Best rewards credit cards of December 2024

• Cash back cards are often your best choice to save money on day-to-day purchases. They’re more likely to earn at least 3 percent back on a well-rounded roster of everyday categories like groceries, gas, dining, transit or drugstores. Plus, some cash back cards have rare categories that other rewards cards lack, such as online shopping, home improvement, wholesale clubs, entertainment, utilities, gym memberships and specific retailers.
• Cash back cards often lack notable perks beyond their rewards, but some may offer annual credits, rewards rates or complimentary subscriptions with rideshare, food delivery or streaming services for a limited time.
• No-annual-fee cash rewards card welcome bonuses are typically on par with the typical $200 no-annual-fee card intro bonus value, but premium cash reward card offers are usually worth just $250 to $300 — which is often less valuable than offers from point- and mile-earning rewards cards with a similar annual fee.
• Rewards strategists may need to turn to point-based travel cards with a cash back redemption option if they want premium-grade cash rewards. Otherwise, the only major premium cash back cards are the Blue Cash Preferred® Card from American Express and Capital One Spark Cash Plus.
• The most versatile cash back cards earn rewards that can be pooled with premium travel cards from the same issuer, such as Chase Ultimate Rewards cards and Citi ThankYou Points cards. Rewards programs like these can elevate your rewards’ value through eligible travel and transfer partner redemptions.

There are two main types of travel rewards credit cards: co-branded and general-purpose.

Co-branded travel cards

• Co-branded travel cards offer unique perks and boosted rewards on purchases with specific airlines or hotel brands, typically earning points or miles unique to that brand. This makes them less flexible than general travel cards.
  
  
• They often offer perks you can’t get with many general-purpose travel cards, such as automatic and expedited loyalty status, discounts and other privileges with that specific airline or hotel brand. For example, airline cards may offer complimentary access to the airline’s airport lounges, priority boarding or companion airfare certificates. Meanwhile, hotel cards may provide complimentary free nights, credits for hotel purchases and automatic room upgrades.
  
  
• Although many hotel cards pack high rewards rates, Bankrate’s point and mile valuations appraise most major hotel rewards program points at less than 1 cent per point on average — less than the average value of most general-purpose travel cards rewards and many airline rewards program rewards (depending on the booking).

General-purpose travel cards

• General-purpose travel cards earn rewards that aren’t tied to a single airline or hotel brand. You can often earn more valuable rewards on a wider variety of everyday and travel purchases with these cards. Some cards even let you transfer points or miles to a partner loyalty program. With the right transfer partner, your points could be worth around 2 cents each on average. However, some rewards programs may net you less than 1 cent per point for some redemption options.
  
  
• They’re among the best cards on the market if you’re looking for valuable perks. On top of travel insurance, some general-purpose travel cards carry hundreds of dollars worth of benefits like annual travel credits, expedited airport security screening service credits, and comprehensive airport lounge access perks.
  
  
• Premium general-purpose travel cards charge annual fees anywhere from $95 to $695. Although several cards carry enough practical perks to offset the cost, some of the cards’ annual credits and benefits may be too niche for the average traveler to comfortably offset the fee without going out of their way.
  
  
• Cash back cards can often be more lucrative or flexible than no-annual-fee travel cards. Many of these entry-level options don’t carry notable travel perks, and no-annual-fee travel cards can typically only redeem rewards for up to 1 cent per point or mile since few can use transfer partners.

• Business rewards cards earn cash back, points or miles on common business expenses, like office supplies, advertising services or travel.
• These cards sometimes carry perks like free employee cards, annual software or service credits, high spending limits and big sign-up bonuses.

• Most rewards cards with 0 percent intro APR offers are no-annual-fee cards with 15-month offers on purchases and balance transfers (although 12-month offers aren’t uncommon). The Amex Blue Cash Preferred is perhaps the only major premium card with an intro APR offer.
• Most intro APR-focused rewards cards earn cash back, although a few no-annual-fee travel cards offer a solid 0 percent intro APR on purchases and balance transfers for 12 to 15 months.
• Although you won’t be able to get a rewards card with a chart-topping 0 percent intro APR for 21 months, the Discover it® Chrome and Citi Double Cash® Card pack the longest offers if earning rewards is a deal-breaker.

• Several secured cards earn quality rewards rates (typically cash back), even if you have a low credit score or no credit history at all. In fact, secured cards like the Capital One Quicksilver Secured Cash Rewards Credit Card and the Bank of America® Customized Cash Rewards Secured Credit Card carry rewards rates on par with their full-fledged counterparts.
• There are credit-building rewards cards that don’t require a security deposit, but the rewards rates and waived deposits may not offset the typically higher fees. Plus, a secured rewards card can eventually refund your security deposit after enough on-time payments — often without the hefty annual fees.
• Credit-building rewards cards typically don’t offer sign-up bonuses, but there’s often no (or a low) annual fee. However, popular student credit cards typically charge minimal fees, carry sign-up bonus rewards and pack strong rewards rates. If you’re trying to establish your credit and you qualify for a student credit card, those are likely the best rewards card options available without becoming an authorized user on someone’s card.

Typically, credit card rewards don’t expire for the life of your account. That means your rewards won’t expire if you keep your account open and in good standing. However, read your rewards program’s terms and conditions carefully since this isn’t guaranteed for all cards. 

Generally, rewards are not considered taxable since the IRS considers the rewards to be a form of rebate on the purchase. Though uncommon, rewards may be taxable if they’re received under circumstances like bonus offers without a spending requirement. Make sure to look at the credit card’s terms to see the conditions of how you can receive and redeem bonus rewards.

You typically need good to excellent credit (FICO score 670 and higher) to qualify for a competitive rewards card. Premium travel cards might require an excellent credit score (FICO score of 800 and above). You can also find rewards cards for people with fair credit, but the rewards and perks might be limited.

The primary criteria for a rewards-earning card’s rating is its rewards value. This includes the card’s average rewards rate, estimated annual rewards earnings, sign-up bonus value and reward redemption value.

To estimate a card’s average annual rewards earnings, we first calculate its average rewards rate based on how much it earns in different bonus categories and how closely its categories align with the average person’s spending habits. 

The most recent BLS data estimates average total spending in 2023 was $77,280 per consumer. We then narrow our focus to which purchases are likely to be put on a credit card and earn rewards, subtracting expenditures like housing, vehicle purchases and education. This gives us a total “chargeable” annual spend of around $22,500.  

Some of the major spending categories that contribute towards the annual spend include:

• Groceries: $6,000
• Dining out: $3,900
• Entertainment: $2,500
• Gas: $2,400
• Apparel and services: $2,000

Using this data, we assign a weighting to each of a card’s bonus categories. For example, a card’s grocery rewards rate receives a 26 percent weighting based on how much of the average person’s budget is spent on groceries. We also estimate the redemption value of points or miles from various issuer, airline and hotel rewards programs.

This weighting and rewards valuation allows us to estimate a card’s average annual rewards earnings — how many points or miles you’d earn with a given card if your spending was about average and you used the card for all of your purchases — as well as what those points are worth. We also use point valuations to determine a card’s sign-up bonus value

With these calculations complete, we assign each card a score based on how its average rewards earnings, sign-up bonus value, rewards rate and redemption value stack up against other rewards cards.

The better these values, the higher its score will be, making it more worthy of inclusion in our list and increasing its potential ranking.

Here’s a deeper look at the factors considered as part of a rewards card’s “Value” rating: