My Best Buy® Visa® Card review: Tech retail rewards without the bells and whistles

If you want a card that still rewards you for electronics purchases, the Prime Visa card could be a solid contender to the My Best Buy Visa card. It comes with far more perks such as purchase protections and extended warranty protection. These specific perks may come in handy for new tech. It earns similar (but slightly better) rewards to the My Best Buy Visa with unlimited 5 percent cash back at Amazon.com, Amazon Fresh and Whole Foods, 5 percent back on Chase Travel℠ bookings, 2 percent back at gas stations, local transit and restaurants and 1 percent back on all other purchases. 

Instead of the rewards-based welcome offer of the My Best Buy Visa, there’s a $100 Amazon gift card instantly on approval with an eligible Amazon Prime membership — no extra purchase required. If the lack of redemption options is a pain point for you, then the Prime Visa is a breath of fresh air with options to redeem rewards for Amazon purchases, cash back, gift cards or travel through Chase Travel. 

If you already have a Costco membership, getting the Costco Anywhere Visa Card by Citi is a comparable alternative to the My BestBuy Visa card. The Costco Anywhere Visa earns similar rewards to the My Best Buy Visa and even operates on a similar rewards certificate redemption system. You’ll earn the highest rewards rate on fuel purchases with 5 percent cash back on Costco gas purchases and 4 percent back on other gas and EV purchases on up to $7,000 per year, then 1 percent. Restaurants and eligible travel purchases earn 3 percent cash back rewards, while all other Costco purchases earn 2 percent. All other purchases earn just 1 percent cash back. 

Technically, there’s no annual fee as long as you already have a $65-per-year Costco membership. Since Costco carries almost anything you can think of, you’ll likely be able to make similar electronics purchases as you would at Best Buy. Plus you’ll get a laundry list of perks that can help you guard your new tech. The downside is that you’ll only get to redeem your rewards for a rewards certificate once a year in February. 

The primary criteria for a rewards or cash back 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, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS).

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.

We also rate cards based on how much it costs to keep them in your wallet or carry a balance. 

To start, each rewards or cash back card is scored based on whether it offers an intro APR and how its ongoing APR compares to the rates available on other rewards or cash back cards. 

We also score each card based on how its annual fee influences its overall value. 

We consider a card’s annual fee in two ways — how it ranks relative to the fees you’ll find on other cards in the category and how it impacts a card’s overall rewards value. Cards with an annual fee will always be at a slight disadvantage in our scoring system since annual fees inherently cut into your rewards value, but if a card offers terrific value via its ongoing rewards and perks, it can earn a high score even if it carries a high annual fee. 

With this in mind, we rate a card based primarily on how its ongoing rewards value and ongoing perk value (such as annual credits or bonuses) stack up against other cards in the category when you subtract its annual fee.

We rate each card’s flexibility based on the restrictions it imposes on earning and redeeming rewards and factor this rating into a card’s overall score. 

Flexibility factors include whether a card only allows you to earn a high rewards rate on a small amount of spending or requires you to meet a certain earning threshold before you can redeem rewards. We also examine whether your points are worth less when you redeem for some options versus others and whether a card gives you the flexibility to transfer rewards to airline and hotel partners. 

We also score each card’s set of features – its perks and benefits — against five tiers of features to provide a rating. 

We break down these tiers as follows:

• Tier 1 has less than standard card features (an ultra-streamlined card that offers basic utility and next to nothing in the way of ancillary benefits. 

• Tier 2 includes the benefits you’d expect on standard Visa or Mastercard credit cards, such as free access to your credit score, car rental insurance and $0 liability for fraudulent charges. 

• Tier 3 includes “prime card” or better-than-average card features like cellphone insurance, lost luggage insurance, concierge services and purchase protection. 

• Tier 4 includes luxury features such as airport lounge access, elite status with an airline or hotel and credits for expedited security screening membership programs. 

• Tier 5 includes the sort of exemplary benefits you’ll find on top-tier luxury cards, such as high-value travel credits, cardholder memberships and other unique and valuable perks.