This is the first iteration in making a list of US credit cards sorted by annual CashBack. The main challenge is to find info about average spending in "credit-card-friendly" categories. Right now, I use info about average US family spending pattern for 2005 from Bureau of Labor Statistics ( see a PDF file here ). Those spending categories can not always be directly converted into credit card reward categories. I will keep working on finding a more relevant info.
Here is the list of BLS spending categories and corresponding average annual amounts for 2005 that I used.
Housekeeping supplies $611 Household operations $801 Alcohol $426 Tobacco $319 Entertainment $2388 Other vehicle expenses $2339 Gas $2013 Utilities $3183 General $808 Public transportation $448 Education $940 Groceries $3297 Personal care $541 Healthcare $2664 Apparel $1886 Reading $126 House furniture and equipment $1767 Insurance $381 Restaurants $2634
Total: $27572
I included only the value of CashBack rebates and gift cards available either directly from a credit card company or via Points.com. The CashBack predictions were made for the first year of credit card ownership, meaning that first year's annual fee, program fees, sign-up bonuses, spending bonuses were applied to the final reward value. No partial rewards were considered. In other words, if you accumulated 4999 points and you need 5000 points for the cheapest available gift card, the value of annual CashBack was considered $0 and the card was not included in the list. For HSBC Weekend card, I used average weekly CashBack rate of 1.29%.
I have done this mostly for personal credit cards for now. The size of my credit card card database is limited. If you can not find your favorite credit card on the list, please share info about its annual CashBack in the Quick Summary post. I will add lists of business credit cards and student credit cards later.
Anyway, here is a sorted list of ~50 US reward credit cards sorted this way.
| CashBack | Annual fee | Promo BT APR | Promo period for BT | Max. BT fee | Promo purchase APR | Promo period for purchases | Bank name | Card name 511.0 | $39 | N/A | N/A | $0 | | | Capital One | Capital One® No Hassle Miles(SM) Ultra-For Professionals 442.85 | $0 | 0% | 12 | $75 | 0% | 6 | Discover | Discover® More(SM) Card - Clear 425.0 | $0 | 0% | up-to 6 | $99 | N/A | N/A | Chase | BP Visa® Card 400.0 | $75 | N/A | N/A | $5 | | | Citibank | Citi PremierPass® Elite Level 400.0 | $45** | 9.99% | 6 | N/A | 2.90% | 6 | American Express | Starwood Preferred Guest® Credit Card from American Express 375.0 | $0 | 0% | 12 | N/A | N/A | N/A | FIA Card Services, N.A. | Fidelity Investments Rewards Visa Signature® Card with WorldPoints® 368.66 | $0 | 1.99% | 30 | N/A | 0% | 3 | American Express | TrueEarnings® Card from Costco and American Express 355.6788 | $0 | 0% | 12 | N/A | 0% | 12 | HSBC | HSBC Weekend Card® 350.0 | $0 | 0% | up-to 12 | $5 | N/A | N/A | Citibank | Citi PremierPass® 344.65 | $0 | 0% | 12 | N/A | N/A | N/A | Bank of America | Bank of America Accelerated Cash Rewards™ American Express® Card | CashBack | Annual fee | Promo BT APR | Promo period for BT | Max. BT fee | Promo purchase APR | Promo period for purchases | Bank name | Card name 338.515 | $0 | 4.99% | Until Paid | $99 | 0% | 12 | American Express | Blue Cash® from American Express 331.0775 | $0 | 0% | up-to 6 | $99 | 0% | up-to 6 | Chase | Chase PerfectCard™ MasterCard® 330.864 | $0 | 0% | up-to 12 | $5 | N/A | N/A | Citibank | Citi CashReturns(SM) MasterCard® 330.0 | $0 | N/A | N/A | $0 | | | Capital One | Capital One® No Hassle Miles(SM) Rewards - Good Credit 330.0 | $0 | N/A | N/A | $0 | | | Capital One | Capital One® No Hassle Miles(SM) Rewards - Excellent Credit 328.82 | $0 | N/A | N/A | $0 | | | Capital One | Capital One® No Hassle Cash(SM) Rewards - Good Credit 325.72 | $35** | N/A | N/A | $0 | | | American Express | One from American Express® 325.72 | $0 | 0% | 12 | N/A | N/A | N/A | Bank of America | Bank of America® Cash Rewards Platinum Plus® MasterCard® Credit Card 325.0 | $0 | 0% | up-to 12 | $5 | N/A | N/A | Citibank | Citi® Diamond Preferred® Rewards Card 321.0 | $29 | N/A | N/A | $0 | 0% | until February 2009 | Capital One | Capital One® No Hassle Points(SM) Rewards | CashBack | Annual fee | Promo BT APR | Promo period for BT | Max. BT fee | Promo purchase APR | Promo period for purchases | Bank name | Card name 315.65 | $29 | N/A | N/A | $0 | 0% | until February 2009 | Capital One | Capital One® No Hassle Cash(SM) Rewards 310.0 | $0 | N/A | N/A | $0 | | | Capital One | Capital One® No Hassle Miles(SM) Rewards For Travel & Gas 304.97 | $0 | 0% | 12 | $75 | 0% | 6 | Discover | Discover® Open Road(SM) Card 287.5 | $0 | 0% | 12 | N/A | N/A | N/A | Bank of America | Bank of America Accelerated Rewards™ American Express® Card 280.0 | $0 | N/A | N/A | $0 | | | Capital One | Capital One® No Hassle Points(SM) Rewards - Excellent Credit 275.72 | $0 | 5.99% | Until Paid | $0 | 0% | up-to 12 | American Express | Clear from American Express® 275.72 | $0 | 1.9% | 12 | $75 | N/A | N/A | FIA Card Services, N.A. | Total Merrill(SM) Cash Back Visa® Card 275.72 | $0 | 0% | 6 | $0 | N/A | N/A | IberiaBank | IberiaBank Visa® Gold Cash Back Rewards Card 275.72 | $0 | 0% | 12 | N/A | 0% | 12 | HSBC | HSBC Platinum MasterCard® with Cash Back Rewards 275.0 | $0 | 4.99% | Until Paid | $99 | 0% | up-to 15 | American Express | Blue from American Express® | CashBack | Annual fee | Promo BT APR | Promo period for BT | Max. BT fee | Promo purchase APR | Promo period for purchases | Bank name | Card name 275.0 | $0 | 0% | 6 | N/A | N/A | N/A | Bank of America | Financial Rewards® Visa® Platinum Plus® Card 275.0 | $0 | 0% | up-to 12 | $99 | 0% | up-to 12 | Chase | Chase Free Cash Rewards(SM) Visa® Card 271.0 | $0 | 0% | up-to 12 | $99 | 0% | up-to 12 | Chase | Chase TravelPlus Visa® Card 262.5 | $0 | 0% | 12 | N/A | N/A | N/A | Bank of America | Home Advantage™ MasterCard® from Bank of America 262.5 | $0 | 0% | 12 | N/A | N/A | N/A | Bank of America | The Nature Conservancy Platinum Plus® Visa® Credit Card 262.5 | $0 | 0% | 12 | N/A | N/A | N/A | Bank of America | Bank of America Visa Signature® WorldPoints™ Rewards 262.5 | $0 | 0% | 12 | N/A | N/A | N/A | Bank of America | Bank of America WorldPoints™ Platinum Plus® Visa® Card 262.5 | $0 | 0% | 12 | N/A | N/A | N/A | Bank of America | Ducks Unlimited WorldPoints® Platinum Plus® Visa® Card 262.5 | $0 | 0% | 12 | N/A | N/A | N/A | Bank of America | Bank of America World MasterCard® with WorldPoints™ 262.5 | $0 | 0% | 12 | N/A | N/A | N/A | Bank of America | Bank of America WorldPoints® Platinum Plus® MasterCard® | CashBack | Annual fee | Promo BT APR | Promo period for BT | Max. BT fee | Promo purchase APR | Promo period for purchases | Bank name | Card name 262.5 | $0 | 0% | 12 | N/A | N/A | N/A | Bank of America | Rainbow Platinum Plus® Visa® Card 262.5 | $0 | 0% | 12 | N/A | N/A | N/A | Bank of America | BoatU.S.™ WorldPoints® Platinum Plus® Visa® Card 256.955 | $0 | 3.99% | 12 | $75 | 3.99% | 6 | Discover | Discover® Motiva(SM) Card 250.0 | $0 | 1.9% | 12 | $75 | N/A | N/A | FIA Card Services, N.A. | MERRILL+® Card 250.0 | $0 | 0% | 6 | $75 | 0% | 6 | Discover | Miles by Discover® Card 250.0 | $0 | 0% | up-to 12 | $5 | N/A | N/A | Citibank | AT&T Universal Savings and Rewards Card 250.0 | $0 | 0% | 12 | N/A | N/A | N/A | Bank of America | Wyndham Rewards MasterCard(SM) 250.0 | $0 | 0% | up-to 12 | $99 | 0% | up-to 12 | Chase | Chase Flexible Rewards(SM) Platinum Visa® 220.0 | $85** | N/A | N/A | $5 | | | Citibank | Citi® Platinum Select® / AAdvantage® World MasterCard® 200.0 | $0 | 2.9% | 6 | N/A | 2.90% | 6 | American Express | Hilton HHonors® Platinum Credit Card from American Express | CashBack | Annual fee | Promo BT APR | Promo period for BT | Max. BT fee | Promo purchase APR | Promo period for purchases | Bank name | Card name 185.0 | $0 | 0% | 12 | N/A | N/A | N/A | Bank of America | Major League Baseball® Extra Bases™ Credit Card 175.0 | $50** | N/A | N/A | $5 | | | Citibank | Citi® Gold/AAdvantage® World MasterCard® 110.0 | $90 | N/A | N/A | N/A | | | U.S. Bank | WorldPerks® Visa® Signature Card 100.0 | $0 | N/A | N/A | $5 | 2.99% | 6 | Citibank | Citi® Hilton HHonors® Visa® Signature Card 95.0 | $55 | N/A | N/A | N/A | | | U.S. Bank | WorldPerks® Visa® Platinum Card 75.0 | $0 | N/A | N/A | $5 | | | Citibank | Citi® Bronze® / AAdvantage® World MasterCard® * - Balance transfer APR is valid only if the balance transfer is requested in credit card application ** - First annual fee is waived *** - We are not allowed to show you the maximal fee for balance transfers. However, we did take the fee into account when we did calculations and sorted credit cards. **** - Only the minimally possible APR is shown. Your rate will be determined by the bank based on your credit history, household income and other factors.
there's a way to add spaces to make that better formatted (i.e. all collumns not squashed together). Go copy whatever the markup is out of one of the other threads wiki areas.
| CashBack | Annual fee | Promo BT APR | Promo period for BT | Max. BT fee | Promo purchase APR | Promo period for purchases | Bank name | Card name | $1083.36 | $0 | | | | N/A | N/A | Citi | Citi Platinum AMEX.
First Year: Annual Fee waived first year 15,000 signup x 1% = $150.00 $22,262 non-gas/groceries x 3% = $667.86 $5,310 gas/groceries x 5% = $265.50 Total = $1,083.36
$100 Gift Cards = 10,000 TYP $50 Gift Cards = 6,000 TYP $25 Gift Cards = 3,500 TYP $10 Gift Cards = 1,500 TYP $5 Gift Cards = 1,000 TYP 108,336 TYP / 10,000 TYP = $1,000.00 8,336 TYP / 6,000 TYP = $50.00 2,336 TYP / 1,500 TYP = $10.00 836 TYP = $0.00 Total Gift Cards = $1,060.00
Nice effort, but what's the point really? Including first year reward and using $0 if you don't reach cash out minimum is deceiving. Also I think using the averages has little benefit to any individual, especially FWF readers that use more than one card to maximize rewards (Credit Card Tune-Up is an awesome website for that purpose).
On another subject -- $3183 on utilities? I know heating oil is expensive, but dam that's a lot for 2.5 people.
golf247
Addicted Member
posted: Sep. 18, 2008 @ 8:07p
What about Penfed's card. 1.25 on everything, 5 on gas and 2 on groceries.
bigStax
Member
posted: Sep. 18, 2008 @ 11:16p
scripta said: Nice effort, but what's the point really? Including first year reward and using $0 if you don't reach cash out minimum is deceiving. Also I think using the averages has little benefit to any individual, especially FWF readers that use more than one card to maximize rewards (Credit Card Tune-Up is an awesome website for that purpose).
On another subject -- $3183 on utilities? I know heating oil is expensive, but dam that's a lot for 2.5 people.
$3183 didn't seem too out of wack to me... Figuring that total was not just heating oil or gas, but electricity and water as well (Could cable/home alarm/trash be added to this figure of utilities too?).
Citi premier pass elite is the best if you fly freq . You get double miles when you fly ( one on freq flier account and another on TY account ) . when you add both the Cash Back benefits are substantial .
dhl said: | CashBack | Annual fee | Promo BT APR | Promo period for BT | Max. BT fee | Promo purchase APR | Promo period for purchases | Bank name | Card name | $1083.36 | $0 | | | | N/A | N/A | Citi | Citi Platinum AMEX.
First Year: Annual Fee waived first year 15,000 signup x 1% = $150.00 $22,262 non-gas/groceries x 3% = $667.86 $5,310 gas/groceries x 5% = $265.50 Total = $1,083.36
$100 Gift Cards = 10,000 TYP $50 Gift Cards = 6,000 TYP $25 Gift Cards = 3,500 TYP $10 Gift Cards = 1,500 TYP $5 Gift Cards = 1,000 TYP 108,336 TYP / 10,000 TYP = $1,000.00 8,336 TYP / 6,000 TYP = $50.00 2,336 TYP / 1,500 TYP = $10.00 836 TYP = $0.00 Total Gift Cards = $1,060.00
Cant believe this card didnt make the original list--- I consider it to have the best 1 year "return" and possibly the best 2 year return if you can sway them to kill the 2nd year annual fee... The TYP to cash return rate (as a statement credit which is as good as cash) .69 cents per point -- but TYP can also be converted to student loan payments at a .01/pt ratio- and a mortagage payment at almost .80 cent per point effectively.. With the max per year being 150000 pts the potential sky is $1500/yr cashing in on a student loan payback... What is holding people back on this card?
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