See all our credit card reviews — from cash-back to travel rewards to business cards — in one place

First up are the cards that can get you the most value if you’re willing to put in the work: rewards credit cards that earn Amex, Chase, and other bank points. You can transfer these points to various airline and hotel partners, as well as use them to book travel directly through your credit card issuer.

The mega-popular Chase Sapphire Preferred Card, Chase Sapphire Reserve, American Express® Gold Card and others fall into this category.

Chase Sapphire Preferred — The rewards card that started it all. For a $95 annual fee, you get 2x points on travel and dining, not to mention valuable protections like primary car rental insurance and baggage delay insurance. Read the Chase Sapphire Preferred Card review.

Chase Sapphire Reserve — The premium sibling to the Sapphire Preferred has a $550 annual fee, but offers more perks like a $300 annual travel credit and 3x points on travel and dining. Read the Chase Sapphire Reserve review.

American Express® Gold Card — If dining is one of your top spending categories, the Amex Gold is a great card for you. It earns 4x points at restaurants (and 4x at US supermarkets on up to $25,000 each year, then 1x) and each month you get up to $10 in statement credits when you use the card at GrubHub, Seamless, The Cheesecake Factory, Ruth’s Chris Steak House, Boxed, and participating Shake Shacks. There’s a $250 annual fee. Read the Amex Gold Card review.

The Platinum Card® from American Express — It’s one of the most premium personal credit cards out there, with a $550 annual fee and a long list of benefits. You get annual statement credits for airline incidental fees, Saks purchases, and Uber rides, and can access a variety of airport lounges including Amex’s own Centurion Lounges. Read the Amex Platinum review.

Capital One® Venture® Rewards Credit Card — Like the Sapphire Preferred, the Venture Rewards Card packs in a lot of benefits for a sub-$100-annual-fee card, and in this case the $95 annual fee is waived the first year. You’ll earn 2x miles on all purchases, and 10x miles on hotel bookings made with the card via hotels.com/venture. You can redeem miles to cover travel purchases on your statement, or transfer them to a selection of airline programs. Read the Capital One Venture Rewards card review.

American Express® Green Card — Amex recently revamped its Green card from the ground up, and the result is a great rewards card with a moderate annual fee of $150. That fee is especially easy to justify if you can use the card’s annual statement credits: up to $100 toward CLEAR membership each year, and up to $100 toward airport lounge access through LoungeBuddy each year. Read the Amex Green card review.