Best Rewards Credit Cards?

[bizer]

I am in the market for a new credit card that has better rewards then our Disney Visa (1%) which we use for all our charges. We pay off the credit card every month and estimate we put around $25k on it in a year.

From some research the cards that have caught my eye are:

- Capital One Venture (2% rewards with 10k bonus)
- Chase Sapphire Preferred (2% & 1% rewards with 40k bonus)
- Southwest Visa (2% & 1% rewards with 50k bonus)

I am not worried about an annual fee. If it matters we fly out of MSP so it looks like Delta & Sun Country are our best options for non stop flights. Southwest is non stop to Orlando but that is about it.

Any recommendations on the above cards or other cards not listed?

 

[wannagoback]

Good question, I have been thinking about this also. I hope you get some good responses

 

[platamama]

Kind of depends on your spending habits, i.e. where do you spend big chunks of your budget (groceries, dining out, travel, gas, etc.)? I think Disney Visa is one of the weakest rewards CC out there but it is simple.

Chase Sapphire Preferred like you mentioned is a great one. The UR points transfer 1:1 to several airlines and hotel programs, so see if any of those are of interest to you. For Southwest 40,000 UR points equals $667 of Wanna Getaway fares.

Capital One Cash Rewards - the signup bonus is kind of small, but it has no annual fee and 1.5% cashback redeemable in any amount (no need to reach 2500 points or malarkey like that). No foreign exchange fee.

I've looked at the Capital One Venture card and have been interested, but would need to spend $11,800 just to break even on the annual fee (vs. the Cap One Cash Rewards card). But I might do it in the future.

Barclays Arrival MC - has a 40,000 point signup bonus right now after spending $1000 in 90 days, waived annual fee ($89) for the first year, and essentially you get 2.2% back IF the points are redeemed toward travel purchases. I signed up for this over the Cap One Venture because of the bonus but will likely cancel before the annual fee comes due.

American Express Blue Cash Preferred - get 6% back on up to $6000 spend at grocery stores, 3% on department stores & gas, 1% on everything else. Small signup bonus right now, $75 annual fee. Good mostly for the grocery category, and ok on the gas.

Check out flyertalk for other credit card discussions, you will learn a lot.

 

[Psychodisney]

I love my capital one venture card. I'm not aware of the bonus. what I really like is the flexibility to book your own airfare, cars, hotels, etc. Then you use points based on the purchase price. Example: airfare is $350......takes 35,000 points.

 

[bizer]

Kind of depends on your spending habits, i.e. where do you spend big chunks of your budget (groceries, dining out, travel, gas, etc.)? I think Disney Visa is one of the weakest rewards CC out there but it is simple.

Chase Sapphire Preferred like you mentioned is a great one. The UR points transfer 1:1 to several airlines and hotel programs, so see if any of those are of interest to you. For Southwest 40,000 UR points equals $667 of Wanna Getaway fares.

Capital One Cash Rewards - the signup bonus is kind of small, but it has no annual fee and 1.5% cashback redeemable in any amount (no need to reach 2500 points or malarkey like that). No foreign exchange fee.

I've looked at the Capital One Venture card and have been interested, but would need to spend $11,800 just to break even on the annual fee (vs. the Cap One Cash Rewards card). But I might do it in the future.

Barclays Arrival MC - has a 40,000 point signup bonus right now after spending $1000 in 90 days, waived annual fee ($89) for the first year, and essentially you get 2.2% back IF the points are redeemed toward travel purchases. I signed up for this over the Cap One Venture because of the bonus but will likely cancel before the annual fee comes due.

American Express Blue Cash Preferred - get 6% back on up to $6000 spend at grocery stores, 3% on department stores & gas, 1% on everything else. Small signup bonus right now, $75 annual fee. Good mostly for the grocery category, and ok on the gas.

Check out flyertalk for other credit card discussions, you will learn a lot.

Thanks for the reply. I like the Sapphire but it looks like the UR can only be used for United and Southwest? We are also looking at adding the Blue Cash for groceries and gas. I just wish they would add the superstores (Target, Walmart, etc.) as grocery stores since we get half of our groceries there.

 

[mm1971]

I am in the market for a new credit card that has better rewards then our Disney Visa (1%) which we use for all our charges. We pay off the credit card every month and estimate we put around $25k on it in a year.

From some research the cards that have caught my eye are:

- Capital One Venture (2% rewards with 10k bonus)
- Chase Sapphire Preferred (2% & 1% rewards with 40k bonus)
- Southwest Visa (2% & 1% rewards with 50k bonus)

I am not worried about an annual fee. If it matters we fly out of MSP so it looks like Delta & Sun Country are our best options for non stop flights. Southwest is non stop to Orlando but that is about it.

Any recommendations on the above cards or other cards not listed?

I use the SW Visa and the premium Disney card. I charge more than enough to get back the annual fee associated with the card. I didn't see the premium Disney option on your list. You know you can use that for flights as well with no restrictions? Just a thought since you already have a card and are looking for more back.

Good luck deciding. I chose the SW card for the 50K bonus and will be using the points this summer. I now use the SW card for personal expenses and the Disney card for business.

 

[alyssa810]

I like Chase Freedom (and Discover) for their quarterly 5% cashback catagories and no annual fee. I have a Disney Visa too, but the regular card doesn't have the bonus categories like they used to have so that one doesn't get as much use these days.

For my fee cards, I also signed up for the SW visa with the 50K bonus points, which was awesome. I've also had a Delta AMEX for a long time, which has helped us earn free flights from the east coast to the west coast, Hawaii and Europe. I also have a SPG AMEX that we use for free nights.

 

[platamama]

Thanks for the reply. I like the Sapphire but it looks like the UR can only be used for United and Southwest? We are also looking at adding the Blue Cash for groceries and gas. I just wish they would add the superstores (Target, Walmart, etc.) as grocery stores since we get half of our groceries there.

I believe Virgin America, Korean Air, and British Airways are the other airlines. And since Southwest merged with AirTran, any of AirTran's routes can be paid for with the Rapid Rewards points. Just FYI, Delta has the reputation of having the least number of award seats available (like 34% of requests are fulfilled vs. Southwest 100%) so I wouldn't bank on trying to build up SkyMiles for free airfare since ease of redemption counts as much as earning points. The Capital One Venture card (or Barclays Arrival) is attractive from the standpoint of flexibility.

Another card that doesn't get hardly any mention at all anywhere is the Upromise MC. Since you can now link a savings account (Sallie Mae) to the Upromise account, you don't have to put your earnings toward college, and instead get it in cash. This card is the BOMB for online purchases through Upromise - most merchants earn you 5% cash back through the Upromise portal, and an additional 5% for paying for your purchase with the Upromise MC (no annual fee), so 10% back on online purchases. Lots of stores offer free shipping to the store or free in-store pickup, so if you can plan purchases (rather than needing something "right now!" ) this is a nice option. Plus you receive a 10% dividend on your Upromise earnings at the end of the year, if you have the Sallie Mae account.

Alas, Target and Walmart don't count as grocery stores. You should open a Target REDcard to get 5% off all your purchases there -- the 5% is taken off at the register. Another work-around would be to buy a prepaid AMEX/VI/MC at a grocery store with the Blue Cash Preferred and then use that card to buy things at Walmart or Target. However, you can use up that $6000 annual grocery category limit very quickly and there's those pesky activation fees, so only do it if it makes sense.

If you're thinking Rapid Rewards points are helpful, then yes the Southwest VI is great for that 50,000 signup bonus. But 1 UR point equals 1 RR point, so I wouldn't pay an annual fee for both the Sapphire and Southwest card, just one of them.

And still, the Capital One Venture card gets you 2% back for travel with a lower annual fee than either Sapphire or Southwest, so maybe that one makes the most sense for the long term. But the signup on the Sapphire, Arrival and Southwest (if you can get the 50,000 point offer) are really good right now if you can get them, then cancel before the annual fee comes due.

 

[SuzanneSLO]

[snip]Just FYI, Delta has the reputation of having the least number of award seats available (like 34% of requests are fulfilled vs. Southwest 100%) . . . .[snip]

If you are comparing apples-to-apples, my understanding is that Delta has the same last seat award availabilty as Southwest does. Both systems typically cost more miles/points for that last seat than if you are trying to book a seat on a practically empty plane.

You really have to look at the cost of the FFMs/RRPs and your goal for using your miles/points to determine if one frequent traveler system really functions better than the other for you. An obvious example is that RR is a horrible system if you like to fly first class or go to Europe or Hawaii. -- Suzanne

 

[Phlip]

Costco American Express -- free long as you keep a Costco membership. 1% on everything, 3% on gas, 2% on restaurants and travel. Reward is a coupon you bring to Costco and cash. You can use the coupon to buy stuff at Costco or just cash it and take the money and run.

 

[DisneyOrBustColorado]

There may not be a single right answer in this case. We NEVER carry a credit card balance, but do own more than one credit card to take advantage of the perks that they offer. Here is what we do:

Our #1 go to card for travel rewards is the Capitol One Venture card that gives you 2% back on all purchases. We use this card to pay for all of our expenses & then pay it off every month. It is simple to log in to your online account & redeem miles for ANY travel expenses.

We also both have a Disney Chase Visa. We signed up for them when there was no annual fee & they gave a $200. Disney gift card for signing up & spending xxx in a certain amount of time. Although we don't frequently use these cards, they do come in handy when things like free dining are offered only to Disney Visa card holders. So if you like Disney there are some advantages to having this card.

I do also currently have a Southwest Visa. I signed up because they offered 50,000 bonus points for signing up. For one of our vacations year that paid for 3.5 Southwest tickets to get to Orlando for our family. I also like flying Southwest because of their perks like no charge for checked bags & if a fare goes down you can simply re-book online & get a refund in points or a cash credit to use within one year. The annual fee on this card is $99. but we gain more in tickets for the 50,000 bonus points. I will most likely cancel the card before I have to pay the annual fee again.

We HAD a United card, but I just hate flying United. They charge baggage fees & what we ran into was that the flights we could book with points from our United card we were not able to pay cash for. So.... If we only had enough points to buy 2 tickets & we needed 2 more then our family of 4 would have to take 2 totally separate flights. that was just ridiculous!!! When you book using points on Southwest you can book 2 tickets with points & buy 2 with cash on the same flight. or even book 3.5 tickets using points & then buy a single one way ticket with cash. It is super simple & user friendly. The only place that I can fault Southwest is not allowing assigned seats. It makes it hard when boarding to get your entire family to sit together which is often even harder with young children.

Best of luck with your new credit card. Credit cards can be used to your advantage as long as you use them responsibly.

 

[My3Princez]

My go-to card is our Chase Ultimate Rewards card. No fee. earn 1 point for every dollar spent (1%) and I can redeem them for cash deposited in my account or use it to offset a purchase on the card, or for perks from the online catalog. I usually just get it deposited in my account - that way I can use it for ANYTHING from ANY provider - not locked in to redeeming it for a particular airline. Every 3 months there are special categories that you can earn a higher percentage back.

 

[StarWarts]

C.o.s.t.c.o. A.m.e.x. T.r.u.e. E.a.r.n.i.n.g.s.

 

[Coach81]

We love our Disney Visa.. we put EVERYTHING on it, and pay it off every month. I will be ordering our rewards card with over $550.00 on it for our upcoming trip in a few weeks!!!

 

[Jridou]

I've gotten more than my money's worth out of my Citi Thank you Premier card. I got a ton of miles when I spent my first $500, enough for a free round trip. You can use the miles on any airline. Plus we got a free (except taxes) domestic companion airline ticket. They also do something where you get miles for actual miles flown when you buy the tickets on that card. No foreign transaction fees. If you fly a lot it's a great card.

CC specials come and go ~ Check out http://www.nerdwallet.com/the-best-credit-cards

 

[zxrst]

we mainly use costco amex. We have discover/chase freedom too but it is just difficult to figure out which category is 5% at the very moment. For places that don't take Amex, we use AA advantage visa. IMHO, AA has the best reward program (35k to hawaii ($800+), 70K to Asia ($1500+)). Free check-ins and early boarding are awesome as well. It does have an annual fee but I get that credit back every year after a simple call. Target card is our third card due to its automatic 5% off at Target.

 

[aclov]

Discover Card no annual fee, you can get gift cards, cash back, statement credit. I just received a US Airways cc but $89 annual fee.

 

[bizer]

Thanks everyone. I am going to apply for the Chase Sapphire Preferred.