Best Cash Back Credit Cards - late Dec 2018

Cash back credit cards are a dime a dozen.  With so many out there, which one is best?  In response to a friend asking about the best cash back credit card for a small business, today I did some research and came up with what I think are the best cash back credit cards worth signing up for right now.

Referral Links

The Chase Ink Business Preferred is the only card in this post for which I have a referral link.  If you decide to apply for this card, please use my link, as I'll earn 20,000 Chase points when you are approved!  The signup bonus via referral is 80,000 points - same as the public offer on the Chase website.

Chase Ink Business Preferred - referral link

General Comments

• Personal credit cards can be used for business expenses, and vice versa
• Business cards usually have larger signup bonuses than personal cards
• Signup bonuses on cash back credit cards are generally smaller than the signup bonuses on travel points credit cards
• Some cards allow their 'travel points' to be redeemed for cash back (usually at 1 cent per point)...these can be very flexible cards, but not ideal if you plan / want cash back as your rewards currency.  Chase Freedom Unlimited and Chase Ink Business Preferred are two great examples of this rare type of card that's flexible enough to provide the best of both worlds.
• Category bonuses can make a significant difference in the amount of rewards earned via card spend.  Many cards offer 5% cash back in certain categories. If you have expenses that may fall in dining, travel, gasoline, office supply, utilities, grocery...these categories often have category bonuses from various cards.  Some category bonuses are capped on a fairly low amount of quarterly or annual spend.
• How much annual spend do you anticipate?  Some cards have huge signup bonuses based on high initial spend requirements - e.g. Capital One Spark Cash.
• 2% cash back is the best flat rate out there for all spend (regardless of category).  1.5% cash back cards are much more common.
• More than 2% cash back overall is possible, by leveraging category bonuses (which rotate quarterly for some cards, vs. cardholder can choose desired categories for other cards) -- but the spend you'll have may not fit any of these categories.
• Will you need numerous authorized user cards for employees, or just one main card or maybe a second one?  Many business cards offer free employee cards, but some charge for that.

Bottom-Line Advice

• My personal strategy for anyone is to get a new card every year or two.
• The signup bonus from a new cash back card can be as much or nearly as much as the cash back earnings from a year's worth of spend on a card.  E.g. spend $30k a year, earn $450-600 at 1.5%-2% cash back.  A few cash back cards have $400-600 signup bonuses.
• Why not sign up for a new card every year or two, if this strategy could mean earning twice as much cash back as using the same card for several years?

Resources

• CardRatings.com best cash back cards - very good roundup of cash back cards, focused mostly on the good ones
• CompareCards.com Cash Back Cards List - good roundup of cash back cards, though many listed are not great choices
• Doctor of Credit best credit cards for various situations - great page with lists of good cards for people with spending focused in certain categories and other situations
• Frequent Miler best credit card signup offers - one of my favorite travel and credit card blogs.  This page requires some drill-down to find the cash back cards, though.
• CardMatch tool - see if you are targeted for potentially better offers than publicly available offers.    No credit pull.

Recommendations

These are in order, from best to least-best

1. Capital One Spark Cash - 2% cash back on everything.  Huge signup bonus if you can do huge spend.  $500 cash back bonus after $5k in first 3 months.  Additional $1,500 bonus after additional $45k ($50k total) in first 6 months.  Total cash back will be $3k ($2k bonus plus 2% from normal cash back earnings on the $50k spend).  Note, the similar Capital One Spark Miles has similar signup bonus.  $59 annual fee, waived first year.  Capital One Spark Cash - Doctor of Credit    Capital One Spark Cash - Frequent Miler
2. Chase Ink Business Preferred - huge $800 (80,000 Chase UR points, worth 1 cent each if cashed out) cash back sign-up bonus.  Flexibility to use rewards as Chase UR points.  $95 annual fee. Chase Ink Business Preferred - CardRatings.com
3. Discover it cash back - 1% cash back plus 5% rotating quarterly cash back categories.  Cash back in first year is doubled, so 2+% depending whether one earns any cash back from 5% categories.  Only 1% cash back after first year, though.  No annual fee. Discover it cash back - Frequent Miler (Possible to get $50 signup bonus via referral - check this Doctor of Credit page here.)
4. Citi Double Cash.  2% cash back on everything, no annual fee.  No signup bonus.  Good long term card due to flat 2% cash back and no annual fee, but compared with a card that has a $500+ signup bonus, it will take a while to 'break even' with this card instead. Citi Double Cash - Doctor of Credit
5. Capital One Savor Cash Rewards - $500 signup bonus.  Only 1% cash back on most stuff, but 4% on dining and entertainment, 2% grocery.  $95 annual fee waived first year.  Decent card for the signup bonus, but not a great long term card unless spending quite a bit on dining & entertainment.  Savor Cash Rewards - Frequent Miler
6. Chase Freedom Unlimited - 1.5% cash back.  No annual fee.  $200 signup bonus after $500 spend.  Best thing about this card is, if you have a Chase Sapphire Preferred, Ink Plus, or Reserve, you can use the earnings from Freedom Unlimited to convert into 1.5 Chase Ultimate Rewards points per dollar spend.  Chase UR points are great, flexible travel points generally considered to be worth about 2 cents each. Chase Freedom Unlimited - Frequent Miler
7. Capital One Spark Cash Select - no annual fee.  1.5% cash back on everything.  $200 cash back bonus after $3k spend in first 3 months.  Capital One Spark Cash Select - Frequent Miler
8. U.S. Bank Cash+ card - interesting twist - cardholder can select the desired bonus categories.  No annual fee.  $150 signup bonus.  5% back on $2,000 worth of combined purchases in two categories that you select quarterly; 2% back in one "everyday" category you select quarterly, such as gas or groceries; 1% back on everything else.  U.S. Bank Cash+ card - Value Penguin
9. U.S. Bank Cash 365 American Express card - $150 cash back after $500 spend in first 90 days.  1.5% unlimited cash back on everything.  No annual fee.  Good first-year card, especially for lower spenders.  E.g. spend $10k in first year.  Total cash back $300, i.e. 3%. U.S. Bank Cash 365 Amex card

How Can I Travel For Free?

In response to a recent question on a blog post about a credit card offer, I decided to take a stab at writing up a very high-level introduction of how airline miles, hotel points, and bank points work as a way to fly, stay, or otherwise travel for free or almost free.

This post is essentially a stream-of-consciousness output, which I will try to refine and improve periodically.

About Credit Cards and Signup Bonuses

• The fastest way to earn large quantities of airline miles, hotel points, or points in other points programs administered by various banks (Citi, Chase, Amex, etc) is by signing up for a credit card and spending the minimum amount required by the bank to earn a signup bonus for that particular card.
• Hundreds of credit cards are available to U.S.-based customers, from several different issuers such as Amex, Citi, and Chase.
• Many credit cards offer signup bonuses in the form of points or miles that are very lucrative -- often $500-600 and sometimes even $1,000 or more.  However, many cards offer mediocre (hello, $20 gift card or free turkey!) or even no signup bonus at all; buyer beware!
• Some credit cards are marketed as personal credit cards and some are marketed as business credit cards.  Regular individuals qualify to apply for and use business credit cards; a business tax ID number is NOT required.  Personal cards are not better or worse than business cards; the existence of both types of cards simply provides more choices for people who are looking to earn more miles and points.  One characteristic of most business credit cards is that most do NOT show up on the person's personal credit report.  This means credit score is not impacted temporarily, as it would be for a personal credit card application.  It also means that other banks do not see the card account on the customer's personal credit report, which may allow the customer to sign up for more cards -- because certain banks restrict card approval based on how many cards a customer has opened recently from ANY card issuer.
• Most credit card signup bonuses require somewhere from $1,000 to $5,000 in purchases during the first 3 or 4 months owning the card.  Some cards require just one purchase.  This varies by card and by offer (example:  one offer for the same card may require $5k spend, while another offer for the same card may require only $3k spend).
• Different signup bonus offers may be available for the same credit card at any one time.  Also, signup bonuses vary over time for the same card.  For example, the Delta Reserve for Business Amex card has a 70,000 mile signup bonus as of a couple weeks ago.  For a few months prior, the signup bonus was 40,000 miles.  Earlier this year, the signup bonus was only 10,000 miles.  When signing up for a new credit card, make sure you are getting a historically good signup bonus!  If you aren't sure, please ask me and I can help!

About Frequent Flyer Miles and Other Travel Points Programs

• Each airline runs its own frequent flyer program.  Instead of paying for a flight with dollars (by booking direct with the airline, or booking thru Expedia or other travel websites), people can 'pay for' flights using airline miles.
• In the same manner, people can pay for hotel room stays using hotel points rather than dollars.  Each hotel chain (Hyatt, Marriott/Starwood, etc) runs its own points program
• Bank points - such as Membership Rewards points from American Express, Ultimate Rewards from Chase, and ThankYou Points from Citi - also can be used to book travel using points instead of using dollars.
• Bank points can be used by logging into the customer's account with the travel portal website that the bank operates.  There, the customer can search for flights, hotels, rental cars, etc - and can book a flight using the points instead of paying with dollars.  Bank points are generally worth 1.25 to 1.5 cents per point - so a $300 flight could be booked by using 20,000 to 24,000 points instead of $300.
• Each airline's frequent flyer program (Delta SkyMiles, American AAdvantage, United Mileage Plus, etc) - and therefore its particular miles 'currency' - is separate.
• Customers cannot transfer miles from one airline program to another.
• Nor can they use miles from one program to book flights on another airline - unless the two airlines have a business arrangement to allow this.  These partnerships and/or alliances are common, but the domestic U.S. airlines do NOT have partnerships with one another.  So you cannot book a flight on an American Airlines plane and pay for it with Delta SkyMiles, for example.
• All points and miles are NOT created equal.  One Delta mile is not worth the same as one Southwest mile.  Likewise, one Hilton point is not worth the same as one Marriott point.  Each company sets up its own pricing structure for how many points or miles it costs to book free flights or free hotel stays.  And there's also an element of personal preference as well; one person may value Delta miles much more highly than another person, if the person has elite status with Delta and lives near an airport where Delta is the most prominent carrier.

Slightly Advanced Topics

• Bank points have another use, which can be confusing to newbies:  they can be converted into miles or hotel points in specific programs.  For example, Chase Ultimate Rewards points can be converted into United Airlines miles.  Chase UR points also can be converted into Hyatt hotel points.  By doing this, the customer then can book free flights with United Airlines, or free rooms with Hyatt hotels, directly with those companies.  This is different than customers using the same bank points to book travel through the bank's travel website.  Having two entirely different ways of using these types of bank points makes these points some of the most flexible and valuable forms of travel currency in the market.
• Reimbursable travel credit cards - Some credit cards that are 'travel rewards cards' work differently.  Examples of these cards are Capital One Venture card and Barclay Arrival Plus card.  The "points" that are earned by spending on these cards are NOT used to book free flights or stays up front; the points are used for reimbursement after the fact for travel that was booked using the credit card.  These cards provide reimbursable travel against travel-related charges (rental cars, flights, hotels, etc) made with the card.  Most cards like this earn "points" or "miles" that provide 2% value on charges.  Signup bonuses are frequently in the range of $500-750 worth of free, reimbursable travel.
• Regarding airline alliances and booking flights with one airline using miles from a different airline's frequent flyer program:  Customers can book a flight operated by one airline using miles in another airline's program.  For example: book a flight on a Lufthansa plane and pay for it with United Airlines miles - because United, Lufthansa, and other airlines such as Air Canada and Singapore Air are part of an alliance - in this case, Star Alliance - that allows customers of one airline to use miles to book flights on flights flown by the other airlines' planes.  These types of alliances exist because it extends the reach of each airline in the alliance and makes the frequent flyer miles of each customer more useful and flexible, regardless of which airline the customer's miles are with.
• Each airline sets its own price - expressed as the number of miles - for an award flight from point A to B.  Most airlines publish an award chart, so customers can get an idea of how many miles it will cost - depending on time of year, availability, and other factors - to fly from A to B, and whether the price they see is a good deal.  So the Lufthansa flight from New York to Munich might be bookable using Lufthansa miles for 30,000 miles each way, but United (a partner of Lufthansa's by virtue of both airlines' membership in Star Alliance) may be charging 40,000 miles each way for booking the same seat on the same Lufthansa flight.
• Customers are free to accumulate and use airline miles in programs that are operated by non-U.S. based airlines.  For example, a customer who flies regularly on United planes in the U.S. may want to accumulate Singapore Air miles.  Singapore Air is a Star Alliance member, along with United, Lufthansa, and others.  Singapore Air miles can be used to book flights on United, Lufthansa, and other planes operated by airlines that are members of the Star Alliance.  And Singapore Air charges fewer miles on many routes than United charges for the same flights - whether on United planes or Lufthansa planes or others.
• A great way to accumulate airline miles in non-U.S. based airline programs is by transferring bank points to the specific airline program.  For example, the Singapore Air  frequent flyer program accepts transfers of points from Chase Ultimate Rewards, Citi ThankYou, and American Express Membership Rewards at a 1:1 ratio (sometimes, transfer bonuses are offered too!).  This means that it is very easy for someone who never flies on Singapore Air to earn many miles in that program by transferring bank points.

Category Bonuses

Category bonuses refers to the concept that different credit cards award more than the standard amount of cash back, miles, or points for a variety of reasons including:

• Shopping in certain categories
• Shopping at certain types of merchants
• Shopping at specific merchants
• Shopping during certain times of the year at certain merchants or merchant categories - aka rotating category bonuses.

Many credit cards earn just 1 mile or point per dollar on spending at grocery stores, while another card offers up to 4.5 points per dollar on the same grocery store spending.  It doesn't take a genius to realize one can accumulate points WAY faster by earning 4.5 points per dollar instead of 1 point per dollar.

Build a Credit Card Portfolio

There is no single credit card that is best for ALL types of spending.  See the Category Bonuses section above for more information.

The best way to get the most earnings from one's total credit card spend is by having a credit card portfolio to earn the most value out of each and every transaction.

An effective credit card portfolio can be as few as 2 cards.  For some folks, it might be 5-6 cards.

Here is an article from the Award Wallet Blog that does a good job of explaining this topic.  LINK.  NOTE:  The article uses the example of a specific points program - Chase Ultimate Rewards - and having people gear all of their credit card spend earnings toward a single program.  It makes a lot of sense to consolidate reward earnings in one or a small number of programs, as it can be easier to redeem the points.  However, this is NOT required and is not necessary.  Many miles and points aficionados earn in dozens of different programs; in fact, it makes sense to have accounts in all major programs so that one can earn rewards in those programs whenever a stay, flight, or other activity pops up for that program.

Other Ways to Earn More Miles and Points

There are many, many ways to earn miles and points.  This section warrants a separate future post, but for now here's some basic information.

If one is willing to put in a little effort, it is possible to earn several thousand additional points or miles per year by leveraging things such as:

• Dining rewards - earn additional miles by enrolling a credit card with an airline's dining rewards program
• Shopping portals - earn miles or points, or substantial cash back, by starting your shopping session at a portal rather than going directly to the merchant's own website.
• Promotions - hotel chains, rental car companies, airlines and other organizations run all sorts of promotions - either separately or in conjunction with other travel partner companies - to incentivize people to use their company's service.  Keeping tabs on, and registering for, these programs on a regular basis is an easy way to earn far more than the average Joe on flights, hotels, and rental car activities.

Credit Card Bonus Offers Worth Signup Now

This is a roundup of several worthwhile credit card signup offers as of March 2018

Several credit cards are currently offering higher-than-usual signup bonuses.  For all cards, to get the signup bonus the cardholder must spend a certain amount within the first few months of holding the card.

These cards are offering bonus amounts at or near their respective highest signup bonus and therefore now is a good time to jump on any of these cards.  At one time or another, I've held all of these cards and personally recommend all of them as solid cards, especially with these increased signup bonuses.

• Citi ThankYou Premier - 50,000 ThankYou points
• Chase Sapphire Preferred - 60,000 Ultimate Rewards points
• SPG Amex Business - 35,000 Starpoints
• Delta Amex Platinum personal and business - 70,000 SkyMiles + $100 statement credit
• Delta Amex Gold personal and business - 60,000 SkyMiles + $50 statement credit
• Mercedes-Benz Amex Platinum - 60,000 Membership Rewards points

Citi ThankYou Premier - 50,000 ThankYou points

• 50,000 ThankYou points after $4,000 spend in first 3 months
• Annual fee $0 first year, $95 per year thereafter
• Earn 3X travel and gas - this is HUGE to get 3 points per dollar on travel and gasoline
• Earn 2X dining and entertainment
• Earn 1x everywhere else
• This is one of the best travel credit cards because of the great bonus categories and travel-related benefits for spending and the flexibility of Citi ThankYou points
• This card had a 50k signup bonus a couple years ago, but then it dropped to 40k and for many months the card had ZERO signup bonus because of its popularity
• More info here:  http://frequentmiler.boardingarea.com/2018/02/25/50k-points-w-citi-thankyou-premier-back

Chase Sapphire Preferred - 60,000 + 5,000 Ultimate Rewards points

• 60,000 Ultimate Rewards points after $4,000 spend in first 3 months
• $95 annual fee NOT waived the first year
• Earn 2x on travel and dining
• Earn 1x everywhere else
• Similar to the Citi ThankYou Premier - great all-around points-earning card with excellent travel-related benefits, but not as strong for bonus category earning
• If you do not want to pay the annual fee, use my referral link for 55k points total signup bonus with no annual fee first year.  50k points signup bonus with $4k spend in first 3 months.  Additional 5k points when adding an authorized user (free) and making 1 purchase with AU card in first 3 months  https://www.referyourchasecard.com/6/1LVJ1ZR9X6
• More info here:  http://frequentmiler.boardingarea.com/2018/02/26/65k-ultimate-rewards-w-new-sapphire-preferred-signup-bonus

UPDATE:  Chase has a targeted offer of 60,000 point signup bonus with $0 annual fee in 1st year.  Check your pre-qualified offers to see if you are targeted for this better-than-the-public offer https://creditcards.chase.com/prequalified-offers

SPG Amex Business - 35,000 points

• Offer ends 3/28/2018
• Spend $7,000 in purchases within first 3 months
• Annual fee $0 first year, $95 per year thereafter
• Starwood (their loyalty program is SPG, or Starwood Preferred Guest) was bought by Marriott, so the SPG-branded Amex credit cards will no longer be offered at some point in the not-too-distant future, so this is probably the last chance to get this card with what is tied for the highest every signup bonus.
• Starpoints are considered the most valuable of all travel points programs anywhere.  Points can be used for Starwood hotel group (Westin, Sheraton, etc) properties and also transferred into most airline mile programs at 20k Starpoints to 25k airline miles
• Earn 2x Starpoints on eligible purchases at SPG and Marriott properties
• Earn 1x Starpoints everywhere else
• Get credit for 2 stays and 5 nights toward elite status
• Sheraton Club Lounge Access when staying at Sheraton properties with a club lounge
• More info here:  http://frequentmiler.boardingarea.com/2018/03/01/new-35k-starpoints-offer

Delta Amex Platinum personal & business - 70,000 SkyMiles + $100 statement credit

• The personal and business version are two different cards with the same signup bonus and benefits.  A person can hold both cards at the same time
• 70,000 Delta SkyMiles + 10K MQMs (elite status miles) after $3K spend in first 3 months
• $100 statement credit after Delta purchase in first 3 months
• $195 annual fee NOT waived in first year
• 10K bonus miles and MQMs (towards elite status) after $25K spend and + second 10K bonus miles and MQMs after $50K spend per calendar year
• Free domestic economy companion certificate after first year.  (Yes, this certificate really works.  Once it is in your SkyMiles account, you can use it regardless of whether your Delta Amex Platinum credit card account is open.)
• Priority boarding and free checked bags.
• Offer expires 4/11/2018
• TIP:  *Any* spend with Delta, such as a $2 headphone or $8 snack box during a flight, should trigger the entire statement credit; you do not need to spend $100 to get the $100 credit
• The personal and business version are two cards with the same signup bonus and benefits.  A person can hold both cards at the same time
• Referral link:  Please consider applying via my friend's referral link.  The signup bonus is the same, and Nick will earn 10k SkyMiles when you are approved.  http://refer.amex.us/NICHOBlQdJ?XL=tw39
• More info here:  http://frequentmiler.boardingarea.com/2018/03/01/four-new-offers-70k-60k-skymiles

Delta Amex Gold personal & business - 60,000 SkyMiles + $50 statement credit

• The personal and business version are two different cards with the same signup bonus and benefits.  A person can hold both cards at the same time
• 50,000 Delta SkyMiles after $2,000 in purchases in first 3 months
• 10,000 Delta SkyMiles after $1,000 more in purchases in first 6 months
• $50 statement credit after making a Delta purchase in first 3 months
• Annual fee:  $0 first year, $95 per year thereafter
• TIP:  *Any* spend with Delta, such as a $2 headphone or $8 snack box during a flight, should trigger the entire statement credit; you do not need to spend $50 to get the $50 credit
• More info here:  http://frequentmiler.boardingarea.com/2018/03/01/four-new-offers-70k-60k-skymiles

Mercedes-Benz Amex Platinum - 60,000 Membership Rewards points

• 60,000 Membership Rewards points after $5,000 spend in first 3 months
• This card is being discontinued Jan 2019, so time is running out on signing up for it
• Annual fee $550.  Very steep annual fee but may still be worthwhile for some folks because of the strong travel benefits
• $200 travel incidental credit - get automatic statement credit for bag fees and other in-flight purchases.  Airline gift cards work as well, if you know what you're doing
• $200 annual Uber credits ($15 per month + $35 in December)
• Includes automatic Hilton Gold status, SPG Gold status, National Executive status
• This card is a good pick for people who can make use of the free airline lounge access - 1) Amex Centurion Club lounges (only a handful of locations in the U.S. but VERY plush lounges) 2) flying Delta same-day for Delta SkyClub lounge access 3) Priority Pass Select program
• $100 Global Entry credit (application fee reimbursed via statement credit)
• TIP:  Add 3 authorized users for $175 total.  All 3 users each get $100 Global Entry credit and lounge access.  Just use the card to pay for any person's (does not need to be the cardholder) Global Entry application fee and receive $100 statement credit.
• This Mercedes-Benz version of the Amex Platinum card is one of several different Amex Platinum personal cards.  Each is a separate product, so you can get the signup bonus on the Mercedes version even if you have had the 'regular' Amex Platinum or other versions of the Amex Platinum such as the Schwab Amex Platinum
• More info here:  http://frequentmiler.boardingarea.com/2018/03/02/mercedes-benz-platinum-discontinued-get-60k-can/

DISCLAIMER:  Know the rules of the game!

If you have signed up for new credit cards in the past couple years, make sure you understand the rules of each card issuer.  Examples:

• Citi will not give you the signup bonus if you have opened or closed a card within a card family within the past 24 months. This means that if you have opened or closed this card or the Citi ThankYou Preferred or Citi Prestige card within the past 24 months, you are not eligible for the signup bonus.
• Chase will reject all applications for most of their cards, including the Sapphire Preferred mentioned in this blog post, if their data shows that you've signed up for more than 4 new credit cards - from ANY credit card company - in the past 24 months

Two days left to get $2,100+ in travel for a single $450 annual fee credit card

The Chase Sapphire Reserve sign-up bonus is being reduced from 100,000 Chase Ultimate Rewards points to 50,000 points after January 11, 2017.

If you:

• have gotten fewer than 5 new credit cards from ANY credit card issuer in the past 24 months (business credit cards from most banks are not counted in this limit)
• have a solid credit score (mid 700s for sure, although low 700s may work)
• are interested in traveling for free

Then it's a no-brainer, for you and your significant other if applicable, to apply for the Chase Sapphire Reserve credit card from Chase in the next couple days.

More background information about this deal is in my post from 9/22/2016:

Chase Sapphire Reserve article Sept 2016

Depending on your comfort level signing up for multiple new cards, you also may want to apply for the Chase Ink Preferred card first, then apply for the Sapphire Reserve after being approved for the Ink Preferred.

The Ink Preferred offers 80,000 point sign-up bonus.  Application link:  CLICK HERE

(The reason to apply first for the Ink Preferred card is that Chase does not count its own business credit cards toward the 5/24 card limit it uses to restrict people from being approved who have gotten 5+ new cards in the past 2 years.)

My blog does not have affiliate credit card links.  If you would like to apply, Google Chase Sapphire Reserve or Chase Ink Preferred.  Or you may consider visiting one of my favorite blogs, Ann Arbor-based Frequent Miler.  The Chase section of this page has a Chase Sapphire Reserve application link:  Frequent Miler best current credit card offers