Best Chase Credit Cards: NerdWallet’s Picks

Chase credit cards get a lot of press for their big, temporary signup bonuses. Even if you can’t take advantage of one, Chase credit cards are always well worth a look for their excellent rewards programs. The points and cash back programs offer the same dollar-for-dollar value, and you can redeem points for cash anyway if you want to. The one thing to watch out for with Chase cards? Don’t expect the lowest APR in town. Here’s a list of our top picks.

Best Card for Travel: Chase Sapphire Preferred

The Chase Sapphire Preferred is one of the top travel credit cards, mostly for its killer 50,000-point signup bonus, worth up to $625. It also offers 2 points per dollar on travel and dining purchases, and 1 point per dollar on all other purchases. The travel category includes airfare, hotels, cruises, taxis, rental cars and train tickets. As is the case with all Chase rewards cards, there’s no point cap and the points never expire. You’ll also get a 7% annual point dividend on all new points earned, even if you’ve already redeemed them. Redeem your points through the Ultimate Rewards website and they’ll be worth 25% more. This means your base rewards rate could be as high as 1.34%. There’s no foreign transaction fee, which is always an important perk for world travelers. Plus, the $95 annual fee is waived for the first year, and there’s no penalty for transferring points to other frequent traveler programs.

Best No-Fee Card: Chase Freedom

The Chase Freedom credit card seems to up its signing bonus every five minutes, and it always offers decent rewards for a card with no annual fee. As of September, they’re offering a pretty spectacular $200 cash back when you spend $500 or more in the first three months. You also get 5% back on up to $1,500 spent in rotating bonus categories that change each quarter. Through September, it’s gas, hotels and airlines. For October through December, it’s movie theaters, dining, department stores and charities. You’ll get an unlimited 1% back on all other purchases, and up to 10% back when you shop through the Chase website. The 0% intro APR for the first six months is a nice touch too. After that, it varies from 11.99% to 22.99%. That’s a crazy-wide range, so it may or may not be a good deal depending on your credit score. However, if you’re paying off your balance in full each month anyway, it won’t matter.

Best Business Card: Ink Classic and Ink Cash

After a comprehensive makeover in June, the Chase Ink Cash and the classic Chase Ink are now pretty similar, and some of the best business credit cards around. (For a complete explanation, check out our blog post on the Chase Ink credit cards, including the premium Chase Ink Bold). We recommend the Ink Cash for entertainers and the Ink Classic for travelers. Both cards give 5% back for first $25,000 you spend annually on office supplies, wireless services, landline communications, and cable services. Both cards give 2% back in gas and one other category (dining for Ink Cash and lodging for Ink Classic), also up to $25k/year, making the former ideal for entertaining clients and the latter ideal for business travel. The Ink Cash pays out in, you guessed it, cash, while the Ink Classic pays Ultimate Rewards points, which we think have the same value as cash. Both offer the equivalent of $150 back after your first purchase, and an additional $100 back when you spend $5,000 in the first 3 months. The 0% intro APR for the first 6 months is great for brand new businesses that need to make a lot of large purchases up front.

Best Hotel Card: Ritz-Carlton

The Ritz-Carlton credit card is definitely worth your while if you spend a lot of time in their hotels, even with its hefty $395 annual fee. When you use the card for the first time, you’ll get 50,000 rewards points – that’s enough for one complimentary night’s stay. Even better, you’ll always get a $100 hotel credit for dining and recreational services for every two nights or longer you stay at the hotel. The card also comes with cool travel perks like complimentary airport lounge access and a $200 annual credit toward “airline incidentals” (baggage fees, in-flight meals and the like). But we haven’t even mentioned the snazzy rewards program yet: 5% back for each $1 of net purchases charged to your guest room, 2% points for each $1 of net purchases from airlines, car rentals, and dining, and 1% per $1 spent elsewhere. 5% back is much better than most hotel credit cards. Typically, these cards give at most 3-4%.

About Ultimate Rewards

A Chase Ultimate Rewards point is worth about 1 cent. The points have no cap, don’t expire, and don’t require you to earn a minimum number before you can cash them in. If you chose the cash back option, 2,000 points gets you a $20 check or a $20 statement credit. With the gift card option, 2,500 points gets you a $25 gift card from a wide enough range of common retailers. Dollar for dollar, both choices are the same. Chase also offers merchandise and “experiences”, but we’ve found these other options much lower redemption values than simply exchanging points for cash.

Your Ultimate Rewards points may also help you score a good deal on travel tickets. If you have a Sapphire Preferred or an Ink Bold card, points are worth 25% more when used to book travel through the Ultimate Rewards Travel Tool. There are no restrictions or blackout dates, and points can be used to book flights on most major airlines.