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Rewards, sign-up bonuses, balance transfers, fees, protections, and card reviews. Pick the right card and collect more from it than it costs you.
Get the PNC Cash Unlimited® Visa Signature® Credit Card if you want one card paying 2% cash back on every purchase, with no annual or foreign transaction fee. It suits PNC customers best, since cash back can go straight into PNC checking or savings. Check whether you’re pre-approved on PNC’s site first. The check won’t affect your credit score.
Get the Alliant Cashback Visa® Signature Credit Card if you’re an Alliant member who wants a no-fee Visa for trips abroad, since it adds no foreign transaction fee to purchases there. At home, its flat 1.5% cash back earns less than no-fee cards paying 2%, so use one of those for everyday spending.
Get the Capital One Venture X Business if your business will book at least $300 of travel a year through Capital One Business Travel. Its $300 credit and 10,000 anniversary miles return $400 toward travel each year, more than the $395 fee. Otherwise, take the $95 Venture Business, which earns the same 2 miles per dollar.
Get the Capital One Spark Cash over the Spark Cash Plus unless your business can charge $30,000 in the Plus’s first 3 months for its $2,000 bonus, or $150,000 a year to get its fee refunded. Both pay 2% cash back, and this card costs $95 a year after a free first year, against $150 for the Plus.
Pay at Costco with a Visa, the only credit card its U.S. warehouses take. Get the Costco Anywhere Visa if you buy gas there, since it pays 5% on up to $7,000 a year. In the warehouse its 2% only matches a no-fee 2% card, and Robinhood’s Gold card beats it at 3% for a $50 yearly membership.
Start with a no-fee business card that pays 2% on every purchase with no yearly cap, the best fit for most freelancers. Add a card with a higher rate on phone, internet, or gas only if those bills take a big share of your spending, since such cards pay 1% on everything else.
Choose the American Express card built for your biggest spending. Households wanting cash back should get a Blue Cash card, while the Gold and Platinum pay off only if you’ll use their credits and travel with the points. Business owners should start with a no-fee Blue Business card.
Get the Cashback Rewards Plus American Express® Credit Card if you’re a USAA member who shops on base and fills up often. It pays 5% on your first $5,000 a year of military base purchases and your first $3,000 at gas stations, with no annual fee.
Get the U.S. Bank Business Shield® Visa® Card only if a U.S. Bank branch offers you more time at 0% than its online offer of 0% for 12 billing cycles. Online, the bank’s no-annual-fee Triple Cash Rewards business card gives the same 0% for 12 billing cycles on purchases and transfers and pays cash back on everyday business costs.
Get the Wells Fargo Signify Business Cash® Card if your business buys mostly in the U.S. It pays 2% cash rewards on every business purchase, with no cap or annual fee. Abroad, its 3% foreign transaction fee costs more than the 2% you earn, so use a card without that fee for those purchases.
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