No-Fee Credit Cards to Consider If You Need to Downgrade

Whenever there’s a period of financial uncertainty, it can make sense to review your credit card portfolio to make sure that you’re not paying too much in annual fees. Since many credit cards have annual fees that are waived the first year, if you’re not cognizant of what fees are upcoming, you can find yourself paying fees on cards that aren't providing enough benefits to outweigh the cost. Since many travel credit cards come with high annual fees, it’s a good idea to regularly review your credit card portfolio — but it’s an even better idea if you’re actively looking to cut costs.

In this article we’ll look through some of the major credit card issuers and explore some of the no-fee cards available for each of them. Hopefully that can help you decide the right moves to make for your individual situation.

American Express

American Express has a wide variety of different credit cards. Some are co-branded with hotel or airline partners, while others earn AmEx’s proprietary Membership Rewards.

American Express Membership Rewards

AmEx doesn't offer any consumer cards that earn Membership Rewards and don't have an annual fee. But if you have a small business, you could potentially downgrade to The Blue Business® Plus Credit Card from American Express. It has a $0 annual fee and earns 2 Membership Rewards for every dollar spent, up to $50,000 in spending per year. Terms apply.

One nice thing about Membership Rewards is that you have just a single Membership Rewards account, regardless of how many American Express cards you have. So as long as you have at least one Membership Rewards-earning card, your points won’t expire if you cancel a different card.

American Express Hilton Honors

American Express offers four different co-branded credit cards with Hilton. If you’re looking to downgrade, consider the Hilton Honors American Express Card. It earns:

• 7x Hilton Honors points at Hilton properties.

• 5x points at U.S. restaurants.

• 5x points at U.S. supermarkets.

• 5x points at U.S. gas stations.

• 3x points on all other purchases.

Plus, you get Hilton Honors™ Silver Status just for having the card. Terms apply.

American Express Delta

The Delta SkyMiles® Blue American Express Card is a co-branded card with a $0 annual fee. It earns double SkyMiles at restaurants and on Delta purchases. Terms apply. To view rates and fees of the Delta SkyMiles® Blue American Express Card, see this page.

Bank of America®

If you’re looking to stay in the Bank of America® ecosystem, consider the Bank of America® Travel Rewards credit card or Bank of America® Customized Cash Rewards credit card.

The Bank of America® Travel Rewards credit card earns 1.5 points on all purchases, while the Bank of America® Customized Cash Rewards credit card earns 3% cash back on your choice of various categories, 2% back at grocery stores and wholesale clubs, and 1% back everywhere else.

Any Bank of America® rewards points that you earn will need to be redeemed before closing or downgrading your card.

Capital One

Capital One has a business and a personal credit card that both earn Venture Rewards with no annual fee. The Capital One VentureOne Rewards Credit Card - Miles Boost earns 1.25 points per dollar spent on all purchases, and the Capital One® Spark® Miles Select for Business card earns 1.5 points per dollar spent anywhere. Plus, both cards earn 5 miles per dollar spent if you use the Capital One travel portal to make a hotel or rental car booking.

You should be able to keep your Capital One Venture Rewards when downgrading, but it is always best to ask the customer service reps.

Chase

Chase offers a wide selection of cards that earn Chase Ultimate Rewards® points, as well as several cards that are co-branded with their hotel or airline partners.

Chase Ultimate Rewards®

There are four no-fee cards that earn Chase Ultimate Rewards® points — two personal and two business.

• Chase Freedom Flex®: 5 points per dollar spent (up to $1,500 per quarter) in rotating quarterly bonus categories.

• Chase Freedom Unlimited®: During your first year, earn 6.5% cash back on travel purchased through Chase portal, 4.5% cash back on drugstore purchases and dining at restaurants, and 3% on all other purchases on up to $20,000 in spending. After that, earn 5% cash back on Chase travel purchased through Ultimate Rewards®, 3% cash back on drugstore purchases and dining at restaurants, including takeout and eligible delivery service, and unlimited 1.5% cash back on all other purchases.

• Ink Business Cash® Credit Card: 5 points per dollar for office supplies, phone and cable (up to $25,000 per year) and 2 points per dollar at gas stations and restaurants.

• Ink Business Unlimited® Credit Card: 1.5 points per dollar spent on all purchases.

With Chase, your Ultimate Rewards® are tied to your specific card, so you’ll want to make sure to either redeem or transfer your Chase Ultimate Rewards® points before closing or downgrading your card. Also, keep in mind that Chase’s no-fee cards are not eligible to transfer points to hotel and airline partners.

Chase IHG

If you have the IHG One Rewards Premier Credit Card, you can consider the IHG One Rewards Traveler Credit Card, which also gives the fourth night free on award stays and a 20% discount on points purchases (with a $0 annual fee).

Chase Marriott

The Marriott Bonvoy Bold® Credit Card is Marriott’s $0-annual-fee card, and it comes with 15 elite night credits each year, which is enough to qualifiy you for Silver Status. You will earn up to 14 Marriott points per dollar spent on Marriott purchases, 2 points per dollar on grocery stores, rideshare, select food delivery, select streaming and internet, cable and phone services and 1 point per dollar on all other purchases.

Citi

Citi ThankYou Points

The Citi Rewards+® Card can be a great $0-fee option if you are looking to downgrade or combine points from the Citi Strata Premier℠ Card or Citi Prestige® Card. It earns 2 points per dollar at supermarkets and gas stations (up to $6,000/year).

The Citi Double Cash® Card can be another good option as it earns 2% cash back on all purchases (1% cash back when you buy, plus an additional 1% when pay for those purchases) and that cash back can be converted to ThankYou points. Plus, through the end of 2025, cardholders can get 5% cash back on hotel, car rentals and attractions booked through the Citi Travel portal.

One important note for ThankYou points is that although you have only one ThankYou account, the points earned are kept per card. You can transfer points to another account, but you then have 90 days to spend them before they expire.

Citi American Airlines

The American Airlines AAdvantage® MileUp® is American’s $0-fee card. It earns 2 points per dollar at grocery stores and on purchases with American and 1 point per dollar elsewhere.

The bottom line

Remember that in most cases if you just downgrade your card to a no-fee alternative, you will not earn any bonus points or qualify for welcome offers. If this is important to you, consider first signing up for the no-fee card (and getting the welcome offer), transferring your points to the new card (if necessary) and only then canceling the card that has the fee. However, you should be aware of the impact that canceling a card can have on your credit score as well.

Remember that in most cases if you just downgrade your card to a no-fee alternative, you will not earn any bonus points or qualify for welcome offers. If this is important to you, consider first signing up for the no-fee card (and getting the welcome offer), transferring your points to the new card (if necessary) and only then canceling the card that has the fee. However, you should be aware of the impact that canceling a card can have on your credit score as well.

To view rates and fees of The Blue Business® Plus Credit Card from American Express, see this page. To view rates and fees of the Hilton Honors American Express Card, see this page.

All information about the Chase Freedom® and Citi Prestige® Card has been collected independently by NerdWallet. The Chase Freedom® and Citi Prestige® Card are no longer available through NerdWallet.