Author: Mark Jackson

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The Best American Express Credit Cards for Travel Rewards

 I’ll admit it, I’m a pretty big American Express fan.  My first credit card was a Starwood Preferred Guest credit card by American Express, and I now proudly hold a American Express Platinum card in my wallet.  So, yes, I’m happy with the company and their suite of credit cards.  But, which ones are the best for travel rewards?  Let’s dig in with this post and see which cards are available, shall we?

Platinum Card from American Express

The ‘granddaddy’ of travel rewards credit cards, the Platinum Card from American Express has seen some competition as of late.  However, the benefits of this card are massive (and should be that way, with the $450 annual fee).  For one, you have access to the Membership Rewards partners, one of the most diverse group of transfer partners in the travel market.  And, most are available to transfer to at a 1:1 ratio.

Many of those same partners offer ‘transfer bonuses,’ sometimes up to 50% for a limited time.  You’ll receive two points per dollar spent on travel purchases on their booking engine, and one point per dollar on every other purchase.  Furthermore, you’ll receive $200 in statement credits for airline fees annually, and free Boingo internet for as long as you have the card.  A 40,000 point sign-up bonus for spending $3,000 in the first three months of card membership isn’t half bad, either!

Starwood Preferred Guest Credit Card

I’m in love with SPG.  For one, their hotels, from the hip W Hotels, to luxurious St. Regis properties, to the ubiquitous Westins, are some of the best properties in their respective cities.  I love the SPG Card from American Express especially because of the value of SPG points: the program allows for the most transfers to airline partners in the business.

And, when you transfer more than 20,000 at a time, you’ll earn a 5,000 mile bonus.  If you like sign-up bonuses, I would apply now: you’ll receive 30,000 bonus Starpoints for spending $5,000 in the first six months of cardmembership (20,000 for the spend, 10,000 on first purchase).  The annual fee is a reasonable $65 a year.

American Express Premier Rewards Gold Card

The little brother of the Platinum card, the Premier Rewards Gold Card is worth a mention because of its bonus categories.  You’ll earn three points per dollar on flights booked directly with the airline, and two points per dollar on gas and grocery stores.  This can really add up for those making purchases regularly in these areas.

Conclusion

There are many American Express cards out there, but I believe these three to be the strongest out there.  The combination of transfer partners, either with SPG or Membership Rewards, combined with the backing of American Express makes these all winners in my book.  I love American Express’ purchase protection, and have had great experiences working with their customer service department.  So, what do you think?  Did I recommend your favorite cards, or do you have your own favorites?  Let us know in the comments.

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The Top Citibank Credit Cards of 2014

There are many credit card issuing banks out there on this earth.  Not all are created equal.  Some banks really are known for solid card products (looking at you, Amex and Chase) and support their customers.  Citibank is one of those companies.

But, which cards are the best to hold in your wallet in 2014?  Which ones have the best offerings for travelers, for big spenders, or for the thrifty among us?  This post is for you.  Let’s get into what the top Citi credit cards are for 2014, shall we?

 

Do You Like Rewards?

I would recommend the Citi ThankYou Premier card for those of you that enjoy redeeming points for the best rewards possible.  I love Citi’s “ThankYou” system, which gives you a twenty-five (25) percent boost for booking through Citi for flights and hotels.  This card is a powerhouse for earning with regular spending.

If you spend a lot of money on airfare or hotels, you’ll earn three points per dollar spent.  This is huge for business travelers.  For any other purchase, you’ll earn one point per dollar.  Still, if you are a big traveler (and taxi fares count under the travel category), this card is solid.  There is a $125 annual fee, though.

 

Big Balances

I know that many of us have had bad ‘luck’ with keeping up with our credit card bills.  Many don’t realize that a way out of some bad credit card debt with high interest rates is a balance transfer to another credit card with a lower interest rate.

The Citi Simplicity card is a good card for this type of trouble.  With the most 0% APR financing for purchases and balance transfers on the market today, at eighteen months, this card is awesome.  There are no penalty fees or penalty APRs with this card.  What an awesome credit card!

 

No Fees? No Problem.

The Citi Dividend Platinum Select card features no annual fee, and gives you a nice sign-up bonus- $100 after spending  $500 in the first three months of card membership.  Another one of those ‘cycling category’ credit cards, the Citi Dividend Platinum Select credit card additionally offers 5% cash back on four different categories a year.

The benefits are capped at $300 per year, though, limiting you a bit.  You’ll have unlimited 1% back on all other purchases, however.  There are better cash back credit cards out there, sure, but if you like Citi as a credit card issuer, this is your best option.

 

Conclusion

These are the best options from Citi, in my opinion.  Are they the best options available on earth?  No, but I do love a card that offers you mistake-free credit (the Simplicity card), or a card that offers three points per dollar spent on travel (ThankYou Premier) or a cash back card with bonus categories (Platinum Select).

What do you think? Do you think these cards are worthy of a spot in your wallet?  Or, do you think there are better cards out there?  We want to know in the comments!

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Card Comparison: Chase Freedom vs. Amex Blue Cash Preferred

Many cards are similar in nature.  We’ve all seen that before.  But, between cards, which one is truly better?  One such matchup of titans is the very popular Chase Freedom credit card and the Amex Blue Cash Preferred credit card.  Which one is better?  Let’s see if we can decipher the true winner below, in yet another card comparison!

 

Annual Fee

The annual fee on any credit card is a deal for potential customers, myself included.  So, let’s dive into the details on the annual fees for these credit cards, shall we?  For the Amex Blue Cash Preferred credit card, you’ll have a $75 annual fee, and no fee for any additional cards on the account.  That is pretty high for a cash back credit card.

The Chase Freedom card, on the other hand, has no annual fees, ever.  So, this category goes to the Chase Freedom card, by a landslide.

 

Sign Up Bonus

Another way credit card companies make the importance of their cards known is through the sign-up bonus, a reward for spending a certain amount of money in a certain amount of time.  For the Amex Blue Cash Preferred card, you’ll have no sign up bonus.

For the Chase Freedom card, you’ll receive a $100 cash back credit (or 10,000 Ultimate Rewards points if you own one of their Chase Sapphire cards) when you make $500 in purchases in the first 90 days of card membership.  I’d say the Chase Freedom card wins this round, especially since they’ve been known to raise the bonus to $200 now and then.

 

Bonus Points

This category is where the Amex Blue Cash Preferred card really picks up steam.  If you spend your money at supermarkets, you’ll receive 6% cash back at US supermarkets (up to $6,000 a year).  At gas stations and select department stores, you’ll receive 3% cash back, and 1% cash back on everything else.

The Chase Freedom card gives you 1% cash back on every dollar spent, as well as 5% cash back in a rotating group of categories (Restaurants and Lowe’s for April-June, Gas Stations and Kohl’s for July-September, and Amazon/Zappos/Department stores for the rest of the year).  This category goes to Amex Blue Cash Preferred.

 

Other Benefits

The Amex Blue Cash Preferred credit card includes purchase protection and car rental loss and damage insurance.  The Chase Freedom card offers up access to Ultimate Rewards points if you have another card in the program, like a Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card.  For this category, I’ll say it’s a tie.

 

Conclusion

For this comparison, it’s really hard to declare a winner.  If you spend a lot of money at supermarkets each year, and max out the bonus, you’ll receive $360 in cash back rewards, more than enough to cover the annual fee.  However, if you do most of your dining out, I can’t really see the benefits of the annual fee of the Amex card.  So, analyze your spending, and choose which one is best for you.

We hope that this comparison at least put the pros and cons, side by side, to make your decision making a little easier.  Let us know in the comments what you think!

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Should You Apply for a Travel Agency Credit Card?

We all love the co-branded credit cards.  Whether we’re using a credit card for a favorite hotel chain, or a preferred airline for travel, using a co-branded credit card helps travelers collect more from their location, in either discounts, earned points or miles, or status.  But, what about co-branded credit cards with travel agencies?  They exist, too!  Whether it’s Orbitz, Expedia, Travelocity, or Priceline, there’s a credit card out there for each site.  But, is it worth it?  Let’s explore below!

 

The Good

If you are reading this and are loyal to a single travel site, then a co-branded card likely makes sense.  While not as rewarding as other co-branded cards for hotels or airlines, travel agency credit cards do reward those users for their loyalty.  The Orbitz Rewards visa offers up “Orbucks” for purchases made on the card, which means you can use those points for full or partial purchases on Orbitz.com.  Travelocity, Expedia, and Priceline’s cards work in similar ways.

I also like the fact that the cards do not have an annual fee, making cost of ownership zero dollars if you pay off your bill each month (which you always should).

 

The Bad

Non-flexible

For most of the credit cards, you are locked in using your points on those specific websites.  The Citi PremierPass Expedia card will let you use the points earned on Citi’s ThankYou program, and the Priceline Rewards Visa will allow you to take a statement credit for any purchase that is above $25.  The other cards, on the other hand, have you stuck in their respective programs.

Also of note in regards to the Orbitz card- you can only use your redemptions on hotel reservations- no flights or rental cars.  I find this highly restrictive and a bit ridiculous.  Many of the cards also have restrictions on the type of purchases that actually earn miles (rental cars rarely count, and anything that isn’t prepaid).

Less value

The final point of contention is the value of your points- the Travelocity Rewards American Express offers one point per cent redemption, unless you’re redeeming 20,000 points at a time- then it is two cents per dollar.

The Citi PremierPass Expedia card earns ThankYou points, so it varies in terms of value.  The Orbitz Rewards Visa earns Orbucks, which are worth one dollar for hotel redemptions.  And finally, the Priceline Rewards Visa is quite ambiguous with its points, stating it’s how you redeem that makes the value of the points fluctuate.

 

Bottom Line

If I were someone that buys a lot on these sites, I would stay far away from these cards.  Instead, I would focus on a card that rewards travel purchases, like two points per dollar with the Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card credit card.  That way, you have the flexibility to redeem your rewards for whatever you’d like.  These cards seem to have too many rules and stipulations associated with them to make them worth your while.  But, every person is different.  What do you think?  Let us know below in the comments!

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Singapore Airlines Added as Ultimate Rewards Partner

Chase Ultimate Rewards emerged as a steady competitor to the industry giant American Express Membership Rewards a few years ago, with its strong group of transfer partners.  Now, Chase has announced that Singapore Airlines is now a transfer partner of its Ultimate Rewards program, making the program that much stronger.  Let’s dig into the details, and check out some of the program features of Chase Ultimate Rewards, shall we?

 

New Transfer Partner

Singapore Airlines is now a transfer partner of Chase Ultimate Rewards, which is great news for those of you with a Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card (or one of the business card products Ink Bold or Ink Plus).  This makes the 11th transfer partner of Chase Ultimate Rewards, following United, Southwest, British Airways, Korean Air, Virgin Atlantic, Hyatt, Marriott, IHG Hotels, Ritz-Carlton, and Amtrak.

Singapore Airlines is interesting, as it is now the third airline, after British Airways and Virgin Atlantic, that is a transfer partner in all three ‘major’ programs- Ultimate Rewards, Membership Rewards, and SPG.

Singapore flies from Housotn, Los Angeles, New York, and San Francisco, to places like Frankfurt, Hong Kong, Moscow, Seoul, and Tokyo.

 

The Program

Chase Ultimate Rewards is an amazing transfer program.  With their partners, you can transfer one Chase Ultimate Reward point for every mile in the program you are transferring to.  Everything is 1:1!  The flexibility of the partners really makes things great, as well.  With at least one major carrier in each alliance, as well as major hotel and rail brands, makes all of your potential travel covered by the Chase Ultimate Rewards Program.

Their card product are equally as impressive.  The Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card, which offers 40,000 miles for spending $3,000 in three months, is a powerhouse.  You receive double points on all travel and dining spend (and three times the points on the first Fridays of each month), as well as a 7% points dividend at the end of each year which is based on your spend each calendar year.  This is an awesome incentive to use this card as much as possible!

Furthermore, since the card is a Visa Signature card, you’ll receive awesome benefits like purchase protection and access to the Visa Signature Hotels collection, which you can couple with various statuses to really make your hotel stays exemplary!

Finally, you can double (or triple (or quadruple)) up on cards that earn Ultimate Rewards points, combining them into one tidy account!  Your Ink Bold and Ink Plus business cards earn these points as well (and their sign up bonus equally as large), and if you have the Chase Freedom credit card you’ll see your cash back converted into Ultimate Rewards points if you’d like.

 

Conclusion

This is quite a nice move by Ultimate Rewards, adding so much to their already strong program.  More and more transfer partners only make things better for the customer, which is what a company like Chase should be doing.  Now, will we see an additional hotel partner in the future?  Only time will tell.  Does this make you want to apply for a Chase credit card more?  Let us know in the comments!

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Get 60,000 Points with Citi Hilton HHonors Card

Another sign-up bonus boost?  Say it is so!  Usually, a successful application to the Citi Hilton HHonors nets you 50,000 Hilton HHonors points after meeting the spend requirements, but not so today!  Now, you’ll earn 60,000 Hilton HHonors points at sign-up.  What else is available on the card?  Let’s check out the benefits below!

 

The Benefits

Sign-Up Bonus

For this card, you’ll receive 60,000 HHonors Bonus points after spending $1,000 in four months.  That means you’ll be able to spend those for a free night at a pretty decent Hilton property (you can always check out this site for what a specific Hilton hotel will cost you).

Bonus Points

You will have plenty of opportunities to earn bonus points when using the Citi Hilton Visa Signature Card.  When you spend money at a Hilton property, you’ll earn six points for every dollar spent (that includes room rate and on-property spending, so spend away at that mini-bar!).  Furthermore, every dollar spent at supermarkets, drugstores, and gas stations will earn 3 bonus points.  This point value for these categories are found on other cards, but it’s great to see here as well.  Every other dollar spent will earn two points per dollar.

Status

You’ll receive Silver status automatically by owning this credit card (the fee-based Citi Hilton Reserve card gets you Gold status automatically).  Benefits include a 15% bonus on base points when staying at a Hilton and complimentary health club access.

Plus, if you stay four times at a Hilton in the first four months of card membership, you’ll be placed with Gold status, which gets you room upgrades, free breakfast, and more bonus points.  I’d recommend doing this, as the free breakfast and room upgrades I’ve received as a gold member at Hilton are outstanding!

Annual Fee

Another great benefit of this card over other Hilton cards is the fact that it does not have an annual fee, making cost of card membership free if you pay your bills on time and in full!

 

The Nitty Gritty

This card’s APR is 14.24%, and balance transfers of 14.24% APR as well.  Cash advances carry a stiff 25.24% fee, and a penalty APR of 29.99% applies if you make a late payment or have a returned payment.

Transaction fees are stiff as well, with foreign transaction fees racking up 3% of every purchase, balance transfers at 3% or $5, whichever is greater, and cash advances at $10 or 5%, whichever is greater.  Penalty late fees are up to $35.

 

Conclusion 

The new sign up bonus associated with this credit card, at 60,000 miles, makes this a no brainer for anyone in the market for a hotel branded credit card.  The no annual fee and low spend requirement makes it a great deal!  Also, free silver status with Hilton ain’t so bad either.

I would take advantage of the Gold status, 4-stay offer, since the benefits of this mid-level status are better than most other similar levels in the hotel space.  The breakfasts that I’ve had with this status are absolutely amazing, and my recent ‘double upgrade’ at the Waldorf Astoria Berlin to a junior suite was a welcome, awesome surprise!  Are you applying? Let us know below!

 

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The New Hawaiian Airlines Business MasterCard Review

Who doesn’t like Hawaii?  Besides those afraid of islands and beautiful surroundings, Hawaii is a dream vacation for many on both sides of the Pacific.  With great water, beaches, pineapples, and great golf, it’s a major vacation destination for not only mainlanders but also Japanese tourists due to its ‘Middle of the Pacific’ location.

Hawaiian Airlines seems like a natural airline to fly to the Aloha state, doesn’t it?  But, how do you get the points necessary to fly on Hawaiian?  With a credit card, of course!  And, if you are a small business owner, you can apply for the New Hawaiian Airlines Business MasterCard, in addition to the personal version.  Let’s check out some of the benefits below!

Apply Now: The Hawaiian Airlines® Business MasterCard®

 

The Benefits

Sign Up Bonus

Everyone loves a good sign up bonus.  Thankfully, Hawaiian’s business credit card delivers.  By meeting the spend requirement of $1,000 of purchases in 90 days, you will earn you 35,000 miles.  Not too shabby (and, if you pair it up with the personal credit card, that’s another 35,000 miles!).

Bonus Miles

You’ll earn lots of bonus miles with this card if you’re flying Hawaiian Airlines often.  Every dollar spent with the airline will earn two miles, and one mile will be earned for every other purchase.  In addition, special partners on their website can earn you ten points per dollar.  Furthermore, if you spend $50-99,000 in the year of your card, you’ll receive an extra 20,000 miles.  Spend over $100,000, and you’ll earn 40,000 bonus miles.  This is available every year that you own the card, so if you have a business that spends over $100,000 a year, you’ll have plenty of bonus points!

Other Benefits

Are you someone that takes their entire closet with them when they travel?  Well, you’re in luck.  With this credit card, you’ll receive a free checked bag when flying on Hawaiian.  For me flying to Hawaii, all I need is a backpack and a swimsuit, but for others, their entire wardrobe is necessary.

For one-time only, you’ll receive 50% off a companion ticket when you fly from North America in coach.  That’s pretty nice if you want to fly to Hawaii immediately after receiving the card, instead of waiting for the points to deposit into your account.  You’ll also receive 5,000 point discount on all Hawaiian Airlines award redemptions from North America to Hawaii.  Anything helps!

 

The Nitty Gritty

The card does levy an $89 fee per year, which is not waived.  However, the card does have ‘SmartChip’ technology, which is becoming more and more popular stateside.  Furthermore, if you use the card abroad, there are no foreign transaction fees.   And, the card includes the new “ChipCard” technology, making it easy to use the credit card in places like Europe and South America.

 

Conclusion

Earning miles in such a niche program may not seem to make a lot of sense to you, but with roundtrips running just 40,000 miles (and sometimes less with discounted awards), a signup bonus is essentially a flight to Hawaii.  Furthermore, with partners like Membership Rewards, which can help you top off your account, and the ability to book awards on ANA, Delta, Korean Air, JetBlue, Virgin America, Virgin Atlantic, and Virgin Australia makes this program make sense.  In addition, if you’re on a longer Hawaiian vacation and would like to island hop, intra-island flights run just 7,500 miles.  What do you think?  Is this card worth it?  Let us know in the comments!

Apply Now: The Hawaiian Airlines® Business MasterCard®

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Card Comparison: Discover it vs. Capital One Quicksilver

Heads up: Discover just launched a new cashback/travel rewards credit card that gets you 3x on all spending the first year.

Many cards offer similar offerings across credit card brands, but generally these points are the consider the best.  I know I’ve had difficulty at times choosing between several different card products.  It’s a major issue for me, and I imagine readers like you have had similar conundrums.  So, let’s check out one comparison of similar offerings: The Discover it® credit card and the Capital One Quicksilver Cash Rewards Credit Card.

Apply Now: Discover it®

 

Annual Fee

One very important category for everyone is the annual fee.  If there’s no annual fee for a credit card, it’s possible that you may never pay a single dollar to the credit card companies.  The good news for these two credit cards?  Both have no annual fees!  That’s right, the Discover It and Capital One Quicksilver Cash Back Rewards Credit Cards both have no costs associated with ownership.  So, for this category, we have a tie!

 

Sign-Up Bonus

The sign up bonus is another important attractor for potential credit card applicants.  For me, I always look at the sign up bonus as a determining factor for card membership.  For the Discover It credit card, you’ll not have a sign-up bonus, which is a major bummer.  For the Capital One Quicksilver Cash Back credit card, you’ll earn $100 cash back when you spend $500.  A fairly normal sign-up offer, but a nice 20% return on spend.  The advantage for this category is obviously Capital One.

 

Bonus Points

A great indicator for those planning on using the cards they apply for every day for regular spend are the miles or points or cash back you receive for spending money.  For the Capital One Quicksilver Cash Back Rewards credit card, you’ll earn 1.5% back for every dollar you spend (or one and a half cents).  This is pretty good for regular spend, as you’ll often see only one percent back for every dollar you spend.

For the Discover it® credit card, you’ll receive one percent back on regular spend.  However, this card has a rotating calendar of bonus categories, four per year.  Spending within the category (Home Improvement during the summer, Gas Stations July-September, and Holiday Shopping for the rest of the year) will net you 5% cash back, up to $1,500 in spending each quarter.  For those seeking simplicity, I’d say Capital One card wins, since you’ll be rewarded for every dollar you spend. But you might enjoy taking advantage of the quarterly bonus categories with the Discover it. 5% earnings are nice! And you can up your earnings by using the ShopDiscover shopping portal. This blog will help you understand more details on cards.

 

Other Benefits

The cards each have introductory APR offers.  The Capital One card offers 0% APR until March 2014.  Afterwards, it’ll be 12.9%-22.9%.  It also has no foreign transaction fees, and is a Visa Signature card, with purchase protection and travel benefits.  The Discover it credit card offers up 0% APR for 14 months, and then has an APR of 10.99-22.99%.  The card also has a shopping mall where you can earn up to 20% cash back, free FICO score reporting, and no foreign transaction fees.  The winner here is the Discover it credit card.

 

Conclusion

I believe that you’ll receive more cash back using the Discover it® card, and its the card I would go with. That said, both cards are solid offerings. After comparing the benefits, what do you think?  Let us know in the comments! Check out this blog for more information

Full reviews of these cards:

Discover it Credit Card Review

Quicksilver Credit Card Review

Apply Now: Discover it®

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SPG Card by Amex Increases Sign-Up Bonus

Everyone loves an ‘offer boost’ for that credit card they’ve been watching.  Boy, have the past two months been full of those!  The latest to offer up a little more to ‘sweeten the points pot’ is the Starwood Preferred Guest Credit Card by American Express.  Usually, the sign-up bonus is 25,000 points, but now, for a limited time, it is 30,000 Starpoints, and that’s for both the personal and business credit cards!

And, as a bonus for those of you that hold the card already, you can receive 5,000 points for referring people!  Receive 5,000 points for every card approval (up to 55,000 Starpoints per year).  Let’s dig into the details below, and check out some other features of the card!

 

 

Sign-up Bonus

Starwood points are some of the most valuable out there in the points and miles world.  The transfer partners in the airline space and the great hotels that Starwood has around the world makes this so.  With this credit card now, you’ll earn 10,000 SPG points on first purchase.  After that, you’ll receive 20,000 more points for spending $5,000 in the first six months of cardmembership.  These offers are identical for the personal and the business credit cards.

 

Annual Fee 

The regular annual fee for this SPG credit card is $65, but for the first year, the fee is waived.  So, the cost of cardmembership could be $0 during the first year!

 

Earning Starpoints 

As a co-branded credit card, you’ll receive bonus Starpoints for spend at Starwood hotels.  For all purchases at Starwood’s brands, including spend charged to the room, you’ll receive two points per dollar.  All other purchases will receive one point per dollar.

 

Gold Status with Spend

One major benefit for the Starwood Preferred Guest Business Credit Card is the ability to earn automatic Starwood Gold Status when you spend $30,000 on the card in a calendar year.  Gold status nets you upgraded rooms, late checkout at 4 p.m., and a choice of free Starpoints, wifi, or a free beverage at check-in.

You’ll also receive three points per dollar spent during your Starwood stays, instead of two.

 

Two Stay credits 

For those that can’t spend $30,000 per year on a credit card, the credit card does offer you two stays and five nights credited toward elite status.  That means, you’ll only have to have 8 stays or 20 nights to receive gold status.   And, if you have both the personal and business card versions, you’ll only have 6 stays or 15 nights to receive gold status.

 

Benefits of Starpoints 

Starpoints are particularly useful for the frequent traveler because they can be transferred to a number of airline partners across multiple alliances.  And, when you transfer in 20,000 mile increments, you’ll receive a 5,000 mile bonus in whatever program you transfer to.

 

The Nitty Gritty

APR is between 15.24% and 19.24%, with APR for cash advances at 21.24%.  Penalty APR is 27.24%.  Foreign transaction fees are 2.7%, and for cash advances, you’ll also pay a fee of $5 or 3%, whichever is greater.  If you miss a payment, you’ll also pay a $35 fee.

 

Conclusion 

The new bonus of 30,000 Starpoints at sign up is an excellent offer, and the new referrals make life a little better for loyal cardmembers.  Has this post convinced you that now is the time to apply?  Let us know below!

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Card Comparison: Chase Freedom vs. Capital One Quicksilver

It’s time for yet another credit card comparison!  Up today are the Chase Freedom® and Capital One Quicksilver credit cards.  Each offer up cash back to card holders, but have their differences in bonus cash back execution.  Which one is superior?  Let’s check it out below, and see which one reigns supreme!

 

Here are links to full reviews of these cards:

Chase Freedom Credit Card Review

Capital One Quicksilver Review

Apply Now: Chase Freedom®

 

Sign-Up Bonus

The sign up bonus is a very important factor for anyone signing up for a credit card. For the Capital One Quicksilver Credit card, you’ll see yourself netting $100 for spending $500 in three months.  The winner here is clear, the Chase Freedom® credit card.

 

Bonus Spending

With the Capital One Quicksilver credit card, you’ll net one and a half percent back on every purchase that you make on the card.  There are no categories or rotating calendars to remember.  The Chase Freedom card gives you 1% cash back on every dollar spent, as well as 5% cash back in a rotating group of categories (Restaurants and Lowe’s for April-June, Gas Stations and Kohl’s for July-September, and Amazon/Zappos/Department stores for the rest of the year).  The winner here, in my opinion, is the Quicksilver credit card, since you don’t have to remember any pesky categories!

 

Other Benefits

With your 15 months of 0% APR on purchases and balance transfers (then a variable APR of 13.99%-22.99%) and cash back rewards, you can’t go wrong with the Chase Freedom card.  Furthermore, you’ll have access to the Ultimate Rewards travel network if you have another credit card that earns Ultimate Rewards points with Chase.  This is huge, as it gives you the versatility to really expand on your rewards.

For the Quicksilver credit card, it offers 0% APR until March 2015.  Afterwards, it’ll be 12.9%-22.9%.  It also has no foreign transaction fees, and is a Visa Signature card, with purchase protection and travel benefits.  So, I would say that it depends on what your life is like for the winner between these cards.  If you value travel, and have another Chase card, the Freedom card wins in my book.  But, if you like travelling abroad, you could see the Quicksilver card winning this round.

 

Conclusion

So, who is the winner here?  It’s hard to say.  I think that the 5% benefits puts the Chase Freedom card ahead of the Quicksilver credit card.  But, I still am a firm believer in higher return for regular spending, not in specific categories.  So, if you see yourself spending a lot on these cards, I would edge yourself towards the Quicksilver credit card.  Ultimately, it’s up to you to analyze your spending and see which card is the best for you and your family.  Which one did you choose? Or, did you choose both?  Let us know below in the comments!

Apply Now: Chase Freedom®