People have all kinds of different strategies when it comes to picking credit cards. While I think there’s a lot of value in getting a card with an annual fee, I know many people are simply opposed to cards with annual fees.
In this post I wanted to take a look at what I consider to be the most rewarding no annual fee credit cards, including both personal and business options. If you are willing to pay an annual fee, take a look at my post about the best cards with low annual fees (under $100).
In this post:
The best no annual fee personal credit cards
Just because you’re not paying an annual fee doesn’t mean you can’t get an awesome credit card. It’s quite easy to maximize your return on spending by getting a no annual fee card, so that’s the good news. The bad news is that you generally won’t get all that many valuable perks or travel and rental car protection on these types of cards.
That being said, there are some awesome no annual fee credit cards, so let’s take a look at them. Below are my favorite personal no annual fee cards, in no particular order.
Citi Double Cash Card
The Citi Double Cash® Card (review) has no annual fee, and offers 1x ThankYou points when make a purchase, and 1x ThankYou points when you pay for that purchase. Each point can be redeemed for one cent cash back, or alternatively you can potentially convert these rewards into airline miles in conjunction with a card like the Citi Strata Premier℠ Card (review).
In general I recommend earning at least two cents back on the dollar for your credit card spending (after paying your bill), so I view this as the gold standard.
Capital One VentureOne Card
The Capital One VentureOne Rewards Credit Card (review) has no annual fee (Rates & Fees) and offers unlimited 1.25x miles per dollar spent. There are a few things that make this card special — it has no foreign transaction fees (which is rare for no annual fee cards) (Rates & Fees), it earns more than one mile per dollar spent, and it earns miles that can be transferred to over a dozen airline and hotel partners at a 1:1 ratio. The card also has a generous welcome bonus.
Now, I think there’s a good argument to be made for picking up one of the more premium Capital One Venture products, like the Capital One Venture Rewards Credit Card (review) or Capital One Venture X Rewards Credit Card (review), but this post is about no annual fee cards.
Amex EveryDay Card
The Amex EveryDay Credit Card (review) has no annual fee, and it’s the only no annual fee personal card that earns Amex Membership Rewards points, which can be transferred to airline and hotel partners. The card offers 2x Amex points at U.S. supermarkets (on up to $6,000 of spending annually, and then 1x points). On top of that, you get a 20% points bonus on all purchases when you make 20 more transactions per billing cycle, so points really add up.
If you want a no annual fee personal card earning Amex points, this can’t be beat.
The information and associated card details on this page for the Amex EveryDay Credit Card has been collected independently by OMAAT and has not been reviewed or provided by the card issuer.
Chase Freedom Flex Card
The Chase Freedom FlexSM Credit Card (review) has no annual fee, and offers 5% cash back in rotating quarterly bonus categories (up to $1,500 in spending per quarter), 5x points on travel booked through the Chase Travel Portal, 3x points on dining, and 3x points on drugstores.
If you spend a lot in categories that often have quarterly bonuses and/or on dining, this could be a great card. Others may prefer the Chase Freedom Unlimited® (review), which earns a minimum of 1.5x points on all purchases.
Bilt Mastercard
The Bilt Mastercard® (review) has no annual fee. Assuming you make at least five transactions per billing cycle, you can earn 3x points on dining, 2x points on travel, and 1x points on all other purchases, all with no foreign transaction fees. Getting that kind of a rewards structure for a no annual fee card is pretty amazing. And that doesn’t even account for the ability to earn points for paying rent.
American AAdvantage MileUp Card
The American Airlines AAdvantage® MileUp® (review) has no annual fee, and I’d argue it’s the most lucrative no annual fee co-branded airline card. The card has a welcome bonus, offers 2x AAdvantage miles on grocery store purchases (making it one of the best cards for supermarket spending), and spending on the card even counts toward elite status.
If you spend a decent amount at grocery stores and want to earn AAdvantage miles, this is the card for you.
The best no annual fee business credit cards
There are also some great business credit cards with no annual fees, though they’re not quite as numerous as the personal card options. Below are the no annual fee business cards that I consider to be most lucrative.
Amex Blue Business Plus Card
The Blue Business® Plus Credit Card from American Express (review) has no annual fee (Rates & Fees) and is pretty hard to beat for those looking to earn travel rewards. The card offers 2x Amex points on the first $50,000 spent every calendar year (and then 1x points). That makes this one of the all around best cards for everyday spending, and it doesn’t even have an annual fee.
The American Express Blue Business Cash™ Card
The American Express Blue Business Cash™ Card (review) also has no annual fee (Rates & Fees), and it’s the cash back version of the above card. The card offers 2% cash back on the first $50,000 spent every calendar year (and then 1% cash back). For a business that spends up to $50,000 per year on domestic purchases, you can’t beat this.
Ink Business Cash Card
The Ink Business Cash® Credit Card (review) has no annual fee, and there are lots of reasons to get the card, including a huge bonus, among the biggest of any no annual fee card.
The card also has some great bonus categories — you can earn 5% cash back on the first $25,000 of combined purchases per cardmember year on office supply stores, internet, cable TV, mobile phones, and landlines, and 2% cash back on the first $25,000 of combined purchases per cardmember year on restaurants and gas stations. Best of all, you can convert cash back into travel rewards in conjunction with other cards earning Ultimate Rewards points.
Others may prefer the Ink Business Unlimited® Credit Card (review), which earns a minimum of 1.5% cash back (or 1.5x points) on all purchases.
Capital One Spark Cash Select
The Capital One Spark Cash Select (review) has no annual fee (Rates & Fees) and offers a flat 1.5% cash back on all purchases. While 1.5% cash back isn’t as good as 2% cash back, the major benefit here is that the card has no foreign transaction fees (Rates & Fees). Since some other cards charge foreign transaction fees of 3%+, this is a solid option for any business that has a lot of foreign purchases.
Bottom line
While I think there’s plenty of value in getting cards with annual fees, I know that lots of people like to avoid credit card annual fees, especially if they don’t spend that much on cards. As you can see above, fortunately there are many great cards to choose from, no matter what you prioritize. From cards offering travel rewards to cash back, some of the most generous return on spending is available on no annual fee cards.
What’s your favorite no annual fee credit card?
The following links will direct you to the rates and fees for mentioned American Express Cards. These include: The Blue Business® Plus Credit Card from American Express (Rates & Fees), and The American Express Blue Business Cash™ Card (Rates & Fees).
Amex EveryDay is no more.
Wells Fargo Active Cash is a 2% replacement, transferable if you have an Autograph.
My go to for everyday spending is the Citi Double Cash card. I have the Citi Prestige card (no longer open to new customers; it gives me 5x on airfare and restaurants, and 10x on hotels IF they're booked thru their own travel portal), as well as the Citi Strada card. The amount of ThankYou posts (TYP) quickly add up and have proven to be quite rewarding.
---> My problem with the whole Capital One...
My go to for everyday spending is the Citi Double Cash card. I have the Citi Prestige card (no longer open to new customers; it gives me 5x on airfare and restaurants, and 10x on hotels IF they're booked thru their own travel portal), as well as the Citi Strada card. The amount of ThankYou posts (TYP) quickly add up and have proven to be quite rewarding.
---> My problem with the whole Capital One portfolio is that I don't want to start from scratch with a new points "currency." I have AMEX MR points via my Gold Card (my wife has her own Amex Platinum). I have Chase UR points. I really don't need to start up with a 4th currency. That would be a bit like having top-tier status with (as an example) an airline in the OneWorld alliance for years, and deciding -- despite having a zero balance -- switching to a SkyTeam airline. I just don't get it.
In no fee cards, I rarely use Discover. But, when the quarterly 5% categories align, I use it. The Chase Amazon Prime gives me 5% on their orders. I like the Amex Blue Cash which gives 3% at supermarkets and $7/month on a Disney bundle. I do, however, pay $95/year for the Preferred version, which keeps the $7/month and adds 6% on streaming services. It also increases the supermarket reward to 6%. If I look...
In no fee cards, I rarely use Discover. But, when the quarterly 5% categories align, I use it. The Chase Amazon Prime gives me 5% on their orders. I like the Amex Blue Cash which gives 3% at supermarkets and $7/month on a Disney bundle. I do, however, pay $95/year for the Preferred version, which keeps the $7/month and adds 6% on streaming services. It also increases the supermarket reward to 6%. If I look to be short of the $6,000 max supermarket at 6%, I can always buy gift cards at one. So, a $100 gift card is $94 net before supermarket rewards. The Amex does have FT fees, so that limits it. The Citi Costco card at 0 AF gives 4% on gas at Costco and some other places and 2% on other Costco. The 3% on travel and restaurants is my go-to in that category, so much so, I'd pay an AF for the card equal to my membership fee. (You can look at it as a $65 AF card with free Costco membership as a perk).
Seriously Ben, what’s with the Wells Fargo omissions? The Autograph easily deserves a spot in this list, even if it’s bigger brother (Journey) didn’t meet the cut for yesterday’s.
Wells Fargo and US Bank really get ignored on these travel/award blogs… it’s baffling…