I opened my first cash-back credit card and have already earned $525
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Some might say I’m a little obsessed with travel rewards credit cards — to the tune of having owned nearly 20 of them.
In all these years of collecting credit card rewards, I’ve never bothered with cash-back cards because I’m an avid traveler who prefers points and miles. However, when the pandemic hit and travel came to a screeching halt, I started to wonder whether it was finally time to open my first cash-back credit card.
I decided the answer was yes, and in two months, I’ve already earned $525 in rewards.
Regular APR
14.99%–23.74% variable APR
Credit Score
Good to Excellent
Featured Reward
$200 after spending $500 in the first three months from account opening
- Earn a $200 Bonus after you spend $500 on purchases in your first 3 months from account opening.
- Earn unlimited 1.5% cash back on all other purchases.
- Earn 5% on travel purchased through Chase, 3% on dining at restaurants and drugstores, and 1.5% on all other purchases.
- No annual fee
- 0% Intro APR for 15 months from account opening on purchases, then a variable APR of 14.99 – 23.74%.
- No minimum to redeem for cash back. Cash Back rewards do not expire as long as your account is open
Pros
- Solid flat cash-back rate
- You can combine cash-back rewards with Ultimate Rewards points if you have an eligible card
- No annual fee
Cons
- Some other cards offer a higher rate of cash back on certain types of purchases
How I chose a cash-back credit card
The Chase Sapphire Reserve® has been my favorite credit card for years, and Chase Ultimate Rewards is my favorite travel rewards program. While Chase has introduced a number of temporary benefits to their travel cards in light of the pandemic, I still haven’t been earning Ultimate Rewards points as quickly now that I don’t travel anymore.
If you have one of Chase’s travel credit cards, all of the rewards you earn with one of their Freedom cards can be converted to fully-transferable Ultimate Rewards points, which gets you a lot more value if you redeem them for travel. Getting one of the Chase Freedom cards seemed like an obvious next step to boosting my points balance.
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