One of the easiest ways to save money is to to simply pay for purchases using these credit cards. You can get up to a full 5% cash back plus a special $200 signup bonus!- Honest Reviews: Unlike the generic credit card feeds you will find on other websites, these reviews expose the bad along with the good, so you can know the truth about each card.
- Best Offers: When available, these reviews will include links to the best signup promotions out there for a given card.
This sponsored list is updated on a weekly basis with reviews of the absolute best offers you can get. Both editorial and consumer feedback gathered through this site is used to bring you the best ranking possible.
Chase Freedom - $200 Bonus Cash Back
A couple years ago Chase re-vamped the rewards program on this card, increasing the cash back from 3% all the way up to 5%. Now you earn 5% on up to $6,000 in category spending per year ($1,500 per quarter when you enroll). This is a relatively high rewards ceiling compared to other cards. Beyond that amount you still earn a full 1% cash back. The high rewards along with no annual fee makes this the best cash back credit card on the market right now.- The 5% categories rotate each quarter. For the remainder of 2011 it's dining, dept. stores, charities and movie theaters. Here’s the lineup for 2012:
Jan thru March: Gas Stations, Amazon.com
April thru June: Grocery Stores, Movie Theaters
July thru Sept: Gas Stations, Restaurants
Oct thru Dec: Hotels, Airlines, Best Buy, Kohls - You earn an unlimited 1% on all other purchases, without any tiers or caps.
- Right now you can score an easy $200 signup bonus simply for spending $500 or more during the first three months. This is a very limited time offer and by far the best you will find for this card.
American Express Blue Cash Everyday - $100 Bonus Offer
Brand new rewards program! Blue Cash previously came with a tiered rewards structure that wasn’t very fair to low/moderate spenders. But in 2011 AmEx finally changed it and now you get unlimited cash back with no tiers, caps or limits. The rewards do not rotate, so if you want a card that gives you consistent, high cash back all year long then this is for you - 3% at grocery stores – With the price of food these days, saving 3% year round is a must-have
- 2% at gas stations – That's a savings of 8 cents/gallon on $4 gas
- 2% at department stores – With the Christmas season upon us, this is definitely useful right now
- 1% on everything else
- On all eligible purchases you get free benefits like automatic extended warranty, purchase protection, return protection and more
- You never pay an annual fee
- $100 cash back for spending $1k within the first 90 days. This promotion was launched Nov. 1st and avail for a limited time. It is the most generous offer ever available for this card (so if you're going to apply, now is the time to do it!)
Note: There is also a "Preferred" version available but it has a $75 annual fee. If interested, click here to compare them side by side. But my recommendation? Start with the free "Everyday" version and then you can decide whether it's worth paying $75 for the additional rewards on the Preferred.
American Express Premier Rewards Gold Card
Although this technically is not a cash back credit card, you can redeem the points for anything including statement credits and AmEx cash gift cards. However the best option is to convert you points to frequent flyer miles. Only Membership Reward Points can be converted to miles on over 15 major airlines, usually on a 1:1 basis. Most people don’t realize how valuable this benefit is – because many airline FF programs give award tickets at set intervals (i.e. free domestic roundtrip for 25k miles, 37.5k miles and so forth) the points you earn with this card have the potential to be worth a heck of a lot more than the usual penny per point you get with other cash back cards.- 3x points on airfare, 2x points on gas, 2x points on groceries, 1x on everything else. These are unlimited without any caps!
- This card comes packed with a ton of premium benefits like free roadside assistance (up to 4x per year), automatic extended warranty, purchase protection, travel accident insurance, luggage insurance, car rental loss & damage insurance, plus tons more.
- You get an additional bonus of 15,000 points every year you spend at least $30k.
- Using the offer below, you get a signup bonus of 15,000 points simply for making a $1k in purchases within the first 3 months
- Normally the membership fee is $175 but using the offer below, you can get the annual fee waived for one full year. Given this generous limited-time bonus, I recommend everyone at least give it a try because right now you can get your first year free.
Discover More Card
This is another card that I have been personally using for several years. Even if you have the other cash back credit cards mentioned above, this is a must have due to its unique benefits which no one else offers. You get a full 5% cash back in revolving categories (see below). Previously this credit card's weakness was its relatively low caps on the 5% but for 2012 Discover has increased the 5% ceiling all the way up to $1,500 on category spending per quarter. On all other purchases (and spending which exceeds the 5% ceilings) the cash back is tiered; 0.25% for the first $3,000 spent annually and $1.00% on everything after that. There's no annual fee. - 5% cash back in rotating categories. For 2012 these are:
Jan thru March: Gas Stations, Museums, Movies
April thru June: Restaurants, Movies
July thru Sept: Gas Stations, Theme Parks, Movies
Oct thru Dec: Department Stores, Electronics Stores, Toy Stores - Only this card allows you to get up to double value for your cash back by redeeming it for partner retailers instead of cash. This means the total value of your rebate can be up to 10% for the 5% categories and up to 2% on all your other spending. This is a unique feature that no other cash back card can offer you.
- Get 5% to 20% cash back from nearly 200 popular online retailers, like 5% at Walmart, 10% at Foot Locker, 15% at GNC, 5% at Overstock, 5% at Target, 5% at Best Buy, and many others. Best of all, this cash back is unlimited and on top of your regular rewards. Without a doubt this is the best credit card for online shopping.
Citi Dividend Platinum Select Visa
I’ve had this for several years, going back to around ’04. It had the best cash back credit card program but 2 or 3 years after getting it, they reduced the rebate from 5% to 2% so I stopped using it. Fortunately, in 2010 they brought back the 5% and are doing the rotating categories (similar to the Chase Freedom and Discover More) so I have since started using it again. If you’ve ignored this credit card in the past, it’s worth another look now.- Up to 5% cash back on categories that change each quarter. From Jan 1st thru March 31st you get 5% on utilities, health clubs, and fitness clubs when you enroll. Perfect winter categories when you consider those high heating bills and New Year resolutions, right? The cash back calender for the rest of 2012 hasn't been announced yet.
- 1% cash back on virtually everything else.
- During any calendar year you can earn up to $300.00 dollars in rewards. What’s nice about this structure is that you have the ability to earn cash back even on huge purchases. For example in theory, you could spend $5,000 at Lowes in one purchase (during the “home improvement” quarter) and still earn 5% ($250.00!) assuming that purchase, along with any other spending, didn’t exceed the $300 annual rewards threshold.
- No annual fee
American Express TrueEarnings Costco Card
I have a number of family members whom are diehard Costco shoppers and swear by this card. One of them earns more than $1,000 per year in cash back! As long as you have a paid-up Costco membership, there is no annual fee for this credit card. Being an American Express, you also get the bells and whistles like purchase protection, extended warranty, etc. Here’s a review of the rewards program:- You get 3% on gas (on up to $3,000 per year, after that it’s 1%).
- At restaurants the cash back is 2%. There is no limit to the amount you can earn.
- For travel purchase you get a full 2% (also without a limit). What “travel purchases” exactly? Well according to the application’s fine print, it includes airlines, hotels, tour operators, travel agencies, and car rentals.
- Everything else earns you an unlimited 1% cash back. You even get this at Costco, which is a unique because other AmEx cards only earn you 0.25% at their stores.
Citi Forward Card
For eating out and entertainment, this is the best cash back card you will find. It gives 5x points at restaurants and several entertainment-related categories. On everything else you get 1x points. The yearly cap is 75,000 points which of course is sufficient for most people. Like most credit card programs you have a number of options for redeeming points, but the best in my opinion is the $100 gift cards from partner stores and restaurants. Why? Because you can often get a full 1 cent per point value, which means your 5x points will be the equivalent of a 5% rebate. - 5x points on the following categories: restaurants, fast food, movies (theatres and rentals) book/music stores. You get 1x on virtually everything else.
- There’s no annual fee
- Now you can get a 10,000 point bonus (redeem that for a $100 gift card). To get this offer, you just have to enroll in e-statements and spend at least $650 on your new card over the course of the first 3 months. Pretty easy, right?
Discover Escape Card
If you don’t mind putting your cash back towards travel purchases, then this credit card is definitely worth a look. It gives you an unlimited 2 “miles” for every dollar spent. What’s a “mile” worth? Exactly 1 cent. The only catch is that you have to spend these rewards on travel purchases (but luckily you get to make them on your own and then request a statement credit to offset the cost using your “miles”). So basically you are getting a full 2% cash back on every dollar you spend, without any tiers or caps. This is a great deal.- The equivalent of unlimited 2% cash back on every dollar you spend. There are no tricks or gimmicks with this. You just have to spend the cash back on travel purchases of your choice.
- Tons of premium travel benefits like primary rental car coverage (not secondary as most cards offer), trip delay and cancellation insurance, luggage insurance, and more.
- Annual fee is only $60
- Earn a bonus of up to 25,000 miles (worth $250.00) using the link below.
Citi ThankYou Preferred
This is a new no annual fee card that Citi launched a few months ago. In order to drum up some attention for it, they are offering a very generous limited time offer which gives you 5x points at gas stations, grocery stores and drugstores for the first 12 months (after that it goes to 1x). The points are for the Citi “ThankYou” network which can be redeemed for just about anything, including various $100 gift cards at a full one cent per point value.- Earn 5x points on gas/grocery/drugstores for the first 12 months. During the first year, this is the top cash back credit card deal for these categories. 1x points on everything else.
- Your points never expire and there are no caps on the amount you can earn.
- Using the link below, you get a special bonus of 15,000 points for spending just $1k or more during the first 3 months
The bottom line is when you use a debit card or run-of-the-mill credit card, it’s like throwing away money because you’re missing out on the higher rewards you can get with the cards mentioned above. Even the average consumer can easily save several hundred dollars per year by simply using one of these. For those with above-average spending, the annual cash back can easily run into the thousands. Apply for a credit card today and start raking up your cash rebate!
