Member FDIC. Terms apply. You'll need to activate the categories to earn the bonus cash back. In addition to rotating rewards, you can earn bonus cash back on travel booked through the Chase Ultimate Rewards® portal, dining and drug stores purchases.
Read our Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card review. The Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card is a versatile card with a strong suite of benefits and a generous rewards program. Standout rewards : Chase Sapphire Preferred Card members earn bonus points on travel, streaming services, online grocery purchases and dining.
When you factor in how valuable Chase Ultimate Rewards points can be when you redeem them for travel, it places this card firmly in the conversation for the best travel credit card. Read our Citi Simplicity® Card review. Standout rewards : The Citi Simplicity Card doesn't provide any rewards, but its intro-APR period for balance transfers is exceptionally generous.
The Wells Fargo Reflect® Card offers an unreasonably generous intro APR for both purchases and balance transfers. Discover will match all the cash back earned for all new cardmembers at the end of your first year.
Read our Discover it® Student Cash Back review. Unlike many student credit cards , the Discover it® Student Cash Back provides an opportunity to earn cash-back rewards while you're in college and building your credit history.
To qualify for the bonus cash back, you'll need to activate the new categories each quarter. Read our Discover it® Secured Credit Card review. Secured credit cards provide an opportunity to grow or repair your credit score, so they typically don't offer rewards or other benefits.
However, Discover it® Secured Credit Card is an exception. That's a nice return, but it's even better for the first year because Discover will match all of the cash back you earn for the first year. If you need to relax, Capital One Savor Cash Rewards Credit Card earns cash back where it matters most.
Standout rewards : Capital One Savor Cash Rewards card members earn bonus cash back on dining, entertainment , streaming services and at grocery stores. No matter how you like to unwind, this card can make it more affordable.
Apply and select your preferred metal Card design: classic Platinum Card®, Platinum x Kehinde Wiley, or Platinum x Julie Mehretu. Read our The Platinum Card® from American Express review. The Platinum Card® from American Express is a top-tier premium credit card , that's loaded with all sorts of perks.
Standout rewards : If you want access to airport lounges, the Amex Platinum card is hard to beat. Cardholders get access to Priority Pass lounges, American Express Centurion Lounges , Plaza Premium lounges, Lufthansa lounges, Escape Lounges and Delta Sky Clubs.
The American Express® Gold Card offers a stellar for dining, grocery and travel purchases, as well as statement credits that can almost entirely offset its annual fee see rates and fees.
You'll get the most value from your Membership Rewards points when redeeming for travel through transfer partners. com, Milk Bar and select Shake Shack locations enrollment required.
Gold Card members can also participate in Amex Offers, which allow targeted cardholders to earn statement credits or bonus Membership Rewards® points at select retailers. These limited-time offers are location-based and additional terms apply. The best way to use Amex points is to transfer them to an airline or hotel partner to book travel, but they can also be redeemed for statement credits, gift cards, and when checking out at retailers like Amazon.
The Capital One Venture Rewards Credit Card is a versatile and rewarding travel card with a welcome bonus that's worth taking a closer look at. Capital One miles can be used to book flights, hotels, rental cars and more directly through Capital One Travel , or to offset recent travel purchases at a fixed value of one cent per point.
Alternatively, they can be transferred to various hotel and airline partners including Accor Live Limitless, Air Canada Aeroplan, Etihad Guest and others to get even more value from your miles. Refer to your Guide to Benefits for more details.
The Chase Freedom Unlimited® Card earns a minimum of 1. Earn an additional 1. Freedom Unlimited cardholders receive three free months of DoorDash DashPass , which comes with reduced fees activate by Dec.
The Chase Sapphire Reserve® is loaded with luxury perks and valuable ongoing benefits that can easily make the annual fee worth it. This is a good way to boost the value of your Chase points. You can also take advantage of one year of free DashPass activate by Dec. Anyone who prefers to earn cash-back rewards will want to consider the Blue Cash Preferred® Card from American Express.
Cardholders can also potentially save money on their purchases by taking advantage of Amex Offers. The Citi Double Cash® Card is a straightforward no-annual-fee cash-back card. After the intro period ends, there's a The Prime Visa has no foreign transaction fees, purchase protection and extended warranty protection.
It also has valuable travel insurance including, baggage delay insurance, lost luggage reimbursement and rental car coverage. Cardholders can also enroll for three complimentary months of DashPass activate by Dec.
The Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card is an incredibly flexible travel rewards credit card that comes with useful travel and shopping protections, plus a modest annual fee. If you earned 50, points from purchases, at the end of that year you'd receive a 5,point bonus.
Cardholders can also enroll to receive one year of free DashPass membership activate by Dec. The Citi Simplicity® Card doesn't offer any rewards but can help you pass less credit card interest. The Wells Fargo Reflect® Card is hard to beat if you want to pay less interest and pay down credit card debt faster.
If you pay your monthly cell phone bill with this card, you can qualify for cell phone protection. The Discover it® Student Cash Back card is an unusually rewarding credit card for students.
You'll need to be an eligible student to qualify for this card, but it is available even if you have poor credit or a limited credit history. Students traveling overseas can take advantage of no foreign transaction fees. The Discover it® Secured Credit Card is easier to qualify for because it requires an upfront deposit.
Plus, it has a generous rewards structure for a secured credit card. However, after seven months, Discover will automatically review your account to see if you qualify for an upgrade to an unsecured credit card.
This card has no foreign transaction fees. The Capital One Savor Cash Rewards Credit Card is one of the most rewarding options for earning cash back in categories such as entertainment and dining. Through Nov. This card also has no foreign transaction fees and grants you access to exclusive events and experiences through Capital One Entertainment and Capital One Dining.
The Platinum Card® from American Express is a premium credit card loaded with annual statement credits, entertainment benefits, extensive airport lounge access, elite status perks and more.
On top of excellent airport lounge access, cardholders can enroll for Marriott Bonvoy Gold status, Hilton Honors Gold status and rental car perks with National, Avis and Hertz. Eligibility and Benefit level varies by Card. Terms, Conditions and Limitations Apply.
Please visit americanexpress. Rewards credit cards come in all shapes and sizes, so it's important to take some time to choose the card that best matches your spending habits. You want a card that will reward you for your everyday purchases without having to adjust your spending to maximize card rewards.
You should decide if you're willing to pay an annual fee for a card since this can help narrow down choices. Make sure you do the math to see if an annual fee is within your budget and if it can be outweighed by the card's benefits.
Don't want to pay your credit card's annual fee? Here's how to ask for a retention offer. Next, you should figure out what type of rewards you want to earn and if you want a simple rewards program or one that may require some work.
If you want a straightforward card, some generic rewards cards offer the same amount of rewards on all purchases, which require little planning. Here's how credit card issuers classify purchases for bonus rewards. It's also a good idea to consider the card's welcome offer.
Some of the best rewards credit cards come with large welcome bonuses for new cardholders worth hundreds of dollars. Learn more: How to choose the best credit card in 3 easy steps. There are several different kinds of rewards cards. Rewards credit cards typically provide one of three reward structures: cash back, points or miles.
The way you earn and redeem rewards varies based on the type of credit card you open. In general, the better your credit, the more likely you are to qualify for a low rate. That said, if you pay your balance in full every month, your interest rate doesn't actually matter because you're never charged interest.
Ongoing credit card interest rates are usually identified as "variable. Most rates are tied to the prime rate, which is the rate that big banks charge their best customers. When the prime rate goes up or down , so will your card's rate.
What's the lowest interest rate on any credit card? Still, some cards offer a rate just a few points above prime. For super-low ongoing rates, your best bet is a credit union.
Cash-back cards refund a certain percentage of the purchase price. Other cards give you a certain number of points or miles per dollar spent.
Every card sets its own rewards structure, so apples-to-apples comparisons can be difficult. But when comparing rewards programs, think in terms of:.
Earn rate. What do you get for every dollar spent? Redemption value. How much do you get for your rewards when it comes time to use them? Redemption options. How much flexibility do you have in using your rewards? The purpose is to get you in the habit of using the card.
The bonuses on many travel cards are often big enough to cover the card's annual fee for the first few years. See our best credit card sign-up bonuses of Unlike rewards, which are what you receive for using a credit card, perks are benefits you get just for carrying a card.
With some cards, particularly travel credit cards, it may be the perks that provide the bulk of the value. Airline credit cards and hotel credit cards can easily pay for their annual fee with their perks. A full list of potential perks would be too long to include here, but common examples include:.
Lounge access. Free checked bags. Priority boarding. Elite status. Hotel benefits. Free nights. Automatic room upgrades. Free amenities. Statement credits. Automatic credit for such things as travel expenses, purchases from selected merchants or the application fee for trusted traveler programs such as TSA PreCheck and Global Entry.
Purchase protections. Extended warranties. Protection in case of theft or damage. Price protection which refunds the difference if you find the same item cheaper elsewhere.
Return guarantees. Rental car coverage. Supplemental coverage on top of your own auto insurance policy, or even primary coverage in place of your own policy.
Learn about credit card rental coverage and see our best cards for rental car coverage. Cell phone insurance. Coverage in case of loss or damage. You usually have to pay for your service with your card to qualify. See our best cards for cell phone insurance. Credit tracking and security.
Free credit score. Credit monitoring services. Ability to "lock" your card. When you're looking to build or restore credit, several features are more important for you than for people who already have good credit.
Reporting to credit bureaus. If you're using your card responsibly, you want your credit score to reflect that. Make sure that your card reports payment activity to all three credit bureaus, the companies that assemble credit reports.
Deposit requirements. If you're getting a secured credit card, you'll need money for a security deposit. Upgrade opportunities. As your credit improves, it's nice to be able to upgrade your account to a better card.
Incentives for responsible behavior. Some cards might boost your rewards rate if you pay on time, or give you access to a higher credit line. When you put in an application for a credit card, the card issuer makes its decision based on how risky it believes it would be to lend money to you.
The issuer doesn't know you, of course, so it goes by information you provide about your employment, income and assets and information contained in your credit report. The basic application process works like this:.
You fill out an application for a card. Nowadays, this is usually done online, but paper application forms still exist. The application typically asks for:.
Your name, address, phone number and email address. Financial information, including your employment status and annual income.
The application may also ask about your assets such as bank accounts or investments and your other obligations, such as your rent or debt payments.
Your birthdate and Social Security number. The issuer needs these to access your credit report. The issuer checks your credit. Many people think of their credit only in terms of their credit score.
But that three-digit number is really nothing but a summary of the information in your credit report. It's the report that issuers are interested in.
You could have a great score but still be rejected for a credit card because the issuer thinks you've applied for too many new cards in the recent past, or because your debt obligations are too big relative to your income.
If you meet the issuer's requirements, your application is approved. With online applications, approvals are usually possible within minutes. If your application is rejected , you can usually expect to receive a written explanation by mail in about a week to 10 days.
Your new card comes in the mail. This typically happens within 10 business days. You activate your card. Do this by calling a phone number or going online.
Once it's activated, you can use it. Approval for a credit card is never guaranteed. Even if you have an excellent credit score, an issuer could still decline your application because you don't have enough income, or because you've opened several other cards recently, or for some other reason.
Plus, "easy" is a relative term. Someone with excellent credit and a good income will usually qualify for most cards. Someone with a middling credit score might struggle to get approved even with ample income. In general, the lower the risk to the credit card issuer, the easier it is to get approved.
That's why secured credit cards are a recommended starting point for people working to build or mend credit: The security deposit requirement reduces the risk. If you've begun to build credit and have a score in the mids, look at credit cards for fair credit.
These provide more benefits but don't require a top-tier credit score. Store credit cards are also generally easier to qualify for than bank cards. They tend to have low credit limits and high interest rates, but they're a viable credit-building tool provided you keep your balances low relative to the limit and pay them off each month.
See our best store credit cards of Just as there is no single best credit card for everyone, there is no perfect number of credit cards to have.
It depends on your needs and how much effort you want to put into managing your credit cards. Some people carry one card and put everything on it. Others have literally dozens of cards, and for each purchase they use the card best suited for that transaction. When deciding how many is right for you, keep in mind:.
There's no limit to how many cards you can have. Each lender evaluates your credit on its own term, but there's no hard limit where you have "too many cards. You don't need to have multiple cards to maintain good credit score. Credit scoring formulas tend to reward you for having different types of accounts — credit cards, mortgages, loans, etc.
One credit card, responsibly managed, is enough. Maximizing rewards: One card may pay you a higher rewards rate on groceries. Another may reward you handsomely at restaurants , or on gas purchases, or for spending on travel. Having multiple cards allows you to maximize your total rewards.
Flexibility: Some cards are more widely accepted than others. Additionally, if a card is lost, stolen or compromised, you'll have another option while you wait for a replacement.
More available credit: A key factor in your credit score is your credit utilization , or how much of your available credit you're using. Missing a payment: Multiple due dates increase the risk of missing a payment, which can trigger a late fee or if it's late enough even damage your credit.
As you search for the best credit card for your needs, it will help to familiarize yourself with the different types of companies in the industry. That way, you'll know not only what to look for in a credit card but also where to look for it.
Every credit card has an issuer and a network. Many of them also have co-brand partners. Each of these provides different kinds of benefits. The issuer is the bank that maintains your credit card account. It could be a huge bank like Chase, Capital One or Wells Fargo, or it could be your local bank or credit union.
The issuer takes your credit card application and decides whether you qualify for the card. It sets your interest rate and charges any account fees. The issuer sends your statement every month and collects your payments.
When you make a purchase on a credit card, you're borrowing money from the issuer, and when you pay off your card, you're paying back the issuer. Benefits that come from the issuer: Rewards for your spending — cash back, points or miles per dollar spent — are typically paid to you by the issuer.
The issuer may also provide perks benefits you receive just for carrying the card, regardless of whether you use it. The payment network acts as a go-between for credit card transactions.
Visa, Mastercard, American Express and Discover are payment networks. The network determines where you can use your card. When you pay for something with a credit card, the network makes sure that the transaction gets reported back to the issuer so it shows up on your statement and that the merchant gets paid by your issuer.
American Express and Discover are special in that they are both issuers and networks. Benefits that come from the network: Network-provided benefits tend to be protections and perks, like rental car coverage or travel insurance.
In some cases, networks make certain benefits available on their cards, but it's up to the issuer to decide whether a card will actually include them. The partner is a store, airline, hotel or other brand whose name appears on the card and whose loyalty rewards program is tied to the card.
Not all credit cards have co-brand partners. The partner administers the loyalty program linked to the card. For example, if you have an American Airlines credit card, you earn miles with your purchases. American operates the frequent-flyer program where you would use those miles.
Benefits that come from the co-brand partner: The co-brand partner lets you redeem the rewards earned on the card and often provides additional perks to cardholders, such as free checked bags for an airline card, automatic room upgrades for a hotel card or discounts for a store card.
You can see how it works by taking a look at a few popular credit cards:. Capital One Platinum Secured Credit Card. Wells Fargo Propel American Express® card. This is one of the most common questions about credit card companies. Just about every place that takes credit cards takes both Visa and Mastercard, with only a couple of exceptions such as Visa-only Costco , so consumers are left wondering whether there's a difference at all.
The most important thing to remember is that neither Visa nor Mastercard issues credit cards. These companies are just payment networks that process transactions.
Most of the benefits that come with a card are provided by the card issuer, not the network. And since their acceptance rates are nearly identical, you're better off focusing on the features of individual cards rather than which network they operate on.
Read more about Visa vs. Just as there is no single best credit card for everyone, consumers have widely different opinions about the best and worst credit card issuers.
One person could get the runaround from customer service and rate a bank zero stars as a result, while another has nothing but positive experiences and gives it five stars across the board.
Still, some trends emerge in customer satisfaction surveys. Power conducts an annual study of satisfaction among major credit card issuers. It separates the results into "national" and "midsize" issuers.
The survey regularly rates Discover and American Express at the top among the biggest issuers. In the most recent study, a new contender emerged for the top slot among midsize issuers: Goldman Sachs, issuer of the Apple Card.
USAA and Navy Federal Credit Union tend to have the highest ratings of all, but keep in mind that only people affiliated with the military are eligible for USAA or Navy Federal products.
NATIONAL ISSUERS. MIDSIZE ISSUERS. Power's "Satisfaction Index" uses a scale of 0 to 1, NerdWallet's Credit Cards content team selects the best credit cards in each category based on overall consumer value, as evidenced by star ratings, as well as their suitability for specific kinds of consumers.
This page includes selections across multiple categories, and a single card is eligible to be chosen as among the "best" in more than one category. Learn how NerdWallet rates credit cards. Factors in our evaluations include:. For cash back cards: Cash-back earning rates, rewards structures such as flat-rate or tiered categories , annual fees, redemption options including minimum redemption amounts , promotional APR periods for purchases, bonus offers for new cardholders, and noteworthy features such as loyalty bonuses or the ability to choose one's own rewards categories.
For travel rewards cards: Annual fees, foreign transaction fees, rewards earnings rates, ease of use, redemption options, domestic and international acceptance, promotional APR periods, bonus offers, and cardholder perks such as automatic statement credits and airport lounge access.
For college student cards: Annual fees, rewards programs both earning rates and redemption options , promotional and ongoing APRs, bonus offers for new cardholders, incentives for responsible behavior, free credit scores and other credit education, availability to applicants with thin or no credit history, and other noteworthy features such as a path to upgrade to a different product later on.
For credit-building cards including bad credit or fair credit : Annual and other fees, deposit requirements for secured cards both the minimum and maximum allowed , interest rates, upgrade options, the availability of free credit scores and other credit education and tools, reporting to credit bureaus, and other noteworthy features such as a rewards program or the ability to qualify without a credit check.
For business cards: Annual and other fees, rewards rates, the earning structure for example, flat-rate rewards versus bonus categories , redemption options, bonus offers for new cardholders, introductory and ongoing APRs, and other noteworthy features such as special financing arrangements, free cards for employees or tools for managing business expenses.
No single credit card is the best for everyone. It all depends on how you use credit and how strong your credit is. A rewards credit card gives you a little something back with each purchase you make — usually cash back or travel points or airline miles.
These cards are best for people who can pay their credit card bill in full each month. If you carry a balance from one month to the next, the interest you pay will eat up the value of your rewards.
A zero percent credit card is ideal if you're looking to finance a big purchase or pay down high-interest debt by way of a balance transfer. If you tend to carry a balance month to month, look for a card with low ongoing interest rate. A credit-building card is designed for people who are just starting out with credit or are trying to bounce back from damaged credit.
Rewards cards and zero-percent cards are available mostly to people with good to excellent credit; for those who aren't there yet, there are credit-building cards. There are options for bad credit , for fair or average credit and for people with no credit history.
Secured credit cards require you to provide a cash security deposit to open an account. Because that deposit protects the card company from risk, secured cards are much easier to qualify for than other cards.
You're not guaranteed approval for a secured card, but the bar is much lower than for regular cards. Just as there is no single best card for everyone, consumers have widely different opinions about the best and worst credit card issuers.
One person could get the runaround from customer service rep and rate a bank zero stars as a result, while another has nothing but positive experiences and gives it five stars across the board.
Power conducts an annual study of satisfaction among major national and regional credit card issuers. It regularly rates Discover and American Express at the top among mass-market issuers. In the most recent study, USAA and Navy Federal Credit Union had the highest ratings of all, but keep in mind that only people affiliated with the military are eligible for USAA or Navy Federal products.
CREDIT CARDS CREDIT CARDS BEST CREDIT CARDS OF FEBRUARY Advertiser disclosure Best Credit Cards of February Updated: Feb 9, Written by Paul Soucy. Reviewed by Sara Rathner. Edited by Kenley Young. Fact Checked. Many or all of the products featured here are from our partners who compensate us.
This may influence which products we write about and where and how the product appears on a page. However, this does not influence our evaluations.
Our opinions are our own. Here is a list of our partners and here's how we make money. Why trust NerdWallet. all cards Best Offers Travel Balance Transfer Low Interest Cash Back Rewards Building Credit Student Fair Credit Business.
Best Offers from Our Partners Credit card. NerdWallet rating. Apply Now on Wells Fargo's website. on Wells Fargo's website. Chase Freedom Unlimited®. Apply Now on Chase's website. on Chase's website. Apply Now on Capital One's website. on Capital One's website. Capital One Venture Rewards Credit Card.
Apply Now on American Express' website. on American Express' website. Discover it® Balance Transfer. It earns:. The card also reviews your credit usage and considers you for an automatic credit line increase in as little as six months. You can convert the cash back you earn with this card into Capital One miles , which can be transferred to airline and hotel partners for free travel.
Just realize that APR only triggers if you fail to pay your full statement balance each month. The card offers free Uber One membership in the form of monthly statement credits through Nov. You can then transfer your rewards to airline and hotel loyalty programs that partner with Capital One.
Why we chose it : There are a lot of Visa credit cards out there. As you can see, this card justifies its annual fee better than just about any other Visa card out there. Its earning rates are noteworthy, too. You can use Capital One miles for free flights and hotel stays by transferring to partners such as Avianca, British Airways, and Singapore Airlines.
The only exception is gas purchased at a supermarket, superstore, convenience store, or warehouse club except Costco. That covers the bases for most cardholders. You can get 3x points on nearly everything. And you can convert these points to 16 airline and hotel currencies including Turkish Airlines, JetBlue, and Wyndham.
If you know how to wield them, you could receive a value around 2 cents per point or more. The only caveat is that not all stores that sell groceries are considered supermarkets. Keep that in mind when tallying up your yearly earnings.
Enrollment is required for both of these benefits. When selecting the top rewards credit cards, we first identified the most popular credit card categories:. In each of these categories, we weighed the highest-performing options against each other to determine which products offered the best mix of return rate, welcome bonus, ongoing benefits, and annual fee.
We generally recommend anyone with a credit score below not apply for rewards credit cards. There are two reasons:. Figure out what you want it to accomplish for you. Is your primary goal to earn cash back? Do you want to travel to Europe for pennies on the dollar?
Do you have a small business with expenses that you want to sequester from your personal expenses? Do you simply want to build credit? Examine your spending to identify the things you spend most on and then open a card that complements those expenses.
If the majority of your monthly spending is restaurants and gas stations, open a card that offers bonus points for those categories. If you spend a lot on utilities and groceries, open a card that earns bonus rewards for those categories.
If your spending is all over the place, open a card that earns a respectable flat rate on all purchases. But it also comes with:. If your credit score is in the low s, applying for a premium rewards credit card will all but guarantee a rejection letter.
You can even earn travel rewards with Bask Bank, which awards American Airlines miles instead of cash back. Finally, you can search for banks that are offering welcome bonuses for opening checking or savings accounts and completing various steps.
The right rewards credit card can mean the difference between a Red Roof Inn and a five-star hotel on your next vacation. It can also mean hundreds of dollars in cash back each year.
Other perks can include free grocery delivery, discounts with your favorite restaurants, exclusive access to sought-after music and sports events, and more. Your credit card will work the hardest if you open one that fits perfectly with your lifestyle. For example, it rewards you for your everyday spending.
And its statement credits reimburse you for purchases you planned to make, anyway.
Our top recommendations for the best rewards credit card · Best for beginners: Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card · Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card · Chase Sapphire Best Rewards Credit Cards · Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card: Best for Earning Ultimate Rewards · Capital One Venture X Rewards Credit Card: Best Best no annual fee rewards card: Chase Freedom Unlimited® Rewards: Benefits: The Chase Freedom Unlimited comes with a great 0% introductory
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