It’s time for the BEST credit cards of 2023! I’ve hand-picked my #1 choices for the Top 7 Major Spend Categories. Learn which credit cards I chose and why I chose them to help you with your own credit card strategy in 2023! Click “Show More” to see Ad Disclosure, links, and additional information below.
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Best Travel Credit Card: I chose the Chase Sapphire Reserve because it has very strong rewards categories (at least 3X points = 4.5% return) that cover ALL travel (flights, hotels, rental cars, cruises, parking, tolls, and more!). It also earns Chase Ultimate Rewards points, meaning it participates in the best overall credit card rewards program available right now. It’s an extremely well-rounded card product that adds additional benefits like lounge access via Priority Pass, travel and purchase protections, high value redemptions (it can also make points earned from the Chase Freedom Flex and Chase Freedom Unlimited worth more, too), and the list goes on from there!
Best Credit Card for Lounge Access: This one was an easy win for the American Express Platinum Card. It offers the most comprehensive airport lounge access program of any credit card for which you can apply directly right now. It gets you into the Amex Centurion Lounge, Delta SkyClub, Priority Pass Lounges, Escape Lounges, Airspace Lounges, Plaza Premium Lounges, Lufthansa Lounges, and others. It also earns Amex Membership Rewards points, one of the best currencies for travel redemptions! Note: you can also combine your points with other Amex credit cards like the Amex Gold Card and the Amex Green Card.
Best Credit Card for Dining: The U.S. Bank Altitude Go card earns 4X on dining (equal to 4% cash back). That alone is incredible, and it’s also one of the best credit cards with no annual fee (which means nothing to cut into the cashback you earn)! In terms of redemption value for cash back and select travel, the 4X points on this card are more valuable than the ones earned on the Amex Gold Card!
Best Credit Card for Groceries: This category goes to the Citi Custom Cash Card. It earns 5X Citi ThankYou points (worth 5% cash back) in your Top Eligible Spend Category each billing cycle, and grocery stores is one of the eligible options (of 10 total). It also has no annual fee. You can also combine points with the likes of the Citi Premier Card and the Citi Double Cash credit card to make for a really powerful setup! Yes, the Amex Gold Card and the Amex Blue Cash Preferred Cards are also excellent, but based on how much you spend per month on groceries (and what your redemption preferences are like & your ability to use credits with some partner merchants), those may not be the best choices. So, run the numbers.
Best Credit Card for Gas: This again goes to the Citi Custom Cash card.
Best Credit Card for Online Shopping: The winner this time is the Amex Blue Cash Everyday Card, which now earns 3% cash back on U.S. Online Retail Purchases, up to $6K spent per year (then 1%). It has a $0 annual fee and comes with a couple credits to use towards The Disney Bundle and Home Chef, too!
Best Credit Card for Everything Else (Best Catch All Credit Card): The Citi Double Cash card takes the trophy. It awards you 2% cash back on all purchases (1% when you buy, 1% when you pay for those purchases) without categories to keep track of, activations or enrollments, minimum redemption requirements, or minimum redemption increments. It also has no annual fee.
Disclosure: This site is part of an affiliate sales network and receives compensation for sending traffic to partner sites, such as CreditCards.com. This compensation may impact how and where links appear on this site. This site does not include all financial companies or all available financial offers. The content in this video is accurate as of the posting date. Some of the offers mentioned may no longer be available. Mark Reese is not a financial advisor.
#creditcards #bestcreditcards #americanexpress
47 comments
Chase freedom flex has 5x grocery as a welcome offer.
It would be great if you could do an alternative video for people's credit that may not be able to get these cards
I think people should really concentrate on getting the 5% cards. This quarter :
Nusenda 5% on gas, Discover 5% on grocery, Desert fin/elan 5% on fast food and Recreation, Vantage west 5% on Costco & Sam’s club, US bank 5% on utilities, citi dividend 5% on Amazon, Citi custom 5% restaurants.
All free cards.
This was an interesting list Mark! It was a nice sight to see the CSR as your top pick for a travel card. I think I’m gonna go with the Venture X this year until I’m eligible for the SUB on the CSR (2026 😮), but the CSR is definitely valuable in its own right. Also, I’d personally swap in the Amex Gold for groceries and dining to simplify my setup since I like to transfer to travel partners with my points, but that’s just me! Solid choices all around though.
A unique (and brave) take on this Mark👍🏾 I do agree with your top 2 cards (CSR, Plat), but not so much with Citi double cash winning out over Amex BBP in the 2% category. I somehow think the transfer partner perk is more valuable for MR vs TY points. Interesting & provocative content as usual😎
Amex Gold is 10x better than the US Bank card. 4% back at dining and then cashing back with CS Plat at 1.1 cpp.
Great Video As Always!
Why Wouldn't You Choose The Same Chase Sapphire Reserve For Dining As Well?
(4.5% Back Minimum When Transferred)
No mention of the Wells Fargo Active Cash card for the everything else category? Your bias against, and hatred of, Wells Fargo is glaringly obvious.
I feel like the Custom Cash should be mentioned for every category but not assigned to a specific one in these kind of videos. It’s just so easy to put it in there multiple times. Mention it at the beginning as a good card to fill in a 5% category but give us the next best option for all the categories.
I miss the kitchen
Fun list! I would have picked differently, particularly in dining and groceries, but I liked your reasoning, and I saved your slides. I think the CSR does not get as much credit as it really deserves. Also interesting how trifectas and use of travel partners changes the math.
looking forward to your next one.
I feel like any category where the Custom Cash is declared a winner it needs an asterisk, especially if it’s declared winner in multiple categories by the same person. There should be an alternative/runner up for any category won by the CC (if I were doing my own “best of” list, which I’m totally not 😆)
Hard for me to use amex bce: not sure which online retailer triggers the 3x; read that it’s only those that ship you products, or those that provide services count too?
Appreciate the workflow to show how you made the decisions. Trick will be how best to adjust with any new offerings this year. ie, losing credit history if card is closed.
Not the Paypal card?
I still like the customized cash reward cards at Bank of America. Platinum honors of $100k is not crazy high especially if someone rolled their 401k into an IRA with ML. I believe the Charles Schwab AMEX platinum benefit of $100.00 requires $250K +. Between my wife and I, we have one for dining, one for online shopping and one for gas. The fourth card is the Unlimited which we earn 2.625%. This is higher than fees on things we always had to use an e-check for before (e.g. property tax bill). Not a huge earnings arbitrage, but the convenience is nice. Of all the cards, we probably earn the most on is the unlimited card. Thanks for pointing out the U.S. Bank Altitude Go for dining as that sounds unlimited based on your video. My customized cash BofA card limits to $2,500 a quarter then I switch over to the AMEX Gold. Perhaps I'll go after the U.S. bank card and then the Ritz card conversion next. Thanks for your videos!
👍
Excellent video, Mark. What about US Bank Reserve Card. I believe it is still one of the best card out there
Mark: “Some of these picks may be controversial. Let’s start with Travel and my pick is …” This is when I spit out my drink 😅
Interesting choices Mark. Here are my ideal selections for the categories:
Travel = Cap 1 Venture X 2x
Longes = Am Ex Platinum
Dining = Cap1 Savor (same 4x as US bk Go, but can combine cap 1 cash/miles) or CSP & AmEX Gold if you're in either eco-system.
Groceries = AmEx BCP 6% or AmEx Gold 4x
Gas = PNC Cash Rewards 4x
Online Shopping = US bk Shopper 6%@ 2 choices
All Else = Paypal WMC 3% via paypal, 2% all else (or Cap1 VX)
The Blue cash preferred I think is better than the Citi card because they waive the AF the first year with a downgrade path to no AF. It also gives 3% back on Gas so that is decent so you can use as Gas and Grocery card. The sub is also $250 instead of $200 with Citi so basically use it for 1.5 years compared to Citi
Thanks to your videos I was able to get a second credit card, it being the Costco visa bc of my membership. I love your videos 🥳🥳. My first credit card is the discover IT and your vids helped me choose it too!
This combination of cards don’t work for my level of spend but it looks like a great approach for people with average spend.
What is usually left over for the “catch all” card if you have cards that cover all the categories?
How can anyone not love these videos? Absolute mental how much details you put in, especially with all those calculations. I love it!!
AAA Daily Advantage card also gets you 5% back on groceries year-round but with a higher cap of $10k per year (if focusing strictly on groceries). That card also offers 3% back on gas/EV Charging, wholesale clubs, drugstores, streaming services, and AAA purchases (including their travel portal and gift card portal for restaurant chains) plus 1% back everywhere else with no annual fee and no foreign transaction fee. AAA also has a Travel Advantage card with 5% back on gas with a higher limit than the Citi Custom Cash ($7k per year). Also 3% back on groceries, restaurants, travel, and AAA purchases, again with no annual fee and no foreign transaction fee.
Some of us have figured out that when you have enough points, it's time to activate the Citi Custom Cash protocols and invest some money during this dip.
Hey Mark. Loving your in-depth videos! Question…any recommendations for someone that works in the airline industry? I don't really have a use for the flight rewards, so I was thinking maybe something like the Marriott Brilliant.
Thanks for the list. Lounge access only occurs when traveling, however, so I’d combine those into one travel category.
Great video as always Mark. I was surprised about how good those Citi cards are. Although they are not for me (I prefer travel premium cards only) I will recommend those Citi cards to my friends that prefer cash back and no annual fee cards. I’ll share this video with them. 🍻
The amex blue everyday would hav re been my dinning card….
Great video! You really surprised me with a couple of your picks especially travel, groceries and dining. The data on your slides did make sense though! Thank you for sharing this!
Is it worth it to keep spend to Amex Plat so I could meet the 75K annual spend to have guest access to Centurion Lounge? I don’t really make big spends to divvy up to other cards, at least.
Thanks Mark! Now I'm really eyeballing that CSR for this year!!!!
CHASE + CITI set up = 🏆🏆🏆 And it would be a lot cheaper than running an AMEX setup. Thanks for the info + video!
Amazing video Mark! Thanks for sharing -Definitely nice to see a unique twist on the "typical cards people pick" like I probably am about to haha:
Travel = CSR (4.5%)
Longes = Schwab Platinum
Dining = Amex Gold (4.4% cash)
Groceries = Amex Gold (4.4% cash)
Gas = Citi Custom Cash (5.5% can with Rewards+ card)
Online Shopping = USB Cash+ and USB Shoppers (5-6%)
Other = USB Altitude Reserve (4.5% Apple Pay)
The best credit cards are the ones you never use
Looks like gold card got kicked to the curb. With charles Schwab plat, Im still confused why Altitude Go 4% beats out Gold card 4.4%. I’m having trouble understanding the math here.
I want access to the space force lounge.
What works for me
Chase freedom flex
Amex gold
Amex amex.
Thanks again for all the knowledge you drop on these videos man. Really appreciate it.
So a quick question: last year I applied for the gold card and got the welcome bonus I think it was around 90k points. A couple of months after in October I applied for the Hilton honors Amex because I got a very good targeted offer and got that Hilton bonus as well.
Today I received a targeted offer for the Amex platinum which i have been eyeing for a while now to really complete the Amex set up and with a targeted offer of 125k points I attempted to submit the application through the new “know before you apply” system, and to my surprise I received the pop up saying if I was eligible for the card that I wouldn’t qualify for the sign up bonus. I am trying to understand why if I have never had the Amex platinum before lol… thoughts? Gracias Mark!
Great video Mark! I use the the AMEX BCP for groceries along with that handy Disney Bundle credit and the Citi Custom Cash for dining.
Great content, as always, Mark. I currently have the Platinum, and am considering adding a Gold card to my Platinum. There is no additional annual fee. What is the downside to adding the Gold? A credit pull? Separately, if I add the Gold (which I previously owned, before), with Gold purchases, will I earn MR points under the Gold multipliers? Thanks in advance!
In a perfect world we’d all have 7 Citi custom cash cards 😂
The altitude go was definitely a card I forgot about but ughhh usbank..
Which card will be best to pay for 2022 property tax (that charges 2.15% convenience fee) 🤔? Of course assuming you already have money set aside to pay it off right away😂
The PayPal Mastercard world is a very Good card!! Three percent for all online purchases and two percent on all others and they offer really good offers on multiple shopping.
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