All blogs have various links and posts which often gets outdated fairly quickly. It is a pain to maintain them so I am going to maintain this link as the most go to place in the internet – the one with THE facts about the most recent and up to date news related to the best credit card and reward program out there. I will maintain it on a day-to-day basis. So any time tweet or any online talk forum talks about it, I would come here and update it as long as it is the best deal out there. As is the nature of this blog, I am not linking to any affiliates nor any parent companies. If at all required, I will directly link to the bank which issues the credit card. This helps the site stay hygienic.
Without much awaiting, the best credit card program out there today for bonus is:
Personal Sign up Bonus:
Chase Sapphire Preferred (fees waived for first year)
Barclay's Arrival+ Card(fees waived for first year)
American Express Gold/Platinum (if you don't mind the fees)
Personal Ongoing Basis:
American Express Cash (Old one gives 5% cash back after $6500): Nice rewards, category bonuses and a simple, basic card
American Express Blue Cash Preferred (6% up to $6500): Has annual fees but nice rewards!
Chase Freedom : Nice rewards, category bonuses and a simple, basic card
Discover It : Nice category bonuses
Bank of America Cash Rewards – Neat and clean reward structure
AGAIN: There are tons and tons of credit cards out there. So Hilton, Starwood Resorts and IHG branded cards OR Southwest, American Airlines, United branded cards OR 2 % cards from Capital One or Barclay's or Fidelity are all great cards. And makes sense to have some of them in your wallet if you frequent those places or business. But this post is about listing out generic best credit cards. Something that gives you maximum flexibility. For instance, Hilton or Southwest or United pretty much allow you to redeem only on those businesses. While if you put that exact spend on say a Chase or Amex card, chances are you would be free from airlines or hotels come redeem time. Who wants to be tied up to an airline or hotel? Chances are there is a simply a better hotel nearby where you are visiting or there is a couch sharing option or friends nearby. The airlines might not fly to your destination or on your preferred schedule. So like in any business or transaction, CASH IS KING! If you get cash for your points even at a differential of say few cents worth per point, I would say go for the cash.
For instance, many reward points are valued at 1.5 dollars per 100 points if you redeem with them. Rather, redeem for the standard 1 dollar per 100 points and hike a bit? Or maybe explore some alternative form of travel. Lot of cheaper airlines and hotels or motels simply cannot afford to participate in rich rewards programs. So at the end of the day, do you want to go to a place like Hawaii or New York and stay inside a gorgeous hotel or rent a cheap motel to store your stuff while you explore the place? Do you want to rather go to some small town USA and stay at some Marriott family hotel or stay at a local house? Personally, I would stay in a large, opulent hotel chain near an airport since if there is nothing more to explore by. In such cases, I would apply for the appropriate hotel credit cards who would give you a free night at any of their chain hotels rather than few extra thousand points. So, it all depends on scenario and while there is no BEST card, the above listed ones are a good start and ones to maintain along the way.
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