Looking for the best credit card for 2024? Explore our top credit card options and make an informed choice.
This is probably the blog post you’ve been waiting for. This is hands down the question that I get the most. If I could only get one card what would it be. While there’s an answer to the question there also isn’t. It really does depend on your specific situation and your credit score. But thats never the answer anyone want to hear so I’ll entertain you and give you one.
When I first started on my credit card journey my first card was the Bank of America Customized Cash Rewards card. Why did I get that one? One, because I was 18, had no credit but had a BOA checking and savings account so I was approved. Two, coming from a hispanic household using credit cards were almost as bad as worshiping Satan so I didn’t know better and was credit card illiterate. Something you won’t be because gosh dang it you’re gonna learn.
But going back to a one card set up. The card that I’d suggest would be the Chase Sapphire Preferred. While yes it does come with $95 annual fee these are some of the benefits:
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$50 Hotel Credit when you book a hotel through the Chase portal
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5x Hotels & Car Rentals booked through Chase
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2x all other travel purchases
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3x Dining
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25% boost on travel redemption so your points are worth 1.25, while booking through the Chase portal isn’t the best option its good to have it as a last option and know you’ll still get 1.25 cents per point
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10% Anniversary points boost
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5x on Lyft
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Trip Cancellation/Interruption is something that I haven’t had to use but a good thing to have just in case
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Baggage Delay Insurance gives you $100 per day for emergency purchases of essential items up to 5 days that your bag is missing while on eligible trips
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Auto Rental Collision Damage Waiver was one of the main reasons I got the CSP. It has saved me hundreds being able to decline CDW coverage on Turo and Hertz. Just read the fine print as “high value motor vehicles or exotic car brands” are not covered, sorry Rolls Royce.
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Purchase Protection protects your items for up to 120 days from purchase up to $500
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Roadside Dispatch something thats not very helpful until it is. I used it and was surprisingly easy. Called the 1-800-847-2869 number, let them know where my car was and where it needed to go and they sent someone. Although it only covers the first 5 miles the 4 mile tow for me would have cost me $100.
While the Chase Sapphire Preferred does no one thing well it does a lot of things okay, and if you’re not looking to optimize all of your expenses to the extreme Its a great card for a one card set up.
One last thing to mention is that with this one card setup you have access to a lot of the best transfer partners including Hyatt, Air Canada, Virgin Atlantic and British Airways.
If just one card isn’t doing it for you, well then keep reading because I have another treat in my bag of tricks or is it trick in my bag of treats? I digress, I have no idea what to call this so for now I’ll call it the golden triangle. It consisting of three cards with three different purposes.
The American Express Gold Card is usually the workhorse because this is usually the category most people spend the most money on. Dining and supermarkets. Well for both of those categories you get 4x back. I do want to mention that is does come with a $120 Uber and $120 Dining credit split monthly along with some other perks but does have a $250 annual fee so definitely look to see if it makes sense for your situation.
No need to really talk about the Chase Sapphire Preferred again but its purpose here is for the 2x on travel along with its other perks like being the main transfer partner for Hyatt. Can’t forget to mention the $95 annual fee on this card again.
The Capital One Venture X has the heftiest of all these annual fees at $395 but I’d argue makes the most sense. Every card anniversary you get 10,000 points. It also comes with a $300 annual travel credit that you get when booking through the capital one travel portal. Access to priority longes when traveling along with Capital One lounges. There aren’t too many but they are slowly opening more. You also get your TSA Pre check or Global Entry paid for every 4 years. If you’re ever going to leave the US just get Global Entry as it also includes TSA Pre check. This is used as your catch all card given that you get 2x on all other purchases making it a good default if its not travel, dining or a supermarket related purchase.
While there are some hyper specific cards, three is a good number of cards to have and not have it be overwhelming. They cover the main spending categories without breaking the bank. While $740 in annual fees isn’t a cheap amount, it covers all your bases. There are cards with higher multiples for some of these categories but the annual fees for those cards at $500+ so this is a good middle ground that’ll get you 90% of the way there.
Honorable Mention
While this card really does have some great benefits like being able to pay your rent with this card. It just didn’t have the juice to squeeze out any of the cards in the golden triangle. The card I’m talking about is the Bilt Mastercard. It has no annual fee so a great option if you are just starting out and have to pay rent. They made some noise when they first came out and already have some great transfer partners like Hyatt. If you do sign up for it be on the lookout for their rent day promos which are usually only for the first day of the month but offer some great transfer bonuses.
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