Best Rewards Credit Cards

Best rewards credit cards with rewards programs are a terrific method to maximize your daily spending since they let you accrue bonus miles, points, or cash back. Cashback is one of the easiest types of rewards, but frequent shoppers and tourists may find that miles or points are even more valuable.

Best Rewards Credit Cards

These card options from our partners provide some of the best rewards value and benefits available, and each issuer has a selection of programs to fit your particular spending preferences. But skipping over some of the top rewards credit cards could mean passing on advantages—and perhaps actual cash. Here are a few recommendations for the top rewards credit cards for 2023.

What Is a Rewards Credit Card

By enabling you to accrue rewards when you use the card in the form of cashback, points, or miles you may increase the value of many of your credit card transactions. Typically, cardholders receive a certain percentage of qualifying spending in the form of cashback or a certain number of points for every dollar spent on eligible goods.

When new cardholders make a specific amount of purchases within a specific time after being approved for the card, welcome bonuses on rewards cards may also be available. These bonuses can give new cardholders additional benefits.

How Do Credit Card Rewards Work

Every time a credit card is used to buy something, a fee is applied. This transaction processing fee is typically paid by the vendor and is therefore either added to the price of the goods or services purchased by the consumer or charged directly to the consumer by the vendor.

A portion of this transaction fee may go to card networks, card issuers, and co-branded partners. Credit card issuers offer rewards on eligible credit card purchases to encourage credit card use among qualified cardholders and “return” some of the cost of the fee to the customer purchasing the form of cashback.

The Best Rewards Credit Cards for 2023

Below is a list of the best rewards credit cards you can find in 2023:

Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card

When it comes to travel credit cards, the Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card has the greatest rewards program at a $95 price point, especially if you’re prepared to use your points to book travel through Chase Ultimate Rewards. You may book hotels, flights, car rentals, activities, and more on Chase’s website with Chase Ultimate Rewards.

Through this link, you can gain a 25% bonus when using your points to book travel. As a result, instead of being worth 1 cent each when redeemed for a bill credit, your points would be worth 1.25 cents each.

Citi Premier® Card

For a $95 annual fee, you may get the Citi Premier Card, a points-earning card with increased benefits for several common spending categories. You accumulate 3x points at gas stations, eateries, supermarkets, motels, and other travel-related expenses, and 1x points on all other transactions.

In addition, through June 30, 2024, receive a total of 10 ThankYou® points for every $1 spent on hotels, auto rentals, and attractions (excluding air travel). Points are worth $0.01 apiece when redeemed through the ThankYou Rewards system for a statement credit, which, when done correctly, gives you 3% back at petrol stations.

American Express® Gold Card

The Amex Gold Card is ideal for chefs and restaurant connoisseurs who enjoy traveling. However, due to its hefty $250 annual charge, it should only be considered by those who can fully benefit from the card.

The Gold Card does, however, include a sizeable welcome gift and a few annual statement credits to help offset that annual charge. Amex Membership Rewards points can be more or less valuable depending on how they are used, even though it does offer a respectable rewards rate.

For instance, you will receive 0.6 cents for each point you redeem for statement credits, while you will receive 1 cent for each point you use to purchase flights through American Express Travel.

Wells Fargo Active Cash® Card

You don’t have to worry about rewards categories that are activated, categories that are rotating, or which card provides you the most money back with the Wells Fargo Active Cash Card. With no annual fee and a cash rewards rate of 2% on purchases, things are kept simple. You’re in good shape with this card because the majority of credit cards simply provide a flat rate of 1% cash rewards, if any.

Capital One Savor Cash Rewards Credit Card

The Capital One Savor Cash Rewards Credit Card* offers 4% cash back on dining and entertainment, which includes going to bars and restaurants as well as purchasing tickets to plays, sporting events, concerts, theme parks, tourist attractions, zoos, aquariums, pool halls, dance clubs, and bowling alleys. The benefits don’t stop with dining and entertainment, though.

You can also get 1% cash back on everything else and an additional 3% cash back on grocery store purchases (except superstores like Walmart and Target). And Capital One will pay you a $300 welcome bonus as long as you make $3,000 in purchases in the first three months after opening your account.

Blue Cash Everyday® Card from American Express

In comparison to other cards without an annual fee, American Express’s Blue Cash Everyday® Card offers remarkably high cash-back rates on a variety of significant purchase categories.

Regardless of annual fees, the 3% cash-back rate is among the best available for purchasing groceries at U.S. supermarkets, clothing online from U.S. retailers, and gas at U.S. gas stations (note that you’ll have a $6,000 annual spending cap for each of these rewards categories; after that, you’ll earn only 1% cash back). The form of cashback that comes in is in the form of Reward Dollars, which you can redeem for a statement credit.

Capital One Venture Rewards Credit Card

Travelers can earn a respectable 2x miles per dollar for their purchases with the Capital One Venture Rewards Credit Card* in exchange for a $95 annual fee. You can use your miles to pay for future flights with Capital One’s airline partners or to get money back for previous travel expenses. The credit card company has a connection to a relatively small number of US airlines.

Along with a respectable points rate and a generous welcome bonus, the card offers a variety of useful travel benefits, such as main auto rental insurance**, travel accident insurance**, and an application fee credit for Global Entry or TSA PreCheck. The Venture Rewards is a fantastic choice if you’re searching for a new travel credit card for your wallet.

Chase Freedom Flex℠

The level of adaptability that the Chase Freedom Flex* card offers is uncommon among credit cards. Its prizes, which cover a wide range of honors, include both bonus categories that change every three months and static reward categories.

Other credit cards without an annual charge struggle to match their earning potential. Streaming services, Amazon, and grocery store transactions are a few previous rotating categories. Restaurants, drugstores, and directly booked trips through Chase Ultimate Rewards are among the static categories. To help you minimize interest fees, it even features an introductory APR deal.

Discover it® Cash Back

Particularly in the first year after receiving the card, the Discover it® Cash Back* has the potential to be quite profitable. It offers 5% cash back (on up to $1,500 in purchases when you activate, then 1% for categories that rotate every quarter), but Discover will virtually double the cash back you earn for your first year after you first use the card.

Chase Sapphire Reserve®

The Chase Sapphire Reserve is a high-end travel credit card that charges a $550 annual fee but provides a variety of reward redemption possibilities and annual statement credits.

The 1:1 point transfer ratio to Chase’s hotel and airline partners, as well as the 50% redemption bonus when using Chase Ultimate Rewards to redeem your rewards points for travel, are two of its finest benefits. Both strategies might produce greater results than your typical incentive redemption rate.

Types of Rewards Credit Cards

Here’s the breakdown of some of the most common types of reward cards:

Travel

Credit cards with travel rewards provide you the opportunity to convert your rewards—often acquired as points or miles—into vacations. Several travel-related benefits, such as accelerated airport security, access to airport lounges, and the elimination of checked bag fees, are also frequently offered.

Cashback

A clear return on your spending is provided by cash-back credit cards. They often have fewer redemption options and smaller initial bonuses, but they provide a straightforward method for earning credit card rewards. You have the option of depositing the cash back into your bank account or charging it to your credit card debt.

Frequently Asked Questions

Is Cash Back Better than Points?

Cashback is a more understandable notion, although points and cashback both have advantages and disadvantages. Points are frequently more valuable than their cash-back equivalents, even if cash-back may be more widely applicable. You might find that points or cash back are more valuable to you depending on your shopping habits and plans.

Do Credit Card Rewards Expire?

Some credit card bonuses do have an expiration date, the length of account inactivity, or the day on which you shut your account. Read the terms and conditions that come with your card to see whether yours will to find out if it will.

Best Rewards Credit Cards