Credit Card Reviews

Limited Time Offer: Earn 100,000 bonus miles when you spend $20,000 in purchases in the first year. The bonus miles are worth $1,000 if used to pay for travel charges on the card. If you don’t qualify for this bonus, you can still earn the regular signup bonus described below.

The Capital One® Venture® Rewards Credit Card is a travel rewards credit card. It comes with a generous signup bonus and excellent ongoing rewards. But it also comes with a $95 annual fee. In this review, we’ll examine whether it’s worth the cost and how it stakes up to other travel credit cards.

The Capital One® VentureOne® Rewards Credit Card is a straightforward travel credit card for those who travel frequently. It gives you a generous membership bonus reward (20,000 miles), as well as an earnings rate of 2x miles on every dollar you spend daily. But it does come with an annual fee and requires excellent credit for approval.

Capital One Venture Snapshot

Pros & Cons

What we like

• 2x miles earned on every dollar spent
• Membership reward of 100,000 bonus miles, OR
• Earn 100,000 miles when you spend $20,000 in purchases the first year.
• No foreign transaction fees
• Miles can be used on any airline or hotel

What could be better

• $95 Annual Fee
• Requires excellent credit score

Capital One Venture Rewards

Welcome Bonus

Capital One Venture offers 20,000 bonus miles to new cardmembers. To qualify, you have spent $1,000 within your first 3 months of your account being activated. If you use the miles to pay for travel charged to the card, they have a value of $500.

Earning Rewards

The Venture Card allows its members to earn 2x miles for every dollar that they spend on everyday purchases. There is no limit to how many miles you can earn. The point value for the miles, however, varies depending on how they are redeemed (see below).

Redeeming Rewards

There are a few ways that you can redeem your miles. You can redeem for cash back, using your miles for statement credits on previously made purchases, transfer miles to another account, or use them for gift cards. The key thing to understand is that the miles are worth 1 cent when used to pay for travel purchases. Use the miles to pay for non-travel purchases or cash back and they are worth 1/2 cent each. As a result, this card is ideal only for those who will use their miles to pay for travel purchases. If that’s not you, a great cash back credit card is a better option.

You can also transfer your miles to Capital One’s travel partners. Here is a list of the airlines and hotels partnered with Capital One:

Refer a Friend

You can earn extra cash when making a referral with Capital One. If you have a Quicksilver®, Venture®, VentureOne®, Savor®, or SavorOne Card, you can earn up to $500 each year referring friends. For each friend that you refer to Capital One, you can earn $100 for each approved referral. You can have up to 5 referrals per year, thus giving you the $500 opportunity.

Capital One Venture Rewards Credit Card Benefits

• Proactive Account Alerts-  You will be sent an alert if Capital One finds a mistake or unexpected charge.
• Personalized Payment- This allows you to pick your own monthly due date, and even your payment method for no cost.
• Autopay- Choose to have your payment automatically withdrawn from your account monthly.
• 0% Fraud Liability- You will not be held responsible if your card becomes lost or stolen.
• Card Lock- This feature allows you to lock your card if you lose it, or if it gets stolen. This will prevent the card from being used.
• Security Alerts- If any suspicious activity is seen on your account, Capital One will notify via email, text, etc.
• 24 Hour Travel Assistance- This service helps you by getting you an emergency replacement card, or even a cash advance if your card becomes lost or stolen.
• No Foreign Transaction Fees- No transaction fees when traveling outside of the United States.
• Roadside Assistance- Find assistance with this benefit when you’re needing a tire change, need a jump, or even a tow.
• Extended Warranty- Items you purchase with your credit card will get additional warranty coverage at no cost.
• Premier Access- this service keeps you up to date with unique dining experiences, sporting events, and music festivals that happen near you.

FAQs

How Does the Capital One Venture Rewards Credit Card Stack Up

Travel credit cards come in two flavors–co-branded and generic. A co-branded card is specific to an airline or hotel chain. In contrast, you can use a generic travel card for any travel on any airline or at any hotel. The Capital One Venture card is a generic travel card. Within that category, it is one of the best.

Keep in mind that rewards cards in general also fall into two categories–flat rate rewards and bonus categories. The Capital One® VentureOne® Rewards Credit Card is a flat rate rewards card–it pays 2 miles for every dollar spent. In contrast, a card such as the Chase Sapphire Reserve is a bonus category card. It pays, for example, 3 points per dollar spent on travel. But on purchases that fall outside of the bonus categories, it pays just 1 point.

Understanding this difference can help you pick the best card for you. If you want just one travel card, a flat rate card like Venture is often the better choice. You won’t earn as much in rewards on certain categories of spending, but you’ll make it up by earning 2% on everything else. If you want to carry more than one travel card, however, then consider those cards that offer bonus rewards in spending categories that match your spending habits.

All of that said, there is a better option to the Venture card–a 2% cash back card. For example, the Citi Double Cash card effectively pays 2% on all purchases–1% on the purchase and 1% when you pay the credit card bill. There are two big advantages to this card over Venture. First, the 2% is regardless of how you use the rewards. Remember that the Venture card is a 2% card only if you use the rewards to pay for travel. Second, the Citi Double Cash card doesn’t have an annual fee.

Rating

The Capital One® Quicksilver® Cash Rewards Credit Card is one of several cash back cards on the market today that pay 1.5% in rewards. It comes with a $150 sign up bonus and no annual fee. We’ll cover all the details in this Capital One Quicksilver review.

The Capital One Quicksilver Card offers a simple rewards program. It pays 1.5% cash back on all purchases. It does charge an annual fee, and it offers a $150 sign up bonus. You can redeem cash back with no minimum increments, and your rewards do not expire. It’s about as simple as it can get.

Capital One Quicksilver Card Snapshot

Pros & Cons

What we like

• $0 annual fee
• 0% APR on purchases for the first 15 months
• $150 sign up bonus
• 1.5% cash back
• No foreign transaction fees

What could be better

• Requires a high credit score for approval
• $39 penalty fee

Capital One Quicksilver Card Rewards

Welcome Bonus

So, you’re officially a new Capital One Quicksilver Card member. For starters, this means you will earn a $150 bonus if you spend at least $500 within 3 months of your account being activated. After you meet the qualifications for this bonus, Capital One will usually apply this to your rewards total within two billing cycles. 

Earning Rewards

Capital One Quicksilver Card helps you earn rewards on every purchase. You’ll earn 1.5% on each purchase you make. It’s that simple.

Let’s do some math. If an individual or family of four charges on average $3,000 to the card each month, cash back rewards would total $45 a month, or $540 a year.

Redeeming Rewards

There are several ways to redeem rewards. The primary redemption offer is for cash. You can redeem cash at any time and in any amount. There are no minimum cash redemptions required. You can also apply the cash back rewards to your Capital One balance as a statement credit. Note that using rewards as a statement credit does not reduce your required minimum monthly payment.

Beyond cash or a statement credit, however, you can also redeem rewards for gift cards and to shop at Amazon.

0% Introductory Rates

The Capital One Quicksilver card offers a 0% APR on purchases. The intro APR remains at 0% for the first 15 months of your account being activated. Once the 15 months has passed, the APR returns to a variable rated based on your creditworthiness.

Refer a Friend

You can earn up to $500 each year in statement credits when using your Quicksilver Card to refer friends to sign up for a Capital One card. Capital One offers card members a referral program to help them earn more points. For each approved referral, you can earn $100 in statement credits, up to no more than 5 referrals each year, giving you $500 in statement credits per year. The reward usually arrives in your account within 4 weeks after approval.

Capital One Quicksilver Card Benefits

• Proactive Account Alerts-  You will be sent an alert if Capital One finds a mistake or unexpected charge.
• Personalized Payment- This allows you to pick your own monthly due date, and even your payment method for no cost.
• Autopay- Choose to have your payment automatically withdrawn from your account monthly.
• 0% Fraud Liability- You will not be held responsible if your card becomes lost or stolen.
• Card Lock- This feature allows you to lock your card if you lose it, or if it gets stolen. This will prevent the card from being used.
• Security Alerts- If any suspicious activity is seen on your account, Capital One will notify via email, text, etc.
• 24 Hour Travel Assistance- This service helps you by getting you an emergency replacement card, or even a cash advance if your card becomes lost or stolen.
• No Foreign Transaction Fees- No transaction fees when traveling outside of the United States.
• Roadside Assistance- Find assistance with this benefit when you’re needing a tire change, need a jump, or even a tow.
• Extended Warranty- Items you purchase with your credit card will get additional warranty coverage at no cost.
• Premier Access- this service keeps you up to date with unique dining experiences, sporting events, and music festivals that happen near you.

FAQs

How Does the Capital One Quicksilver Card Stack Up

Just about every major credit card issuer offers a 1.5% cash back credit card. Until recently, they were all about the same. The all offered a signup bonus of $150. They didn’t charge an annual fee. All of that changed, however, when Chase introduced the new and improved Chase Freedom Unlimited.

Like Quicksilver, it offers 1.5% on purchases. Yet three things set it apart. First, its signup bonus is $200, not $150. Second, it offers several bonus categories that pay cash back as high as 5%. And third, rather than redeeming for cash, you can transfer the Chase Ultimate Rewards to another Chase card and earn 25% to 50% bonuses when redeemed for travel through Chase.

There still may be good reasons to stick with the Quicksilver card. You may bank at Capital One and want to keep all your financial products at one institution, for example..

But you should definitely consider the Chase Freedom Unlimited before making a choice:

Final Thoughts

The Capital One® Quicksilver® Cash Rewards Credit Card represents a solid cash back card. It’s combination of signup bonus, ongoing rewards and no annual fee make it a top rated offer. Still, there may be better options for those who are not wedded to Capital One.

Still haven’t found what you are looking for? Check out our full list of the best cash back credit cards.

For many, the American Express Gold Card is a symbol of financial success. Pull out the Gold Card on a date, and you’ve made a statement. We here at allCards think a fat bank account is THE sign of financial success. Yet we also know that a lucrative rewards credit card can add bank to our accounts. So in this Amex Gold Card review, we dive into the rewards, benefits and fees to see how the card stacks up.

The American Express Gold Card is designed for travelers and culinary enthusiasts, particularly those with a family. Why? It pays up to 4x Membership Rewards points on restaurants worldwide and U.S. supermarkets, and 3x points on flights booked directly with the airlines or on amextravel.com.

In addition, members can earn 60,000 Membership Rewards points after spending $4,000 in purchases within the first 3 months of account activation. It adds to these rewards up to $10 in statement credits each month when using your card for dining (see limitations below). Of course this is after you enroll in the Dining Credit program.

The Gold Card does have a high annual fee of $250. So let’s dive into the details to see whether the card is worth the cost.

American Express Gold Card At a Glance

Pros & Cons

What we like

• Welcome bonus
• No foreign transaction fees
• $120 Dining Credit
• $100 Airline Fee Credit
• Earn up to 4x Membership Rewards points
• Payment Flexibility

What could be better

• High annual fee ($250)
• Dining Credit is only available at select locations
• Can only redeem points for travel through amex travel

Welcome Bonus

So, you have signed up and are now an official Gold Card member. You are now able to begin earning those rewards points in a number of ways, including a Welcome Bonus. Upon your card’s activation, you have 3 months to spend $4,000 with your card. If you do , you will receive 60,000 Membership Rewards points.

It will take between 8-12 weeks for you to receive these points. The value of these points (at a value of 1.0 cent), would be worth $350. It is rare, but if there is a delay in receiving your Gold Card you may end up with less than 3 months to earn these points. Some purchases may fall outside of the 3 month period as well. For example:

• If a merchant has a delay in submitting transactions to American Express, or
• if the sale date is different from the transaction date. (This means if you bought items online, the sale date could be the date the items get shipped).

So if you plan to earn the Welcome Bonus, don’t wait until the last minute.

American Express Gold Card Rewards

Earning Rewards

Gold Card members can earn ongoing Membership Rewards at three different levels:

• Earn 4x Membership Rewards by using your Gold Card at U.S. supermarkets (up to $25,000 per year) or when dining worldwide
• Earn 3x Membership Rewards when booking flights directly, or with amextravel.com
• Earn 1 point for all other eligible items

Assuming a 1.0 cent valuation, groceries and eating out earn 4% (subject to the limitations noted above). Flights booked directly with the airlines or at the amex travel website earn 3%, and all other purchases earn 1%.

You can’t earn any extra points for purchases at restaurants located within other establishments. For example, purchases made at a restaurant located within a hotel may be recognized as a purchase at a hotel, not a restaurant. 

Approved purchases that earn rewards do not including the following:

• fees or interest charges
• cash advances
• person to person payments
• gift card purchases
• travelers checks
• purchasing or reloading of prepaid cards

Merchants are assigned codes based on what they primarily sell. Any purchases will not qualify for extra points if the merchant’s code is not eligible.

Redeeming Rewards

Gold Card members can redeem their rewards through a variety of options. The key is to remember that the value of the Membership Rewards points vary based on how they are used. Here’s a summary of the redemption options, along with an estimate of the Membership Rewards points value:

Redemption Method	Valuation
Redeem at Checkout	0.7 to 1.0 cents
Gift Cards	0.5 to 1.0 cents
Transfer to Airline Partners	Up to 10.0 cents or more
Transfer to Hotel Partners	Around 0.5 cents
Statement Credit	0.6 cents
Shop Amazon	0.7 cents

Redeem at Checkout

They can redeem them at Checkout with the following services:

(These websites have a current points value of $70.00, based on a Membership Rewards  point total of 10,000. This means that each point is worth 0.7 cents.)

• Amazon
• Amex Express Checkout
• Best Buy
• Boxed
• Dell.com
• Expedia
• Grubhub
• JustGiving
• Newegg
• PayPal
• Rite Aid
• Saks Fifth Avenue
• Staples
• Walmart

You can also redeem rewards through:

• NYC Taxi: Currently priced at $100.00, based on a 10,000 Membership Rewards points total. This means that each point spent is worth $0.1.
• Ticketmaster: Based on a 10,000 Membership Rewards points total, this site is currently priced with a points value of $50.00. Upon viewing the Ticketmaster site, it stated that Pay With Points was currently unavailable through this site, but did give us a phone number to call if we wanted to use the Pay With Points offer on a purchase.

Gift Cards

If you are looking to find a gift card, you can choose from a wide variety of merchants with your rewards. What follows are the gift card values based on spending 10,000 Membership Rewards points. Keep in mind that these values can and do change, so be sure to confirm the value before purchasing a gift card.

Air Lodging

• Best Western® Hotels & Resorts ($85.00)
• Delta ($70.00)
• Fairmont Hotels & Resorts ($100.00)
• Four Seasons Hotels and Resorts ($70.00)
• Hilton ($85.00)
• Hotels.com ™ ($70.00)
• Mandarin Oriental ($85.00)
• Marriott® ($70.00)
• The Ritz-Carlton ($70.00)

American Express

• American Express® Blue Balloons ($50.00)
• American Express® Blue Facet Snowflake ($50.00)
• American Express® Classic Gold ($50.00)
• American Express® Congrats Stars ($50.00)
• American Express® Gold Sparkle ($50.00)
• American Express® Season’s Greetings ($50.00)
• American Express® Sleigh Ride ($50.00)
• American Express® Thank You Teal ($50.00)
• American Express® White Metal ($50.00)

Car and Rail

• Uber ($70.00)

Dining

• Bahama Breeze® ($100.00)
• Benihana® ($100.00)
• Bloomin’ Brands Multi-Brand ($85.00)
• Bonefish Grill® ($85.00)
• California Pizza Kitchen ($100.00)
• Carrabba’s Italian Grill® ($85.00)
• Cheddar’s Scratch Kitchen® ($100.00)
• Chili’s® Grill and Bar ($100.00)
• Darden Restaurants ($100.00)
• Eddie V’s® ($100.00)
• Fleming’s® Prime Steakhouse and Wine Bar ($85.00)
• Legal Sea Foods ($100.00)
• Lettuce Entertain You® Enterprises, Inc. ($100.00)
• Longhorn® Steakhouse ($100.00)
• Maggiano’s Little Italy® ($100.00)
• Morton’s® The Steakhouse ($100.00)
• Olive Garden® ($100.00)
• Outback Steakhouse® ($85.00)
• Panera Bread® ($85.00)
• Ruth’s Chris® Steakhouse ($100.00)
• Seasons 52® ($100.00)
• Starbucks Card ($70.00)
• Subway® ($85.00)
• The Capital® Grill($100.00)
• The Cheesecake Factory® ($85.00)
• Yard House® ($100.00)

Other

• Aspen Snowmass ($70.00)
• Jackson Hole Mountain Resort ($100.00)
• Regal Cinemas Gift Card ($85.00)

Retail

• App Store & iTunes ($85.00)
• Athleta ($100.00)
• Banana Republic ($100.00)
• Barnes and Noble ($100.00)
• Bath and Body Works® ($100.00)
• Bed Bath and Beyond® ($100.00)
• Bergdorf Goodman ($100.00)
• Best Buy ™ ($70.00)
• Brooks Brothers ($100.00)
• buybuy Baby® ($100.00)
• CB2 ($100.00)
• Coach ($100.00)
• Cost Plus World Market ($100.00)
• Crate and Barrel ($100.00)
• GAP ($100.00)
• GAP Brands Options ($100.00)
• Intermix® ($100.00)
• Lord & Taylor ($85.00)
• Macy’s ($85.00)
• Neiman Marcus ($100.00)
• Nike ($100.00)
• Nordstrom ($85.00)
• Nordstrom Rack ($85.00)
• Old Navy ($100.00)
• One Kings Lane ($100.00)
• PBteen ($100.00)
• Pottery Barn ($100.00)
• Pottery Barn Kids ($100.00)
• Ralph Lauren ($100.00)
• REI ($100.00)
• RH ($100.00)
• Saks Fifth Avenue ($100.00)
• Saks OFF 5th ($100.00)
• Sam’s Club® ($70.00)
• Sam’s Club® Gift of Membership-Club Level ($70.00)
• Sam’s Club® Gift of Membership-Plus Level ($70.00)
• Sephora ($85.00)
• Spafinder Wellness 365 ™ ($100.00)
• Staples® ($100.00)
• Target GiftCard ™ ($70.00)
• The Home Depot® ($100.00)
• Tiffany & Co. ($100.00)
• TJX Multi-Brand ($85.00)
• Under Armour® ($85.00)
• Victoria’s Secret ($100.00)
• Walmart ($70.00)
• west elm ($100.00)
• Williams-Sonoma ($100.00)
• Zappos.com ($100.00)

Transfer Points

Planning on taking a flight soon? You can transfer Membership Rewards points to airline miles programs. This can be the most valuable use of Amex points. The value, of course, depends on how you use the miles after the transfer.

Airline	Transfer Ratio	Estimated Transfer Time
Aer Lingus	1:1	Instant
AeroMexico	1:1.6	24 Hours
Air Canada	1:1	Instant
Alitalia	1:1	3 Working Days
ANA	1:1	48 Hours
Cathay Pacific (Asia Miles)	1:1	48 Hours
Avianca	1:1	Instant
British Airways	1:1	Instant
Delta	1:1	Instant
El Al	1000:20	Instant
Emirates	1:1	Instant
Etihad	1:1	Instant
Flying Blue (Air France / KLM)	1:1	Instant
Iberia	1:1	48 Hours
Hawaiian Airlines	1:1	Instant
JetBlue	250:200	Instant
Qantas	1:1	Instant
Singapore Airlines	1:1	Up to 24 Hours
Virgin Atlantic	1:1	Instant

Keep in mind that Amex has two lists of airline partners, one for global Amex cardholders and one for U.S. cardholders. The above list is for U.S. cardholders.

You can also transfer Membership Rewards points to one of three hotel chain partners:

Hotel Partner	Transfer Ratio	Transfer Time
Choice Privileges	1:1	Almost Instant
Hilton Honors	1:2	Almost Instant
Marriott Bonvoy	1:1	Almost Instant

Generally you won’t get the best value with hotel transfers. Hotel rewards programs in general are not great. But it’s good to have this option if you need a few more points to book a hotel stay.

Redeem for Travel with Amex

While transferring points to partner airlines is usually the best bet, you can also book travel directly with Amex using Membership Rewards points.

Statement Credits

You can redeem points for statement credit, but it’s a bad deal. They are only worth 0.06 cents each.

Credits

$120 Dining Credit

When using the Dining Credit, members can earn up to $10 in statement credits. This is good as it adds up to $120 in annual savings. This is possible each month when using the Gold Card at these select establishments:

• Grubhub
• Seamless
• The Cheesecake Factory
• Ruth’s Chris Steak House
• Boxed
• Participating Shake Shack locations

$100 Airline Fee Credit

This benefit is available to American Express Gold Card Members only. Members can earn statement credits up to $100 each year toward incidental air travel fees. Incidental air travel fees must be separate charges from airline ticket charges. Incidentals include the following:

• Airline food
• Wireless internet
• Baggage check

Fees that are not charged by the member’s airline of choice do not qualify for statement credits. To clear up any confusion, the following are not incidental fees:

• airline tickets
• upgrades
• mileage points purchases
• mileage points transfer fees
• gift cards
• duty free purchases
• award tickets

Airlines must submit any charge(s) under the appropriate merchant code, industry code, required service or product identifier. This is so the charge is recognizable as an incidental air travel fee. Once the air travel fee has been charged, it can take anywhere from 2-4 weeks to appear on your account.

American Express Gold Card Benefits

• Payment Flexibility- Members can carry a balance with interest on purchases of $100 or more that allows them more control over what they pay. Upon payment, you can choose to pay your Account Total New Balance, the minimum, or between with interest.

• The Hotel Collection- When booking this offer with amex travel, you can get the following benefits when booking a consecutive 2 night stay:
  • Room upgrade (when available)
  • $100 hotel credit for spa, dining, and resort activities

• Baggage Insurance Plan: Buy a Common Carrier ticket with your card and you can have coverage for up to $1,250 for carry-on items. As well as up to $500 on all checked luggage.

• Car Rental Loss and Damage Insurance: Use your card to purchase your select rental vehicle. Make sure to decline the collision damage waiver. Then your vehicle will be covered if stolen or in any way damaged.

• Shoprunner: Get free 2-day shipping on select purchases at over 100+ online stores.

• Amex Offers: Earn rewards when you travel, shop in-store, online, dine, and more with Amex Offers.

• Entertainment Access: Get exclusive access to pre-sales on tickets. As well as Card-Member only events near you. This includes concerts, sporting and family events, and more with Entertainment Access.

Personalized Travel Service

This is a service provided as a benefit through the American Express Gold Card. This service offers Gold Card members the ability to book flights across the world, make certain hotel arrangements, and schedule ground transport upon landing at their destination.

FAQs

How Does the American Express Gold Card Stack Up

With 4x points at the grocery store (subject to a spending cap) and restaurants, and 3x points on travel, the American Express Gold Card is hard to beat. You won’t find this combination of elevated rewards on other credit cards.

For those who want even more rewards from a specific category, there are other reasonable alternatives:

• Blue Cash Preferred Card from American Express: 6% cash back at U.S. supermarkets on the first $6,000 spent per year.
• Amazon Prime Visa: Unlimited 5% cash back at Whole Foods
• Chase Sapphire Reserve: 3x on travel + 50% bonus when you use the points to book travel through Chase Ultimate Rewards
• Capital One Savor: 4% cash back on dining and entertainment.

Final Thoughts

In the final analysis, the American Express Gold Card offers a unique mix of elevated rewards that should appeal to a large segment of consumers. It does come with a hefty annual fee, but if used as your primary card, the rewards should more than offset the yearly cost.

The United Explorer Card is one of the best all-around rewards cards available today. It offers up to 2 miles on purchases, a 40,000 signup bonus and a $95 annual fee that is waived the first year. We think this is an ideal card for frequent United fliers based on our review and analysis of the United Explorer Card.

United Explorer Card Snapshot

United Explorer Card

Value of United Miles

Before we get to the United Explorer Card rewards, a word about the value of United miles. The value of United miles varies based on how you use them. As a result, estimates of their value range from about 1.3 cents to over 1.4 cents. I tend to value miles conservatively, so we’ll assume 1.3 cents per mile for the remainder of this review.

Rewards Program

There are three components of the United Explorer Card rewards program: (1) the signup bonus; (2) 2 Miles reward; and (3) 1 Mile reward.

1. 40,000 signup bonus: Let’s first talk about the nice bonus this card offers – 40,000. Spend $2,000 on purchases in the first 3 months to earn this bonus. Assuming a 1.3 cent per mile valuation, the signup bonus alone is worth $780.

2. 2 Mile Reward: For rewards, you earn 2 miles for every dollar spent on the following purchase categories:

• United purchases
• Restaurants
• Eligible delivery services including GrubHub, Caviar, Seamless and DoorDash
• Hotel accommodations when booked directly with the hotel

3. 1 Mile Reward: On all purchases you’ll earn 1 mile for every dollar in purchases.

United Explorer Card Perks

The United Explorer Card offers several additional benefits:

• 2 United Club one-time passes: Get 2 passes at account opening and at every anniversary. These passes are worth over $100.
• Free first checked bag: A savings of up to $140 per roundtrip.
• Priority boarding: You get to board United flights before general boarding.
• TSA Precheck: Up to $100 Global Entry or TSA PreCheck™ fee credit
• Inflight discounts: 25% back on United inflight purchases
• No foreign transaction fees

United Explorer Card Pros and Cons

What we like about the United MileagePlus® Explorer Card

• Extremely lucrative signup bonus
• 2 Mile reward averages to 2.6% in rewards based on 1.3 cent per mile valuation
• Reasonable annual fee that’s waived the first year
• No foreign transaction fees
• Excellent perks for United fliers

What could be better

• Interest rate can be high
• Requires Excellent Credit

Our Rating

Final Thoughts

For frequent United fliers, the United Explorer Card is an excellent option. The combination of low fees, lucrative rewards and excellent perks make it a top rated card.

Chase has just launched a new credit card, called Freedom Flex. The card is replacing the original Chase Freedom credit card which, along with Freedom Unlimited, represent Chase’s new lineup of Freedom cards. We dig into the details of Freedom Flex card in this review.

History of Chase Freedom Credit Cards

To best understand where the Chase Freedom Flex fits in, some history helps. Chase first launched the Chase Freedom card in 2006. It was a first in that rewards could take the form of either cash back or rewards points. While there were changes over the years to the card, it was best known as offering 5% cash back on up to $1,500 in purchases in select categories that changed every quarter.

In 2016, Chase launched the Freedom Unlimited card. This card was ideal for those who didn’t want to fuss with rotating categories. It simply paid 1.5% on all purchases. As part of the launch of Freedom Flex, Chase is making major updates to Freedom Unlimited, which you can read about here.

With the introduction of Chase Freedom Flex, the bank is discontinuing the original Chase Freedom card. For those who love rotating categories, however, you won’t be disappointed. Chase has combined the 5% cash back quarterly rewards and elevated rewards in a number of purchase categories, all in one card–Freedom Flex.

Chase Freedom Flex Snapshot

Rewards

The Chase Freedom Flex has a long list of cash back rewards. We’ll list the rewards, then we’ll look at just how much they could be worth.

Signup Bonus

New cardmembers will earn a $200 bonus after spending $500 in purchases in the first 3 months of account opening. Note that the bonus is available to new cardmembers if they have not received a cardmember bonus from Chase in the last 24 months.

5% Cash Back

The card pays 5% cash back on the following categories of purchases:

• Grocery store purchases on up to $12,000 spent in the first year (Walmart and Target not included)
• Travel purchased through Chase Ultimate Rewards
• Up to $1,500 in combined purchases in rotating categories that change every quarter (you must activate these rewards on the Chase website)

Note that for October to December, 2020, the 5% rotating categories are purchases at Walmart and via PayPal. You must activate these in your Chase account by December 14, 2020.

3% Cash Back

The card pays 3% cash back on the following categories of purchases:

• Dining at restaurants, including takeout and eligible delivery services
• Drugstore purchases

1% Cash Back

All other purchases earn 1% cash back.

Value of Rewards

The Chase Freedom Flex actually earns points. The value of the points depends on how they are redeemed. And there are several ways to redeem rewards. And it’s here that we can unlock some incredible value. First, here’s a table of the redemption options and their respective point values.

Redemption Method	Point Value
Cash	1 cent
Gift Cards	1 cent
Travel	1 cent
Chase Pay	0.8 cents
Pay with Points	Varies

We’ll first assume you’ll redeem for cash. Then we’ll look at transferring the points to another Chase card and redeeming the points for travel (which is the highest possible value, as you’ll see).

To determine the potential value of the Chase Freedom Flex, we have to make some assumptions. We also have to distinguish between the first year, which offers extra rewards. With that, here is the potential value to a hypothetical family of four.

Category	Annual Amount Spent	Reward Rate	Value
Groceries	$12,000	5%	$600
Travel	$5,000	5%	$250
Restaurants	$3,000	3%	$90
Drugstores	$3,000	3%	$90
Rotating Categories	$6,000	5%	$300
Everything Else	$15,000	1%	$150
Signup Bonus	$500	—	$200
TOTAL			$1,680

Beginning in the second year, the total rewards would go down to $880.

Combining Points with Other Chase Cards

Chase allows cardmembers to transfer Chase Ultimate Rewards points to other Chase cards with Ultimate Rewards. You can even transfer the points to a card belonging to a member of your household. But why transfer points at all?

Good question. Some Chase cards pay a bonus when you use Ultimate Rewards to book travel through Chase. In fact, two of the most popular travel cards Chase offers pay a bonus:

• Chase Sapphire Reserve (50% bonus)
• Chase Sapphire Preferred (25% bonus)

I’ve carried the Reserve card since it was first launched, and it’s arguably the best travel credit card available today. So, if you have or get that card, you can transfer the points earned with Flex over to the Reserve. When you then use those points for travel through Chase, you get a 50% bonus each time.

This bonus would turn $1,680 in first year rewards into $2,520. And it would turn $880 in rewards beginning in year two into $1,320. It’s one of the best deals available in the credit card rewards space today.

Additional Card Benefits

The card comes with a long list of additional benefits, some from Chase and some because the card is part of Mastercard’s World Elite program:

Cell Phone Insurance: Up to $800 per claim and $1,000 per year in cell phone protection against theft or damage for phones listed on cardmembers’ monthly bill.

Lyft: $10 in credit for every five rides taken in a calendar month, automatically applied to the next ride and capped at once per month. And earn 5% cash back on Lyft rides through March 2022.

Boxed: 5% cash rewards on Boxed purchases for use on future purchases.

ShopRunner: Free membership to receive two-day shipping and free return shipping at over a hundred online retailers.

Fandango: Double VIP+ points for movie tickets purchased via the Fandango app or Fandango.com, which can be used towards purchasing movie tickets on Fandango or towards streaming movies and TV shows on FandangoNOW.

Zero Liability Protections: If somebody uses your account without your permission, you won’t be held responsible. Remember to call Chase immediately. Note that zero liability protection does not apply if an authorized user uses the card without the approval of the primary cardmember.

Purchase Protection: This benefit covers purchases for 120 days for damage or theft up to $500 per claim and $50,000 per account.

Extended Warranty Protections: On eligible warranties of three years or less, this benefit extends the warranty by one year.

Free Credit Score: You get free access to your credit score.

Fraud Monitoring: Chase monitors your account 24/7 for possible signs of fraudulent transactions.

Auto Rental Collision Damage Waiver: You can decline the rental company’s insurance and charge the entire amount of the rental to the Chase Freedom Flex. It covers theft and collision damage for most cards in the U.S. and is secondary coverage to your personal insurance.

Trip Cancellation / Interruption Insurance: You can get reimbursed up to $1,500 per person and $6,000 per trip for “prepaid, nonrefundable passenger fares” if the trip is “canceled or cut short by sickness, severe weather and other covered situations.”

Travel and Emergency Assistance Services: You can call the Benefit Administrator for legal or medical referrals or other travel and emergency assistance.

Pros and Cons

What we like

• Excellent cash back rewards
• $200 signup bonus
• Points can be combined with other Chase cards
• Card travel and other benefits
• No annual fee

What could be better

• Requires excellent credit
• You need to keep track of the different reward categories

FAQs

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