Best Credit Card Deals of 2020
The best credit card deals of 2020 offer generous initial bonuses within the first few months of opening an account. These bonuses can easily be worth $1,000 or more, depending on how you redeem your rewards, and they’re not difficult to obtain if you use your card on a regular basis to pay for things like groceries, gas, or utility bills.
Keep in mind, however, that not all credit card deals work the same, nor do they dole out the same type of points. Whereas some rewards credit cards let you earn points that are only good for cash back and statement credits, others let you redeem rewards for travel, merchandise, and entertainment. Some of the most flexible credit cards on the market even let you transfer points to popular hotel and airline loyalty programs, which could help you receive out sized value in return.
If your credit is in great shape and you want to earn rewards just by spending money on your day-to-day expenses, the best credit card deals can help you do just that. In order to come up with our top picks, we compared some of the most popular cards in the market today, based on their rewards, annual fees and flexibility, among other factors.
Important Things to Know About the Best Credit Card Deals
- Many of the most valuable credit card sign-up bonus offers require you to meet a minimum spending requirement within the first few months. Before you sign up for a credit card, make sure you can comfortably reach the spending threshold, without overspending.
- The top rewards credit cards available come with higher than average interest rates (APRs), which means they’re less than ideal if you need to carry a balance. If you tend to carry some credit card debt from month to month, then you’ll want to look for a low interest credit card instead.
- Keep in mind that rewards credit cards only let you earn ongoing rewards and bonus points on purchases you make, and not on balance transfers or cash advances. If you have a big balance with a high interest rate, you should check out the best balance transfer credit cards instead.
- Many of the top rewards credit cards charge an annual fee. While the first year rewards and cardholder perks can make paying these fees worth it, you should still keep them in mind when choosing a rewards card.
- Finally, the best credit card deals are only available to consumers with good or excellent credit. This typically means any FICO score of 740 or above, although it’s possible to qualify with a lower credit score.
Best Credit Card Deals of 2020
These cards let you rack up rewards worth $1,000 or more in a hurry. Consider signing up for one of these credit cards if you have excellent credit and want to take advantage of your daily spending.
- Chase Sapphire Reserve®: Best for Flexible Points
- Capital One Venture Rewards Credit Card: Best for Flexible Travel Credit
- Wells Fargo Propel American Express® Card: Best for No Annual Fee
- Chase Sapphire Preferred®: Best Travel sign-up Bonus
- Ink Business Preferred® Credit Card: Best for Flexible Rewards for Business
- Capital One Spark Cash: Best for Big Business Spenders
Best Credit Card Deals: Reviews
Before you sign up for a new credit card deal or bonus offer, make sure you understand everything that’s involved. For starters, you’ll need to meet a minimum spending requirement to get the welcome bonus, and you’ll want to understand any fees involved as well as other cardholder benefits. The following reviews include the most important details you should know about each of these cards.
Chase Sapphire Reserve®: Best for Flexible Points
The Chase Sapphire Reserve is considered as one of the most flexible rewards credit cards available today, and it’s easy to see why. Currently, you can earn up to 60,000 points when you sign up and spend $4,000 on your card within the first three months. You’ll also earn 3x points on travel and 1x points on all other purchases. Current promotions include a complimentary DashPass subscription from DoorDash and $120 in statement credits toward meal pickup or delivery ($60 in 2020 and another $60 in 2021). You will also earn 10x points on Lyft rides through March of 2022.
A $550 annual fee applies, but you’ll receive lucrative cardholder benefits such as a $300 annual travel credit, which is also valid for gas and grocery store purchases through the end of 2020, a credit of up to $100 for an application to Global Entry or TSA Precheck, and Priority Pass Select airport lounge access. When you redeem rewards, you can cash them in for 50% more travel if you book through the Chase portal, or you can transfer them 1:1 to airline and hotel partners like Southwest Rapid Rewards, JetBlue, Emirates, IHG Rewards, and World of Hyatt. You can also redeem rewards for cash back, gift cards, entertainment, and more.
Summary of benefits:
- Earn 60,000 bonus points after you spend $4,000 on your card within three months of opening the account. That's worth $900 in travel when redeemed through Chase Ultimate Rewards®
- Earn 3x points on travel and dining and 1x points on other purchases
- $300 annual travel credit that’s also valid for gas and grocery store purchases in 2020.
- Free DoorDash DashPass and $120 in statement credits towards meal pickup or delivery.
- $550 annual fee
Capital One Venture Rewards Credit Card: Best for Flexible Travel Credit
The Capital One Venture Rewards Credit Card starts new cardholders off with 100,000 bonus miles when they sign up and spend $20,000 within first 12 months. Or, you can still earn 50,000 bonus miles after spending $3,000 in purchases within first three months of account opening.
You can redeem for any travel purchases charged to your card at a rate of one cent per point, as well as for restaurant delivery and takeout services, and eligible entertainment streaming services. This card also lets you transfer miles to airline partners like Air France, Flying Blue and Cathay Pacific. This card also gives you a $100 credit toward Global Entry or TSA Precheck. There’s a $95 annual fee for this card.
Summary of benefits:
- Earn 100,000 bonus miles when you spend $20,000 on purchases in first 12 months, or you can still earn 50,000 miles if you spend $3,000 on purchases in the first 3 months of account opening
- Redeem your miles for statement credits towards travel, dining pickup or delivery and entertainment streaming, or transfer rewards to airline and hotel partners
- $95 annual fee
Wells Fargo Propel American Express® Card: Best for No Annual Fee
*Wells Fargo is no longer accepting new applicants for this offer.
The Wells Fargo Propel American Express Card offers a significant bonus deal considering no annual fee is required. Once you sign up, you can earn 20,000 bonus points worth $200 when you spend $1,000 within three months of account opening. You’ll also earn 3% cash back in popular categories like dining, rideshares, gas, transit, flights, homestays, hotels, car rentals, and popular streaming services, as well as 1% back on everything else you buy.
In addition to no annual fee, this card gives you 12 months of 0% APR on purchases and balance transfers made within 120 days of account opening. You’ll also qualify for cell protection when you pay your bill with your credit card, and there are no foreign transaction fees.
Summary of benefits:
- Earn 20,000 points worth $200 when you spend $1,000 within three months
- Earn 3% cash back in popular categories like dining, rideshares, gas, transit, flights, homestays, hotels, car rentals, and popular streaming services, plus 1% back on other purchases.
- No annual fee
Chase Sapphire Preferred®: Best Travel Sign-Up Bonus
The Chase Sapphire Preferred offers rewards in the same program as the Chase Sapphire Reserve, except that the annual fee on this card is much lower. At the same time, the Preferred card's sign-up bonus is actually worth more. One tradeoff for the lower annual fee, though, is that you’ll receive considerably fewer travel perks.
Sign up for the Chase Sapphire Preferred to earn 100,000 points worth $1250 in credits towards everyday purchases or travel booked through Chase when you spend $4,000 within three months. New for this year, you can earn 5x on streaming purchases or Lyft rides as well as 3x on gas. And this card has always offered 2x points on travel and dining and 1x points on all other purchases.
Once you’re ready, you can redeem rewards for gift cards, statement credits, experiences, or travel. Points are worth 25% more when you redeem them for credits towards everyday purchases, (currently, grocery, dining, and home improvement) and for travel booked through Chase. You can also transfer points 1:1 to Chase airline and hotel partners. A $95 annual fee applies, but there are no foreign transaction fees with this card.
Summary of benefits:
- Earn 100,000 points worth $1250 in credits towards everyday spending or travel when you spend $4,000 within three months
- Earn 5x on streaming purchases or Lyft rides
- Earn 3x on gas.
- Earn 2x points on travel and dining and 1x points on other purchases
- $95 annual fee
Chase Ink Business Preferred® Credit Card: Best for Flexible Rewards for Business
If you’re looking for an excellent credit card deal for your business, look no further than the Chase Ink Business Preferred Credit Card. This card gives you 100,000 points as a welcome bonus, when you sign up and spend $15,000 within three months of account opening. These points are worth $1,250 in travel or $1,000 in gift cards or statement credits. You’ll also earn 3x points on travel, shipping, select online advertising, and internet, cable, and phone services, plus 1x points on other purchases.
A $95 annual fee applies on this offer, but you won’t pay foreign transaction fees on purchases made abroad. Note that all the Chase Ultimate Rewards redemption opportunities are possible on this card, including getting 25% more travel for free when you use points to book airfare, hotels, car rentals, and more through the Chase portal. You can also transfer points 1:1 to airline and hotel partners or redeem for statement credits, gift cards, merchandise, or entertainment.
Summary of benefits:
- Earn 100,000 points worth $1,250 in travel or $1,000 in gift cards or statement credits when you sign up and spend $15,000 within three months
- Earn 3x points on travel, shipping, select online advertising, and internet, cable and phone services, plus 1x points on other purchases
- $95 annual fee
- No foreign transaction fees
Capital One Spark Cash: Best for Big Business Spenders
If you have a ton of business spending coming up and really want to maximize your rewards, consider signing up for the Capital One Spark Cash. This card offers a valuable welcome bonus worth $500 when you use your card to make $4,500 in purchases within three months of account opening.
On top of the bonus cash back, you’ll rack up 2% cash back on everything you buy for your business with the card. Also note that this card’s $95 annual fee is waived the first year, and that this card comes with free employee cards and no foreign transaction fees.
Summary of benefits:
- Earn $500 cash back when you use your card to make $4,500 in purchases within three months of account opening
- Earn 2% back on everything you buy
- $0 annual fee the first year, $95 thereafter
- No fee for employee cards and no foreign transaction fees
How We Found the Best Credit Card Deals of 2020
You can get a bonus offer with any rewards or cash back credit card these days, but that doesn’t mean they’re all the best. Some may offer inferior welcome bonuses, for example, and others make their deals extremely difficult to earn. Here’s everything we looked for to come up with this list of the best credit card deals available today.
Generous Bonus Rewards
One of the first things you should always look for before applying for a credit card is the number of rewards offered, and how much they're worth. With that in mind, we looked for credit card deals that could be worth several hundred dollars or more, giving precedence to offers that let you earn even more rewards over time.
Flexible Points
We also looked for credit cards that let you redeem rewards in more ways than one, or at least for statement credits you could use to cover any purchase. Keep in mind that there are a lot of excellent airline and hotel credit cards available too, and you may want to consider them if you prefer to earn points in a specific loyalty program.
Reasonable Spending Requirements
While sign-up bonuses were the main factor we considered, we also made sure cards on this list came with a reasonable minimum spending requirement. For cards with higher requirements, we made sure that the bonus you would earn would be well worth it.
Understandable Annual Fees
Finally, we took a close look at annual fees and what cardholders could expect in return in terms of benefits and perks. Most of the credit cards that offer the best bonus deals charge an annual fee, so we didn’t count them out. Instead, we made sure the annual fees made sense in terms of the value you could receive in return.
Callout: One factor we didn’t consider in this ranking is each credit card’s annual percentage rate, or APR. Since rewards credit cards that offer bonus deals charge high interest rates, you shouldn’t pursue rewards or bonus deals if you plan to carry a balance. The credit card deals explained on this page only make sense to pursue if you have a plan to pay your credit card bill in full each month.
How to Make the Most of the Best Credit Card Deals
Avoid Credit Card Interest if You Can
Make sure you’re only signing up for bonus offers if you can pay off your credit card bills in full each month. Many of the top travel and rewards credit cards come with APRs as high as 27.49%, meaning you’ll wind up woefully in the red if you rack up debt in order to earn a few percentage points in rewards.
You can make the most of credit card bonus deals if you commit to only making purchases you planned to make anyway, and you pay your bill in full every single month.
Make Sure You Can Meet the Minimum Spending Requirements
Many of the cards with the best bonus offers require you to spend several thousand dollars within a few months. While it may be possible to reach the spending threshold on any given offer by using your credit card for groceries, gas, and regular bills, you should double check to make sure before you sign up.
If you can’t spend enough on normal purchases after you sign up for a welcome bonus deal, you’ll be stuck in a situation where you need to overspend to earn the bonus offer you’re after. You can avoid this type of mishap by assessing your regular spending and figuring out how much you can charge to a credit card each month ahead of time.
Remember that Credit Card Bonus Deals Change All the Time
Finally, remember that credit card bonus offers go up and down all the time. The best offer available today may be eclipsed by a better deal tomorrow or the next day, and you may not know unless you check.
Before you sign up for a credit card, make sure the card you’re considering is offering the highest bonus rewards available within the last 12 to 18 months. If the bonus is lower than what has been available in the recent past, you may want to wait it out or choose a different card.
Summary: Best Credit Card Deals of 2020
| Best Credit Card Deals of 2020 | Best For |
| Chase Sapphire Reserve | Flexible Points |
| Capital One Venture Rewards Credit Card | Flexible Travel Credit |
| Wells Fargo Propel American Express Card | No Annual Fee |
| Chase Sapphire Preferred | Travel Sign-up Bonus |
| Ink Business Preferred Credit Card | Flexible Rewards for Business |
| Capital One Spark Cash | Big Business Spenders |