Best credit card sign-up bonuses for September 2023

Calculating a cash back sign-up bonus is straightforward since the dollar amount is already determined. Still, it may help to evaluate the offer based on a value-to-spending requirement ratio if you want the best value (and aren’t worried about the spending requirement). 

For instance, a $750 bonus requiring a $1,500 spend may technically be a better deal than a $200 bonus with a seemingly lower $500 spending requirement in the same timeframe since the $750 offer has a 0.5 value-to-spend ratio while the $200 offer has a 0.4 value-to-spend ratio. However, the most important factor is whether the spending requirement and timeline fit your budget. If the spending requirement seems steep, you shouldn’t stray from your normal spending to earn the sign-up bonus.

Determining the value of a point- or mile-based sign-up bonus may take more legwork. In the case of a travel card, your points or miles will be worth more toward travel, even more with the right travel transfer partner, and less toward non-travel options. In the best-case scenario, your rewards’ value for each redemption option will be mentioned in your rewards program’s terms. Or an issuer like American Express will release a rewards value calculator.

However, sometimes you’ll have to do your own research and crunch the numbers. Let’s say you earned the Chase Sapphire Preferred card’s 60,000-point bonus after spending $4,000 on purchases within your first three months. According to the issuer’s terms, you’ll find that Chase Ultimate Rewards points are worth 1 cent apiece toward cash back, 1.25 cents toward travel booked through Chase (thanks to the card’s 25 percent point value boost toward Ultimate Rewards travel) and 0.8 cents each via Pay with Points toward Amazon.com or PayPal purchases. 

Still, your points may become even more valuable when converting to one of Chase’s travel transfer partner programs. The value may change based on each partner and trip, so you’ll want to divide the points required to redeem for your travel booking by the cash value normally needed to cover the cost. According to Bankrate’s latest estimate, Chase Ultimate Rewards have a 2-cent market value when used this way. By multiplying these point values by your sign-up bonus of 60,000 points, we can calculate how much it’s worth toward the following redemption options:

• Optimum transfer partner (2-cent point value): $1,200
• Chase Ultimate Rewards travel (1.25-cent point value): $750
• Cash back (1-cent point value): $600
• Amazon.com or PayPal Pay With Points (0.8-cent point value): $480

If you want to calculate a limited-time bonus category welcome offer value, multiply your spending in that category or the category’s spending cap by the rewards rate to determine how much you can earn.

For example, if you have an introductory 3 percent cash back grocery store category that ends in six months or after you’ve made $6,000 in purchases, you can multiply the $6,000 cap by the 3 percent rewards rate to determine the bonus category has a maximum value of $180. However, it may be more helpful to multiply the 3 percent rate by your grocery budget for the next six months. If you know you spend $300 on groceries each month ($1,800 in six months), you’ll earn $54 in cash back. 

If you don’t have a specific estimate in cases like this, the Bureau of Labor Statistics’ latest Consumer Expenditures Survey can give you a helpful baseline for the average spender. Based on its average $4,942 yearly grocery spend ($2,471 across six months), the typical cardholder will earn about $74 cash back from this introductory offer.

You may have to get more creative with certificates and similar bonus offers. 

Let’s say you qualify for the Southwest Rapid Rewards Plus card’s offer that provides 50,000 bonus points after spending $1,000 on purchases in the first three months, which will get you closer to earning the Companion Pass. Since the Companion Pass saves you the ticket cost for a travel companion on each flight (minus any incurred taxes and fees), and — based on the $275 average domestic round trip cost (Southwest passengers tend to fly domestically) and the historical trend reported by Gallup estimating that the average passenger flies about twice a year, factoring in for round trips — we can multiply the savings from each flight to establish the average person would save $550 with the Companion Pass.

Rewards cards that generally keep the same terms and features may not cycle out sign-up bonuses much (especially those with no annual fee), but premium cards known for a teeming list of perks tend to increase their sign-up bonuses more often.

For instance, it’s a pretty safe bet that the Capital One Quicksilver Cash Rewards Credit Card will cling to its $200 cash bonus (after spending $500 on purchases within the first three months), but a premier travel, airline or hotel card is more likely to increase its welcome bonus around peak travel periods or the holiday season. This observation may hold true when it comes to store credit cards as well. Case in point, the Amazon Prime Visa Signature card’s gift card approval bonus usually increases around Amazon Prime Day and the winter holidays each year.

Since many cardholders looking for sign-up bonuses are eager to earn rewards, a key criteria for a card’s inclusion in our list is whether it offers impressive rewards value. This includes a card’s average rewards rate, estimated annual rewards earnings, sign-up bonus value and reward redemption value.

To estimate a card’s average annual rewards earnings, we calculate its average rewards rate based on how much it earns in different bonus categories, as well as how closely those categories match the average person’s spending habits. In other words: Does the card earn rewards at a high rate in the most popular spending categories?

We use consumer spending data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) to get a reliable third-party measure of people’s spending habits. The most recent BLS data estimates average total spending in 2021 was $66,928 per consumer. We then narrow our focus to which purchases are likely to be put on a credit card and earn rewards, subtracting expenditures like housing, vehicle purchases and education. This gives us a total “chargeable” annual spend of around $22,500.  

This includes the following spending by category:

• Groceries: $5,200
• Dining out: $3,000
• Entertainment: $2,500
• Gas: $2,100
• Apparel and services: $1,700

Using this data, we assign a weighting to each of a card’s bonus categories. For example, a card’s grocery rewards rate receives a 23 percent weighting based on how much of the average person’s budget is spent on groceries. We also estimate the redemption value of points or miles from various issuer, airline and hotel rewards programs.

This weighting and rewards valuation allows us to estimate a card’s average annual rewards earnings — how many points or miles you’d earn with a given card if your spending was about average and you used the card for all of your purchases — as well as what those points are worth. We also use point valuations to determine a card’s sign-up bonus value

With these calculations complete, we assign each card a score based on how its average rewards earnings, sign-up bonus value, rewards rate and redemption value stack up against other cards in its primary category.

The better these values, the higher its score will be, making it more worthy of inclusion in our list and increasing its potential ranking.

We also rate all cards based on how their ongoing average APR compares to the average APR you’ll find other cards in their primary category. However, the impact of an especially high or low APR on a card’s overall score depends on its primary category.

For rewards-earning cards, this factor has only a minor influence on the card’s score and whether the card is included in our list, since rewards card users generally try to avoid carrying a balance. That said, rewards-earning cards may get a solid boost in score and be more worthy of inclusion in our list if they also offer an intro APR on balance transfers or new purchases, since such offers aren’t always present on these cards.

More important to these cards’ scores and their inclusion in our list is how their annual fees influence their overall value. We consider a card’s annual fee in two ways — how it ranks relative to the fees you’ll find on other cards in the category and how it impacts a card’s overall rewards value. 

Cards with an annual fee will always be at a slight disadvantage in our scoring system since annual fees inherently cut into your rewards value. However, if a card offers terrific value via its ongoing rewards and perks, it can earn a high score and a spot in our list even if it carries a high annual fee. After all, the highest rewards rates and most valuable perks are often found on cards with annual fees.

Interest rates and intro APR offers play a much larger role in a card’s score and whether it’s included in our list when the card is designed specifically for users looking to save on interest charges, such as dedicated balance transfer or low-interest cards. 

Other fees considered include cash advance and late payment fees, along with penalty APRs. 

Along with rewards value and cost, we consider other factors that could give cards great long-term value, like flexible rewards redemption and especially unique and valuable perks.

We rate rewards-earning cards based on the restrictions they impose on earning and redeeming rewards and consider this when deciding on a card’s inclusion in our list. 

These restrictions could include only allowing users to earn a high rewards rate on a small amount of spending or requiring users to meet a certain earning threshold before they can redeem rewards. We also examine whether points are worth less when you opt for some redemption options over others and whether a card gives you the flexibility to transfer rewards to airline and hotel partners. 

We also evaluate each card’s perks based on their value, usefulness and uniqueness. Cards that offer top-tier benefits like airport lounge access or travel credits are likely to stand out, but we also aim to highlight cards that offer valuable under-the-radar perks, like cellphone protection or one-off credits for everyday expenses like dining and streaming services.

• Chase Sapphire Preferred: 60,000 points after spending $4,000 on purchases in the first three months.
• Chase Sapphire Reserve®: 60,000 points after spending $4,000 on purchases in the first three months.
• The Platinum Card® from American Express: 80,000 points after spending $6,000 on purchases in the first six months.
• Capital One Venture X Rewards Credit Card: 75,000 miles after spending $4,000 on purchases in the first three months.

• Capital One Spark Cash Plus: Earn a one-time cash bonus of $1,200 once you spend $30,000 in the first 3 months
• The Business Platinum Card® from American Express: 120,000 points after spending $15,000 on purchases within the first three months.
• Ink Business Preferred® Credit Card: 100,000 points after spending $8,000 on purchases in the first three months.