A set of good credit cards can optimize the cash or travel rewards. There are varieties of credit cards out there. The popular cards are from Capital One, Wells Fargo, American Express, Citi and Chase. Many offer benefits and cash backs or travel miles. This guide covers what to look for in a card and list some good ones. The card that’s best for you depends on your priorities. When choosing a card, try to find the one that matches your spending and lifestyle. Each card has different strengths. To get the best outcome combine several different cards to get the combined strengths of the cards to cover more categories of spending. One important note is since credit card interest rates are very high, in the 20-30% range, pay off the balance each period. Don’t make purchases unless you are sure you can pay for it within card’s grace period.
Annual Fee
Some cards have 0 annual fee and some fees. The cards with fees tend to have credits to spend on the card’s sponsors such as Uber or some restaurants or for travel that help offset the fees. The caveat is this only works if you actually intend on using those credits in a typical year.
Signup Bonus
Most cards offer a bonus for first time sign up of the card. You are a valuable to the credit card companies and the bonus is way attract you to their card. The bonus can range from $200 credits or up to 100,000 travel points. It is free money given to you for signing up for the card and join them as a customer hopefully for a long time. Usually the bonus only kicks in after spending a certain amount within the first few months of getting the card.
Rewards
Most of the cards offer rewards in either cash back, points or travel miles. For cash back it is expressed as a percent of the purchase such as 1%, 2%, 3%, 4%, 5%. For points it is expressed as a point with different multiplier 1x, 2x, 3x, 4x or 5x. The amount can vary depending on the category such as restaurants, gas/ev charging, or travel, or other.
Airline and Hotel Partnerships
Travel oriented travel cards allow points to be transferred to miles or hotel points to your favorite airline or hotel. Normally one would have to fly to earn miles with airline frequent flyer programs. Using travel credit card rewards partner transfer feature allows you to earn miles quicker. Most rewards allow transfer at a 1:1 rate. Each card works different sets of partners.
Cash reward cards
These cards return cash as reward. The cards have strengths in different spend categories. This is why you may need to get multiple cards to get the most rewards for your spend.
Features |
Robinhood Gold |
Citi Custom Cash |
AAA Daily Advantage |
Amazon Prime |
Capital One Savor |
Bank |
Coastal Community Bank |
Citi |
Comenity Capital Bank |
Chase |
Capital One |
Annual Fee |
Robinhood Gold membership ($50/year) |
0 |
0 |
Prime membership |
0 |
Signup Bonus |
$0 |
$200 |
$100 |
$150 |
$300 |
Groceries |
3% |
5% or 1% |
5% |
1% |
3% |
Costco |
3% |
1% |
3% |
1% |
1% |
amazon.com |
3% |
1% |
1% |
5% |
1% |
Whole Foods Market |
3% |
5% or 1% |
5% |
5% |
1% |
Restaurants |
3% |
5% or 1% |
1% |
2% |
3% |
Gas |
3% |
5% or 1% |
3% |
2% |
1% |
All other categories |
3% |
1% |
1% |
1% |
1% |
Extended warranty |
Yes |
No |
No |
Yes |
Yes |
Auto Rental Coverage |
Secondary |
NA |
NA |
Secondary |
NA |
Foreign Transaction Fees |
No |
No |
No |
No |
No |
Travel Accident Insurance |
NA |
NA |
NA |
air/bus/train/cruise up to $500,000 for death or dismemberment |
Yes |
Purchase Protection |
damage or theft up to $1,000 |
NA |
NA |
damage or theft up to $500 for new purchase for 120 days |
NA |
Lost luggage |
NA |
NA |
NA |
Up to $3,000 |
NA |
Baggage Delay |
NA |
NA |
NA |
Up to $100/day for 3 days |
NA |
Herts Five Start Status |
NA |
NA |
NA |
NA |
Yes |
Capital One Savor
- no annual fee
- up to $300 signup bonus
- 5% on travel through Capital One Travel
- 3% grocery
- 3% restaurants
- 1% other
Citi Custom Cash
This card has 0 annual fee. It has $200 cash back intro after spending $1,500 for first 6 months of receiving the card. What makes this card shine and standout feature is the 5% cash back on your top eligible category, up to $500 spent. Assuming you spend $500 on restaurants, 5% of that is $15. Over 12 month, the upper limit of the reward is $180/annually for that category. The card lists the following as eligible for the 5% reward: Restaurants, gas stations, grocery stores, select travel, select transit, select streaming services, drugstores, home improvement stores, fitness clubs, live entertainment. For the non top category, the reward is 1% cash back. The card gets additional 4% cash back on hotel and car rental booked through Citi Travel portal. To maximize the value of this card, use it only for one category that you spend the most on. For other purchases, use a different card that offer higher than 1%.
Citi Double Cash
- No annual fee
- earns 2% on all categories
- special 5% on travel through Citi Travel portal
Robinhood Gold
- No annual fee
- requires Robinhood Investment Gold membership ($50/year)
- earns 3% on all categories
- no signup bonus
This card has some high tech features. You can create temporary virtual credit cards that self destruct after 1 transaction. You can create cards for other family members and set spending limits for them. This is unique as some other companies have family member cards with same limit as the primary card holder. From the Robinhood Gold Credit Card app, you can lock a card instantly if one is lost.
https://www.citi.com/credit-cards/citi-custom-cash-credit-card
AAA Daily Advantage Visa Signature Credit Card
AAA (Automobile Association of America) is famous for their great auto roadside assistance but they also have great credit cards. The AAA Daily Advantage has 0 annual fee and currently has $100 signup bonus after spending $1,000 for first 90 days of account opening. They have 5% cash back on grocery stores. If you shop are Costco, this card has a 3% cash back for wholesale clubs. 3% is also given to gas, streaming services, pharmacies and AAA purchases. On other categories, it has 1% cash back. The card has an annual max cash back of $500 on combined groceries, gas, and wholesale clubs. The max comes out to an max of cash back of $41.6 a month on average.
The AAA Travel Advantage Visa Signature Credit Card is similar to the daily advantage. Instead of 5% on grocery, it is 5% on Gas/EV charging and 3% on grocery.
https://mwg.aaa.com/credit-card
Amazon Prime Visa
With a Prime Membership, the Amazon Prime Visa card earns 5% on Amazon.com, Whole Foods Market, and Audible. Unlike the other cards, there is no max on cash back. The cards earns 2% on gas, transit and restaurants and 1% on all other purchases. There is also a 10% cash back on rotating item or category. While card does not have annual fee, the rewards only kick in with an Amazon Prime membership. If someone is not a member already then the annual fee is the Amazon Prime membership fee. There is no sign up bonus. It has extended warranty protection. It has secondary auto rental coverage and lost luggage reimbursement. It has no foreign transaction fees. Currently there is a $150 Amazon Gift Card signup bonus with no spending requirements. This card makes sense for the heavy Amazon.com shopper.
Amazon Visa
Similar to the Amazon Prime Visa but does not require Prime membership. The rewards are reduced but still decent. It gets 3% on Amazon, Amazon Fresh, Whole Foods Market, and Chase Travel. It gets 2% gas, restaurants, transit and then 1% everything else.
Chase Freedom Flex
This no annual fee card earns Chase cash reward. It earns 5% on a rotating set of categories each quarter. Example for 2025, Q1 was grocery, Norwegian cruise, fitness, hair/spa, Q2 Amazon and Streaming services, Q3 Instacart, Gas, ev, and entertainment Q4 not yet published. 3% pharmacies, restaurants and 1% other. The card has a $200 signup bonus. The card can be paired in a trifecta with another Chase card to convert the reward to Chase Ultimate reward points. The $200 bonus translates to 20,000 points.
Chase freedom unlimited
A no annual fee cash reward card. It earns 1.5% on everything else. 3% restaurants and pharmacies.
Travel Reward Cards
Bilt World Elite Mastercard
https://www.biltrewards.com/terms/earn
The Bilt card earns 1x reward on rent payment, up to 100,000 points. Bilt Payments LLC, a startup created this unique card and it is administered by Wells Fargo. If you are a renter you will have to pay monthly rent anyway so why not get a reward for it. There is no fee to paying rent using the Bilt card. If landlord charges a fee, Bilt will waive or refund the fee to you.
- no annual fee
- 1x points on rent
- requires at least 5 transaction, otherwise it is a flat 250 points.
- 5x on dining partners
- 3x on other restaurants
- 5x on Lyft rideshare
- 2x on Walgreens
- 2x on travel
- 1x on others
- no foreign transaction fee
- trip delay reimbursement
- trip cancellation and interruption protection
- up to $800 cell phone protection agains damage, theft or unintended separation
- purchase protection
The rewards are transferable 1:1 to valuable travel loyalty programs. It has partners with 16 airlines and 6 hotels.
- Alaska Airlines & Hawaiian Airlines – Atmos Rewards
- Aer Lingus, AerClub
- Air Canada Aeroplan
- Avianca Lifemiles
- British Airways Executive Club
- Cathay Pacific
- Emirates Skywards
- Flying Blue Air France/KLM
- Iberia Plus
- Japan Airlines JAL Mileage Bank
- Southwest Airlines Rapid Rewards®
- Air Portugal TAP Miles&Go
- Turkish Airlines Miles&Smiles
- United Mileage Plus®
- Virgin Atlantic Flying Club
Hotel partners
- Accor Live Limitless
- IHG® Rewards Club
- Hilton Hilton Honors
- Marriott Bonvoy™
- World of Hyatt®
Chase Sapphire Preferred
https://creditcards.chase.com/a1/25Q2/sapphirepreferred
- Annual fee is $95
- $50 credit for hotel
- 5x travel booked through Chase portal
- 3x restaurants
- 3x online grocery (exclude Target/Walmart and Wholesale)
- 2x on travel
- 1x everything else
- 25% boost of the value of the points when using Chase Travel portal
- 60,000 signup bonus after spending $4,000 in first three months
- Primary Auto Rental Coverage up to $60,000
- Trip cancellation and interruption insurance
- Baggage Delay Insurance up to $100/day for 5 days
- Trip Delay Reimbursement for lodging and meals up to $500 per traveler
- Purchase Protection up to $500 per item for 120 days
Chase Sapphire Reserved
- $795 annual fee
- $300 travel credit
- $300 dining credit
- $300 Stubhub credit
- $120 Lyft credits ($10 monthly)
- $500 credit for stay with The Edit
- $120 Peloton credits
- $120 DashPass
- $250 Apple TV+ and Music (ends 6/22/2027)
- 125,000 signup bonus
- 10x Peloton membership cost
- 8x travel rewards Chase Travel portal
- 5x Lyft ride share
- 4x flights and hotels booked direct with airline/hotel
- 3x on restaurants
- airport lounge access for up to two guests through $469 Priority Pass Select.
- $120 every 4 years for Global Entry or TSA PreCheck or Nexus
- All trip protection in Saphire Preferred with higher protection
- Auto Rental Coverage up to $75,000
- Purchase Protection up to $10,000 per item
- Emergency Evacuation and Transportation up to $100,000
- Emergency Medical and Dental up to $2,500
Chase Sapphire Preferred can transfer points to the following airlines and hotel’s rewards programs at 1:1 ratio.
- Aer Lingus, AerClubAir
- Canada Aeroplan
- British Airways Executive Club
- Flying Blue AIR FRANCE KLM
- Iberia Plus
- JetBlue TrueBlue
- Singapore Airlines KrisFlyer
- Southwest Airlines Rapid Rewards®
- United Mileage Plus®
- Virgin Atlantic Flying Club
- IHG® Rewards Club
- Marriott Bonvoy™
- World of Hyatt®
Citi Strata
- No Annual Fee
- 30,000 signup bonus
- 5x hotel, car and attritions on cititravel.com portal
- 3x grocery
- 3x on transit, gas, and ev charging
- 3x on self selected category: fitness club, streaming, live entertainment, Beauty, and Pets
- 2x restaurant
- 1x other
- Point transfers
- JetBlue
- Choice Hotels
- Wyndham Rewards
Citi Strata Premier
- $95 annual fee
- $100 hotel benefit annually
- 10x for hotel, car rental and attractions on cititravel.com
- 3x for travel, restaurants, supermarkets, gas/ev charging.
- 1x everything else.
- 10x attractions, car rental and hotels booked through cititravel.com.
This card can pair with the Citi Custom Cash card. Rewards earned by the Citi Custom Cash Cash card are in Citi reward points and they can be added to the Citi Strata Premier card to transfer to airline loyalty programs at 1:1. The regular Strata converts also but at lower rate such at 1:0.7. Points are transferable to these partners:
- JetBlue
- Virgin Atlantic
- Cathay Pacific
- Eva Air
- Choice Hotels
- The Leading Hotels of the World®
- others.
Capital One Venture One
- No Annual Fee
- 5x on hotels and rental through Capital One Travel
- 1.25x on everything else
- 20,000 miles and $100 credit signup bonus
Capital One Venture
https://www.capitalone.com/credit-cards/travel-and-miles
- $95 annual fee
- 5x on hotel, rental cars through Capital One Travel portal
- 2x on all categories
- signup bonus 75,000 miles
- $50 credit on Lifestyle Collection hotels and vacation rentals.
- $120 credit for Global Entry or TSA PreCheck
- travel portal has price matching
Capital One Venture X
- Annual Fee $395
- Annual Travel Credit $300
- Annual 10,000 miles bonus
- Signup Bonus: 75,000
- Global Entry or TSA PreCheck $120 credit
- 10X hotel and rental cars on Capital One Travel
- 5X flight and vacation rental through Capital One Travel
- 2x all other
- Capital One Lounges
- Priority Pass Lounges
- No Foreign Transaction Fees
- Referral bonus 100,000
You can pair Venture and Venture X cards with the Capital One Savor card. The rewards from the Savor card earn more for grocery and restaurants at 3% or 3x when converted to points.
Capital One partner airlines include:(source: https://www.capitalone.com/learn-grow/money-management/venture-miles-transfer-partnerships/)
- EVA Air offers a 2:1.5 transfer ratio.
- JetBlue offers a 5:3 transfer ratio.
The rest of Capital One’s airline transfer partners offer a 1:1 conversion ratio.
- Aeromexico Rewards
- Air Canada Aeroplan®
- Avianca LifeMiles
- British Airways Executive Club
- Cathay Pacific Asia Miles
- Emirates Skywards
- Etihad Guest
- Finnair Plus
- Flying Blue
- Qantas Frequent Flyer
- Singapore Airlines KrisFlyer
- TAP Miles&Go
- Turkish Airlines Miles&Smiles
- Virgin Red