has the Premier ($49 AF) and gets 2% on Disney Locations, Grocery Stores, Gas, and Dining. This is the majority of our spend. We go to Disney often and have always used rewards from our cards on our vacations. I use the Double Cash on non category spend and the BoA Cash Rewards for 3% back on cash and gift cards that I can get at a gas station.

 

[xlxo]

another vote for cash back/rebate cards. I'm finding the rewards to offer poor value.

 

[susan325]

，sweet tips for save money！ i will try it next time！

 

[kool_kat]

I'm another one for the Citibank double cash. It's amazing how quickly the rewards add up with 2% cash back. I just cashed out 500.00 that was deposited to my checking account. So easy. It's my everyday spending card.

 

[MillauFr]

another vote for cash back/rebate cards. I'm finding the rewards to offer poor value.

Agreed. The airline awards sound good but when you run the numbers it is hard to get the miles to be worth 2%.

 

[calypso726]

I'll chime in for variable reward point cards like the Chase Sapphire Preferred, combined with the no fee Chase Freedom card and the Chase Ink for the bonus categories, Starwood Preferred Guest card and Amex Everyday Preferred card. We like to travel in first class but will never spend the money required to purchase those tickets. We can transfer these points into various airline or hotel loyalty programs to pay for our airfare and hotel stays. The value we get out of these cards far exceeds the value we would get from any cash back card. This of course has more to do with how we redeem our points of course. I won't transfer 50,000 Chase Ultimate Reward points into United miles to redeem an award ticket that would cost me $250 out of pocket. That would be a poor value. I will transfer them for an award ticket that costs $2500. DH and I got into the hobby of travel hacking which has opened up a whole new world of travel opportunities for us. We haven't flown in economy for any flight over 2 hours or paid for an expensive airline ticket out of pocket since 2013. We've flown international first class to Europe 3 times in the last 3 years on miles and our 4th European trip is already booked for next year. We've stayed on points in hotels abroad as well. We never would have been able to afford to travel this way if not for the credit card sign up bonuses and learning to travel hack. The hobby isn't for everyone but can be very lucrative for many.

 

[SouthFayetteFan]

My wife and I open a new credit card ever 2-3 months for the signup bonuses. In the past year we have earned over $6,000 in signup bonuses on a grand total of $25,000 in credit card spend. We did this through Southwest Cards, Sapphire Preferred, Freedom, TD Bank cards, Disney Rewards, Marriott, Hilton, and various other cashback cards. There are TONS of cards out there that will give you $100-$200 cash for your first $500 in spend. Chase Sapphire preferred will hand you close to $1,000 in travel for spending $4,000. Those 1%, 2%, 3% and even 5% cashback cards can't match a 20-40% return like that!

Many of these cards don't have annual fees and those that do we'll just cancel in 10-11 months. Sometimes we can even refer each other to cards the other already has and earn additional bonuses for that. I'm not advising anybody to do this necessarily, but it might be worth considering!

 

[calypso726]

Be aware that Chase has gotten pretty strict about approvals for the Chase Sapphire Preferred. Five plus credit cards applications in two years are getting declined even with FICO scores of 800. This is one of our keeper cards though so we will never cancel it. The benefits far outweigh the fee.

 

[Albort]

Be aware that Chase has gotten pretty strict about approvals for the Chase Sapphire Preferred. Five plus credit cards applications in two years are getting declined even with FICO scores of 800. This is one of our keeper cards though so we will never cancel it. The benefits far outweigh the fee.

i believe it applies to all chase cards except for business cards.
There is also some reports of ppl asking for a waiver and have succeeded in some sort of promo for yr 2 on AF.

 

[MrPTato]

i believe it applies to all chase cards except for business cards.
There is also some reports of ppl asking for a waiver and have succeeded in some sort of promo for yr 2 on AF.

Any Chase card that earns UR points are in that 5 / 24 rule. There have been stories of it working outside this rule.

 

[SouthFayetteFan]

Yes - if Freedom and Sapphire are on your list make sure they are among the first 5 you get!