When you feel like starting to check your holiday shopping list, you are definitely not alone. According to a recent Bankrate survey, about half of holiday shoppers this year plan to start their holiday shopping by October 31st.
With that in mind, there's still time to apply for a loyalty card and take advantage of the best credit card welcome bonuses available. % purchase offered. This allows you to pay your holiday shopping bills interest-free for up to a year or more.
But what should you look for in a credit card welcome bonus? Must know. Travel credit cards and business credit cards tend to offer bonuses of up to $600 or more, but have much higher minimum spending requirements, making them less attractive holiday shopping tools.
Credit Cards Bank Rate Analysis We may issue welcome offer rewards as soon as some credit card minimums are reached, but it may take weeks or months. For this reason, we recommend that you consider your welcome bonus as a post-holiday rebate rather than relying on it appearing before the holiday season.
Here are some of the best credit card welcome bonuses you can get right now. Read below for our featured cards, current offers, and how to sign up and start earning instantly.
Contents
- 1 American Express Blue Cash Preferred Card: Best Cash Back Welcome Offer
- 2 Chase Freedom Flex: Perfect for Modest Spend
- 3 Customized Bank of America Cash Rewards Credit Card: Perfect for Online Shoppers
- 4 Chase Sapphire Preferred Card: Great for Frequent Travelers
- 5 Wells Fargo Active Cash Card: Simplicity Is Best
American Express Blue Cash Preferred Card: Best Cash Back Welcome Offer
- Welcome Offer: $250 statement credit when you spend $3,000 within 6 months of account opening
- Annual fee: $95
American Express The Blue Cash Preferred® Card is currently one of the highest value welcome offers on the cashback market. Most cash back cards currently offer a welcome bonus of around $200.
Suppose you spend $50 per gift recipient this holiday season. That $250 statement credit can cover the cost of five gifts. One caveat is the $95 annual fee ($0 introductory annual fee for the first year), but we believe it's worth it as Blue Cash Preferred is also a lucrative cashback card that can be maintained over the long term. increase.
The card's ongoing perk categories are tailored to the daily spending habits of many families, including 6% cash back on US supermarket purchases (up to $6,000 annually, then 1% thereafter), 6% cash back on select US streaming subscriptions, 3% cash back on transit, 3% cash back on US gas station purchases, 1% cash back on all other purchases.
This card comes with an intro offer of his APR 0% for 12 months on purchases and balance transfers, followed by a variable APR of 18.24% to his 29.24% increase. This makes it ideal for paying your holiday shopping bills with no interest for the first year.
Chase Freedom Flex: Perfect for Modest Spend
- Welcome Offer: $200 bonus cash when you spend $500 within 3 months of account opening
- Annual fee: $0
The Chase Freedom Flex℠ is good for modest spending as you can get $200 bonus cash just by claiming $500 purchases within 3 months. If you're nervous about fulfilling a welcome offer that requires spending thousands of dollars, this card is the perfect compromise.
No annual fee, 5% back on spend up to $1,500 in activated quarterly bonus categories (1% back thereafter) on travel booked through Chase Earn 5% back on purchases, 3% back on dining and drugstore purchases, and 1.
Cash back rewards are available for statement credits, gift cards, merchandise, checks, travel and more.
Customized Bank of America Cash Rewards Credit Card: Perfect for Online Shoppers
- Welcome Offer: From Account Opening $200 online cash reward when you spend $1,000 in the first 90 days
- Annual fee: $0
If you plan to do most of your holiday shopping online, the Bank of America® Customized Cash Rewards credit card is perfect for you. Besides offering generous welcome bonuses, the card allows you to choose the highest earning category among options such as gas, online shopping, dining, travel, drug stores, home improvement/furniture and more. Specifically, cardholders will receive 3% cash back on select category purchases and 2% cash back at grocery stores and wholesale clubs (combined 3% and 2% category purchases each quarter). up to $2,500, then 1%) and 1% on all other purchases. .
If the holiday season is over and you aren't doing much online shopping, you can change the 3% category to something more convenient. The flexibility of this card is a big advantage during the New Year holidays and beyond.
There is no annual fee for this card. You also get 0% referral APR on purchases that last 18 billing cycles. The rate is the same for account transfers within 60 days of account opening. At the end of the introductory period, the rate will reset to a variable APR of 17.74% to 27.74%.
Bank of America® Customized Cash Rewards credit card updated on December 1, 2022.
Chase Sapphire Preferred Card: Great for Frequent Travelers
- Welcome Offer: 60,000 bonus when you spend $4,000 within the first 3 months of account opening Points
- Annual fee >: $95
The Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card is perfect for holiday shoppers planning to travel next year and those who don't mind spending big to earn big cash bonuses. Points earned from sign-up bonuses are worth $600 worth of gift cards or statement credits, or $750 worth of travel expenses. When it comes to rewards for regular spending, the card offers triple points on meals (including eligible delivery services), select streaming services, online grocery purchases (excluding Walmart, Target and Wholesale Club), Offers 5x points on travel through Chase Ultimate Rewards and Lyft Rides. (Lyft offer until 31 March 2025), double points on all other trips and double points on all other purchases.
Chase Ultimate Rewards points also transfer to airline and hotel partners on a 1:1 ratio. This means you can turn your points into rewards with programs like Southwest, Marriott Bonvoy and World of Hyatt. The card has an annual fee of $95 and his APR is never 0% upon joining. So it's perfect for heavy shoppers who can get a lot of perks but plan to pay their balance in full every month.
Wells Fargo Active Cash Card: Simplicity Is Best
- Welcome Offer: $200 Cash Rewards Bonus When You Spend $1,000 In The First 3 Months
- Annual fee: $0
Finally earn generous bonuses and simple ongoing rewards and if you have no categories to track, Wells Consider the Fargo ActiveCash® Card. of. The card has no annual fee and earns a $200 cash rewards bonus when you spend $1,000 within the first three months. The reward rate is a flat 2% cash reward for your purchases, so you don't have to worry about bonus categories or earning caps.
As an added bonus, the cardholder gets his 0% introductory APR on purchase. Eligible balance transfer for 15 months from account opening (followed by a variable APR of 19.24%, 24.24%, or 29.24%). As such, this card is a great option for claiming new purchases for the holiday season, earning rewards, and then slowly paying off balances as needed.