Best Credit Card Bonuses for New Cardholders of September 2024
Updated: Sep 6, 2024Credit card bonus offers are a quick way to earn hundreds of dollars' worth of rewards by using a new credit card. The largest bonuses typically come from travel credit cards. Bonuses on cash-back credit cards generally hover in the range of $200, but some cards go even higher. Cards are judged on the value of their bonuses, as well as their bonuses relative to their annual fees. Below are good bonus offers currently available on NerdWallet.
400+ credit cards reviewed by our team of experts (See our top picks)
80+ years of combined experience covering credit cards and personal finance
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Objective comprehensive ratings rubrics (Methodology)
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Credit card bonus offers are a quick way to earn hundreds of dollars' worth of rewards by using a new credit card. The largest bonuses typically come from travel credit cards. Bonuses on cash-back credit cards generally hover in the range of $200, but some cards go even higher. Cards are judged on the value of their bonuses, as well as their bonuses relative to their annual fees. Below are good bonus offers currently available on NerdWallet.
400+ credit cards reviewed by our team of experts (See our top picks)
80+ years of combined experience covering credit cards and personal finance
27,000+ hours spent researching and reviewing financial products in the last 12 months
Objective comprehensive ratings rubrics (Methodology)
NerdWallet's credit cards content, including ratings and recommendations, is overseen by a team of writers and editors who specialize in credit cards. Their work has appeared in The Associated Press, USA Today, The New York Times, MarketWatch, MSN, NBC's "Today," ABC's "Good Morning America" and many other national, regional and local media outlets. Each writer and editor follows NerdWallet's strict guidelines for editorial integrity.
400+ credit cards reviewed by our team of experts (See our top picks)
80+ years of combined experience covering credit cards and personal finance
27,000+ hours spent researching and reviewing financial products in the last 12 months
Objective comprehensive ratings rubrics (Methodology)
NerdWallet's credit cards content, including ratings and recommendations, is overseen by a team of writers and editors who specialize in credit cards. Their work has appeared in The Associated Press, USA Today, The New York Times, MarketWatch, MSN, NBC's "Today," ABC's "Good Morning America" and many other national, regional and local media outlets. Each writer and editor follows NerdWallet's strict guidelines for editorial integrity.
Show summary
NerdWallet's Best Credit Card Bonuses for New Cardholders of September 2024
Wells Fargo Active Cash® Card: Best for Flat-rate cash back
Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card: Best for Chase Ultimate Rewards® points
U.S. Bank Cash+® Visa Signature® Card: Best for Wide selection of categories
Capital One Venture Rewards Credit Card: Best for Capital One Miles
Chase Freedom Flex®: Best for Quarterly categories + cash bonus
Wells Fargo Autograph℠ Card: Best for No-annual-fee travel points
American Express® Gold Card: Best for American Express Membership Rewards
Citi Custom Cash® Card: Best for Automatic 5% rewards
Blue Cash Preferred® Card from American Express: Best for Families & households
Discover it® Cash Back: Best for Cash back match
Capital One Quicksilver Cash Rewards Credit Card: Best for Simplicity + 0% APR offer
Bank of America® Customized Cash Rewards credit card: Best for Adjustable 3% categories
Southwest Rapid Rewards® Priority Credit Card: Best for Southwest Airlines
Hilton Honors American Express Surpass® Card: Best for Hilton Hotels
World of Hyatt Credit Card: Best for World of Hyatt
Citi Strata Premier℠ Card: Best for 3X in multiple categories
Citi® / AAdvantage® Platinum Select® World Elite Mastercard®: Best for American Airlines
Marriott Bonvoy Boundless® Credit Card: Best for Marriott Bonvoy Hotels
Delta SkyMiles® Reserve American Express Card: Best for Delta Air Lines
IHG One Rewards Premier Credit Card: Best for IHG Hotels
U.S. Bank Shopper Cash Rewards™ Visa Signature® Card: Best for Big-box shoppers
United℠ Explorer Card: Best for United Airlines
Alaska Airlines Visa Signature® credit card: Best for Alaska Airlines
Looking for a new card? You could get an extra
$100
in cashJoin NerdWallet+ to get an extra $100 on top of credit card intro offers. That's just one of the ways NerdWallet+ pays you for smart financial decisions.To get $100
- 1.Join NerdWallet+ then apply for one of the eligible cards below
- 2.Get approved for the card and link it to your NerdWallet account
- 3.Pay your first bill on time, then collect $100 from the NerdWallet+ Rewards Portal!
JOIN NERDWALLET+
JOIN N+
Looking for a new card? You could get an extra
$100
in cashJoin NerdWallet+ to get an extra $100 on top of credit card intro offers. That's just one of the ways NerdWallet+ pays you for smart financial decisions.- Join NerdWallet+ then apply for one of the eligible cards below1
- Get approved for the card and link it to your NerdWallet account2
- Pay your first bill on time, then collect $100 from the NerdWallet+ Rewards Portal!3
JOIN NERDWALLET+
JOIN N+
Credit card | Best for | Rating | Rewards rate | Total rewards | Learn more |
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Best Credit Card Bonuses for New Cardholders From Our Partners
Credit card | NerdWallet rating | Annual fee | Rewards rate | Intro offer | Learn more |
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Find the right credit card for you.
Whether you want to pay less interest or earn more rewards, the right card's out there. Just answer a few questions and we'll narrow the search for you.
Whether you want to pay less interest or earn more rewards, the right card's out there. Just answer a few questions and we'll narrow the search for you.
Flat-rate cash back
Chase Ultimate Rewards® points
Wide selection of categories
Capital One Miles
Quarterly categories + cash bonus
No-annual-fee travel points
American Express Membership Rewards
Automatic 5% rewards
Families & households
Cash back match
Simplicity + 0% APR offer
Adjustable 3% categories
Southwest Airlines
Hilton Hotels
World of Hyatt
3X in multiple categories
American Airlines
Marriott Bonvoy Hotels
Delta Air Lines
IHG Hotels
Big-box shoppers
United Airlines
Alaska Airlines
How do credit card sign-up bonuses work?
Credit card issuers use sign-up bonuses to encourage people to apply for a card and then, once approved, get in the habit of using it. The term "sign-up bonus" is a bit of a misnomer because in most cases, you don't get a bonus simply for signing up. You earn it by putting a certain amount of spending on your card in the first few months. That's why some issuers use a term like "welcome offer" or "new cardholder offer" rather than "sign-up bonus."
With a typical sign-up bonus, the time frame for earning the bonus is usually three to six months. The clock starts when you're approved for the card. The more valuable the bonus, the more you'll usually have to spend during that time in order to earn it. For example, a cash back card might offer a bonus of $150 to $200; to earn it, you might have to spend $500 or $1,000. A travel or airline credit card might offer points or miles worth $750 or even $1,000 but will require spending of $3,000 or more. Sign-up bonuses are typically all or nothing — you either spend enough to earn the bonus, or you don't. You won't get half the bonus for spending half the required amount.
Discover cards are a notable exception to the "all or nothing" nature of credit card bonus offers. Instead of a set bonus amount, the size of your bonus depends on how much you use the card over the first 12 months your account is open. At the end of that period, the issuer matches all the rewards you've earned. For example, here's how Discover describes the bonus offer on the popular Discover it® Cash Back card: "INTRO OFFER: Unlimited Cashback Match for all new cardmembers – only from Discover. Discover will automatically match all the cash back you’ve earned at the end of your first year! There’s no minimum spending or maximum rewards. You could turn $150 cash back into $300."
Once you hit the required spending amount, you'll get your bonus. With some cash-back cards, the bonus might immediately appear as a credit against purchases on your monthly statement. In most cases, though, the bonus shows up in your rewards balance, alongside the points, miles or cash back you earn from your spending. You can then redeem your bonus however and whenever you want.
Credit card companies usually set rules about what kind of spending counts toward earning the sign-up bonus. Purchases of goods and services will count. Balance transfers, cash advances and wire transfers will not, nor will purchases of cash equivalents like gift cards, money orders or casino chips. In other words, you can't earn a sign-up bonus by "buying money" and then paying off your balance with that money.
What credit card has the best sign-up bonus?
The "best" offer for new cardholders is a moving target for a couple of reasons.
First, bonuses are paid in different kinds of "currency" — cash, statement credits, frequent flyer miles, hotel points and more. That makes it hard to compare bonus values directly. Second, credit card issuers frequently roll out special offers. A card that usually dangles 50,000 points or miles as a bonus might kick that up to 75,000 or 100,000 for a limited time to try to entice people to apply. Targeted offers — that is, those sent out to select consumers rather than advertised to the public at large — can be even more lucrative.
That said, here are some things to keep in mind about bonus offers:
Travel credit cards tend to offer bigger bonuses than cash back credit cards. Bonus offers on most cash back cards top out at around $200. Travel cards can have bonuses worth $500 or more. However, travel card bonuses come as points or miles that might not be as easy to redeem as $200 in cash.
Cards with annual fees tend to offer bigger bonuses. When a card charges an annual fee, the issuer knows it needs to sweeten the offer to get you to choose that card over one that charges nothing. So annual-fee cards pay richer rewards, provide better perks — and carry bigger bonuses. For example, the popular Capital One Venture Rewards Credit Card charges a $95 annual fee (see rates and fees) and has this offer: Enjoy $250 to use on Capital One Travel in your first cardholder year, plus earn 75,000 bonus miles once you spend $4,000 on purchases within the first 3 months from account opening - that’s equal to $1,000 in travel. The Capital One VentureOne Rewards Credit Card - Miles Boost, on the other hand, has a lower offer: Earn a bonus of 40,000 miles once you spend $1,000 on purchases within 3 months from account opening, equal to $400 in travel. But in exchange, it has a $0 annual fee (see rates and fees).
Points and miles are not all created equal. A bonus of 40,000 miles on a Delta Air Lines credit card has a different value from a bonus of 40,000 miles on a Southwest Airlines card. And 50,000 Chase Ultimate Rewards® points are worth more (much more) than 50,000 Hilton Honors points. Apples-to-apples comparisons are difficult with points and miles because they aren't portable like cash — you can only use them in the ways allowed by the program that awarded them. See our page on point and mile values for more information.
At NerdWallet, we often say that there is no single "best" credit card — just the best card for you. It's the same with bonus offers. The best sign-up bonus is the one that is of greatest value to you.
How many credit card sign-up bonuses can I earn?
There's no overall limit to how many times you can earn credit card sign-up bonuses. However, individual card issuers may have rules in place to keep you from earning a bonus on a particular card or "family" of cards more than once. The idea behind such rules is to keep people from applying for the card, earning the bonus, canceling or downgrading the card, then applying anew and earning another bonus. Read the terms and conditions of any bonus offer to see what restrictions are in place.
What credit card sign-up bonuses are the easiest to get?
Generally speaking, cash back credit cards have lower spending requirements for earning their bonuses. Depending on the card, you might be able to snag a bonus of $150 or $200 by spending as little a $500.
Is a credit card bonus taxable income?
Legally speaking, credit card rewards — including bonuses — are not income. Instead, the IRS considers them a discount or rebate on purchases made with the card. Therefore, they're not taxable.
This tax treatment is an additional reason why credit card bonuses must be earned through spending, and why the required spending amount is larger than the bonus itself. If you spend $1,000 and get a bonus of $150 for doing so, you don't "come out ahead" — you've still made $850 in net purchases. You've saved some money, but you haven't made any money.
Contrast this with the bonuses you can sometimes earn for opening a checking or savings account at a particular bank. With these promotions, you do come out ahead. Follow the bank's rules (which usually involve depositing a certain amount and/or setting up direct deposit, among other things), and you get "free money." As such, it's usually taxable as interest.
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Last updated on September 6, 2024
Methodology
NerdWallet's credit cards team selects the best credit cards in each category based on overall consumer value. Factors in our evaluation include fees, promotional and ongoing APRs, and sign-up bonuses; for rewards cards, we consider earning and redemption rates, redemption options and redemption difficulty. A single card is eligible to be chosen as among the "best" in multiple categories. Learn how NerdWallet rates credit cards.
Frequently asked questions
A sign-up bonus is a promotion offered by a credit card issuer to entice you to apply for a card and begin using it regularly. The term "sign-up bonus" is a bit of a misnomer because in most cases you don't get the bonus just for signing up; you have to earn it by spending money. That's why some issuers use terms like "bonus offer," "welcome offer" or "new cardholder offer" rather than sign-up bonus.
Sign-up bonuses give you a lump sum of cash back or a large number of points or miles if you spend a certain amount using the card in a specified time period, usually the first few months after opening the account. After you complete the required spending, the bonus is applied to your account. Separate from that lump-sum bonus, or in addition to it, some credit card sign-up offers include a more valuable rewards structure for a limited time (such as a higher rewards rate in the first year) or a special perk for new cardholders (such as free hotel nights or one-time discounts).
The value of a sign-up bonus depends on the type of card. Travel credit cards and small-business credit cards tend to have the highest bonuses. Cards with annual fees typically offer higher sign-up bonuses. Cash-back bonuses are usually lower but easier to earn.
Bonuses on popular credit cards can range in value from $25 to more than $1,000. As a general rule, new cardholders are required to complete a certain amount of spending on the new card before earning the bonus. With cards that award bonuses in points or miles, the values can differ widely.
Not usually. Most bonuses have a spending requirement to earn the bonus, whether making a single purchase or spending hundreds or even thousands of dollars in the first few months of card ownership. The bonus is paid after the requirement is met.
As the name would suggest, cash-back credit cards usually pay their bonuses in cash, as opposed to points or miles. The “cash” might be in the form of a credit on your statement (which reduces the amount you owe), a deposit into a bank account, or even a mailed check.
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