| Details: | $200 Bonus When Applying For and Using a New Credit Card:
Three similar deals from 3 separate companies:
- Bank of America Cash Rewards Credit Card
- Apply, get the card, and charge at least $1,000 within the first 90 days to get $200 credit.
- Card features: 3% back on your choice of either gas, online shopping, travel, dining, drug stores, or home furnishings, plus 2% back at grocery stores and 1% back on all other purchases.
- Capital One QuickSilver Credit Card
- Apply, get the card, and charge at least $500 within the first 90 days to get $200 credit.
- Card features: 1.5% back on every purchase, and no foreign transaction fees.
- Chase Freedom Unlimited Credit Card
- Apply, get the card, and charge at least $500 within the first 90 days to get $200 credit.
- Card features: 5% back at some grocery stores for the first year only, then 1.5%.
5% back on Lyft rides, 3% at some restaurants, and 1.5% on all other purchases.
No annual fee on these cards.
All have the usual heavy interest rates when carrying a balance past the monthly due date.
Promotions are only available to new members of each card, who have also not been a previous member for the last few years.
Beware of risks of applying for a credit card.
Here are 3 risks:
- Choose wisely, and don't apply for more than 2 cards in a year which can negatively affect your credit score.
- If you have established credit and may soon apply for an apartment lease or a house loan, do not apply for a credit card today.
When creditors and landlords see a new credit approval without history of monthly payment, they may consider your your application at a higher risk and may not give you the best available rates.
Once you established a history of on-time payments with all the credit cards in your wallet, better apartment rates and financing terms will be easier to get.
- A new credit card is an opportunity to spend more money, and heavy interest fees apply when carrying a balance past their balance due date.
Do not apply if you are concerned about controlling your spending or paying off debt.
With all this said, a $200 credit is a generous offer.
Other good credit card offers:
- American Express Platinum with an annual fee of $695.
Earn 125,000 Rewards Points after spending at least $6,000 within the first 6 months.
If you see 100,000 Points instead of 125,000, clear cookies, open incognito, or try another browser.
- Rewards Points can be converted into airline miles, and 125,000 bonus miles could be enough for up to 10 round-trip domestic airfare.
For example, we checked Delta and JetBlue for travel in October, and found round-trip between San Francisco and Austin uses 11,000 AmEx points, and round-trip between Boston and Fort Lauderdale uses 10,500 AmEx points.
AmEx points can also be converted to rewards for Delta, JetBlue, Hawaiian Airlines, Virgin Atantic, Qantas, Air France, KLM, Air Canada, AeroMexico, ANA, British Airways, Emirates, Iberia, Hilton Honors, and Marriott Bonvoy.
- The Platinum Card earns one reward point per dollar spent, includes no foreign transaction fees, access to airport lounges, $200 airline incidental fee credit for one airline per calendar year, TSA Precheck or Global Entry credit ($85 or $100 value), Clear membership credit ($179 value), $15 Uber rides/Eats credit each month ($180 value yearly), and $20 monthly credit toward Audible, Peacock, and a New York Times subscription ($240 value yearly).
- Amazon Prime Rewards Visa Card with no annual fee.
Amazon Prime members get $100 Amazon credit and 5% back when shopping at Amazon and Whole Foods Market.
If you are a Prime member and already shop regularly at Amazon or Whole Foods, 5% back can add up to a good amount saved.
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