Best Credit Card【2021】Reward as high as $1,250

Best Credit Cards 2021: Eight best American credit cards are listed and reviewed in details.

A good credit card could give you lots of benefits, such as cash backs, easy shopping, and credit accumulation. But there are so many credit cards for different scenarios. So how to find the most appropriate credit card for you?

In this article, you will get to know:

• List of 8 best Credit Card.
• How to pick a credit card?
• Details of 8 credit cards.

American Credit Card Recommendation

• The Best American Credit Card With Balanced Performance: Chase Freedom Credit Card
• The Best American Credit Card With Highest Reward Rates: Chase Sapphire Preferred Credit Card
• The Best American Credit Card for Hotels: Chase Marriott Bonvoy Credit Card
• The Best American Credit Card for Travel: Discover it Credit Card
• The Best American Credit Card With High Reward Rates at Grocery Stores: Blue Cash Credit Card
• The Best American Credit Card for Online Shopping: Amazon Prime Rewards Credit Card
• The Best American Credit Card for Students: Discover it Student Credit Card
• The Best American Credit Card for Costco: Costco Credit Card
  

How to pick a credit card?

When you want to choose a credit card that suits you, you may feel overwhelmed by various new nouns and concepts. In this article, we will make a more detailed introduction to the credit card itself and various terms and concepts about it, so that you can choose the most suitable one according to the different features of each credit card.

What is a credit card?

You can think of it as a way for early consumption. When you use a credit card to purchase, you are borrowing money from a credit card issuer. Generally speaking, you need to pay off the full amount of the bill for a certain period of time within its specified time. Interest will be charged if it is overdue or installment repayment.

What are the rewards of a credit card?

Generally speaking, in order to motivate users to spend more with credit cards, credit card issuers mainly give two forms of credit card rewards: Cash Back and Points or Miles. At the same time, the two main incentive ratio models adopted by issuers are Flat Rate and Bonus Rewards.

• Cash Back: Generally, it is used to offset the same amount of balance. Sometimes, you can deposit the cashback obtained directly in the bank or receive a check sent to you. For example, Blue Cash Preferred® Card, this credit card, has a cashback rate of 1% to 6%. The cashback is sent in the form of dollars. Of course, you can also choose to use it as credit directly for billing deduction.

• Points or Miles: POINTS or MILES can be used to redeem travel, gift cards, goods or other things like credits. Let’s take a credit card as an example. Using Discover it® Miles Credit Card, you can earn 1.5x MILES the mileage reward on all purchases, regardless of limitation of the opening time, categories and consumption amount; 1 MILE is worth 1 cent; the MILES can be redeemed for cash back at any time, for air tickets and hotels, or for amusement facilities and purchases at gas stations and restaurants;
• Bonus Rewards: There is a bonus reward for purchases in some certain categories. For example, Blue Cash Preferred® Card, this credit card, has cashback rates from 1% to 6%, and its maximum cashback rate of 6% is for subscriptions to U.S. streaming services and purchases at supermarkets in the United States.

According to these basic attributes and characteristics of credit card rewards, many credit card users have a basic way to maximize benefits: open multiple reward cards of different types when carrying out different specific types of consumption; at the same time, you can use a card with flat rates to maximize the benefits when carrying out other types of consumption.

What are the pros and cons of using a credit card?

PROS

• Help to build your credit;
• Easy to shop without cash;
• Purchase earlier and enjoy earlier;
• Insurances are contained, no worry to use safety;
• A variety of rewards are available;
• If you have money to save or invest in a stable financial management in the short term, you can get interest and rely on the credit card for consumption first;
• Record your consumption trajectory and keep a free ledger, which is convenient for careful calculation;

CONS

• Spend the money from your future, and leave the risks in the future;
• Purchases maybe really addictive, so please be careful for consumptionism;
• Compared with ordinary loans, annual fees, APR, etc. are really not cheap;
• The money you can spend is not the money you own, but you have to pay back. If you can’t control your amplified desire to consume, it is easy to fall into the pit of continuous debt repayment.

Details of the Credit Cards

Glossary

• Annual Fee: It needs to be paid regularly every year to maintain the use of credit cards. The annual fee amount required varies according to the credit card, which is usually $95/year. Of course, there is also $0/year, that is, no annual fee.
• Credit Score: When applying for a credit card, the credit card issuers generally needs to review your credit score. If you meet certain credit limit requirements, you can open a card.
• APR: Annual Percentage Rate, it refers to the rate of interest generated over a period of time if you pay late or installment after using a credit card.
• Rewards: They are mainly divided into Cash Back and Points. Cash Back can be directly used as credit to offset balance. Sometimes, it is paid to you in the form of depositing in a bank account, offsetting credit card payments, or a check. Points can be used to redeem various benefits, gifts, credit, etc.
• Intro Benefits: Some credit cards will give good benefits during the first period of a new card in order to attract users. Take the first credit card we will introduce to you below as an example. It provides new users with $300 back after spending $500 in the first three months after opening the account, which is equivalent to up to 60% of the one-time cashback rate. At the same time, there are also cards like the sixth one that does not need to spend first but directly gives away a $100 Amazon gift card.

1. Chase Freedom Unlimited®

APPLY NOW

Features

• No annual fee
• Credit Score: 690～850
• APR: 14.99%～23.74%
• Reward: 1.5%～5% Cash Back
• Intro Benefits: Earn $200 back after spending $500 within the first 3 months

WHY WE PICK IT

• The Best American Credit Card With Balanced Performance

Credit Card Details

PROS

• Great Intro Benefits
• No annual fee
• No minimum redemption limitation for cash;
• High reward rates on more categories
• Intro APR is offered: Enjoy 0% APR on purchases during a period of time

CONS

• A relatively high credit score requirement
• Foreign transaction fees are charged

2. Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card

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Features

• Annual Fee：$95
• Credit Score: 690～850
• APR: 15.99%～22.99%
• Reward: 1x ~ 5x POINTS
• Intro Benefits: Earn 100,000 POINTS after spending $4,000 within the first 3 months (100,000 POINTS = $1,250 on travel purchases when redeeming)

WHY WE PICK IT

• The Best American Credit Card With High Reward Rates

Credit Card Details

PROS

• High Reward: Up to $1,250
• No foreign transaction fee
• High reward rates, especially on purchases at restaurants and for travel

CONS

• A relatively high credit score requirement
• The annual fee is $95

3. Chase Marriott Bonvoy Boundless

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Features

• Annual Fee: $95
• Credit Score: 690～850
• APR: 15.99%～22.99%
• Reward: 2X ~ 17X POINTS
• Intro Benefits: Earn 3 nights accommodation after spending $3,000 within the first 3 months (3 nights = 50,000 POINTS)

WHY WE PICK IT

• The Best American Credit Card for Hotels

Credit Card Details

PROS

• Three nights of accommodation is offered for new users, which is nice for frequent travelers
• No foreign transaction fee
• High reward rates on more categories

CONS

• A relatively high credit score requirement
• The annual fee is $95

4. Discover it® Miles

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Features

• No annual fee
• Credit Score: 690～850
• APR: 11.99%～22.99%
• Reward: 1.5x MILES
• Intro Benefits: it will automatically match all the MILES you earn at the end of your first year

WHY WE PICK IT

• The Best American Credit Card for Travel

Credit Card Details

PROS

• Redeem your Miles with no restriction
• MILES can be redeem for travel, also for cash back: 1MILE = 1 cent
• No annual fee
• No foreign transaction fee
• No minimum redemption limitation for cash;
• Intro APR is offered: Enjoy 0% APR on purchases during a period of time

CONS

• A relatively high credit score requirement
• The reward rates are relatively low
• You may not use it all over the world, but it is 99% nationwide acceptance across the U.S.

5. Blue Cash Preferred® Card by American Express

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Features

• $95
• Credit Score: 690～850
• APR：13.99%~ 23.99%
• Reward: 1%～6% Cash Back
• Intro Benefits: No annual fee for the first year; Earn $200 credit after spending $3,000 in purchases on the card within the first six months.

WHY WE PICK IT

• The Best American Credit Card With High Reward Rates On Purchases At Grocery Stores

Credit Card Details

PROS

• Good Intro Benefits
• High reward rate on supermarkets in the United States, suitable for daily necessities and other purchases
• High reward rates on various everyday categories (Cashbacks earned by spending more than $31 per week in supermarkets in the United States can offset the annual fee of one year)

CONS

• A relatively high credit score requirement
• The annual fee is $95
• Minimum redemption requirement: $25

6. Amazon Prime Rewards Visa Signature Card

APPLY NOW

Features

• No annual fee
• Credit Score: 700+
• APR: 14.24%～22.24%
• Reward: 1%～5% Cash Back
• Intro Benefits: $100 Amazon Gift Card

WHY WE PICK IT

• The Best American Credit Card for Online Shopping (Amazon)

Credit Card Details

PROS

• Good Intro benefits, no need to spend money to gain
• No foreign transaction fee
• No annual fee
• No minimum redemption limitation for cash;
• High reward rates, especially on Amazon (5%)

CONS

• No 5% Cash Back when shopping online at Non-Amazon websites
• APR is variable and may be high depending on your credit score
• The balance transfer fee is high

7. Discover it® Student chrome

APPLY NOW

Features

• No annual fee
• Credit Score: 630～689
• APR: 12.99%～21.99%
• Reward: 1%～2% Cash Back
• Intro Benefits: It will match all the Cash Back you earn at the end of your first year.

WHY WE PICK IT

• The Best American Credit Card for Students

Credit Card Details

PROS

• No FICO credit history requirement
• High reward rates on more categories
• No annual fee
• Intro APR is offered
• No foreign transaction fee

CONS

• The reward rates are relatively low

8. Costco Anywhere Visa card by Citi

APPLY NOW

Features

• No annual fee
• Credit Score: 720～850
• APR: 15.24% (Variable)
• Reward: 1%～4% Cash Back
• Intro Benefits: N/A

WHY WE PICK IT

• The Best American Credit Card for Costco

Credit Card Details

PROS

• Designed for Costco users, it brings you a better Costco experience
• No annual fee
• High reward rates on more categories

CONS

• A relatively high credit score requirement
• Need to have a membership of Costco
• Rewards are redeemed once a year and only at Costco

Bonus

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