Best Credit Card Signup Offers

** Note: It’s been a while since I’ve updated this page. Some information/links may not be accurate. Consider it “under construction” for now. If you have a question about a particular card or are looking for a link for a particular card, leave a comment, and I’ll get back to you. Thanks.**

Below are two tables:

  1. My ranking of the best credit cards based on first year value
  2. My valuation of how much miles and points are worth

I recommend viewing the below tables in their original form here: Best Credit Card Signup Offers Google Sheet. They are easier to navigate there, the appropriate rows and columns are frozen, etc. Plus, you can filter and sort according to your preferences. That said, I’m including them here so that you can get a quick view:

Best Credit Card Signup Offers

How Much are Miles and Points Worth?

A couple of notes:

  • Before signing up for credit cards, please read this post on signing up for credit cards and this post on the affect of credit card applications on one’s credit score, where I provide some cautions.
  • I always display the absolute best offer that I am aware of for a card, regardless of whether I receive a commission if you apply for it using my link.
  • Please comment below if you find any errors in the information I provide, if a link no longer works, if you find a better offer, if there is another card you’d like me to feature, etc. I will update the list based on those comments. I will then comment back to let everyone know that I’ve made the change.
  • If you want to be notified of those comments, you can subscribe to the comment thread by clicking here.

I’m grateful to FrequentMiler, Doctor of Credit, and The Points Guy, whose posts on miles, points, and credit cards have influenced my thinking in these areas and aided me in my valuation of miles, points, and credit card signup bonuses.

Disclosure of Material Connection: Links in the post above may be “affiliate links.” This means if you click on the link and purchase the item, I will receive an affiliate commission. I only recommend products or services I believe will add value to my readers. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255: “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”

Please note: I reserve the right to delete comments that are offensive or off-topic.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

17 thoughts on “Best Credit Card Signup Offers”

  1. Thanks for compiling all of this info Brian! It is super helpful! Two questions:
    1: Does it affect my credit score to be an authorized user for one of my husbands credit cards?
    2: Can you explain the difference between business vs personal cards. Ie. What requirements must be met to get a business card, and can you only use them on business expenses?

    Thanks!

    Reply

    • Great questions, Jennifer.

      1) It *can* affect your credit score to be an authorized user, but it doesn’t always. The way in which it can do so is if the bank reports the account on which you are an AU to Experian, Equifax, and/or Transunion. In such cases, you absorb the primary cardholder’s account history for the card to which you’re added. To understand the complexities of the issue as and to get a feel for which card issuers are likely to report your AU card to a credit bureau, check out this post: http://www.doctorofcredit.com/how-does-being-an-authorized-user-affect-your-credit/

      I no longer recommend that spouses add each other as authorized users. That’s because Chase won’t approve you for most of their best cards if it appears you have opened 5 or more cards in the past 24 months (the “5/24 Rule”), and being added as an AU usually counts toward that tally.

      2) Personal cards usually provide more protections than business cards. Business cards can be gotten even if you just have a “sole proprietorship,” in which case you can apply for the business card using your SSN instead of a business EIN. One thing to pay attention to, however, are the terms of the business card. Some cards state something to the effect of the need for you to use the card for business expenses. I’m not a lawyer, but it seems to me that as long as you have some business expenses and charge them to the card, you shouldn’t have a problem abiding by that term. But other business cards’ terms state that you must use the card *only* for business expenses. In that case, you wouldn’t be able both to abide by the terms and to meet the minimum spend unless you have substantial business expenses.

      Reply

  3. Dr. McAdam,

    Great Blog! Question: If your intent is to travel, would you rather have travel points rewarded you or straight cash. My thought is that with cash I have more freedom; to search the cheapest flight, at the right time, going to the right place (aka Mexico). Do you think this is a true assumption?

    Reply

  4. Dr. McAdam,

    Another question if I may: Given the fact that closing credit cards can hurt your credit score, these deals that have annual fees attached to them are huge deterrents for me given that in a few years the initial deal that’s offered is almost entirely eaten up by the ongoing annual fee. How do you avoid this? or is it not that big of a ding on credit scores to close credit cards?

    Thanks,

    Blake

    Reply

    • I’d like to know the answer to Blake’s question about closing credit cards and impact on credit score, too. Please send a link to the blog post if you have answered it some where.

      Reply

      • Steve,

        Thanks for your comments on the blog tonight. While approving them, I actually noticed that two from Blake, include the one above, were in the comment section’s trash can. I approved the above comment (from July 10) minutes before you commented on it! Ha.

        Ok, it’s a great question. But there’s a good answer to it.

        Closing a credit card does hurt one’s credit score but only a little. Moreover, that little bit of hurt occurs 10 years after closing the card. That’s because the card stays on your credit report for 10 years after you close it, only falling off thereafter. Read more here: https://www.brianmcadam.com/how-to-travel-for-free-part-3

        But the second piece of the puzzle is that closing the card is not the only way to avoid the big annual fee. In many cases, it is possible to “downgrade” to a no-annual-fee card before the card’s big annual fee comes due at the start of the card’s second year of card membership. As examples, you can downgrade the Citi Prestige ($450 annual fee) to the Citi ThankYou Preferred (no annual fee) or the Chase Sapphire Reserve ($450 annual fee) to the Chase Sapphire (no annual fee). [Note that the Chase Sapphire is a different card from the Chase Sapphire *Preferred*.] Downgrading does not count as a closed card, thereby avoiding the small ding your credit will suffer 10 years down the road.

        Thanks for the great question. Let me know if either of you have follow-up questions.

        Reply

  5. Hi Brian –

    What’s the best way to earn my next SW bonus/miles? I currently have the Southwest Rapid Rewards card and I got the sign-on bonus a couple years ago when I got the card. My miles have dwindled b/c I used them. I have a trip to Mexico in October 2018 that I’d like to use points to book for the flight, but I don’t currently have enough. Should I close the Rapid Rewards and then open the Rapid Rewards Premier Business to get the bonus? Or, do I lose the points when I close the previous card? Or, something else?

    From my understanding, I can’t keep the first card AND open the Premier to get the bonus. I do have a couple other airlines that have available points, but I’d rather save them for European travel, and I like the flexibility of SW flights due to the nature of the trip.

    Seeking your advice while sights set on Mexico,
    -melissa

    Reply

  6. Are you still receiving referral bonuses for the above links? If not, I’ll help out another blogger. You’re my first choice!

    Reply

  7. Do you have any posts about what spouses should consider when deciding if they should both be authorized users for a card? I saw somewhere in your posts/comments that you no longer recommend spouses to both be AUs. I’d love to read a little more about that. Thanks for sharing your skills so families can maximize what matters most!

    Reply

    • Bailey,

      Thanks for the comment, and great question. Unfortunately, I don’t have a post on the topic. Here’s a post from Doctor of Credit, but it’s old. Googling around, I can’t actually find a good, recent post on the topic. . . .

      Back in the day, my wife and I almost always added the other person as an authorized user. We did so to take advantage of the often smallish (~5k) bonus for adding an AU. And we could help each other meet minimum spend.

      Everything changed with the onset of Chase’s 5/24 rule, however. According to that rule, Chase typically will not approve you for most of their cards if you have opened five or more credit cards from any issuer in the past 24 months. And offers from Chase tend to be among the best. The kicker is that Chase typically counts authorized user cards toward your 5/24 tally. If you plan to sign up for a goodly number of credit cards, the slight benefits of adding a spouse as an AU are eclipsed by the detriment of that AU card blocking the spouse’s ability to earn a new signup bonus with Chase. (If you both intend to stay well under 5/24, even with AU cards, however, then adding an AU can be fine.)

      I hope that helps. If you have any follow-up questions, let me know.

      Reply