A credit card's value is based on its combination of benefits, reward rates, and signup bonus. Much of this website is dedicated to letting you know about credit cards which are valuable to get, use, and hold onto.
However, the list below only takes into consideration the value of the credit card's signup bonus. While some of these cards may have benefits that might make them interesting additions to your core credit card collection—all of them are worth getting, even if it is simply to receive the signup bonus.
There are some basic guidelines for evaluating signup bonuses.
These are all the credit cards with a net signup value of around $450 or higher.
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| Chase Sapphire Preferred
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$1,670
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.42/$
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| All time high offer of 100,000 Ultimate Reward points with $4,000 spend. If you somehow qualify for this card (under 5/24, no Sapphire bonus in last 48 months), this is a fantastic offer. $95 annual fee waived in branch, offer is $95 less valuable if you apply online.
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| Chase Ink Preferred (business card only)
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$1,225
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.25/$
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| 80,000 Ultimate Rewards points, valued at $1360. ($5,000 initial spend). $95 annual fee. Affected by the Chase 5/24 rule.
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Capital One Venture full base
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$1,200 $550
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.06/$ .18/$
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| Up to 100,000 transferable points. 50,000 points with $3,000 spend in the first three months and an additional 50,000 points with a total of $20,000 of spending during the first year. $95 annual fee.
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| British Airways, Iberia, and Aer Lingus
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$1,040
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.21/$
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| All 3 cards offer 100,000 points after $5,000 initial spend. The British Airways version has the advantage of giving you a discount on award fees, but you could also get more than one assuming you have the Chase 5/24 slots. $95 annual fee.
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| Chase United Quest
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$940
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.09/$
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| Up to 100,000 miles. 80,000 miles with $5,000 spend in first 3 months plus an additional 20,000 miles with a total of $10,000 spend in first six months. $250 annual fee, but you get a $125 credit each year (good for United flights). If you want a United card, get this one and then downgrade to the Explorer or Gateway card at the end of the first year (if you no longer want the Quest).
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BOA Alaska Airlines personal business
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$850 $910
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.43/$ .46/$
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| Promotional offers of 50,000 miles for personal card and 40,000 plus $200 statement credit for business card. Both offers require $2,000 of spend and include a $99 companion certificate when you sign up (which we value at $250). $75 annual fee.
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| BOA Amtrak
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$900
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1.00/$
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| 20,000 Amtrak points, worth 2.9 cents each towards Amtrak travel plus $200 credit. ($1,000 initial spend). You also get a companion ticket, upgrade certificate, and single-visit lounge pass, which we value at a total of $200. $79 annual fee.
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Southwest Performance Business full $25,000 spend 80,000 point offer
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$930 $870
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.04/$ .17/$
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| Your choice of two offers. 80,000 Southwest Airlines points for $5,000 initial spend. Or up to 100,000 points: 70,000 for the first $5,000 spend and an additional 30,000 points if you spend a total of $25,000 in the first six months. Accounting for the lost rewards, the big spend offer is slightly more valuable, but most people will likely want to stick with the straight 80,000 point offer. $199 annual fee. Affected by the Chase 5/24 rule.
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| Chase Sapphire Reserve
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$840
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.21/$
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| 60,000 Ultimate Rewards points with $4,000 spend. The signup offer for the Sapphire Preferred version is better and you can only have one of these two cards. However, the Sapphire Reserve card is a more interesting card for the long term. Probably best to get the Preferred and convert to the Reserve later (if you want it for the long term). $550 annual fee. The $300 travel credit is valued at full value. The $120 of DoorDash credits are valued at $100. Affected by the Chase 5/24 rule.
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| Chase Ink Cash (business card only)
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$830
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.28/$
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| Promotional offer of 50,000 Ultimate Rewards points ($2,000 initial spend). No annual fee. Affected by the Chase 5/24 rule.
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| Chase Ink Unlimited (business card only)
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$830
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.28/$
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| 50,000 Ultimate Rewards points ($2,000 initial spend). No annual fee. This is probably a promotional offer, but because the card is new, we don't know for sure. Affected by the Chase 5/24 rule.
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| Barclays Hawaiian Airlines (personal and business)
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$820
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.41/$
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| Promotional offer of 70,000 Hawaiian miles ($2,000 initial spend). You also receive a half-priced companion ticket, that we value at $250, making this a pretty valuable signup offer, if you can use the companion certificate to fly to Hawaii. The business version of the card has the same promotional offer, but with only $1,000 initial spend, making it about $15 more valuable.
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Amex Delta Platinum personal business
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$770 $790
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.26/$ .13/$
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| Personal card has a promotional offer of 75,000 Delta miles ($3,000 initial spend), business card has a promotional offer of 80,000 miles ($6,000 initial spend). Both cards provide a $100 statement credit for a Delta purchase in the first three months. If you aren't taking a flight, you can always stock up on Delta gift cards for later. $195 annual fee.
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Amex Delta Gold personal business
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$740 $790
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.37/$ .20/$
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| Personal card has a promotional offer of 60,000 Delta miles ($2,000 initial spend), business card has a promotional offer of 70,000 miles ($4,000 initial spend). Both offers also include a $50 statement credit for a Delta purchase in the first three months. If you aren't taking a flight, you can always stock up on Delta gift cards for later. Annual fee waived first year.
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Chase United Explorer (personal) full $10,000 initial $2,000
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$750 $450
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.08/$ .2\3/$
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| Promotional offer of 40,000 United Miles with $2,000 initial spend, plus an additional 25,000 miles for $10,000 total spend in the first six months. Annual fee is waived the first year. Affected by the Chase 5/24 rule.
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| Chase United Explorer (business)
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$740
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.15/$
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| Promotional offer of 75,000 United Miles with $5,000 initial spend. $95 annual fee. Affected by the Chase 5/24 rule.
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Barclay Aviator Card personal business
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$620 $790
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| Promotional offer of 60,000 American Airlines miles on personal card. Business card has promotional 65,000 mile offer ($1,000 initial spend), plus 10,000 more points for first purchase on an employee card. $95-99 annual fee.
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| Chase Southwest Airlines (all personal cards)
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$740-820
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.37-.41/$
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| 65,000 Southwest points with $2,000 initial spend. The smaller the annual fee, the more valuable the first year offer is, but if you fly Southwest often, you may want to pay a little more for the extra benefits. Affected by the Chase 5/24 rule.
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| US Bank Leverage (business card only)
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$750
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.10/$
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| Standard offer of 75,000 points. Since it earns 2% on your choice of over 50 different categories, there isn't much opportunity cost to the $7,500 of spend. Annual fee waived the first year.
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| Amex Hilton Aspire
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$730
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.18/$
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| Promotional offer of 150,000 Hilton points, valued at $680 ($4,000 initial spend). You also get a free weekend night certificate good at any Hilton hotel, which we value at $300. In addition, you get a $250 Hilton resort credit, and up to two $250 airline incidental credits, during your initial year. We value the airline credit at only 25% of its face value and the resort credit at half of its face value (for at total of $275). If you are willing to make the effort, you can get full value from these credits (an extra $475).
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Citi AAdvantage personal business
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$680 $720
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.23/$ .18/$
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| Promotional offer of 60,000 American Airlines miles ($3,000 initial spend) for the personal card or 65,000 miles ($4,000 initial spend in the first fourmonths) for the business card. Annual fee is waived the first year.
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| Chase IHG
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$710
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.24/$
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| Highest ever promotional offer of 125,000 IHG points, plus $50 statement credit, plus bonus points on all purchases for the first year.
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| Chase Southwest Premier Business
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$710
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.24/$
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| 60,000 Southwest Airline miles ($3,000 initial spend). Southwest operates a fixed-value rewards program, where you can get around 1.2 - 1.6 cents per point, without having to worry about award availability. $99 annual fee. Affected by the Chase 5/24 rule
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| Chase Hyatt
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$700
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.05/$
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| This is a complicated offer. Even though it is marketed as 60,000 points, it is really a 45,000 point offer. You get 30,000 Hyatt points with $3,000 spend. Plus you get 2x Hyatt points, rather than 1x points, on your first $15,000 of non-bonus-category spend. Since spending this much will earn you an extra free night certificate, we added $150 to the point value of the offer. $95 annual fee. Affected by the Chase 5/24 rule.
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| Citi Premier
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$700
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.18/$
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| 60,000 ThankYou points ($4,000 initial spend). A 70,000 offer, valued at $840, may be available in branch. $95 annual fee. The Prestige version is usually a better option, but from a pure signup bonus perspective, you get a bit more from this offer for the Premier card.
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| Bank of America Business Cash Card
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$675
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.14/$
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| $750 with $5,000 initial spend. No annual fee. You can often get more than one.
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| Barclays JetBlue (personal and business)
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$670
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.67/$
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| Promotional offer of 60,000 JetBlue points ($1,000 initial spend). Business card is 50,000 JetBlue points plus 10,000 points with a purchase on a employee card. $99 annual fee.
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| Citi Prestige
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$660
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.17/$
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| 50,000 ThankYou points ($4,000 initial spend). $495 annual fee, but gives you $500 in travel credits the first year you have the card. Lower annual fee for Citigold customers.
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| Capital One Spark (cash or miles, business card only)
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$650
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.14/$
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| 50,000 points after $4,500 initial spend. If you don't have a Venture or Spark Miles card, points from the Cash version are worth a little less because they can't be directly transferred to airline partners. Fee waived first year.
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| U.S. Bank Altitude Reserve
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$630
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.14/$
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| 50,000 points, worth 1.5 cents each ($4,500 initial spend). $400 annual fee, but a $325 airfare credit brings the effective annual fee down to $75.
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| BOA Air France Card
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$630
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.32/$
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| 50,000 miles plus $150 statement credit ($2,000 initial spend). Plus you get 60 XP points at signup (which isn't valued as part of the net signup value). $89 annual fee.
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Amex Platinum (multiple versions available) Promotional offers Normal offer
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$1,175 $575
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.24/$ .12/$
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| The Platinum card's normal signup bonus of 60,000 points is very generous. At 1.5 cents per point, the points are worth $900. But, you can get offers as high as 100,000 through targeted mailings, the "card match" tool, and private browsing. The card's annual fee is $550, but it comes with a $200 airline incidental credit that you can receive twice during your initial year, and a $50 Saks credit that you can receive three times during your initial year. You can also receive $200 worth of Uber credits each year. But, because these credits can be hard to use, we value the Saks and Uber credits at 50% of face value and the airline incidental credits at 25% of face value (for a total of $275). If you are willing to make the effort, you can get close to full value of these credits (for an extra $475).
You can earn signup bonuses from multiple different versions of the Platinum card, although only the "regular" version typically has higher-than-normal signup offers.
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| Chase Marriott Boundless
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$550
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.18/$
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| Promotional offer of 100,000 Marriott points ($3,000 initial spend). $95 annual fee.
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Barclay Miles & More (Lufthansa) full $20,000 initial $3,000
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$550 $470
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.03/$ .16/$
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| Promotional offer of 50,000 Miles & More points ($3,000 initial spend) plus an additional 25,000 points with $20,000 in total spending during the first year. $89 annual fee.
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Amex Business Platinum 75,000 point offer Targeted offer max
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$530 $1,650
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.03/$ .08/$
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| 75,000 Membership Rewards points ($20,000 spend), valued at $1130. You'll get 50,000 points if you spend $10,000, and an additional 25,000 points if you spend a total of $25,000 in the first three months. Targeted offers can be available for up to 150,000 points. Comes with a $200 airline incidental credit that you can use twice during your first year, and a $200 per year Dell credit. But, because these credits can be hard to use, we value the Dell credits at 50% of face value and the airline incidental credits at 25% of face value (for a total of $200). If you are willing to make the effort, you can get close to full value of these credits (for an extra $400). $595 annual fee.
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| Barclays Choice Privileges Card
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$510
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.17/$
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| 75,000 Choice points: 50,000 after $1,000 spend in first 90 days and another 25,000 points for a total of $2,000 of spend in the first 180 days. Plus an extra 2 points for every dollar spent the first year. Assuming you spend $10,000 per year to earn the annual spending bonus, 4x Choice points is worth about 1 cent per dollar more than a typical 2% cash back card. So we added about $100 to the net signup value. You'll need to adjust based on your expected spending and alternative reward rate.
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| US Bank Altitude Connect
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$500
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.17/$
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| 50,000 points with $3,000 spend. 2% for grocery and dining (and 4% for travel) reduce the opportunity cost of earning the bonus. Annual fee waived the first year.
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| BOA Sonesta
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$500
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.50/$
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| 60,000 Sonesta points valued at .8 cents each, plus an extra 5,000 points for an additional cardholder. Annual fee waived first year.
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| Wells Fargo Visa Signature
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$500
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.04/$
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| Earns 4x extra points, valued at 1.3 cents each, on the first $12,500 of gas, grocery, and drugstore purchases, during the first six months you have the card. If you can maximize the bonus, probably via gift card purchases, you can earn 50,000 extra points. No annual fee.
The Wells Fargo Reward card has an identical bonus, but if you don't also have the Visa Signature, the points are only worth 1 cent each (rather than 1.3 cents).
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| Amex Gold
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$490
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.25/$
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| Referral offer of 40,000 Membership Rewards points ($2,000 initial spend). You also get up to two $100 airline incidental credit during your initial year, and $10/month credit at participating restaurants, but because these credits can be hard to use, we only value them at half their face value. $250 annual fee. If you can get the 50,000 point "private browsing" offer, the net signup bonus rises to $640.
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| Bank of America Premium Rewards
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$460
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.15/$
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| 50,000 points, worth 1 cent each ($3,000 initial spend). $95 annual fee. You can receive the card's $100 airline incidental credit twice during your initial year. But, we only valued the credit at half of the potential $200 value. If you have $100,000 in combined assets with Bank of America and Merrill Lynch, you'll earn 2.625% on every purchase, so there is no opportunity cost for using the card to qualify for the bonus. $95 annual fee
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| Amex Hilton Surpass and Business
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$450
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.23/$
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| Promotional offer of 130,000 Hilton points. $2,000 spending requirement for personal card, $3,000 spending requirement for business card. $95 annual fee. You might possibly get an extra $100 statement credit if you apply during the reservation process.
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| US Bank Business Cash Card
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$450
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.15/$
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| 50,000 points with $3,000 spend. Not as good as another US Bank Leverage Card, but still a very worthwhile offer. No annual fee.
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| Amex Green Card
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$440
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.17/$
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| 30,000 Membership Rewards points plus a $100 credit for Away-brand luggage ($2,000 initial spend). We value the luggage credit at 50% of the stated value. This offers is better if you get the 45,000 point offer that you may be able to find when browsing in private mode, or the 35,000 point referral offer (that also gives someone you like a referral fee. $150 annual fee.
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| Cathay Pacific
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$440
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.15/$
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| Promotional offer of 40,000 Asia Miles ($3,000 initial spend). $95 annual fee.
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The following offers are all worth at least $350 and don't have a high initial spending requirement. In many cases, you'll qualify for the signup bonus after making your first purchase. In other cases, you may need to spend $500-1,000.
Banks occasionally offer higher-than-normal signup bonuses for their cards. Sometimes, these promotional offers are available to everyone. Sometimes, they are only available to specific people who have been targeted by the bank.
The “net sign-up value” for each of these cards is determined by calculating the value of the signup offer and then subtracting the costs involved with earning the bonus.