If you do a search for BEST REWARD CREDIT CARD, you get a whole lot of hits. Because it’s such a popular topic (and because they get a kickback for every card someone gets through their link), lots of online entities publish their list of best reward credit cards on a monthly basis. After all, banks are constantly changing their offerings, and readers always want to know what the best card will be for what they want. (OK yeah, and whoever is putting out the lists wants more kickbacks LOLOL!)
As an example, let’s look at what different sites say are the best rewards credit cards for September 2021. Since there are so many options (cash back, annual fee, travel card etc.), I’m just going to include posts that include what they say is the best “overall” travel credit card (or as close to that verbiage as I can find. You can check each website’s link for more specifics of other categories of cards.
Forbes: Chase Sapphire Reserve
Business Insider: Chase Sapphire Preferred
Bankrate.com: Capital One Venture Rewards
Credit Card Insider: Citi Double Cash
ZDNet: Ink Business Preferred (this one specified best overall travel wards business credit card)
There were several other entities that agreed with the above (especially the first two).
But that’s the thing – regardless of which site or sites you follow, “the best over card” (A) will be different, depending on the website in question and (B) still may or may not suit your needs.
Frankly, there’s another aspect of it – not every credit card owner out there understands everything there is to know about earning rewards, or (Gasp! Clutch the pearls!) even cares. They have different priorities, which may vary based on age, gender, income level, etc.
WalletHub did a survey this past spring of just shy 1,200 credit card holders to get an idea of what kind of credit card THEY thought was best. Not so much which card was giving them the best rewards, but how they felt about rewards in general – what’s the best kind, how did they feel about annual fees, etc. Their responses were very interesting:
What are the best kind of credit card rewards?
76% – Cash back
11% – Airline miles
8% – Gas
5% – Hotel points
Which type of purchase do you most want bonus rewards on?
45% – Grocery purchases
19% – Gas purchases
13% – Dining purchases
11% – Travel purchases
6% – Department store purchases
6% – entertainment purchases
What is your stance on credit cards with annual fees?
52% – Never apply for them
39% – Apply only if the rewards are worth the fee
9% – Only apply when no other cards are available
Would you apply for a credit card just for a sign-up bonus?
52% – No
48% – Yes
Do you go out of your way to spend money with companies that give you extra credit card rewards?
56% – Yes
44% – No
Would you use multiple rewards credit cards in order to maximize your total rewards earnings?
68% – Yes
32% – No
You can click here to see all of the results of WalletHub’s survey.
Of course, the people they surveyed were a cross-section of credit card holders – not specifically people who use credit cards to help them with travel.
In fact, The Vacationer did a survey, also this past spring, of 504 Americans over the age of 18. One of their questions was:
What is the most appealing way to redeem your credit card points or cash back?
The responses were:
- Cash or Statement Credit. — 43.65%
- Free or Reduced Airline Tickets. — 16.47%
- Free or Reduced Hotel Rooms. — 7.14%
- Gift Cards or Other Credits. — 18.85%
- I don’t know how to redeem my credit card points. — 4.56%
- I don’t have a credit card. — 9.33%
So for this survey, close to half of the respondents said that cash or statement credits were the best, and less than 25% used their credit card rewards for travel at all. Although the percents were way off, that’s in tune with WalletHub’s 75% preferring cash back and 16% using them for travel-related expenses such as plane tickets for hotel rooms.
For what it’s worth, I suspect that if you were to survey people who read BoardingArea, for example, the responses would probably skew much more towards travel-based rewards. 😉
Anyway, fortunately, when Forbes, Business Insider, et al, put out their monthly posts about “the best credit cards,” they do it with the understanding that some people are interested in cash back, others in business cards, etc. So most of those entities offer a variety of “best” cards for each of those categories.
But still, it’s still interesting to see what John & Jane Q. Public think the best rewards credit card is. Even more interesting that it’s overwhelmingly not really travel.
Feature Image: Picpedia
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This post first appeared on Your Mileage May Vary
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