Summary

The Citi® Double Cash card offers a low-interest way for cardholders to earn rewards on all their purchases, with no limits or categories.

Offering 0 percent introductory APR on purchases and balance transfers for 18 months, the Citi® Double Cash card will earn you one percent cash back on every purchase you make, plus an additional one percent cash back when you pay your bill, all with no annual fee.

Get it

If you’re looking for a card that allows you to earn 2 percent cash back on all your purchases and offers flexible redemption options, the Citi® Double Cash card might be worth looking into.

Key highlights

• Earn 2 percent cash back on all your spending (1 percent unlimited on all your purchases and an additional 1 percent when you pay off those purchases)
• Redeem cash back in a number of different ways, including checks, statement credits, or gift cards, once you accrue at least $25 in rewards
• No annual fee

Skip it

Unlimited cash back is great, but any rewards you earn with the Citi® Double Cash will expire if you haven’t earned any cash back for purchases or payments for 12 months, so you have to make sure you use your card regularly to reap its benefits. There’s also no opportunity to boost your rewards earning rate — you’re limited to 2 percent cash back.

The Citi® Double Cash card is a great card for cardholders looking to earn unlimited cash back without having to think too much about it.

Summary

A fixed rewards rate of 2X points on every purchase you make, plus 50,000 bonus miles, after you spend $3,000 in the first 90 days makes the Arrival PlusTM a hard rewards card to beat.

That’s not all — the Arrival Plus will also reward you for redeeming your points, offering a 5 percent miles redemption bonus every time you cash in. You can also use your points to cover travel related expenses, including ticket fees and Airbnb stays.

Get it:

Busy travelers who want a credit card that offers them a high travel rewards rate will want to seriously consider the Barclaycard Arrival PlusTM, especially considering that Barclay will waive its annual fee for the first year.

Key highlights

• 2x points for every $1 you spend on any purchase
• 50,000 bonus points when you spend $3,000 on purchases within 90 days of opening the account
• No annual fee in the first year ($89 per year for subsequent years)

Skip it

While the Arrival PlusTM does offer cardholders multiple options for redeeming their points, the redemption process can be a bit confusing. Miles can only be used for travel statement credits (which you can subsequently use against travel purchases), gift cards and merchandise. So if you like to earn miles that you can transfer to airline and hotel loyalty programs or be used directly against travel related purchases, you may want to look elsewhere.

Summary

With a generous welcome bonus, ongoing rewards for all of your purchases and no annual fee, the Discover it® Miles credit card has a lot going for it.

With the Discover it® Miles, you can earn unlimited 1.5x miles on every dollar you spend, regardless of purchase category (including online shopping!) and you also won’t have to worry about accruing any late fees or foreign transaction fees.

Get it

Not only does the Discover it® Miles have no annual fee, it makes it simple to earn and redeem rewards. The Discover it® Miles also has no blackout dates or restrictions on where you spend your Miles.

Key highlights

• Unlimited 1.5x miles on every $1 spent on every purchase
• Mile match: Discover will match all the miles you earn in your first year, giving you the chance to earn 3x miles per dollar for year one
• No annual fee, foreign transaction fees, or late fees

Skip it

The ability to earn 1.5x unlimited points regardless of category is great, but it’s not as high a rewards rate as some other cards offer. The Discover it® Miles may also be a difficult card to qualify for if you have poor credit.

Summary

The Citi Thankyou® Premier earns you 3X points on travel purchases and 2X points on dining out and entertainment, while also offering a sizeable bonus — 50,000 bonus points when you spend $4,000 within the first 3 months from account opening.

Get it

If the bulk of your purchases are related to travel (airlines, hotels), dining out, or entertainment (concerts, theatre shows), the Citi Thankyou® Premier is hard to beat.

Key highlights

• 50,000 bonus points after making $4,000 in purchases with the card in the first 3 months of account opening
• Earn 3X points on Travel, 2X on Dining Out and Entertainment, and 1X on all other purchases
• Points do not expire, and there is no limit to how many you can accrue. In addition, they are worth 25 percent more when redeemed for airfare through the ThankYou® Travel Center

Skip it

The Citi Thankyou® Premier card is great if you spend your money on the categories that it rewards you most for — travel, dining or entertainment. But if you want a card that earns you more general rewards, or earns you cash back, it might not be the best fit for you.

Summary

Frequent travelers who are also loyal JetBlue customers need to look no further than the JetBlue Plus credit card. With a sizeable sign-up bonus, a whopping 6 points per dollar on JetBlue related purchases, and bonus anniversary points, the JetBlue Plus credit card is definitely worth a second look.

Get it

The JetBlue Plus credit card can help you get even more value out of your JetBlue travel and, if you fly JetBlue frequently, the rewards you’ll earn will make the $99 annual fee worth it.

Key highlights

• 30,000 bonus TrueBlue points when you spend $1,000 within 90 days of opening your account
• 6X TrueBlue points on tickets, goods, and services from JetBlue, 2X points at restaurants and grocery stores, 1x point on other purchases
• 5,000 bonus points annually on your anniversary, plus each time you redeem, you’ll get 10 percent of your points back

Skip it

If you prefer looking the best deal available, regardless of airline, the JetBlue Plus credit card might not be worth the annual fee you’ll have to pay (the annual fee is not waived for the first year).