Rewards Credit Cards

Rewards credit cards are great for people who don't carry a monthly credit card balance. When used as your primary card, a rewards credit card can quickly help you get that flat panel TV or trip to Hawaii.

A word of caution, however, if you carry a monthly balance: since rewards credit cards often have a higher interest rate, you will pay for any rewards you accumulate many times over in interest. If you can avoid that, below are some of our favorite credit cards with rewards.

Recommmended just for you

Chase Freedom® Visa - $200 Bonus Cash Back

  • Earn $200 Bonus Cash Back after you make $500 in purchases in your first 3 months
  • 5% Cash Back on up to $1,500 spent at gas stations and on Amazon.com from 1/1/12 - 3/31/12
  • You'll enjoy new 5% categories every 3 months like supermarkets, gas, drugstores and even home improvement stores. It's free and easy to activate your bonus each quarter!
  • Unlimited 1% Cash Back on all other purchases without limits on what you can earn
  • Up to an additional 10% Cash Back when you shop online at select merchants through Chase
  • No annual fee and rewards never expire

Why we recommend it...

As if one of our favorite credit cards couldn’t get better, Chase Freedom Visa is rolling out with more ways to earn cash back on its rewards program. Cardholders can earn $200 bonus cashback after making $500 in purchases in the first 3 months — and that’s just the start of your rewards-earning opportunities.

Cardholders get a standout 5% cash back earning power in bonus categories such as gas and groceries, which changes every quarter so you are never locked into a single category. Enroll each quarter and watch your earnings grow with this generous bonus cash back feature.

Plus, take a look at all the original reasons we love this card: earn 1% cash back on every purchase, up to 10% bonus cash back at select merchants, competitively low interest, no limits or expiration on cashback rewards, and no annual fee!

The Chase Freedom Card is our go-to card to earn rewards while avoiding fees, interest costs, and hassle.

Pros:

  • $200 cash back when you make $500 in purchases
  • No annual fee

Cons:

  • Need good credit
Credit Score Approval Data †

701

Average Credit Score Approved for this Card

626

Lowest Credit Score Approved for this Card

Capital One® VentureSM Rewards Credit Card

  • Money® Magazine's "Most Rewarding Card if you crave free airline flights"
  • 2 miles per dollar on every purchase, every day
  • Redeem your miles for ANY travel expense
  • Earn 10,000 bonus miles, equal to $100 in travel
  • No limit on the miles you can earn and miles won't expire
  • Fly free on any airline, any time with no blackout dates
  • No foreign transaction fees
  • $0 intro annual fee for the first year; $59 after that

Why we recommend it...

This card offers an excellent, easy-to-navigate airline miles reward program for good credit cardholders looking to seriously bulk up on their travel time. Aptly named the Venture Rewards card, it takes all the fuss out of complicated reward-earning terms and gives optimal flexibility and options when managing and redeeming points. Earn miles faster with a simple and generous 2 miles for every dollar spent, and you never have to worry about blackout dates, seat restrictions, or being limited to specific carriers to redeem your miles.

The Venture Rewards card Cap One also provides improved customer service benefits with new exclusive award-winning customer service and Visa Signature benefits like complimentary concierge and travel upgrades.

Pros:

  • Earn 10,000 bonus miles, equal to $100 in travel
  • 2 miles per dollar on every purchase, every day

Cons:

  • Need Excellent Credit to qualify
  • Annual Fee
Credit Score Approval Data †

725

Average Credit Score Approved for this Card

649

Lowest Credit Score Approved for this Card

Additional rewards credit cards

Capital One® VentureOne(SM) Rewards Credit Card

  • 1.25 miles per dollar on every purchase, every day
  • Earn 10,000 bonus miles, equal to $100 in travel
  • Redeem miles for airline tickets, hotel rooms, car rentals and more
  • No limit on the miles you can earn and miles won't expire
  • Fly free on any airline, any time with no blackout dates
  • 0% intro APR on purchases until February 2013
  • No foreign transaction fees
  • No annual fee

Starwood Preferred Guest® Business Credit Card from American Express OPEN

  • Earn up to 25,000 Starpoints® – Receive 10,000 Starpoints after your first purchase, and another 15,000 bonus Starpoints when you spend $5,000 in 6 months – enough for up to 6 free nights at a Category 1 or 2 hotel.
  • Redeem Starpoints at over 1,000 hotels and resorts in nearly 100 countries, and for flights on more than 350 airlines through SPG Flights. No blackout dates.
  • $0 introductory annual fee for the first year, then $65

SimplyCash® Business Card from American Express OPEN

  • Get 5% cash back on wireless services and office supply purchases*
  • Get 3% cash back on automobile gasoline*
  • Get 1% cash back on other purchases*
  • No limit to the amount of cash back you can earn
  • Cash back on purchases is automatically credited to your statement each month
  • Save 3%-10% automatically on business expenses from FedEx, Hertz®, OfficeMax®, and more with OPEN Savings®*
  • No annual membership fee

* See the online Provider's credit card application for details about terms and conditions. Reasonable efforts are made to maintain accurate information. However all credit card information is presented without warranty. When you click on the "Take Offer" button, you can review the credit card terms and conditions on the provider's website.

† Credit Karma members have received approvals with these Credit Karma credit scores. These approval metrics are only guidelines and approval is not guaranteed. You can learn more about credit card approval through our in-depth article.

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