Getting a new credit and earning a huge welcome offer bonus is all about timing: You want to open a credit card when the bonus offer is at its highest. Right now, there are a handful of opportunities out there … but timing is absolutely critical – and many of the best won't be around much longer.
Whether you're looking to earn flexible points to redeem for all kinds of travel, or miles specific to a single airline, these are some of the biggest bonuses we've ever seen.
Just remember: Credit cards are serious business. No matter how many points you earn through a welcome bonus, they’re not worth digging yourself into debt if you can’t afford to pay off every single charge you make.
Here's a look at the five best card offers currently available … and if you're interested, you'll want to act fast.
1. Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card
Current Offer
The *chase sapphire preferred* is out with a valuable, welcome bonus offer: bonus_miles_full
Annual Fee: $95
Learn more about the *chase sapphire preferred*
Why This Offer Makes the List
You simply won't find a more valuable bonus on a card with such a modest, $95 annual fee.
While 60,000 points isn't the biggest point bonus we've ever seen, Chase points are among the most valuable of any bank
There are some restrictions you'll need to be aware of before applying. First and foremost, there's the Chase 5/24 rule. If you have been approved for five or more cards from any bank (not just Chase) in the last 24 months, you will automatically be declined for any new Chase card. Additionally, if you have earned a bonus on either the Chase Sapphire Preferred or Chase Sapphire Reserve in the past 48 months (four years), you will not be eligible.
Read more: Are You Eligible For the New Chase Sapphire Bonus (Or to Earn it Again)?
2. Ink Business Unlimited® Credit Card
Current Offer
One of Chase's no-annual-fee business cards is currently out with its standard offer: Earn 75,000 Ultimate Rewards points (or $750) after you spend $6,000 on purchases in the first three months from account opening.
Think your small business won't qualify? Think again! Many Americans have what the banks consider a small business and don't even realize it. If you've got a side hustle like driving Uber or Lyft, sell items on Facebook Marketplace or eBay, or even do a little consulting work on the side, odds are your business would qualify.
Annual Fee: $0
Learn more about the *chase ink unlimited*.
Why This Offer Makes the List
The clock is ticking on the *Ink Unlimited*‘s big, 75,000-point (or $750) bonus offer. If adding this card to your wallet has been on your shortlist, you've got just a couple of days left.
Beyond the big bonus offer, this is one of the best no-annual-fee business credit cards on the market. If you're a small business owner (and trust us, you might be), this card and its massive bonus warrant a good hard look for your business.
While this card technically earns cash back, you can turn that into valuable Chase Ultimate Rewards points so long as you hold another Chase card that earns them, including the *chase sapphire preferred*, the *chase sapphire reserve*, or even the *chase ink preferred*. That means those 75,000 points are worth at least $900 when redeemed through Chase TravelSM – or potentially much more by using Chase's transfer partners like Hyatt, United, Southwest Airlines, and more.
Read More: Earn a Big Bonus With the Chase Ink Unlimited & Cash Cards!
3. American Express® Gold Card
Current Offer
bonus_miles_full
Best of all, you'll also get six months to meet that spending requirement, twice as long as card offers from most other banks.
Before you apply, be sure to check if you're eligible for a bigger 75,000-point offer via CardMatch or through a friend referral!
Annual Fee: $325 (see rates & fees)
Learn more about the *amex gold*
Why This Offer Makes the List
The *amex gold card* is one of our favorite travel rewards cards, period.
Here's what you need to know: The real value of the Gold card goes far beyond that initial welcome offer – though a 60,000- to 75,000-point bonus sure doesn't hurt.
That's because the Gold Card earns 4x points for every dollar spent at U.S. supermarkets (up to $25,000 annually, then 1x) and 4x points per dollar spent at restaurants worldwide (up to $50,000 annually, then 1x), making it arguably the best card to use for all your food purchases.
You'll also get up to $120 in dining credits each year to spend at Grubhub, The Cheesecake Factory, Goldbelly, Wine.com, and Five Guys, up to $84 in Dunkin' Credit each year (up to $7 per month), up to $100 in Resy Credit per year (up to $50 semi-annually), and up to $120 annually in Uber Cash ($10 per month) to use on both Uber and Uber Eats. All of these credits are use-them-or-lose-them benefits, any unused amount won't rollover from month-to-month.
To receive your monthly Uber Cash, just add your Gold Card to your Uber account and each month automatically get $10 in Uber Cash for Uber Eats orders or Uber rides in the U.S. Effective Nov. 8, 2024, an Amex Card must be selected as the payment method for your Uber or Uber Eats transaction to redeem the Amex Uber Cash benefit.
Maximizing these credits alone will cover all your $325 annual fee and then some. These credits and bonus categories are a big reason why we feel the card is easily worth the $325 annual fee.
Read our full review of the American Express Gold Card.
4. Capital One Savor Rewards Card
Current Offer
Earn bonus_miles_full.
Annual Fee: $0
Learn more about the *Capital One Savor*.
Why This Offer Makes the List
This no-annual-fee card earns an impressive 3% cashback at grocery stores (excluding superstores like Target and Walmart), on dining, entertainment, and select streaming services. You'll also earn 5% cashback on hotels and rental cars booked through Capital One Travel, plus 1% cashback on all other purchases.
While the Savor Rewards Card technically earns cashback, that's not the case if you've got any of the Capital One Venture cards like the *capital one venture card* or *venture x* in your wallet. While the card's $250 bonus is nothing to scoff at, turning that cashback into 25,000 Capital One miles makes it far more valuable.
That way, you can turn your cashback into Capital One miles to cover travel purchases or get even greater value out of them by transferring to one of Capital One's travel partners. It's a great card to pair with one of the Venture cards.
Also, the Capital One Savor Rewards Card does not charge an annual fee and you won't pay any foreign transaction fees on purchases made abroad. This further cements it as a strong one-two-punch for Venture and Venture X cardholders.
Read more: Capital One’s Best Card for Dining & Groceries Has a New Bonus!
5. Hawaiian Airlines World Elite Mastercard®
Current Offer
With the current publicly available welcome bonus offer, you can earn 70,000 miles after spending $2,000 in the first 90 days.
You could earn those miles even faster by applying through this link, though you’ll need to get (or find) a special six-digit code from a Hawaiian Airlines flight attendant: Make a single purchase – whether it's a pack of gum, cup of coffee, or something else – and pay the card's $99 annual fee, and you'll earn the same 70,000-mile signup bonus.
Annual Fee: $99
All information about the Hawaiian Airlines World Elite Mastercard® has been collected independently by Thrifty Traveler and has not be verified by the issuer.
Learn more about the Hawaiian Airlines® World Elite Mastercard® (for full disclosure, this is not an affiliate link)
Why This Offer Makes the List
Alaska Airlines' recent merger with Hawaiian Airlines opened up a temporary pathway to send your Amex points to Hawaiian and then kick them over to Alaska afterward.
Since Alaska miles are so valuable and this new transfer with Hawaiian opens the door to earning a lot more of them, in a hurry, we're giving the Hawaiian Airlines® World Elite Mastercard® a hard look for the first time … ever.
That 70,000-mile bonus might not do much with Hawaiian itself, but by sending those miles over to your Alaska account, they'll go a long way. Get this: A handful of Thrifty Traveler team members applied for this card within hours of the merger clearing. That oughta tell you just how excited we are about this.
But act fast. The Hawaiian co-branded card and the ability to transfer Amex points to Hawaiian won't be around forever…
Read more: Japan, Fiji, Europe & More: 6 Sweet Spots to Book with Alaska Miles
Bottom Line
Getting the best welcome offer bonus on a new credit card is often about timing. Right now, these five card welcome bonus offers are out with some of the biggest bonuses we have ever seen.
But you'll need to act fast … a few of these big bonuses are set to end soon!
Question, should I recycle my Saphire Preferred account? I don’t mean the physical card, but rather the account. I have held this card for years and annually paid the fee but it sounds like Chase effectively incentivizes cancelling and re-applying every couple years. Am I understanding that right?
Me, I totally agree with what you wrote. I am sitting here thinking why haven’t I closed these accounts and reopened them?
I’m torn! We currently have a few elite cards: Venture X, Chase Reserve and CitiPrestige to name a few. I am seriously considering downgrading our Chase Reserve card or Citi Prestige card and applying for the Amex Platinum. What should I do?!
I’m located in MSP and use Delta frequently as a result. Do all of the points associated with the cards work for Delta flights? For the Chase Sapphire Preferred you only list United, Singapore Airlines, and Southwest Airlines – just want to be sure I don’t apply for a card whose points don’t work with my circumstances! Thank you for all of this information!
Hi Jessica. While the Amex Gold and Platinum card earns points that can be transferred directly to your SkyMiles account, you can still use Chase points from the Sapphire Preferred to book Delta flights through the Chase Travel portal. When you use them this way, each point is worth 1.25 cents so 80k points would be redeemable for $1,000 towards flights – including Delta flights.
Do you have a card to recommend without an annual fee?? Your case is compelling for a pro who travels a lot. However, fundamentally I don’t agree with annual fees and I’m just a casual traveler trying to leverage points. I’ve done this for years with various hotel cards and some Delta cards to get the intro bonus when they waived the fee for a year – just looking for your great advice for a no fee card.
Hi Joe, this article is worth a read.
https://thriftytraveler.com/guides/credit-card/top-no-annual-fee-credit-cards/