Best Rewards / Perk Credit Cards

[Anonymous]

Which are the best free cards with no fees and best combination of rewards and benefits?  Just wondering if there is one card that is superior than others?  I have top fico score over 800, self employed, long credit history and had over 20 credit card accounts and now down to 7 active lines.  I utilize very low spend compared to income and so fee cards generally aren’t worth the cost to me.  If there is an exception where an annual fee really is beneficial even with low spend I would consider that as well.

I usually find my cards from searching the internet although I have taken preapprovals when offerings were favorable but have not received any preapprovals for a long time now.  

[AverageJoesCredit]

First, welcome to the forum. You may want to edit your title as best free free cards is kind of confusing

Second, you will find your question very subjective here. One persons non annual fee card may be their best while that same card might be worthless to another.

You need to be more specific with your profile to get better replies. You have a perfect score, so does that mean your Fico 8 is 850? What kind of spend do you do, are you looking for cash back rewards, low apr cards, travel, high limit cards, etc. The list is endless. Once you provide more details youll see the difference in opinions commence and then you just have to decide whats best for you. Again welcome

[Anonymous]

The two cards I use the most are my American Express Blue Cash Everyday and Chase Freedom.

They both have good sign-up bonuses and earn rewards quickly on things you buy most. Since I would guess eating would be everyone's constant spend, then the most ideal cards include grocery and restaurant categories.

For the past few years Chase Freedom has offered an unusually high 5% cashback on groceries and dining out. Since the categories normally only last one quarter it's not something you can use all the time, but I usually max out the grocery quarter every year. Also this year's first quarter included Apple Pay, and I was able to get 5% at Walgreens, Trader Joe's, and Whole Foods since they both take Apple Pay even though gas was the main category. Right now they are also offering Paypal in addition to groceries which is very handy for earning more points when shopping online.

Plus, if you travel frequently, the points are worth more when transferred to a Chase Sapphire Preferred and used for travel.

The Blue Cash also offers 3% back on groceries which is the highest any card offers back on groceries without spending an annual fee (or waiting for a Freedom category). American Express also has a very nice website and great customer service. You can also save money with Amex Offers. I've had offers for Whole Foods, Total Wine, Exxon, Macy's, BestBuy, Target, and a variety of restaurants.

Other than that, the Wells Fargo card offers 5x points on gas, drugstores, and grocery for the first 6 months. Last year they offered a $200 bonus on top of 5%. I don't see them offering the $200 right now, and I would wait for the Chase Freedom category to be over anyway.

[Anonymous]

I don’t use for grocery spending.  I use general spend, dining spend, and small travel spend occasionally.  Maybe gas spending due to conveninence store as well.  Uber claims 4% dining which I don’t have.  Gas I can get 3% from PNC and Travel I see the Pen Fed Amex has free 100 airline credit a year for change fees, bag fees, and the like and free Global Entry or TSA Pre every 5 years for 100 credit.  General spend I see 1.5 to 2% offerings generally.

Problem is all new cards require new accounts which mean reduced credit scores due to inquiery and average credit age goes down so I’ve been hesitent in new applications.  Did the Capital One Savor less than 12 months ago for 3% dining and after it came out, Uber came out with 4%.  

[Anonymous]

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@Anonymous wrote:

I don’t use for grocery spending.  I use general spend, dining spend, and small travel spend occasionally.  Maybe gas spending due to conveninence store as well.  Uber claims 4% dining which I don’t have.  Gas I can get 3% from PNC and Travel I see the Pen Fed Amex has free 100 airline credit a year for change fees, bag fees, and the like and free Global Entry or TSA Pre every 5 years for 100 credit.  General spend I see 1.5 to 2% offerings generally.

Problem is all new cards require new accounts which mean reduced credit scores due to inquiery and average credit age goes down so I’ve been hesitent in new applications.  Did the Capital One Savor less than 12 months ago for 3% dining and after it came out, Uber came out with 4%.  

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If there was one best (even no AF) card, these forums would be considerably quieter!  ("Have you got the X card yet?", "Yes", "Then you are all set").   As others have said it varies on your spending pattern (which you have now answered),  goals such as cashback,/travel rewards,/free toasters,  and your other cards

But if your score is 800+ why the concern with slight reductions due to new accounts?  Are you planning for something big where the score needs to be as high as possible.   Otherwise, if you feel unable to apply, not much point in having a good score.

[Anonymous]

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@Anonymous wrote:

The Blue Cash also offers 3% back on groceries which is the highest any card offers back on groceries without spending an annual fee (or waiting for a Freedom category). 

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In general yes (now that the Old Blue Cash can't be applied for).   But if a lot of shopping is at WholeFoods, the free (if you spend the prime fee anyway) Chase Amazon is 5% there.   But there are a lot of similar 3% on grocery cards with a similar cap, that are Visa/MC, and so count more things as supermarkets and don't have the stupid reward system of the Blue Cash series  (1 month delay, $25 increments)

[Anonymous]

Good question.  I would rather earn enough income to buy a new home outright but a mortgage may be necessary and could be worthwhile especially as some places including Pen Fed have 100% or even 95% financing options which is why I want to keep the score as high as possible and have limited inqueries and new accounts.

Obviously one could apply for multiple new accounts, then just wait two years but its a long time.  

[Anonymous]

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@Anonymous wrote:

Good question.  I would rather earn enough income to buy a new home outright but a mortgage may be necessary and could be worthwhile especially as some places including Pen Fed have 100% or even 95% financing options which is why I want to keep the score as high as possible and have limited inqueries and new accounts.

Obviously one could apply for multiple new accounts, then just wait two years but its a long time.  

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At 800+, one or two new inquiries and accounts won't push you into a different mortgage tier, other things being equal.   But if there is nothing compelling to apply for, then playing safe makes sense.

[UpperNwGuy]

The best free cards are the 2% cash back anywhere cards.  You can get them from Citi, Fidelity, PenFed, PayPal, BlisPay, SDFCU, etc.