Credit card in the United States: more details about your next credit card

Choosing the right credit card will change how you manage your money and have direct benefits on your quality of life, as it can help you save and earn various bonuses. Carefully read the benefits of each of the three cards below and find out how to apply for your credit.

What Is a Credit Card Offer?

A credit card offer is a perk attached to your credit card that is unique to that particular card and designed to stand out against the competition and attract new cardholders. Some perks are only offered for a limited time, while others may be tied to a card permanently, such as a no-interest rate card.

Which credit card offer is best for you will depend on your financial situation and preferences, as there are many different types of credit card offers on the market.

Which is the best credit card for you in 2024 [In Details]?

1. Chase Freedom Unlimited

The card’s rewards structure isn’t the easiest to remember. But its useful bonus categories, flexible rewards and outstanding welcome offer make it a top contender among cash-back cards.

Detailed Review

The Chase Freedom Unlimited® offers a compelling combination of valuable rewards, flexible redemption options, a lengthy 0% introductory APR period and a sign-up bonus that’s worth more than most cash-back cards offer — all for an annual fee of $0.

The Chase Freedom Unlimited® earns 3% cash back on restaurants and drugstore purchases, 5% back on travel booked through Chase and 1.5% back on other purchases. Put that together and you have a card that can really pile up the cash back. And if you carry other credit cards that also earn Chase Ultimate Rewards® points, it packs even more value.

But all those different rewards rates make the card more complicated than competitors that offer a simpler 1.5% back on everything. One remedy: Make the Chase Freedom Unlimited® a top-of-wallet card for every purchase, and you’ll be sure to score those bonus rewards without having to think much about it.

It’s why this card makes a compelling case to be a one-card solution among cash-back credit cards.

Benefits and Perks

As a cash-back card, the Chase Freedom Unlimited® delivers a great treat for new cardholders followed by high ongoing value at a low cost. Its best features include:

Potentially rich sign-up bonus

Unlike a standard credit card bonus, which pays you a lump sum once you hit a specific spending amount, the bonus on the Chase Freedom Unlimited® comes in the form of higher reward rates in the first year, which, depending on how much you spend, can really add up: Earn an additional 1.5% cash back on everything you buy (on up to $20,000 spent in the first year) – worth up to $300 cash back! (NOTE: This offer is available when you apply through NerdWallet. If you apply directly with Chase or through a different website, you may not be eligible for this offer.)

Comparable no-fee cash-back cards nowadays offer bonuses of around $200.

Useful bonus categories

The bonus rewards categories are useful and lucrative:

• 3% back at restaurants, including takeout and eligible delivery services.
• 3% back on drugstore purchases.
• 5% back on travel purchased through Chase.
• Through March 31, 2025, 5% back on qualifying Lyft services purchased through the Lyft app.

Restaurants and drugstores are especially useful rewards categories for many households. Spend $3,000 a year combined in those categories, and you’ll earn $90 annually.

And if you book travel through Chase, 5% can add up quickly on pricey travel itineraries. Vacation travel costing $6,000 gets you back $300, for example.

Rewards breakdown

• 5% – Cash back on travel purchased through Chase Travel℠.
• 3% – Cash back on drugstore purchases.
• 3% – Cash back on dining at restaurants, including takeout and eligible delivery services.
• 1.5% – Cash back on all other purchases.

Card Details

• INTRO OFFER: Earn an additional 1.5% cash back on everything you buy (on up to $20,000 spent in the first year) – worth up to $300 cash back!
• Enjoy 6.5% cash back on travel purchased through Chase Travel℠, our premier rewards program that lets you redeem rewards for cash back, travel, gift cards and more; 4.5% cash back on drugstore purchases and dining at restaurants, including takeout and eligible delivery service, and 3% on all other purchases (on up to $20,000 spent in the first year).
• After your first year or $20,000 spent, enjoy 5% cash back on travel purchased through Chase Travel℠, 3% cash back on drugstore purchases and dining at restaurants, including takeout and eligible delivery service, and unlimited 1.5% cash back on all other purchases.
• No minimum to redeem for cash back. You can choose to receive a statement credit or direct deposit into most U.S. checking and savings accounts. Cash Back rewards do not expire as long as your account is open!
• Enjoy 0% Intro APR for 15 months from account opening on purchases and balance transfers, then a variable APR of 20.49% – 29.24%.
• No annual fee – You won’t have to pay an annual fee for all the great features that come with your Freedom Unlimited® card
• Keep tabs on your credit health, Chase Credit Journey helps you monitor your credit with free access to your latest score, alerts, and more.
• Member FDIC

Pros and Cons

I want the card

2. Wells Fargo Active Cash® Card

When it comes to flat-rate cash-back cards, it’s hard to beat 2% back, especially when the card is one of the few in this category to come with a bonus for new cardmembers.

Detailed Review

Not many cash-back credit cards earn 2% back on all purchases, so when a card joins the club, it’s a cause for celebration. The $0-annual-fee Wells Fargo Active Cash® Card, which became available in summer 2021, has much to offer: unlimited 2% cash back on all purchases, a sign-up bonus and a no-interest promotion on new purchases and balance transfers.

Taken together, that’s a value proposition that’s difficult if not impossible to find on other cards in its class. It makes the Wells Fargo Active Cash® Card an ideal match for those who prefer the ease of using one card whenever they shop.

True, other cards offer higher rewards rates in specific popular spending categories like grocery stores and restaurants. So if you’re a one-card kind of person, you’ll miss out on the chance to earn more.

But if you’re willing to manage multiple cards at once, the Wells Fargo Active Cash® Card pairs well with a variety of others.

Benefits and Perks

2% cash back, plus a sign-up bonus

Quite a few flat-rate cards earn 1.5% cash back, so if a card’s going to stand out, it has to stand apart. While the list of cards that earn 2% cash back is growing, the Wells Fargo Active Cash® Card differentiates itself in a big way with its sign-up bonus: Earn a $200 cash rewards bonus after spending $500 in purchases in the first 3 months. Depending on your spending, a 1.5% card typically tops a 2% card if it earns a sign-up bonus — and most other cards earning 2% back forgo the bonus entirely. In this regard, the Wells Fargo Active Cash® Card pulls ahead of the pack.

No annual fee

Annual fees may be the cost of entry for more premium rewards cards, but they do eat into these cards’ yearly value. The $0 annual fee makes this an easy card to hold onto for a long time.

Flexible redemption options

There are four ways you can redeem your cash-back rewards:

• A statement credit.
• A withdrawal from Wells Fargo ATMs in $20 increments using a Wells Fargo ATM or debit card.
• A direct deposit into a Wells Fargo checking or savings account.
• A mailed paper check.

Important information about procedures for opening a new account.

To help the government fight the funding of terrorism and money laundering activities, U.S. Federal law requires financial institutions to obtain, verify, and record information that identifies each person (individual or business) who opens an account. What this means for you: When you open an account, we will ask for your name, address, date of birth, and other information that will allow us to identify you. We may also ask for your driver’s license or other identifying information.

Rewards breakdown

• 2% – Unlimited Cash rewards on purchases.

Card Details

• Select “Apply Now” to take advantage of this specific offer and learn more about product features, terms and conditions.
• Earn a $200 cash rewards bonus after spending $500 in purchases in the first 3 months.
• Earn unlimited 2% cash rewards on purchases.
• 0% intro APR for 15 months from account opening on purchases and qualifying balance transfers. 20.24%, 25.24%, or 29.99% Variable APR thereafter; balance transfers made within 120 days qualify for the intro rate and fee of 3% then a BT fee of up to 5%, min: $5.
• $0 annual fee.
• No categories to track or remember and cash rewards don’t expire as long as your account remains open.
• Find tickets to top sports and entertainment events, book travel, make dinner reservations and more with your complimentary 24/7 Visa Signature® Concierge.
• Up to $600 of cell phone protection against damage or theft. Subject to a $25 deductible.

Pros and Cons

I want the Card

3. Capital One SavorOne Cash Rewards Credit Card

If you’re a frequent restaurant diner or grocery shopper, it’ll be hard to find a better cash-back card for no annual fee. And it’s also a great pick for entertainment spending, whether you’re catching a movie in the theater or at home.

Detailed Review

If your recycling bin runneth over with takeout containers or grocery bags, the $0-annual-fee Capital One SavorOne Cash Rewards Credit Card is an excellent choice (see rates and fees).

It offers an unlimited 3% cash back on dining and at grocery stores, as well as on entertainment and eligible streaming services. You’ll get 1% back on everything else.

The potential to earn such a rich rate on both eating out and eating in helps separate this card from much of its competitors, which tend to focus on only one of those categories or the other. It’s possible to find similar or higher rates in either of those categories, but rarely on both with the same card unless you’re willing to cough up an annual fee.

Benefits and Perks

Whether your taste in food runs from Michelin-starred to Mickey D’s to Meijer supermarkets, you can get plenty of value out of the Capital One SavorOne Cash Rewards Credit Card. It has broad definitions of “dining” and “entertainment.” Plus, unlike some of its competitors, it doesn’t limit how much spending is eligible for its higher rewards rates, and it doesn’t have a minimum amount for redeeming your rewards.

So what counts as a “restaurant” or a “theme park”? It comes down to the merchant classification code assigned to the business where you use your card. If the merchant is using a code that Capital One defines as a dining or entertainment expense, you should get 3% cash back for it.

No annual fee

A lot of cards that offer bonus rewards for dining are also travel cards with steep annual fees. That’s a pain if you aren’t spending thousands of dollars in the card’s bonus categories.

The Capital One SavorOne Cash Rewards Credit Card offers more breathing room with its annual fee of $0. There’s no need to worry about spending a certain amount before breaking even on rewards (see rates and fees).

Ability to combine rewards with other Capital One cards

Foodies who prefers to keep one card in their wallet could get significant value out of the Capital One SavorOne Cash Rewards Credit Card. But it’s an equally excellent choice for travelers who hold the $395-annual-fee Capital One Venture X Rewards Credit Card (or one of its lower-annual-fee siblings) and wish to get as much value as possible out of their credit card rewards (see rates and fees).

You can move rewards you earn on the Capital One SavorOne Cash Rewards Credit Card to any of the Venture cards at a rate of one Capital One mile per cent. From there, you can transfer your rewards to Capital One’s airline and hotel partners. According to NerdWallet valuations, this could increase the value of your rewards from from 1 cent to 1.4 cents.

It’s important to note though that you can only transfer rewards from the Capital One SavorOne Cash Rewards Credit Card to one of the Venture cards, not the other way around.

Rewards breakdown

• 0% – Cash back on purchases made through Uber & Uber Eats through 11/14/2024. Terms apply.
• 8% – Cash back on Capital One Entertainment purchases.
• 5% – Cash back on hotels and rental cars booked through Capital One Travel.
• 3% – Cash back on dining.
• 3% – Cash back on entertainment.
• 3% – Cash back on popular streaming services.
• 3% – Cash back at grocery stores (excluding superstores like Walmart® and Target®).
• 1% – Cash back on all other purchases.

Card Details

• Earn a one-time $200 cash bonus after you spend $500 on purchases within the first 3 months from account opening
• Earn unlimited 3% cash back on dining, entertainment, popular streaming services and at grocery stores (excluding superstores like Walmart® and Target®), plus 1% on all other purchases
• Earn 10% cash back on purchases made through Uber & Uber Eats, plus complimentary Uber One membership statement credits through 11/14/2024
• Earn 8% cash back on Capital One Entertainment purchases
• Earn unlimited 5% cash back on hotels and rental cars booked through Capital One Travel, where you’ll get Capital One’s best prices on thousands of trip options. Terms apply
• No rotating categories or sign-ups needed to earn cash rewards; plus cash back won’t expire for the life of the account and there’s no limit to how much you can earn
• 0% intro APR on purchases and balance transfers for 15 months; 19.99% – 29.99% variable APR after that; balance transfer fee applies
• No foreign transaction fee
• No annual fee

Pros and Cons

I want the card

 

4. Citi Double Cash® Card

Although the market has started to catch up, this remains one of the better top-of-wallet cards. Use it by itself every day, or as a companion to bonus category cards.

Detailed Review

The Citi Double Cash® Card is a valuable workhorse among credit cards. With superior flat-rate cash back, it’s ideal for consumers who want low-hassle cash rewards on everything they charge. What it lacks in sizzle, it makes up for in daily dependability. It’s a Honda Accord in a credit card market that’s lately gotten jammed with Lamborghini wannabes.

Most of what you need to know: The card gives you 2% cash back on every purchase — 1% when you make it, and another 1% back when you pay it off. Rewards are unlimited, and the annual fee is $0.

The Citi Double Cash® Card stands up well on its own, but it also makes an ideal companion to a bonus-category credit card for those who use a two-card strategy to maximize cash back. And you can transfer rewards to a handful of partners to potentially snag outsize value.

On the downside, the card offers no 0% introductory period for purchases, which is nearly table stakes for top-tier cash back cards. Even so, to get good, reliable rewards with minimum effort (or cost), this card should be among the top few you consider.

Benefits and Perks

The industry standard for cash back used to be 1%. As its name implies, the Citi Double Cash® Card essentially doubles that rate, paying 1% back on purchases and 1% after paying the bill. The sooner you pay your balance, the sooner you earn the second half of the rewards. That’s a powerful incentive to pay your credit card bill in full every month, which we recommend you do anyway to avoid interest.

Simplicity

Many cash-back cards offer bonus categories — some of them permanent, some that change from time to time and some that adjust with your spending. They allow you to earn extra rewards in featured categories, such as gas stations, restaurants and home improvement stores. They can be a hassle to keep track of. Some limit the amount of spending eligible for bonus rewards, and all spending over that limit earns a mundane 1% cash back.

With the Citi Double Cash® Card, you can be a lazy optimizer and whip out the same card all the time, without thinking about where you’re using the card and whether you’ve reached the limit for a bonus spending category. That said, there’s one opportunity to earn extra rewards, at least temporarily: Through Dec. 31, 2024, you earn 5% total cash back on hotels, car rentals and attractions booked on the Citi Travel portal.

Flexibility

Even though the Citi Double Cash® Card is considered a cash-back credit card, technically what you’re earning are Citi ThankYou points. And while those points can easily be turned into cash at a rate of a penny each, they could potentially be even more valuable when used for travel.

The card features a handful of travel partners, including JetBlue, Wyndham and Choice Privileges, and depending on your credit card strategy and travel goals, this conversion flexibility could potentially increase the value of your rewards, should you find a good deal on flights or hotels with those partners.

Rewards breakdown

• 2% – Cash back on every purchase with unlimited 1% cash back when you buy, plus an additional 1% as you pay for those purchases.

Card Details

• Earn $200 cash back after you spend $1,500 on purchases in the first 6 months of account opening. This bonus offer will be fulfilled as 20,000 ThankYou® Points, which can be redeemed for $200 cash back.
• Earn 2% on every purchase with unlimited 1% cash back when you buy, plus an additional 1% as you pay for those purchases. To earn cash back, pay at least the minimum due on time. Plus, for a limited time, earn 5% total cash back on hotel, car rentals and attractions booked on the Citi Travel℠ portal through 12/31/24.
• Balance Transfer Only Offer: 0% intro APR on Balance Transfers for 18 months. After that, the variable APR will be 19.24% – 29.24%, based on your creditworthiness.
• Balance Transfers do not earn cash back. Intro APR does not apply to purchases.
• If you transfer a balance, interest will be charged on your purchases unless you pay your entire balance (including balance transfers) by the due date each month.
• There is an intro balance transfer fee of 3% of each transfer (minimum $5) completed within the first 4 months of account opening. After that, your fee will be 5% of each transfer (minimum $5).

Pros and Cons

I want the card

5. Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card

The big sign-up bonus and high-value points have long made this a favorite among travelers.

Detailed Review

For travelers, the $95-annual-fee Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card stands out as a versatile and valuable choice.

With this card, you can earn rewards — known as Ultimate Rewards® points — in a variety of ways and redeem them strategically for travel, like transferring those points to a variety of loyalty programs, including heavy hitters such as United Airlines, Southwest Airlines, Marriott and Hyatt. And it dovetails nicely with some other Chase cards that also earn Ultimate Rewards® points.

Overall, it might not be the easiest card to use — a Swiss Army knife compared with the butter knife that simpler cards are. But it’s a go-to card for travelers who delight in finding ways to reap big value from their rewards.

Benefits and Perks

The Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card offers versatility for travelers that’s hard to find at a similar price point.

Solid sign-up bonus

The card features a generous sign-up bonus: Earn 60,000 bonus points after you spend $4,000 on purchases in the first 3 months from account opening. That’s $750 when you redeem through Chase Travel℠.

Triple points on dining and streaming services is useful, while online grocery purchases may or may not be, depending on your lifestyle. Travel-related purchases are far more lucrative if you’re willing to book through Chase’s travel portal. Even if you’re not, Chase’s definition of “travel” is fortunately broad; in addition to airfare and hotel stays, you can also earn bonus rewards on expenses like parking garage fees, bus fares and campgrounds. And these bonus rewards aren’t just available for travel and dining in the U.S., they can be earned worldwide.

Rewards breakdown

• 5x – Points on travel purchased through Chase Travel℠.
• 3x – Points on dining.
• 3x – Points on select streaming services.
• 3x – Points on online groceries.
• 2x – Points on all other travel purchases.
• 1x – Point on all other purchases.

Card Details

• Earn 60,000 bonus points after you spend $4,000 on purchases in the first 3 months from account opening. That’s $750 when you redeem through Chase Travel℠.
• Enjoy benefits such as 5x on travel purchased through Chase Travel℠, 3x on dining, select streaming services and online groceries, 2x on all other travel purchases, 1x on all other purchases, $50 Annual Chase Travel Hotel Credit, plus more.
• Get 25% more value when you redeem for airfare, hotels, car rentals and cruises through Chase Travel℠. For example, 60,000 points are worth $750 toward travel.
• Count on Trip Cancellation/Interruption Insurance, Auto Rental Collision Damage Waiver, Lost Luggage Insurance and more.
• Get complimentary access to DashPass which unlocks $0 delivery fees and lower service fees for a minimum of one year when you activate by December 31, 2027.
• Member FDIC

Pros and Cons

I want the Card