The Top 25 Credit Cards

 

Time for the monthly edition of my Top 25 Credit Cards. Again, if you’re a newbie, make sure you read The Newbie Guide. Many of your questions will be answered there. Basic things like not applying for 3 Chase cards at the same time should be known before you continue. For people running out of cards, remember there’s often a Business card option. I listed a few here but not many, so it might be worth exploring more Business cards. Also, “churning” might be an option. The dates here are a guideline but things always tend to vary individually.

Miles and points aren’t an equal currency. 50,000 Delta Skymiles are worth less to me than 50,000 miles from pretty much any other airline. 25,000 Hyatt points are worth a ton more than 25,000 Hilton points. And so on. These links work right now (May 16th at midnight). If you read this later, many of the offers will have changed. Things move fast in this game so read the offer details before applying. Here we go! My Top 25 current credit cards in order are…

 

  • American Airlines Executive (Citibank)
    • Spend $10,000 in 3 months. Get 100,000 miles.
    • Lounge access plus $200 statement credit.
    • Big $450 fee is worth it for this amount of miles.
  • Ink Bold and/or Ink Plus (Chase)
    • Spend $5,000 in 3 months. Get 60,000 points.
    • The points transfer to United, Southwest, British, Hyatt, etc.
    • 5 times the points on purchases at office stores.
  • Sapphire (Chase)
    • Spend $3,000 in 3 months. Get 40,000 points.
    • Still very valuable points. See Ink cards above.
    • One of my favorite cards to use when I don’t have any spends to meet.
  • American Airlines cards (Citibank)
    • Spend $3,000 in 3 months. Get 50,000 miles.
    • Read the Flyertalk wiki post for the most current links.
  • US Airways (Barclays)
    • Spend $1. Get 40,000 miles.
    • It’s a good time to grab your American and US Airways miles.
  • Southwest (Chase)
    • Spend $2,000 in 3 months. Get 50,000 points.
    • Business card links are at the same link. Scroll to the bottom.
    • You don’t want to wait much longer to start the Companion Pass process.
  • Lufthansa (Barclays)
    • Through the end of June, spend $5,000 in 90 days. Get 50,000 miles.
    • This one comes and goes pretty often.
  • Mercedes Benz Platinum (American Express)
    • Spend $3,000 in 3 months. Get 50,000 Amex Membership Rewards points.
    • Giant $475 fee but benefits like global entry credit and $200 airline fee credit.
    • A no-fee for the first year Platinum card  is here.
  • Platinum (American Express)
    • Spend $3,000 in 3 months. Get 40,000 points.
    • Temporary increase from the usual 25,000 points.
    • Incredible benefits, but $450 annual fee. $200 in credits does help.
  • Starwood Preferred Guest aka SPG (American Express)
    • Spend $5,000 in 6 months. Get 25,000 points.
    • Incredible card. I always hold either the Personal or Business version.
    • I really, really love cash + points for hotel stays.
  • Marriott (Chase)
    • Spend $1,000 in 3 months. Get 70,000 points and a free night.
    • These point are a little underrated. Also a Business card option here.
  • Hilton Honors Reserve (Citibank)
    • Spend $2,500 in 4 months. Get 2 weekend nights. Best Hilton card.
    • Gold status as long as you have the card. Upgrades, breakfast, internet, etc.
    • They just added a $100 statement credit to this offer.
  • British Airways (Chase)
    • Spend $2,000 in 3 months. Get 50,000 points.
    • 100,000-point offer recently ended (for now).
  • Club Carlson Premier (US Bank)
    • Spend $2,500 in 90 days. Get 85,000 points.
    • Great hotel card and not from the usual issuers.
  • InterContinental Hotel aka IHG aka Priority Club (Chase)
    • Spend $1,000. Get 80,000 points.
    • One of the most underrated hotel cards out there.
    • This is now a MasterCard. Watch the 90 second video using code MIAMBXWF09.
  • Hyatt (Chase)
    • Spend $1,000 in 3 months. Get 2 nights at any Hyatt.
    • Even more valuable after the point devaluation.
  • Fairmont Hotel (Chase)
    • Spend $1,000 in 3 months. Get 2 nights and breakfast at any Fairmont.
    • Again, many of these hotels are very expensive.
  • Barclay Arrival (Barclays)
    • Spend $1,000 in 3 months. Get 40,000 miles.
    • One of the best cards for actual spending, as discussed here.
  • United Airlines (Chase)
    • Log in and see if you are targeted for the 50,000-mile offer.
    • A good business version can be found here.
  • Alaska Airlines (Bank of America)
    • Spend $1. Get 25,000 miles.
    • Possible 30,000-mile offer here. 40,000 for elites.
    • Bank of America cards can be MUCH more “churnable” than most.
  • Virgin Atlantic (Bank of America)
    • 50,000 miles for spending $1 and adding users.
    • Again, Bank of America is more churnable than most.
    • Just added a Global Entry credit, in case you’re looking to save the TSA PreCheck application fee.
  • SimplyCash Business (Amex)
    • A very strong cashback card option.
    • Get 3% on chosen category (including gas stations) and huge 5% at office stores.
  • Premier Gold (Amex)
    • Possible 50,000 points, rather than the usual 25,000.
    • A bit of a pain, but you can see if you’re targeted.
  • Propel (Wells Fargo)
    • Spend $3,000 in 3 months. Get 40,000 points.
    • A solid new offering, and again, it’s always good to see cards from different banks.
    • Here’s a solid Business card from Wells Fargo.
  • Hawaiian Airlines (Barclays)
    • Spend $1,000 in 3 months. Get 35,000 miles.
    • Business version is here.
  • FlexPerks (US Bank)
    • Spend $3,500. Get 20,000 FlexPoints.
    • Thanks to Christopher F. for getting me to add this card to the list.
  • Frontier Airlines (Barclays)
    • Spend $500 in 3 months. Get 40,000 miles.
    • Frontier miles aren’t for everyone.
  • Thank You (Citibank)
    • Weird offer. 20,000 points for spending $2,000 in 3 months. Then 30,000 more points for spending $3,000 in first 3 months of 2nd year.
    • Bonuses on this card go up/down often.
  • Ritz Carlton (Chase)
    • Spend $2,000 in 3 months. Get a free night.
    • Huge $395 annual fee, but nice benefits including $200 airline credit.
    • 2 MUCH better possible offers here. One with no fee and the other for 140,000 points.
  • Korean (US Bank)
    • Spend $1. Get 30,000 miles.
    • Good until the end of May.
  • Delta (American Express)
    • See if you’re targeted for a 50,000 mile offer.
    • Delta Skymiles are…well…not good.
  • Hilton Honors (American Express)
    • Spend $750 in 3 months. Get 40,000 points.
    • Hilton points are definitely not what they used to be.
  • Hilton Honors Surpass (American Express)
    • Spend $3,000 in 3 months. Get 60,000 points.
    • Get the previous card, and you’ll get tons of offers to upgrade to this one.
  • Hilton Honors (Citibank)
    • Spend $1,000 in 4 months. Get 40,000 points.
    • Between the 4 cards, you have LOTS of Hilton options.
    • They added a $50 credit for this one.
  • Prestige (Citibank)
    • Spend $2,000 in 3 months. Get 30,000 points.
    • Nice benefits including $200 credit, but huge $450 annual fee.
  • Virgin America (Comenity)
    • 2 different card offers I discussed here.
    • Issued by Comenity Bank, which is the best thing about these cards.
  • LAN (US Bank)
    • 20,000 miles for opening. 3 upgrade coupons each year.
    • Down from a 40,000 mile offer.
  • Freedom (Chase)
    • Worth having in your collection for the 5% quarterly bonuses.
    • No decent sign-up bonus right now, so no good spot on the list.
  • Choice Hotel (Barclays)
    • You’re truly running out of cards if you’re still reading this far.
    • I leave this as the last card mostly out of tradition.

Recently Dropped:

  • LifeMiles (US Bank) – Dropped from 40,000 to 20,000 miles.
  • AirTran (Chase) – This one looks to be gone for good.
  • Venture (Capital One) – 50,000-mile offer ended.
  • Wyndham (Barclays)  – Because, who really cares?
  • Business Gold Rewards (American Express) – No good bonus. You’ll see one soon.
  • Best Western (Barclays) – Again, who really cares?