This blog is usually all about points and miles. The game we play involves acquiring points & miles, usually without traveling, in order to travel nearly for free. Current events, though, has led some of us to turn towards cash-earning options: new credit card bonuses, new bank account bonuses, cash rewards from spend, cash back shopping portals, etc. This post is designed to dive into the first in the list: credit card bonuses.
The cards shown below are sorted by our formula for estimated first year value. With cash back cards you’d think that a formula isn’t necessary. Can’t you simply take the welcome bonus and subtract out the first year annual fee? Nope. We also have to account for the cost of spend. Some cards have much higher minimum spend requirements which we need to account for. For example, I’d argue that a $300 welcome offer that requires $500 spend is much better than a $300 offer that requires $3,000 spend.
For help with meeting spend requirements, please see: 7 ways to increase credit card spend from home.
Top 10 Cash Back Credit Card Offers
Top 10 offers are shown. Press “Next” to see more.
| Card Offer |
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U.S. Bank Business Leverage® Visa Signature® Card Recent better offer: None |
Capital One Spark Cash Select – $500 Cash Bonus $500 Cash Back Earn a $500 bonus when you spend $4,500 in the first 3 months of account opening No Annual Fee |
Bank of America Business Advantage Cash Rewards Mastercard Recent better offer: $750 after $5K spend in 90 days [Expired 9/1/21] |
Capital One Spark Cash Plus Up to $1,000 Earn up to a $1,000 cash bonus; $500 once you spend $5,000 in the first 3 months, and $500 once you spend $50,000 in the first 6 months of account opening $150 Annual Fee Note: This card is not expected to count against Chase's 5/24 Rule Recent better offer: Expired 3/14/22: $3K after $50K spend in 6 months |
Blue Cash Everyday® Card from American Express Up to $350 back Up to $350 back: $200 back after $2K in the first 6 months + 10% back at restaurants for the first 6 months up to $150 back. Terms apply. (Rates & Fees) No Annual Fee |
Wells Fargo Business Platinum Visa® card |
BECU Cash Back Visa credit card |
Disney Premier Visa Card |
Capital One Savor $300 Cash Back Earn a one time bonus: $300 after $3K spend in 3 months from account opening No Annual Fee First Year, Then $95 |
The Owner's Rewards Card by M1 $300 Cash Back $300 statement credit after $4000 spend in first 90 days No Annual Fee First Year, Then $95 |
American Express Blue Business Cash™ Card $250 statement credit Earn a $250 statement credit after $3K in purchases in the first 3 months. Terms apply. (Rates & Fees) No Annual Fee |
Blue Cash Preferred® Card from American Express $350 back $350 cash back as a statement credit after $3K in the first 6 months. Terms Apply. (Rates & Fees) $95 Annual Fee Recent better offer: Up to $350: 10% cash back on purchases at U.S. Restaurants in the first 6 months, up to $200 back. Plus, earn $150 back after $1K spend in 3 months. (Expired 5/3/17) |
Capital One Quicksilver |
Evergreen® by FNBO Credit Card $200 Cash Back $200 in rewards (20K points) after $1K in purchases in first 3 billing cycles. No Annual Fee |
Capital One SavorOne Cash Rewards Credit Card |
Evergreen® by FNBO Business Edition® Credit Card $200 Cash Back $200 in rewards (20K points) after $1K in purchases in first 3 billing cycles. No Annual Fee |
Schwab Investor Card® from American Express |
NBT Bank Everyday Rewards+ Card $200 Cash Back $200 in rewards (20K points) after $1000 in purchases in first 120 days No Annual Fee |
Amazon Prime Rewards Visa $200 Amazon Gift Card Eligible Prime members get a $200 Amazon.com Gift Card upon approval. Terms apply. No Annual Fee |
Bank of America Customized Cash Rewards Recent better offer: $200 back after $500 spend in 90 days [Expired 1/19] |
American Express Cash Magnet® Card |
Paceline Credit Card Apple Watch Rebate Earn weekly statement credits when you meet fitness goals, up to $429 in total value, after you purchase an Apple Watch with the Paceline Card $60 Annual Fee |
Disney Visa Card |
Morgan Stanley Blue Cash Preferred® American Express Card $300 back $300 cash back as a statement credit after $3K in the first 6 months. Terms Apply. (Rates & Fees) $95 Annual Fee |
Upromise World MasterCard® issued by Barclays |
Affinity Cash Rewards Visa® Signature Credit Card |
Amazon Business Prime American Express Card $125 Amazon Gift Card Eligible Prime members get a $125 Amazon Gift Card upon approval. Terms apply. (Rates & Fees) No Annual Fee |
Discover it Miles - Double Miles your first year $100 + First Year Double Get $100 after first purchase. All "miles" earned in first 12 months will be doubled. This makes this a 3% cash back card for the first year. No Annual Fee |
The Comenity® Mastercard® Credit Card |
Chase Slate Edge $100 Cash Back Earn $100 statement credit after $500 in purchases in first 6 months. 0% Intro APR for 18 months from account opening on purchases and balance transfers. A variable APR of 15.24% - 23.99% on balance transfers and purchases after the introductory period ends. No Annual Fee This card is subject to Chase's 5/24 rule (click here for details). Even though this card is marketed as a cash back card, it actually earns Ultimate Rewards points which are redeemable for 1 cent each, or can be combined with other Ultimate Rewards-earning cards to get even more value. This product is available to you if you do not have this card and have not received a new cardmember bonus for this card in the past 24 months. |
Cleveland Cavaliers Credit Card Recent better offer: 100K points were briefly available at launch |
Manchester United Credit Card Recent better offer: 50K points were briefly available at launch |
Fidelity Rewards Visa Recent better offer: $100 back after $1K in first 3 months |
Santander® Ultimate Cash Back® credit card |
Venmo Credit Card Recent better offer: 6% cash back on your eligible top spend category, 4% on the next, and 2% on all other purchases [Expired 12/31/21] |
UBS Cash Rewards Visa Business |
The Plum Card® from American Express Up to $600 Earn a $200 statement credit after each $10,000 you spend on the card, up to $30,000, in the first 3 months of Card Membership. Terms Apply. (Rates & Fees) $250 Annual Fee |
![](http://cdn.nextinsure.com/imaging/opt/534df778-fadf-4350-9e01-291110eaf2a9.png?w=300" alt="Capital One SavorOne Cash Rewards Credit Card" />){kind=small}
Top 10 Redeemable for Cash Offers
Many cards earn points that are easily redeemed for cash where one point equals one cent. This includes cards that earn Chase Ultimate Rewards, US Bank FlexPerks / Altitude points, Wells Fargo Go Far Rewards, and Citi ThankYou Rewards. With Citi points, cashing out for 1 cent per point requires requesting a check to pay for a mortgage or student loan. The Citi Prestige card is an exception since it allows a direct cash out at 1 cent per point.
The cards listed below offer points that are more valuable when used towards travel. As a result, our estimated first year value (which uses enhanced travel value of points) is not a good measure for this post.
In order to understand how valuable each of the below offers is, convert the number of points to cash back, in your head by following this pattern (replace the “K” with a zero and add a dollar sign):
- 25K points = $250
- 50K points = $500
- 60K points = $600
- 80K points = $800
- 100K points = $1,000
Since the first year value estimates use point values based on travel value, Please use the estimates shown below only as relative indicators of which offers are best for cash back. However, if you think you are likely to use the points for travel, then the shown estimated values may be useful to you.
Top 10 offers are shown. Press “Next” to see more.
| Card Offer |
|---|
Chase Ink Business Preferred Card See: How to sign up for Chase Ink cards Recent better offer: 80K after $5K spend. Many preferred the 80K offer due to the much lower spend requirement |
Citi Premier Card Recent better offer: None. This matches the best offer we've ever seen. |
Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card A similar offer with the first year annual fee waived may be found in-branch. YMMV. Recent better offer: 100K after $4K in purchases in the first 3 months |
Chase Freedom Flex 20K points + 5X gas + 15 months 0% APR Earn 20,000 points (worth $200 cash back) after spending $500 in the first 3 months + 5x Ultimate Rewards points (worth 5% cash back) on gas purchases for 1st year (on up to $6K in purchases). 0% Intro APR for 15 months from account opening on purchases and balance transfers, then a variable APR of 15.74% - 24.49%. No Annual Fee Be sure to select the card you want after clicking through. This card is subject to Chase's 5/24 rule (click here for details). Even though this card is marketed as a cash back card, it actually earns Ultimate Rewards points which are redeemable for 1 cent each, or can be combined with other Ultimate Rewards-earning cards to get even more value. This product is available to you if you do not have this card and have not received a new cardmember bonus for this card in the past 24 months. Recent better offer: 20K points + 5x grocery stores for the first year on up to $12K in qualifying purchases |
Chase Freedom Unlimited Extra 1.5x everywhere + 15 months 0% APR Earn an extra 1.5x everywhere on up to $20K in purchases for the first 12 months. 0% Intro APR for 15 months from account opening on purchases and balance transfers, then a variable APR of 15.74% - 24.49%. No Annual Fee This card is subject to Chase's 5/24 rule (click here for details). Even though this card is marketed as a cash back card, it actually earns Ultimate Rewards points which are redeemable for 1 cent each, or can be combined with other Ultimate Rewards-earning cards to get even more value. This product is available to you if you do not have this card and have not received a new cardmember bonus for this card in the past 24 months. |
Citi Double Cash Card Recent better offer: None. This is the best we've seen. |
Citi Custom Cash Card Recent better offer: Expired 9/13/22 - 20,000 points after $750 spend in first 3 months |
AT&T Access Card |
Advertiser and Refer-A-Friend Disclosure
Many of the card offers that appear on this site are from companies from which Frequent Miler receives compensation. Please see our full advertiser disclosure here. And, some offers are friend referrals in which we will earn points or other rewards in exchange for successfully referring you through the link shown here.
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Affiliate Link Example Offers for which we receive compensation are shown with credit card images. |
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Refer A Friend Example Refer-a-friend offers are shown with this image |
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Non-Affiliate Link Example With many of the best offers, we do not receive compensation. This is indicated by this “No Affiliate” card image |
[…] our Best Credit Card Offers page. Or, if you’re only interested in cash back, check here: Best cash back credit card offers. Note that we always publish the best public offers even if that means that we lose out on […]
Any word on whether CC companies are more willing to waive AFs at this time? I may call some this Friday since I’m off that day. I certainly hope to be able to travel again this year but so infrequently that the rewards will be greatly diminished. And once things settle (next year?) I’d imagine there will be some very nice sign up bonuses to try and regain business.
What about the BoA Premium Rewards, WF signature/propel/propel world, Amex BC/BCP and Cash Magnet?
Thanks! Here’s how I addressed each:
BOA Premium Rewards: Added to first table.
WF cards: Added to second table
Amex cards: Already in first table but not on first page of table (use search box or “next”)
No worries. For the Amex cards, they do have referral/incognito elevated offers that can be higher than listed. For example, my father in law just got a cash magnet last month with a $225 SUB.
We always list the best publicly-available offer. When that’s a referral offer, we list a referral offer. Whatever the best offer is where you can simply go to our page and click through to apply is what we list on the page. We don’t list stuff where you have to use a specific browser or modify something in the address bar or anything like that as not everyone will be able to replicate it. We aim to keep the best publicly-available offer there where you’ll click through and see exactly what we’re listing. If you get targeted for something even better, that’s great.
I am surprised you guys havent posted the limited $500 sign on bonus for the bank of america business cash card after spending $5000. Doctor of credit reported link: https://secure.bankofamerica.com/applynow/welcome.go
Thank you! We didn’t see that. We will update that offer right away. For the record, here’s the link: http://bankofamerica.com/sbcashrewards500 (the link you posted didn’t work)
Updated. Thanks, Sophia!
It requires $5000 spending, not $3k
That’s right. We show $5K spend required.