Alliant Credit Union Visa Signature, which carries a $59 annual fee and offers unlimited 3% cashback for the first year and 2.5% cashback thereafter, was introduced earlier this year, but I haven't got a chance to write the review and crunch the numbers until recently.  After Year 1, you need to spend $11,800 a year on this card to beat a 2% cashback card with no annual fees, such as Alliant Visa Platinum Rewards, Citi Double Cash, or Fidelity Visa, as $11,800 x (2.5 - 2)% = $59.  If your have large annual spendings, this card is hugely lucrative - for example, if your annual spending is $100K, you will earn an additional $440 over a 2% card after considering the $59 annual fee.  After I put this card through our analysis considering all four "P" factors, this card becomes the #2 Best Credit Card for Rewards and #9 Best Credit Card by Dr. Credit Card.  Even though we are sad to see one of our longtime favorite Amex Premier Rewards Gold dropping out of the Top 10 list, the more competition the better for the consumers.

If you ever wonder if Alliant Visa Signature is the best cashback card out there when you spend at least $12K a year, there are a few options you may want to look into:

• If you qualify for a USAA Credit Card and keep monthly direct deposit of at least $1,000 in your USAA checking account, you will earn unlimited 2.5% cashback without an annual fee.  However, not everybody is eligible to become a USAA member.

• For BofA customers who has a combined balance of $100K+, the new BofA Premium Rewards Visa will likely be a better card, as it offers unlimited 2.625% cashback for general spending and 3.5% for travel and dining, assuming you will be able to make use of the annual $100 airline incidental credit to effectively cancel out the $95 annual fee.
• Merrill Lynch Octave is by-invitation only and is exclusive to Merrill Lynch's richest clients (requiring at least $10M in asset with them).  If you qualify for this card, the annual fee will be consider $600 after you make use of $350 annual travel credit.  With that, you enjoy a few other travel perks including airfare discount, which may or may not offset the hefty effective annual fees.  However, the biggest perk is 2.5x points earning rate for everything, and your cashback equivalent rate is up to 5%.  Note that you may only achieve 5% by redeeming for tickets that are exactly $500 each.  In reality, it should be reasonable to achieve a redemption value of 1.6 cents per point, then your earning rate will be 4% which is still amazing.

The bottom line: for most consumers, Alliant Visa Signature is the "King of Cashback".  We could only hope that it won't be dramatically changed in the near future.
​
Of course, we have been making other updates throughout the site.  For example, early this week Amex has again brought back limited time offers for the four Delta SkyMiles Amex Cards: personal and business Gold (60K miles + $50), personal and business Platinum (70K miles + 10K MQMs + $100).

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We have been continuing to make updates throughout the site.  Here are the highlights of the week.

• Effective June 1, 2017, Amex Business Platinum has reduced the 50% rebates to 35% for its fixed-value redemption option when you use "Pay with Points".  Amex introduced the 50% rebate feature back in October 2016, essentially making the Membership Rewards (MR) points worth a fixed value of 2 cents each, when buying First or Business Class tickets with any airline through amextravel.com, and Economy Class tickets with your selected airline also through amextravel.com.  We wrote, "This makes Business Platinum Card a 2% & 10% rewards card, for general purchases and airfare, respectively.  In addition, it opens up opportunities for other MR cards to become more valuable, at least on paper.  For example, when paired with Business Platinum Card, EveryDay Preferred will return stunning 9%, 6%, and 3% rewards for grocery, gas, and general purchases; the personal Platinum Card will return 10% rewards for airfare; Amex PR Gold will return 6% and 4% rewards for airfare and gas/grocery/dining."  Amex has come to the conclusion that this feature is too generous and thus decided to kill it.  Now with the reduced 35% rebates, MR points will be worth 1.54 cents each when you use the "Pay with Points" option, and this value is actually similar to our valuation of MR points when you transfer points to the 21 partner airline or hotel programs.  If you applied the card between October 5, 2016 and May 31, 2017, you are allowed to keep the 50% rebates for a full year.
• Chase has brought the best ever signup offers for its Southwest Rapid Rewards Visa cards, you will receive 60,000 points (~$840 in travel rewards) on each of the three cards: Southwest RR Premier Visa, Southwest RR Premier Business Visa, and Southwest RR Plus Visa.  This is the highest signup bonus on these cards.  Please see our review for details and the signup links.  When you sign up two of these cards, you will receive 120,000 points which more than gets you the very lucrative Southwest Companion Pass status.  After you receive the signup bonuses, you will be upgraded to Companion Pass status for the rest of 2017 all the way to February 2019.
• Amex has another round of limited-time offers for its Delta SkyMiles cards: 70,000 miles on Delta Platinum Amex (both personal and business) and 60,000 miles on Delta Gold Amex (both personal and business).  Please see our review for details and the signup links.

Amex Blue Business Plus now replaces Amex Blue Business as the entry level Membership Rewards (MR) business card, with no annual fees.  Not only does it offer better rewards for most consumers - 2x (up to $50K spent per year) vs. 1.3x MR points, but it allows points to be transferred to frequent traveler miles/points without another premium MR card.  Amex Blue Business Plus is the first card ever that returns 2x points for general spending while allowing frequent traveler miles/points transfer.  Previously, the best cards of this type (earning SPG, MR, UR, TY, etc.) "only" return 1.5x points: Freedom Unlimited (no annual fee) returns 1.5x UR points but requires another premium UR card to allow miles/points transfer; Amex EveryDay Preferred ($95 annual fee) returns 1.5x MR points with a requirement of at least 30 transactions per month.  Based on our current valuation of MR points at 1.5 cents a piece, the Blue Business Plus returns an impressive 3% travel rewards for general spending; the only downside is that the 2x applies to the first $50,000 spent each year.  Please see our Amex Blue Business Plus review for details.  We are now even calling this no-fee card the "King of Business Cards" due to its lucrative rewards potential.

UBS has joined the already (over) heated high-end credit card market, with its Visa Infinite credit card.  Its 3-2-1 rewards structure competes well with its competitors, and while the maximum value is 1.8 cents per point (cpp), our more realistic valuation is around 1.5 cpp.  However, bear in mind that these points can not be transferred to frequent traveler points/miles, as in the case of its major competitors, Chase Sapphire Reserve, Citi Prestige, Amex Platinum.  Please see our UBS Visa Infinite review for details.  While it could be potentially rated high on our Top 10 Best Credit Cards list, as UBS's intention is to cater for its ultra affluent clients, we need more time to evaluate how easily accessible it is to regular consumers.  Now if you are not a UBS client, you have to call the 800 number and request an application to be mailed to you.

We have been continuing to make updates throughout the site, including an updated review for Delta SkyMiles Amex Cards with enhanced signup bonus (60K for Gold versions, 70K for Platinum versions)

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Weekly update first. Several pages have been updated.  In addition, there are a few updated signup offers including Amex Platinum Delta SkyMiles 70K miles + 10K MQMs + $100 credit (for both personal and business versions), Amex Gold Delta SkyMiles 50K miles + $50 credit (for both personal and business versions), Amex Hilton Surpass 100K, Amex Hilton 75K, and Citi Hilton Visa 75K; like always, please check out our Promotions page for details. 

Now the biggest news of the week - to respond to Chase Sapphire Reserve, Amex revamps its iconic Platinum Card, both the personal and business versions, and the changes were effective October 6, 2016.  Also Amex brings back the amazing 100K offer for the Business Platinum Card.  Please head over to our Amex Platinum Card Review for everything you will need to know about it, including the 100K offer for the business card.  Here we will highlight the changes.

Amex Platinum Card (personal): 5x Membership Rewards (MR) points on airfare booked with airlines or through Amex Travel website.  When you book airfare via a third party Online Travel Agency such as Expedia, Travelocity, Ortiz, most likely you will be charged directly by the airline so you will still receive 5x points.  Note previously, this card gives 2x points on certain travel (airfare, prepaid hotels, vacation packages, cruise) booked through Amex Travel, and the booking fees are waived for Platinum members.  Looks like this feature is still available but the airfare will earn 5x instead, while other travel continues to earn 2x.  The last thing to note is that while Amex Platinum has the highest level of travel protection among all Amex cards, it still trails behind Citi and Chase in this regard, as Amex doesn't cover family members or award tickets and doesn't offer Trip Cancellation/Interruption, Trip Delay, or Baggage Delay coverage.  This factor might make some travelers use Citi Prestige or Chase Sapphire Reserve for 3x airfare instead of 5x on Amex Platinum.

While Amex Platinum's $450 annual fee may seems hefty, when you make use of the $200 annual airline credit, the effective annual fee becomes $250.  Most savvy card members probably won't use this card for general purchases, as there are better alternatives out there, such as Amex EveryDay Preferred, Amex SPG, Fidelity Visa, Citi Double Cash, just to name a few.  However, the October 2016 enhancement turns this card into a powerhouse for bonus rewards - 5x airfare is the highest among all miles/points cards.  Using our current conservative value of 1.5 cents per MR point, you are getting 7.5% cash equivalent rewards on airfare purchases.  You only need to spend $4,600 a year on airfare to beat the $250 effective annual fee and 2% cashback, because $4,600 x (7.5% - 2%) > $250.  You will need to spend $8,400 a year on airfare to beat the $250 effective annual fee and a miles/points card that offers 3x on airfare such as Amex Premier Rewards Gold, Chase Sapphire Reserve, Citi Prestige, because $8,400 x (5 - 3) point/$ x 1.5 cent/point > $250.  After that, you essentially receive all Platinum Card's great travel perks for free, such as unlimited access to Delta, Alaska, Centurion, and many more domestic and international lounges, Fine Hotels and Resorts, Hilton/SPG/Marriott Gold, and many others.  If you frequent Delta or Alaska and/or depart from a city where there is a Centurion Lounge, this card offers unparalleled value.  If you frequent Hilton Worldwide, Starwood Hotels & Resorts, Marriott International, and/or luxury hotels, this card could also be hugely valuable.

With this important enhancement and its already impressive perks (rated #2), signup bonus (currently 40K), and protection, Amex Platinum finally makes to our Top 10 Best Credit Cards list, even surpassing the other two longtime favorite MR cards - Amex Premier Rewards Gold and Amex EveryDay Preferred.  As a result, the previous #10 Chase United Explorer Visa falls off the list.  Please see below the screenshots of the list before and after October 6, 2016.

Amex Business Platinum Card: (1) 1.5x points on each purchase of $5,000 or more, (2) 50% points rebate when using the "Pay with Points" option, essentially making MR points fixed value at 2 cents a piece, when buying First or Business Class tickets with any airline through Amex Travel, and Economy Class tickets with your selected airline also through Amex Travel.  So the 100K signup bonus of Business Platinum Card is worth at least $2,000!  

Note that you may still choose the other valuable redemption option to transfer MR points to miles/points of several frequent traveler programs, and keep in mind that our current value of MR points for using that option is 1.5 cents a piece, lower than the "Pay with Points" option.  However, these two options are very different in nature, I personally will choose the transfer option even with lower on-paper value, as I know I won't be using my hard earned cash/points to buy international long-haul First or Business Class tickets outright, while transferring points to miles of a frequent flyer program will allow me to have such tickets at a very reasonable rate.  Let's see an example of a recent flight I took: the one-way Suite Class on Singapore Airlines between Tokyo Narita and Los Angeles retails at about $8,000, and if I were to use the "Pay with Points" option, I will need a whooping 400,000 MR points - at exact 2 cents per point value.  However, if I would transfer 74,000 MR points to Singapore miles, I would be able to book this award ticket with the miles + $130 taxes and fees, as long as I find an available seat.  In fact, I did not use my MR points but I transferred my Citi ThankYou points to Singapore miles and I was able to secure not only one seat but two.  If I do math on paper, the value of MR points will be more than 10 cents per point; however, my personal conservative value of them is still around 1.5 cents, as I am willing to pay $1,250 for this ticket (74,000 points x 1.5 cent/point + $130 = $1,250).

Let's come back to see what the changes mean for Business Platinum Card member.  Earning 1.5x points on large purchases (>$5,000) will of course help some members.  However, the enhanced "Pay with Points" is more interesting to most members, as this makes Business Platinum Card a 2% rewards card for general spending with a $250 effective annual fee.  In addition, it opens up opportunities for other MR cards to become more valuable as MR points will be pooled together automatically.  For example, EveryDay Preferred will return staggering 9%, 6%, and 3% rewards for grocery, gas, and general purchases; the personal Platinum Card will return 10% rewards for airfare; Premier Rewards Gold Card will return 6% and 4% rewards for airfare and gas/grocery/dining.

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Please check out our Promotions page for currently the best offers including four new offers: 60,000 miles on Citi AA Executive WEMC, 60,000 miles + 10,000 MQMs + $100 credit on Amex Delta Platinum SkyMiles (personal or business), 50,000 miles + $50 credit on Amex Gold Delta SkyMiles (personal or business), and 30,000 miles + $100 credit + a $99 companion certificate on BofA Alaska Visa.

Our Points page has been updated to reflect our revised recommendations for the Best Two-Card Combos, which we copy below:

Best Rewards Credit Card Combos
Theoretically you need way too many cards to maximize rewards - one for gas, one for groceries, one for dining, one for airfare, one for hotels, one for general spending, and so on.  In real life, most of us can't manager that.  That is why here we will recommend the best two-card combos that will hand you much bigger rewards than a single card while still keeping things manageable.

• Fidelity Visa | Citi Double Cash + one category bonus cashback card: This combo is for people who love cash back!  As presented before, Fidelity Visa and Citi Double Cash, both with no annual fees and offer a straightforward unlimited 2% cashback, are extremely hard to beat.  Of course, you may also consider Barclays Arrival Plus for 2.11% travel rewards and other added benefits come with the $89 annual fee.  No doubt you will put most of your spending on one of these three cards.  However, adding a 5% category bonus card will certainly get you more cash.  You need to do your math to figure out which category you spend the most and how much you can earn by carrying an extra card.  Say if you spend $500 each month on a 5% category, every year you will earn $500 x 12 x (5-3)% = $180 beyond your normal 2% cash back by carrying this extra card.  Some people may say "$180 is awesome! I am in." but some may say "For the hassle of remembering which card to use, I will pass."  So it is totally up to you.  Now let's look into the most popular bonus categories to give you some ideas: (a) Groceries: Amex Blue Cash Preferred ($75 annual fee, 6% on groceries for up to $6,000 spent each year) - to maximize cashback, you will spend $6,000 a year on groceries and the extra cashback you earn beyond 2% is $6,000 x 4% - $75 = $165; (b) Gas: PenFed Platinum Rewards Visa Signature ($0 annual fee, 5x points on gas) - if you monthly gas expense is $600, the extra cashback  beyond 2% is $600 x 12 x 2.25% = $162;  (c) Airfare: PenFed Premium Travel Rewards Amex ($0 annual fee, 5x points on airfare) - if your annual airfare expense is $8,000, the extra cashback beyond 2% is $8,000 x 2.25% = $180; (d) Chase Freedom or Discover it ($0 annual fee, 5% on quarterly rotating categories, up to $1,500 spent each quarter) - the annual maximum extra cashback beyond 2% is $1,500 x 4 x 3% = $180; (e) US Bank Cash+ ($0 annual fee, 5% on two categories you select, up to $2,000 spent each quarter) - the annual maximum extra cashback beyond 2% is $2,000 x 4 x 3% = $240.
• Amex SPG + Amex Premier Rewards Gold | Citi ThankYou Premier: This powerful combo is for people who prefer miles/points to cashback.  Amex SPG will be the card for most general spending, as it has the highest return rate (=2.25%) among all four programs that allow points transfer to frequent traveler miles/points.  Then, you may choose between PR Gold and ThankYou Premier as the second card.  Both offer very powerful bonus categories: PR Gold covers airfare (3x) and gas & groceries & dining (2x); ThankYou Premier covers gas & travel (3x) and dining & entertainment (2x).  While Amex MR points and Citi ThankYou points are worth pretty much the same in our book, which card to pick eventually depends on your spending patterns and the frequent traveler programs you have in mind for transfer.  Finally, you may also consider Sapphire Preferred, Amex EDP, or Citi Prestige as the bonus category card.
• Amex EveryDay Preferred + Citi Prestige: We highly recommend this combo as an alternative to the previous one, for the simple reason that the two cards complement each other in the bonus categories almost too perfectly.  With 30 transactions per month, EDP offers highest return for groceries (4.5x, up to $6,000 spent each year) and gas (3x), while Prestige covers airfare & hotels & travel agencies (3x) and dining & entertainment (2x).  So with this combo, you can easily cover the five most important bonus categories: grocery, gas, dining, airfare, and non-air travel, with only two cards - that is an incredible deal!  As for general spending, EDP returns higher rewards at 1.5x (=2.25%) and will be ideal for most purchases.  However, we recommend using Citi Prestige for items that may have price drop within 60 days such as electronics for the Citi Price Rewind benefit, and when traveling abroad for the waived foreign transaction fees and embedded EMV chip.
• Chase Freedom Unlimited + Chase Sapphire Preferred: Even though Chase Freedom Unlimited is branded as a cashback card, it actually earn UR points at 1.5x for all purchases without an annual fee.  Normally you won't be able to transfer UR points earned through Freedom Unlimited to frequent traveler miles/points since it is a lower tier UR product, limiting the value of a point at 1 cent.  However, the secret here is that if you have a premium UR card such as Sapphire Preferred, you can transfer the UR points earned from Freedom Unlimited to Sapphire Preferred account so all of sudden these points become transferable to miles/points.  This hugely increases the value of Freedom Unlimited, making it returning an impressive 2.25% cashback equivalent for general spending based on our current valuation of UR points.  Obviously, Sapphire Preferred will be the card to charge to for travel & dining (2x).  In addition, we recommend using Sapphire Preferred for foreign travel and items that may have price drop within 90 days.  Lastly, if you don't mind having three cards in your wallet, adding Chase Freedom, which returns 5x on quarterly rotating categories, will make amazing Chase UR triplets.  UR points earned through Freedom are also transferrable to frequent traveler miles/points when you have Sapphire Preferred, and then Freedom returns an incredible 7.5% on 5x categories.  Bear in mind there is a quarterly $1,500 spending cap for the 5x categories on Freedom, so if you do everything exactly right, you will be earning an extra 21,000 UR points a year (1,500 x 4 x (5 - 1.5) = 24,000) by adding this non-fee card to your wallet.

This is the best signup offer so far this year - our value is $1,250!  

​American Express Platinum Card has always been one of the best cards for perks and protection.  The regular signup bonus is 40,000 points, and through this special offer, you will receive 100,000 points after spending $3,000 within 3 months of new account opening, if you don't have or have never had this product before.  Our current value for Membership Rewards points is 1.5 cents a piece, and the card comes with a $450 annual fee which is not waived for the first year.  However, you may receive up to $200 annual airline incidental credit.  So our valuation for this signup bonus is 100,000 points x 1.5 cents/point - $450 +$200 = $1,250.  That is why this offer is currently listed as #1 on the best promotions page.
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Application Landing Page

Amex EveryDay Preferred has been one of our favorite cards since its launch in March 2014.  Our major complaint about this card is its relatively modest signup bonus of 15,000 points, especially compared to the great offering from other cards.  Now for a limited time, Amex has doubled the signup bonus: you will receive 30,000 Membership Rewards points, which can be transferred to miles of British, Delta, Hawaiian, Air Canada, ANA, Singapore, Cathay Pacific, etc, after you spend $2,000 within 3 months of new account opening.  Note that the $95 annual fee is NOT waived for the first year as always.

Amex has recently been trying something new when offering a signup promotion to customers.  Looks like that people may get different offers when visiting Amex website.  If you follow the following steps, you will most likely get the 30K offer on EveryDay Preferred:

1. open your browser in incognito mode (in Google Chrome, or InPrivate mode in Internet Explorer, or Private mode in Firefox or Safari);
2. visit Amex website and find EveryDay Preferred or simply visit https://www.americanexpress.com/us/credit-cards/amex-everyday-preferred/ - most likely you will see the 30K offer;
3. if you still have the 15K offer showing, clear cookies in your browser and try again or use a different browser.

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Amex has been running 75K signup promotions for its Business Gold Rewards Card, one of our Top Listers, for a long time and they have always been limited time offers (sometimes lasted only one day).  Earlier this year, Amex has been keeping a link for a similar offer for widely targeted customers.  You will need to visit the link below and log into your Amex account to see if you qualify for 75,000 points.  If you receive an error then you probably don't qualify.  You will need to spend $5,000 within 3 months of new account opening to receive 75,000 Membership Rewards points, which can be transferred to miles/points of Delta, Hawaiian, Air Canada, British, Singapore, Cathay Pacific, ANA, and many other airline or hotel partners.  As always, the $175 annual fee is waived for the first year.

Landing Page

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Amex has a promotional offer for one of our Top Listers Premier Rewards Gold Card - you will receive 50,000 Membership Rewards points after you open a new account and spend $1,000 within 3 months.  The regular offer is 25,000 points.  The first year annual fee is waived, saving $195.  Please note that the signup bonus will NOT be given if you have or previously had this product.

However, there is no public link that works for everyone.  Amex has recently been trying something new when offering a signup promotion to customers.  Looks like that people may get different offers when visiting Amex website.  Don’t worry, if you follow the following steps, you will most likely get the 50K offer on the PR Gold:

1. open your browser in incognito mode (in Google Chrome, or InPrivate mode in Internet Explorer, or Private mode in Firefox or Safari);
   
2. visit Amex website and find the Premier Rewards Gold Card - most likely you will see the 50K offer;
   
3. if you still have the 25K offer showing, clear cookies in your browser and try again or use a different browser.

Also for a limited time, Amex is also running a promotion offer for its Platinum Card - you will receive 100,000 Membership Rewards points after you open a new account and spend $3,000 within 3 months.  The regular offer is 40,000 points.  The $450 annual fee is NOT waived.  Steep the annual fee may seem, after taking advantage of the $200 annual airline credit, your effective annual fee becomes $250 and you could enjoy some very valuable perks such as airport lounge access, Fine Hotels and Resorts, reimbursed Global Entry application fees, etc.  That is why it is not only on our Top List, but also recommended as one of cards worth paying annual fees without spending.  Please note that the signup bonus will NOT be given if you have or had this product.  

You can follow similar steps listed above; however, the 100K offer on the Platinum Card is much harder to come by - you may need to try dozens of times.  If you prefer calling Amex instead, you can give them the POID code BUIU:0001 and they will be able to find the 100K offer for you.

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Amex has offered increased signup bonus to 30,000 points (from the regular 25,000 points) for its Amex SPG, for several summers in a row.  Now it is back through September 14, 2015.  This time, you will need to spend $3,000 within 3 months to receive 30K points for the personal card version, and you will need to spend $5,000 within 3 months to receive 30K points for the business card version.  Our current valuation of Starpoints is 2.25 cents per point, thus the signup bonus for each card will be $675.  If you sign up both personal and business cards, you will receive 60,000 points.

Also note that even though the annual fee is waived for the first year, it has been increased from $65 to $95 effective today.  However, Amex does bring a few new perks to justify the increase in annual fees: waived foreign transaction fees, complimentary unlimited Boingo Wi-Fi plan, complimentary premium internet at participating Starwood hotels, and finally access to Sheraton Club Lounges for business cardholders.  We have updated our review to reflect these changes. 

Landing page for personal card
Application page for personal card
Landing Page for business card
Application page for business card

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