It's best known for offering 5 percent cash back on a rotating list
of everyday spending categories, such as gas and groceries, and is a favorite among power card users who like to switch up the cards they use to maximize rewards earnings.
Not exact matches
Unlike many other cards, the Double Cash card has no
category restrictions, no enrollments in rotating
categories, and no limits on the amount
of cash back that you earn, which makes it easy to earn cash back on groceries and other
everyday spending.
Instead
of having a fixed set
of categories where you earn your maximum rewards, like you do with The Amex
EveryDay ® Credit Card from American Express, every quarter
of the year, the Chase Freedom ® shifts through different bonus
categories where you earn 5 % cash back, on up to $ 1,500 in combined
spending each quarter.
Unlike many other cards, the Double Cash card has no
category restrictions, no enrollments in rotating
categories, and no limits on the amount
of cash back that you earn, which makes it easy to earn cash back on groceries and other
everyday spending.
Chase Ultimate Rewards are my favorite points — they're the easiest to earn because the various Chase credit cards offer a wide variety
of bonus
categories for
everyday spending.
If more than one airline sounds like a good option for you, you'll want to consider the different characteristics
of the card, including the sign - up bonus,
everyday spending bonus
categories and annual fee.
If you're willing and able to fly more than one
of these airlines, you should then consider the sign - up bonus, annual fee,
everyday spending bonus
categories and other benefits.
Our take: A good card to use for
everyday errands, the Bank
of America Cash Rewards card offers a generous 3 percent
spending bonus on gas purchases and a respectable 2 percent bonus on groceries; however, there is a strict $ 2,500 cap on combined purchases in these
categories each quarter.
If you don't mind tracking a rotating group
of bonus
categories every quarter and tailoring your
spending, you could potentially get a substantial amount
of value out
of this
everyday cash back card; but if you don't regularly
spend on the
categories that earn 5 percent cash back, you won't earn much
of a return.
If you're willing and able to fly more than one
of these airlines, you should then consider the sign - up bonus, annual fee,
everyday spending bonus
categories and other benefits.
Our take: A good card to use for
everyday errands, the Bank
of America Cash Rewards card offers a generous 3 percent
spending bonus on gas purchases and a respectable 2 percent bonus on groceries; however, there is a strict $ 2,500 cap on combined purchases in these
categories each quarter.
If more than one airline sounds like a good option for you, you'll want to consider the different characteristics
of the card, including the sign - up bonus,
everyday spending bonus
categories and annual fee.
AmEx's popular Blue Cash
Everyday card has a seemingly lower cap
of $ 6,000, but the cap only applies to its supermarket
category, which amounts to a lot
of leeway on grocery purchases and unlimited
spend on the other
categories.
The PNC Cash Rewards Visa card happens to offer a bonus on three
of the most heavily used
everyday -
spending categories: gas, restaurants and grocery stores.
If you don't mind tracking a rotating group
of bonus
categories every quarter and tailoring your
spending, you could potentially get a substantial amount
of value out
of this
everyday cash back card; but if you don't regularly
spend on the
categories that earn 5 percent cash back, you won't earn much
of a return.
If all
of your purchases were made in
everyday spending categories, that would equate to
spending $ 6,334 on your Gold SkyMiles card, or just $ 528 a month.
Also, you can earn more points with bonus
category spend on cards like the Premier Rewards Gold Card and Amex
EveryDay, so if you're trying to amass a lot
of Aeroplan miles, you might want to consider American Express cards first.
Many
of them offer high rewards on
everyday spending categories, including gas and groceries.
A quick aside: If you are highly concerned with earning a lot
of MRs through bonus
category spending I would definitely consider the Amex
Everyday Preferred.
Outside
of a mortgage or rent the only big
everyday spend that isn't included as a bonus
category on any
of these cards are groceries....
Chase Ultimate Rewards are my favorite points — they're the easiest to earn because the various Chase credit cards offer a wide variety
of bonus
categories for
everyday spending.
It's these two cases where cash - back cards make sense to at least have as an option --(1) for people who don't have large
everyday bonus
category spend to achieve the redemption threshold for airline miles and (2) for people with large mileage balances where the marginal value
of another point in that program is low.
But I earn the majority
of my miles / points from lucrative signup bonuses and bonus
categories, not from
everyday spend.
You can earn a large amount
of cash back with this card on your
everyday spending, with no rotating
categories to enroll in or keep track
of.
On top
of sign - up bonuses, we organized our
everyday spending to maximize bonus
categories.
Point multipliers in bonus
categories are quite lucrative, but given the lower value
of Hilton Honors points, the earnings on
everyday spending aren't that strong.
Since the Amex SPG card has no bonus - earning
categories outside
of spending on SPG and Marriott hotels,
everyday purchases earn just 1 point per dollar.
«With the U.S. Bank Cash + Visa, you choose where you can earn 5 percent cash back in two
categories and 2 percent cash back in some
everyday -
spend categories each quarter,» said Bob Daly, senior vice president
of rewards for U.S. Bank.
But if you want the ability to earn a lot
of points quickly through
category bonus
spend and want the flexibility to either book your travel purchases with points or transfer points to an airline or hotel, then a travel rewards credit card such as the Chase Sapphire Preferred, American Express
Everyday Preferred or Citi Thank You Premier would be good for you.
All
of these are
everyday categories, so Discover cardholders might not have to rearrange their
spending to maximize their rewards.
The new American Express
EveryDay and
EveryDay Preferred cards also earn transferable Membership Rewards points and, since the
EveryDay Preferred card can earn 1.5 points for non-bonus
category spending (along with 3 for gas and 6 for up to $ 6,000
of groceries per year), it is potentially the most lucrative single points card for those
of us crazy people who live in the United States most
of the year and only travel a few weeks or months a year.
Unlike many other cards, the Double Cash card has no
category restrictions, no enrollments in rotating
categories, and no limits on the amount
of cash back that you earn, which makes it easy to earn cash back on groceries and other
everyday spending.
While it doesn't have huge
category bonuses, it offers one
of the most lucrative returns on
everyday spend, given how valuable Starpoints are.
Korean Air SkyPass is a Chase Ultimate Rewards transfer partner, which is one
of the easiest points currencies to come by, in my opinion, thanks to the generous sign - up bonuses and
category bonuses for
everyday spend on those cards:
In addition to paying... Continue reading Part 2
of Earning Points and Miles:
Everyday Spending and
Category Bonuses
Between sign - up bonuses that often offer eye - popping value to savvy travelers,
category bonuses that reward smart spenders for using the right card at the right time and a bevy
of travel perks offered just for being a cardholder, choosing the right credit cards for your
everyday spending can help you book the trip
of your dreams faster than anything else.
Last year we saw the Citi Prestige increase its sign - up bonus to 75,000 points, the American Express Platinum Card add a 5x bonus
category for flights and hotels and Bank
of America introduce its new Premium Rewards card with impressive returns on
everyday spending.