Top Credit Card Sign-Up Bonuses & Offers - 2024

Credit card sign-up bonuses offer practically free money just for continuing with your everyday spending habits.

To take advantage of the best credit card sign-up bonus offers, you need to have very good credit and the ability to meet a card’s minimum spend requirement within the defined time period—usually within three months of opening the account.

Overview: Best Credit Card Sign-up Bonus Intro Offers

Best Travel Sign-Up Bonus for Excellent Credit

If you’re willing and able to spend $4,000 in three months, the Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card offers a significant travel sign-up bonus: 60,000 bonus points. That’s $750 in travel when you redeem through Chase Ultimate Rewards®. Or, if you prefer cash, that’s $600 in cash.

Points are also redeemable at face value (1:1) at certain airline and hotel and loyalty programs. After that, the Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card lets you earn 5X points on travel purchased through Chase Ultimate Rewards^® , 3X points on dining, 2X points on other travel, & 1 point per dollar spent on all other purchases.

One final point to note: the Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card has a $95 annual fee.

Apply here or read our full review of the Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card.

Best credit card sign-up bonus offer for premium travelers

The Capital One Venture Rewards Credit Card will give you a one-time bonus of 75,000 miles – worth up to $750 in free travel – if you spend $4,000 on purchases within the first three months of approval – Expired Offer.

On top of that, you’ll earn unlimited 2x miles per dollar spent on every purchase, every day. Miles are redeemable for flights on any airline or stays at any hotel.

The Capital One Venture Rewards Credit Card’s annual fee is as follows: $95.

The Capital One Venture Rewards Credit Card has been one of our top picks for international travel for years thanks to no foreign transaction fees and worldwide acceptance.

Apply here or read our full review of the Capital One Venture Rewards Credit Card.

Best credit card for dining and groceries

The Citi Premier® Card is the rare travel rewards card that offers highly generous points back on travel-related expenses like airline tickets, restaurants, and hotels, but also everyday essentials like gas station and supermarket purchases.

You’ll get 3 points per dollar spent on all of the aforementioned categories and 1 point per dollar spent on everything else. Plus, if you spend $4,000 within your first three months you’ll get 80,000 bonus points! That’s worth $800 when redeemed for gift cards at thankyou.com. 

Aside from a $95 annual fee, the only drawback to the Citi Premier® Card is that its points, ThankYou® Points, are only worth half a penny in cash back. But, if you redeem your rewards for gift cards or travel, they’ll be worth a full penny or more.

Apply here or read our full Citi Premier® Card review.

Best credit card sign-up bonus offer for everyday purchases

The Chase Freedom Unlimited® offers an excellent Intro Offer: Earn an additional 1.5% cash back on purchases (up to $20,000 in the first year) – worth up to $300 cash back!
 Plus there’s NO annual fee. That’s like getting a 40% return on investment. On top of the great sign-up bonus, the Chase Freedom Unlimited® is offering a 0% Intro APR on Purchases for 15 months and 0% Intro APR on Balance Transfers for 15 months; the regular APR rate ranges between 17.24% - 25.99% Variable.

Where this card REALLY shines, though is the cash back rate. 

If you like to travel, you’ll also love the additional 5% back on all travel purchased through Chase Ultimate Rewards®.

But, the rewards keep on coming! You’ll also get 3% back on dining, including takeout, as well as 3% cash back on drugstore purchases. And to top it all off, you’ll also earn a flat 1.5% cash back on all other purchases (so no need to mess with rotating categories).

Apply here or read our full review of the Chase Freedom Unlimited®.

Best credit card sign-up bonus offer with a low spending requirement

The Citi Custom Cash℠ Card has no annual fee and offers $200 cash back once you spend $750 within your first three months of account opening. 

Its standout feature, however, is how it handles 5% cash back rewards. Rather than offer 5% cash back within rotating categories that you may or may not be spending in, the card simply gives 5% cash back from your top spending category each billing cycle on up to $500 spent. 

The card also features an unlimited 1% cash back on all other purchases, as well as 0% APR on both new purchases and balance transfers – making this card extremely rewarding to big spenders in a single category (travel, dining, etc.) who are also trying to crush debt. 

Apply here or read our full review of the Citi Custom Cash℠ Card.

How to Calculate the Value of a Sign-Up Bonus

After analyzing the various offers from the many sign-up bonus credit cards available, the real question becomes how to determine whether or not the sign-up bonus is worthwhile for you.

In fact, you can do the math pretty simply by calculating how much you generally spend per month/year and factoring in the various bonuses.

Of course, the various benefits received can get a little tricky to quantify. For example, you can’t put a dollar amount on the convenience of having express check-in or the comfort of upgrading your hotel room to a suite.

In general, you can determine how valuable a sign-up bonus is by asking yourself these questions before you sign up:

How Much are You Required to Spend before the Sign-Up Bonus is Activated?

If the required amount is within the range that you generally spend each month anyway then you’re essentially getting a free sign-up bonus. All you’ll need to do is transfer your monthly bills onto the card.

On the other hand, the minimum spend requirement for the card is significantly more than the amount you normally spend then the sign-up bonus card might not be right for you.

Do you have good enough credit to get approval for a sign-up bonus card?

To take advantage of the best credit card sign-up bonuses, you need to have very good credit. Remember, each time you apply for a new credit card, the issuer will make a hard pull on your credit score, which will cause it to dip. You want to make sure you’re being approved for whichever card you’re applying for so that you don’t cause this dip more than once.

Sign-up bonus credit cards are some of the best on the market, and the ones on our list, therefore, require credit scores of 700 or higher.

If you don’t know your score, check out our free credit score estimator tool.

What is The Bonus Offering and Is this Something You Can Take Advantage of?

What is the actual bonus? Are you getting airline miles, cash back, or bonus points? Make sure the offer is something that appeals to you.

For example, if you’re looking at a card that offers a big package of travel rewards but you’re a bit of a homebody, that card might not be the right one for you.

What Fees Will You Need to Pay?

When making your calculations, be sure to include whatever fees come along with the credit card. For example, if you earn a $150 cash bonus but have to pay a $99 annual fee then you’re really only earning $51 as a cash bonus. This seriously reduces the value of the sign-up bonus.

Look at fees like annual, foreign transactions, and late payment fees before signing up. It’s also a good idea to review the APR offered. If your interest payments are exceedingly higher than on other cards, the sign-up bonus might not be worth your while.

That said, at Money Under 30 we always recommend paying off your balance in full and on time, and if you’re responsibly following our advice then even a high APR won’t matter much because you won’t ever be paying it!

Which Categories Count Towards Your Spending?

This is a common pitfall for credit cardholders, who don’t realize that they’re spending outside the rotating categories. You can earn a tremendous 60,000 bonus points as a sign-up bonus for the Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card after you spend $4,000 in the first three months. You’ll also earn 2x points for your spending. However, that 2x points offer only applies to travel and restaurant purchases. If you don’t eat out or travel, then you won’t be able to maximize value for this card.

More importantly, many cards have specific areas or categories where your spending will count towards the spend requirement. If you don’t spend money in these categories, your purchases won’t contribute to the minimum spend requirement and you won’t reach your limit in order to activate the sign-up bonus.

This is possibly the biggest issue people run into when signing up for a bonus card, so pay attention to spend requirements.

Top Features of a Sign-Up Bonus

Now that you know how lucrative sign-up bonus credit cards can be, it’s time to learn how to determine which ones are worth your application.

There are hundreds of credit cards out there and they all claim to have to best offer for you. So, how do you know what to watch out for?

Here are the most important features when shopping around for the best sign-up bonus credit cards:

Sign-Up Bonus

Obviously, this is the most important aspect of a sign-up bonus card. Without a good sign-up offer, it might be a lucrative card, but it won’t fall into this category.

Cash Rewards

This is likely the most appealing benefit for cardholders. You just can’t beat getting cash back. With this bonus, you can use your rewards in any way that you want, and you receive the cash back by using your card for expenses that you have anyway, so it’s really like free money.

Travel Rewards

Often, travel credit cards will offer you a sign-up bonus in the form of travel rewards. For example, the Capital One Venture Rewards Credit Card offers a whopping 75,000 bonus miles when you spend $4,000 on purchases in the first three months from account opening.

If you travel a lot this can be a lucrative offer. If you don’t travel a lot, you’re probably better off looking for another type of credit card in the first place since these cards are geared towards travel spenders.

However, if you want a free flight or an upgraded ticket, this kind of sign-up bonus/travel credit card can be really useful.

Other Travel Perks

As mentioned, great travel credit cards come with great travel rewards. For those who travel frequently, these types of rewards are a godsend, and a sign-up bonus credit card that bundles travel rewards into its package is truly top-notch.

Some of the best travel rewards include no foreign transaction fee, extra earn rates for travel purchases, upgrades on hotels, flights, or car rentals, auto and luggage insurance, emergency assistance, trip interruption or cancellation insurance, VIP airport lounge access, and more.

APR

How much interest you pay on your credit card balance is a major consideration for most people. A high APR can totally cancel out any savings or bonuses you receive, even a hefty sign-up bonus.

Of course, you can negate this factor altogether by paying off your balance in full each month. This is the most responsible way to spend, but if it’s not financially feasible for you, only consider credit cards with competitive APRs.

Annual Fees

Annual fees vary dramatically in this category. You can find cards charging anywhere from $0 to $450. Sometimes, the annual fee is a reflection of what you are getting from the credit card, but not always.

Should You Get a Sign-Up Bonus Credit Card?

The best sign-up bonus credit cards are really the cream of the crop of the entire credit card industry. The right cards offer the most benefits, the biggest bonuses, and terms that are both reasonable and manageable.

So in a word, if your credit scores allows you access to this category, you should definitely consider applying for one of these cards. Just be sure to read the terms, understand what you are signing up for, and calculate the value of the offer before you jump in.

Read more:

• Money Under 30’s best credit cards: compare and apply now
• Best Rewards Credit Cards