Dr. Credit Card - All About Credit Card Rewards

Dr. Credit Card - All about Credit Card Rewards (before August 2018)

Updated July 15, 2018. Please see our updated review here.

Top Credit Cards for Rewards

If the Top 10 list is what you need, stop here :-); otherwise, continue to see our detailed recommendations for the best credit cards for earning rewards - we won’t be talking about signup bonus, travel perks, or protection. Before April 2016, we had a page "Dr. Credit Card's Top List" for the best rewards card we recommended, and you may see this new page as a replacement and extension of the old list. We will be discussing two categories of cards simply because they are fundamentally different. We think the first question you need to ask when choosing a rewards card shall be “Do I want cashback/fixed-value rewards or the real miles/points?”

Best Cashback or Fixed-Value Rewards Credit Cards
These cards earn either straightforward cashback or fixed-value rewards miles/points which are not associated with or can’t be transferred to any frequent traveler programs. Fixed-value miles/points can be redeemed for merchandise, gift cards, statement credit, or travel, at fixed value. The advantage of this type of cards is simplicity - you never need to figure out how to maximize the value of your rewards or just how to effectively use your rewards.

For general spending, Citi Double Cash has been our benchmark because of the unlimited 2% cashback with no annual fee; similar cards include Elan Fidelity Visa, Alliant Credit Union Visa Platinum, Synchrony PayPal MasterCard. Once your annual spending is greater than $12K, you will find Alliant Credit Union Visa Signature (unlimited 2.5% cashback, $59 annual fee, waived for the first year) a better option, especially with large annual spending. When you spend just over $25K each year, Barclays Arrival Premier WEMC is tough to beat (3% travel rewards, $150 annual fee). When your combined balance with BofA is 100+K, BofA Premium Rewards Visa or BofA Travel Rewards Visa offers 2.625% cashback. If you reside in one of the nine states where it is available, JCB Marukai Premium is even more attractive with 3% cashback and an effective annual fee of $5, as long as your annual spending is greater than $5K; the downsides are JCB's small credit lines in general as well as its more limited acceptance compared to Visa/MasterCard.
Grocery Stores: Amex Blue Cash Preferred which carries a $75 annual fee but offers 6% cashback on groceries (up to $6,000 in purchases each year) and unlimited 3% on gas and department stores. We hate the annual spending cap on groceries, but Blue Cash Preferred is still arguably the best grocery bonus cashback card out there, except you can handle the quirky but potentially lucrative Amex Old Blue Cash, which offers 5% on groceries, gas, and drugstores (up to $50,000 spent per year) after your first annual $6,500 in purchases.
Gas Stations: Fort Knox Visa offers unlimited 5% cashback on gas without an annual fee. PenFed Platinum Cash Rewards Visa offers the same 5% cashback without an annual fee when you have a certain banking relation with PenFed (such as a checking account with direct deposit). PenFed Platinum Rewards Visa Signature, with no annual fee, offers unlimited 5x points (=4.25%) on gas and 3x on groceries and doesn't require a banking relation. Sam's Club MasterCard ($0 annual fee) offers 5% cashback on gas (up to $6,000 in purchases each year) and 3% on travel & dining, and you need to be a Sam's Club member to have this card. Citi Costco Anywhere Visa ($0 annual fee) offers 4% cashback on gas (up to $7,000 in purchases each year), 3% on travel & dining, and 2% on Costco; you need to be a Costco member to have this card.
Airfare: PenFed Premium Travel Rewards Amex offers unlimited 5x points (=4.25%) on airfare without an annual fee.
Travel & Mobile Wallet: US Bank Altitude Reserve ($400 annual fee, $325 annual travel credit) offers unlimited 3x points (=4.5% travel rewards) on travel & mobile wallet spending.
Dining: US Bank FlexPerks Gold Amex ($85 annual fee) offers 3x points (=4.5% travel rewards) on dining, 2x (=3% travel rewards) on gas and airfare, and 1x everywhere else (=1.5% travel rewards).
Quarterly Rotating Categories: Discover it and Chase Freedom, both without an annual fee, offer 5% cashback on quarterly rotating categories, up to $1,500 in purchases in the 5% categories each quarter.
Pick Your Categories: US Bank Cash+ ($0 annual fee) offers 5% cashback on 2 categories you choose from the 12 categories set by US Bank (unfortunately, gas, groceries, dining, airfare, and hotels are not among the current 12 categories), up to $2,000 in purchases in the 5% categories each quarter.
The category you spend most each month: US Bank FlexPerks Travel Rewards Visa ($49 annual fee, waived for the first year). It offers 2x (=3% travel rewards) on charity, cellphone, and one of the three categories you spend most each month: gas, groceries, or airfare.

Best Miles/Points Credit Cards
These card earn either miles/points of a specific frequent traveler program or points that can be transferred to miles/points of multiple frequent traveler programs. For beginners, please check out our featured review on five programs that allow points transfer to multiple frequent traveler programs: SPG vs. MR vs. UR vs. TY vs. CR. Since the value of these miles/points heavily depends on how your redeem them, they could be extremely lucrative but not easy to figure out. There are some real world examples in our recent post "Five Years of Earning and Redeeming Miles/Points with Credit Card - My Personal Story" if you are interested. Here I copy my explanation of miles/points value: "Basically the value comes down to how much I would pay for an airline ticket or a hotel night if I don’t have miles/points, rather than how much the airline/hotel charges. For example, if a round trip long haul business class ticket retails at $6,000 but will cost 120,000 miles to redeem, my miles value is not 5 cents per mile ($6,000/120,000 miles), but rather 1.8 cents per miles since I am willing to pay ~$2,200 for that ticket." With that squared away, let's look at the our top recommendations for miles/points credit cards that are best for earning you rewards.

Amex SPG Card (annual fee $95, waived for the first year) returns exactly 1 Starpoint per dollar spent for most purchases and 2 Starpoints for Starwood hotel spending. Starpoints are probably the single most valuable currency in the miles/points world due to the fact that they not only are worth a lot when redeemed for Starwood hotels but also can be transferred to around 30 airline partners including American, Delta, Alaska, Virgin America, Hawaiian, Air Canada, British, Singapore, etc. at 1:1 ratio (and 1:1.25 if transferred in bulks of 20K). Many travelers value Starpoints more than 2 cents a piece (we value them at 2.25) and love the ultimate flexibility it provides, and that is how they prefer Amex SPG over those high earning cashback cards. So obviously, Amex SPG is almighty when it comes to general spending.
Chase Sapphire Preferred (annual fee $95, waived for the first year) is another mighty player in the miles/points arena. Generally Sapphire Preferred returns 1 Ultimate Rewards (UR) point per dollar spent - we value a UR point at 1.5 cents after the 2014 devaluation thus its return is less than 2%. However, Sapphire Preferred also offers 2x points (=3%) on travel & dining. What is more important, UR has similar flexibility as SPG when it comes to redemption, which is one great reason to choose it over cashback cards, and UR's transfer partners include United, Southwest, Korean Air, British, Singapore, Hyatt, etc. In addition, when you shop online, you will find that UR Mall provides a great opportunity to rack up huge amount of points. This card used to be stronger in rewards, due to 3x points on airfare through UR and 7% annual dividend on points earned in the previous year, both of which were discontinued in 2016. That is the reason why this card did not make to the current Top 10 Credit Cards for Rewards. However, in August 2016, Chase introduced the high-end Sapphire Reserve (annual fee $450) which is merely $55 more than Sapphire Preferred after considering the $300 annual travel credit and offers 3x points (=4.5%) on travel & dining. Despite the higher annual fee, Sapphire Reserve actually represents better value for most travelers and is thus our #1 recommendation for UR cards.
Amex Membership Rewards (MR) is another program that allows points to be transferred into frequent traveler miles/points, and Amex's partners include Delta, Hawaiian, British, Air Canada, ANA, Singapore, etc. Currently we value a MR point at 1.5 cents a piece. In March 2014, Amex unveiled a new card EveryDay Preferred (EDP), with a $95 annual fee, returning up to 4.5x points (=6.75%), 3x (=4.5%), and 1.5x (=2.25%), on groceries (with an annual spending cap of $6,000), gas, and other purchases, respectively, and we considered it as the most important and exciting new product Amex has brought to us in the last few years. As you can see, EDP is not only crazily lucrative in bonus categories but also on par with Amex SPG when it comes to general spending, and that's why it is ranked #1 credit card for rewards. In June 2015, Amex revamped its Premier Rewards Gold (PR Gold) by increasing the annual fee to $195 (waived for the first year) while introducing $100 annual airline credit, a new 2x category, and waived foreign transaction fees. After using $100 airline credit, the effective annual fee is considered $95, and it has a very powerful 3-2-1 earning structure: 3x points (=4.5%) on airfare, 2x (=3%) on dining & gas & groceries, 1x (=1.5%) everywhere else. Even though its gas and grocery bonuses are not as great EDP's, PR Gold has a wider coverage over four important categories, which is kind of insane. In October 2016, Amex revamped its iconic Platinum Card and added 5x points on airfare (=7.5%), which makes this card a powerhouse for airfare bonus.
Starting October 2014, Citi Prestige (annual fee $450; effectively $200 considering the annual airline credits) offers a 3-2-1 earning structure with an relationship bonus (15% for Citigold and 25% for Private Bank clients). Citi Prestige returns 1x ThankYou (TY) point per dollar spent for general spending, 2x TY points for dining & entertainment, and 3 TY points for airfare & hotels & travel agencies. On the redemption side, TY points may be transferred to several partners including Singapore, Cathay Pacific, Flying Blue, and Etihad, and our current valuation for TY points is 1.5 cents per point. In this way, Prestige returns 4.5%, 3%, and 1.5%, on 3x, 2x, and 1x categories, respectively, before the relationship bonus. In addition, you also enjoy the airport lounge access, hotel privileges, and the highest level of travel and consumer protection among all credit cards. In April 2015, Citi ThankYou Premier (annual fee $95, waived for the first year) was revamped to became even more rewarding than Citi Prestige, returning 1 TY point for general spending, 2 TY points for dining & entertainment, and 3 TY points for travel & gas. To decide which Citicard is better for you requires looking at their differences in annual fees, travel benefits and protection, and bonus categories.
Barclays JetBlue Plus Card (annual fee $99) is a true dark horse in our analysis. Unlike legacy airlines, JetBlue has a revenue based frequent flyer program, and its TrueBlue points can be redeemed for JetBlue flights at an almost fixed-value rate of around 1.4 cents per point. Here while you won't get exciting redemptions like an international long haul business/first class award, you do avoid hassles trying to find an available seat and maximize points value, as TrueBlue points are very straightforward. JetBlue Plus Card has a unique feature that returns 10% points each time you redeem for JetBlue flights, essentially increasing the value of TrueBlue points to 1.55 cents a piece. In addition, JetBlue Plus offers a very competitive 6-2-1 earning structure for JetBlue, dining & groceries, and other purchases (9.3%, 3.1%, and 1.55% respectively) and several valuable perks that easily justify the annual fee, including 5,000 anniversary bonus points, first bags free, and a potential Mosaic status after $50K annual spending. Our biggest concern is that we are not sure if JetBlue will suddenly devaluate its points, as we have seen in many times in the airline/hotel industry. That is exactly the reason why we always recommend miles/points cards with transfer partners over those affiliated with a certain airline or hotel chain, as the former are much more devaluation proof than the latter.
Since introduced in early 2018, Barclays Arrival Premier (annual fee $150) has offered a miles-transfer feature, and Barclays' partners include Japan Airlines, Flying Blue, Etihad, etc. However, the ratio of Arrival Miles to frequent flyer miles is not 1:1 as in most other programs, but 1.4:1 for most partners (except Japan Airlines which requires 1.7:1). As Arrival Premier returns 2-3 Arrival Miles per dollar spent, with the maximum value achieved with an annual spending just over $25K, this translates to an earning rate of 1.4-2.1 frequent flyer miles per dollar spent. Currently we won't value Barclays' partner miles more than 1.4 cent/mile, this again means that Arrival Premier returns 2-3% rewards, conveniently aligned to its fixed value travel option mentioned earlier.

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.

Alliant Visa Signature | Citi Double Cash + one category bonus cashback card: This combo is for people who love cash back! As presented before, Alliant Visa Signature and Citi Double Cash, with 2% - 2.5% cashback, are extremely hard to beat. No doubt you will put most of your spending on one of these 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: Fort Knox Visa ($0 annual fee, 5% on gas) - if you monthly gas expense is $600, the extra cashback beyond 2% is $600 x 12 x 3% = $216; (c) Dining: US Bank FlexPerks Gold Amex ($85 annual fee, 3x dining = 4.5% travel rewards) - if your annual dining expense is $9,000, the extra rewards beyond 2% is $9,000 x 2.5% - $85 = $140; (d) Airfare: PenFed Premium Travel Rewards Amex ($0 annual fee, 5x points on airfare) - if your annual airfare expense is $8,000, the extra rewards beyond 2% is $8,000 x 2.25% = $180; (e) Travel & Mobile Wallet: US Bank Altitude Reserve ($75 effective annual fee, 3x travel & mobile wallet = 4.5% travel rewards) - if your annual spending on 3x categories is $18,000, the extra rewards beyond 2% is $18,000 x 2.5% - $75 = $375; (f) 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; (g) 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; (h) If you are a Costco member, Citi Costco Anywhere Visa is a great card to consider as it covers several bonus categories above 2% at the same time (4% on gas, 3% on travel & dining). Assuming your annual spending on gas, travel (airfare and non-air travel), and dining, is $7,200, $12,000, and $8,000, the extra cashback beyond 2% is $7,200 x 2% + $12,000 x 1% + $8,000 x 1% = $344.
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 Reserve, Sapphire Preferred, Amex EDP, or Citi Prestige as the bonus category card.
Amex EveryDay Preferred + Chase Sapphire Reserve | 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 Sapphire Reserve covers travel & dining (3x). 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 Sapphire Reserve for items that may have price drop within 60 days such as electronics for the Price Protection benefit, and when traveling abroad for the waived foreign transaction fees and embedded EMV chip. Finally, Citi Prestige is an great alternative to Sapphire Reserve, as it offers similar bonus categories: 3x on most travel (airfare, hotels, travel agencies), and 2x on dining & entertainment, and similar and even better consumer protection like Citi Price Rewind and two years of Extended Warranty.
Chase Freedom Unlimited + Chase Sapphire Reserve: 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 our recommended premium UR card Sapphire Reserve, you can transfer the UR points earned from Freedom Unlimited to Sapphire Reserve's account so all of sudden these points become transferable to miles/points or can be redeemed for travel on any airline through Chase at a fixed 1.5 cents per point. 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 Reserve will be the card to charge to for travel & dining (3x). In addition, we recommend using Sapphire Reserve 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 the amazing Chase UR trifecta. UR points earned through Freedom are also transferrable to frequent traveler miles/points when you have Sapphire Reserve, 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) = 21,000) by adding this non-fee card to your wallet. Of course, you still may replace Sapphire Reserve with Sapphire Preferred and the same trick works - points you accumulated from either Freedom or Freedom Unlimited can be transferred to Sapphire Preferred's account and they become transferrable to miles/points.

Best Business Rewards Credit Cards
Until now we have been discussing personal credit cards, and we think we also need a list of for small business owners.

The best business card for general spending is undoubtedly Amex Blue Business Plus, which offers 2x MR points (=3%) up to $50K spent each year without an annual fee.
Amex SPG Business Card ($95 annual fee, waived for the first year) shares all features with the personal version (thus returning 2.25% for general spending) except that it actually adds Sheraton Club access which is a great perk when you stay at a Sheraton hotel with a lounge.
Amex Business Gold Rewards ($175 annual fee, waived for the first year) mimics the popular 3-2-1 earning structure of the personal version. It allows you to select one of the following 5 categories to earn 3x points (=4.5%), up to $100,000 in purchases each year: airfare, U.S. gas, U.S. advertising, U.S. shipping, and U.S. computer (select hardware, software, and cloud computing providers), and 2x points (=3%) on the remaining 4 categories, also up to $100,000 in purchases in each category each year, and finally unlimited 1x everywhere else.
Amex Business Platinum Card ($250 effective annual fee) offers 5x airfare booked through amextravel.com and "Pay with Points" redemption option with fixed value of 1.54 cents per point. Booking airfare through amextravel.com with the Platinum Card doesn't incur booking fees and allows earning frequent flyer miles and enjoying elite benefits, so it is actually a useful feature with a 7.7% return .
Chase Ink Cash (no annual fee) offers a very strong 5-2-1 earning structure: 5x points on office supplies & telecommunication services (up to $25,000 in combined purchases each year), 2x points on gas & dining (up to $25,000 combined each year), and 1x everywhere else. While this is a 5%-2%-1% cashback card by itself, when combined with a premium UR card, the points value 50% more in our book (1.5 cents per point). Actually, the best premium UR card to pair with Ink Cash is no one other than its big brother Ink Preferred ($95 annual fee) which offers 3x points (=4.5%) on travel, shipping, online advertising, and telecommunication services (up to $150,000 in combined purchases each year). Together, the duo covers 7 bonus categories (two 5x, three 3x, two 2x). If you throw in Ink Unlimited (no annual fee) which return 1.5x points for general spending (=3% travel rewards), you will have an incredible UR business trifecta - comparable to the UR personal trifecta discussed before (Sapphire Reserve, Freedom, Freedom Unlimited).
Barclays JetBlue Business Card ($99 annual fee) shares almost the same features as JetBlue Plus Card except that grocery stores is replaced by office supplies in the 2x bonus categories.