Best credit card sign-up bonuses for December 2022

Compare Bankrate’s top sign-up bonus credit cards

A closer look at the best sign-up bonus credit cards

Bank of America Customized Cash Rewards credit card: Best for choice of cash back category

• This card is a good fit for: Flexibility seekers. Credit card users who value a customizable rewards structure will find plenty of options with this card.
• This card is not a great choice for: Big spenders. You’ll see your rewards rate drop if your budgeted spending takes you beyond the $2,500 combined spending cap per quarter on the 2 percent and 3 percent bonus categories. Cardholders who reach this limit receive just 1 percent until the next quarter.
• What makes this card unique? Cardholders can select where they earn elevated rewards from six bonus categories and change their selection once per month. What’s more, the categories have uniquely broad merchant coverage. For example, the online shopping category is one of the most comprehensive available.
• Is the Bank of America Customized Cash Rewards credit card worth it? Yes. The sign-up bonus is notable, but cardholders may find even more value in the elevated cash back rate earned at grocery stores and wholesale clubs.

Read our Bank of America Customized Cash Rewards credit card review or jump back to offer details.

Chase Sapphire Preferred Card: Best for biggest travel sign-up bonus

• This card is a good fit for: Budget travelers. If you’re seeking great travel rewards value that can help keep your travel costs in check for a relatively low annual fee, this card is a strong choice.
• This card is not a great choice for: Luxury-seeking travelers. You should look elsewhere for high-end perks like airport lounge access.
• What makes this card unique? This card provides travelers with flexibility that’s unique among travel cards. You can transfer your points at a 1:1 ratio to Chase’s impressive list of airline and hotel partners.
• Is the Chase Sapphire Preferred Card worth it? Yes. If you earn the sign-up bonus, you recoup the cost of the annual fee, plus you’ll see a 25 percent boosted rewards value from points redeemed through the Chase Ultimate Rewards portal.

Read our Chase Sapphire Preferred Card review or jump back to offer details.

Chase Freedom Flex: Best for rotating cash back categories

• This card is a good fit for: Variety seekers. People who like to earn boosted cash back in multiple categories will find this card offers the opportunity to earn rewards in many areas.
• This card is not a great choice for: Simplicity seekers. Cardholders have to remember to activate the new bonus categories each quarter, or they’ll see much less value from the card. The rotating bonus categories are announced quarterly rather than farther ahead of time. Some cardholders may also prefer a more reliable category roster since they’ll have to pay close attention to the cash back calendar and their purchase tracking.
• What makes this card unique? The Chase Freedom Flex comes with bonus categories that rotate quarterly and cardholders will have the opportunity to earn elevated rewards in a variety of categories.
• Is the Chase Freedom Flex card worth it? Yes. The sign-up bonus is solid despite the relatively low spending requirement — cardholders earn a $200 bonus after spending just $500 on purchases in the first three months of account opening. However, the cash back value is standard for a no annual fee cash back card.

Read our Chase Freedom Flex review or jump back to offer details.

Citi Rewards+ Card: Best for rounding up rewards

• This card is a good fit for: Everyday shoppers. Cardholders can earn respectable travel rewards through their everyday spending.
• This card is not a great choice for: Travel rewards seekers. This card only earns basic ThankYou points, which can’t be transferred to travel partners.
• What makes this card unique? The round-up feature. Cardholders will see points rounded up for every purchase to the nearest 10 points. So, a $3 coffee earns 10 ThankYou points.
• Is the Citi Rewards+ Card worth it? Yes. The card has a doable spend requirement — $1,500 within the first three months of account ownership — for 20,000 points. And with no annual fee, plus an intro APR for 15 months on purchases and balance transfers (then 17.24 percent to 27.24 percent variable; transfers must be within the first four months and pose a 3 percent balance transfer fee, $5 minimum), you’ll get a lot of value from this card.

Read our Citi Rewards+ Card review or jump back to offer details.

Ink Business Unlimited Credit Card: Best for business sign-up bonus

• This card is a good fit for: New small-business owners looking for an easy-to-use flat-rate credit card that doesn’t charge an annual fee.
• This card is not a great choice for: Business owners looking to earn high rewards in specific bonus categories. A card with a tiered rewards structure — like the Ink Business Cash® Credit Card — would serve you better.
• What makes this card unique? A sign-up bonus as high as the Ink Business Unlimited is usually reserved for credit cards with an annual fee. It also comes with an introductory 0 percent APR offer on purchases for 12 months (then a variable rate of 16.24 percent to 22.24 percent applies).
• Is the Ink Business Unlimited Credit Card worth it? It depends. The card has a simple rewards structure and valuable perks, but the spending requirement might be high for some business owners.

Read our Ink Business Unlimited Credit Card review or jump back to offer details.

Southwest Rapid Rewards Plus Credit Card: Best for airline sign-up bonus

• This card is a good fit for: Frequent Southwest flyers. This card offers a fair rewards rate on Southwest purchases and the lowest annual fee among Southwest credit cards.
• This card is not a great choice for: Someone who only occasionally flies with Southwest Airlines. You won’t see as much value from the card, as rewards redeemed for outside of Southwest travel aren’t as lucrative.
• What makes this card unique? As a frequent Southwest flyer, you’ll receive a ton of benefits, including reimbursements for lost luggage up to $3,000 per passenger and insurance for delayed luggage up to $100 per day for three days automatically. Plus, you can check your bag for free (size and weight limits apply).
• Is the Southwest Rapid Rewards Plus Credit Card worth it? Yes. For frequent Southwest flyers looking for an inexpensive, no-hassle card, the low annual fee (only $69) and its lucrative rewards structure pack this card with a lot of value.

Read our Southwest Rapid Rewards Plus Credit Card review or jump back to offer details.

What is a sign-up bonus?

A sign-up bonus — also known as a welcome bonus, intro bonus or welcome offer — is an incentive a credit card issuer offers to sign up for a credit card. A sign-up bonus can come in the form of cash back, points, travel miles or another perk offered by the credit card issuer. To receive a sign-up bonus, a cardholder usually has to spend a certain dollar amount on purchases within a specified period (usually three months, but six months or even a year isn’t unusual).

Types of welcome offers

Although sign-up bonuses are most often distributed as additional cash back, points or miles, there are a few other types of welcome offers to watch for that can be just as valuable — if not more so.

• Traditional bonus points, miles or cash back: These offers are quite common and let you earn a set cash back amount or number of miles or points based on a certain spending requirement, and is usually worth around $150 to upwards of $1,000 based on your annual fee and the required spend. For example, a no-annual-fee cash back card may offer a $200 cash bonus after spending $500 on purchases within three months.
• Two-stage bonuses: A two-stage bonus usually operates like a traditional sign-up bonus, providing a typical bonus value and spending requirement within the first three months. However, you may also be able to double that value by reaching a larger total spend within the first six months. For example, the Capital One Spark Cash Plus offers an initial $500 cash bonus after spending $5,000 in the first three months, plus another $500 bonus once you’ve spent a total of $50,000 within the first six months.
• Reward-matching offers: This style of welcome offer doesn’t state an upfront value but instead matches the rewards you earn within a set period, making it a valuable opportunity for big spenders. The most popular example is Discover’s first-year Cashback Match offered on all of the issuer’s rewards cards.
• Approval bonuses: Rarely, a credit card may provide an upfront bonus the moment you’re approved for the card instead of requiring you to spend a certain amount in a set period. An offer like this is more likely among store credit cards, such as the Amazon gift card usually granted with the Amazon Prime Rewards Visa Signature Card.
• Increased rewards rates: Some credit cards offer to increase the card’s rewards rates for a limited time — or until you hit a spending limit. If you apply for the Chase Freedom Unlimited®, you’ll earn an additional 1.5 percent cash back on top of your purchase’s original cash back rate for the first year (on up to $20,000 in purchases).
• Limited-time bonus categories: Like an increased rewards rate offer, a credit card may occasionally offer an additional bonus category to add to your current roster for a set period or until you reach a certain spending threshold. A bonus of this kind may allow you to earn 3 percent cash back on grocery store purchases (usually excluding wholesale clubs and superstores, like Walmart) for six months or until you’ve made $6,000 in category purchases, for instance.
• Additional perks, credits and other limited-time offers: There are several cases of major credit cards offering a valuable perk like statement credits or complimentary elite loyalty status (such as for a hotel or airline brand) instead of bonus cash back, points or miles. Southwest Airlines credit card’s acclaimed bonus Companion Pass is an excellent example, which comes and goes as a limited-time offer. It’s notably valuable since it allows you to skip the qualifying flights and other requirements to let a travel companion fly free for a year or more (taxes and fees excluded). Since an offer like this could save you thousands, it can be much more valuable than a typical sign-up bonus.

Pros and cons of sign-up bonus credit cards

There’s a good and a bad side to using a credit card with a sign-up bonus. Before you apply take a look at the pros and cons:

How to calculate the value of a sign-up bonus

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  Calculating cash back sign-up bonuses

  Calculating a cash back sign-up bonus is pretty 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 several cards’ bonuses are similar or if you just 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 as 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 just to earn a sign-up bonus.

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  Calculating point- and mile-based sign-up bonuses

  Determining the value of a point- or mile-based sign-up bonus may take a bit more legwork. In the case of a travel card, your points or miles will be worth more toward travel, potentially 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. By reading the 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.However, 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’ 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
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  Calculating other types of welcome offers

  While the math for establishing the value of traditional sign-up bonuses is straightforward, it may take a bit more elbow grease to figure out how much other types of welcome offers are worth without a specific point, mile or cash value. The easiest method is to determine a cash value based on other cost variables you may know. Intro bonuses like limited-time rewards categories can be calculated by looking toward your estimated spending or the category’s spending cap.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 a bit more creative with certificates and similar bonus offers. Let’s say that you qualified for the Southwest Rapid Rewards Plus card’s past offer that provided a year of Companion Pass and 30,000 Rapid Rewards points (ended Mar. 14, 2022) after spending $2,000 on purchases in the first three months. 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. Factoring in the $450 value from the 30,000 bonus points (using Bankrate’s 1.5-cent Rapid Rewards point value), you’ll find this unusual welcome offer is worth up to $1,000 on average. However, if you won’t fly as much, the Companion Pass welcome offer carries far less value and may not be worth the hassle. With this in mind, the most important factor in calculating a sign-up bonus (especially nontraditional offers) is to assess what the personal value of the reward is first.

Who should apply for a card and its sign-up bonus?

If you’re already in the market for a credit card, it may be tempting to apply immediately if its welcome offer catches your eye. But it’s better to scope out competing cards’ offers and research whether the current sign-up bonus is the best the card has offered (or when the best offer may return). Rewards cards that generally keep the same terms and features may not cycle out welcome offers 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 when it comes to store 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.

Other than trying to catch the biggest bonus, there are a few other times it may be wise to wait to apply so you can maximize your sign-up bonus. Waiting until you have large expenses or bills on the horizon can help you reach the spending requirement without straying from your planned spending. That way, you can also take advantage of the card’s intro APR periods to avoid accruing interest if you need more time to pay off your balance.

Similarly, applying for a travel card a few months ahead of a planned trip allows you to put your sign-up bonus toward your travel costs — which is especially helpful if you aren’t a frequent traveler. But be ready to pounce (responsibly, of course) in case your ideal card tacks on a limited-time offer.

How to choose the best sign-up bonus

When considering a credit card with a sign-up bonus, be especially mindful of the spending requirement and how it will impact your budget. If you’re looking to snag a welcome offer, there are some questions you should keep top of mind:

• Can you meet the spending requirement? If a sign-up bonus requires spending more than you usually would, it may be wise to think twice before applying. Overspending on a credit card to meet a welcome offer requirement could lead to debt and consequently, make the card’s sign-up bonus far less valuable to you by incurring interest payments.
• Does the card fit into your overall goals? Knowing what type of rewards you want to earn is essential when choosing a card for its sign-up bonus. If you want to earn free nights at a particular hotel or reduced prices on flights with a specific airline, then you should sign up for cards that align with those goals over a card that offers a generous sign-up bonus but only earns cash back rewards.
• Is the bonus worth it? If you’re earning a cash back bonus, then what you get is fairly straightforward, but if you’re earning points, miles or some other type of offer (like a cash back match, airline companion certificate or limited-time bonus rewards category), it’s key to put them on the same playing field by calculating the likely value you’ll receive from each. For example, if two cards offer a 60,000-point sign-up bonus but Card A’s points are worth 1 cent each and Card B’s points are worth 1.5 cents — but only toward an airline transfer partner you’re not likely to use — then Card A’s bonus may be a better fit for you.
• What can you redeem the bonus for? While sign-up bonuses are convenient for helping to cover the cost of an annual fee, it’s important to consider how you’ll be able to use the points, miles or statement credit you receive. With certain issuers, you’ll want to evaluate their list of transfer partners to try extract maximum value when redeeming your bonus. With others, it may be more worthwhile to use the proceeds to cover an existing balance.
• Will you continue to use the card? If you anticipate canceling your card after receiving the sign up bonus, familiarize yourself with your issuer’s terms and conditions. In some cases, the issuer will take back the bonus if the card is canceled within a certain period so plan to keep the card open at least as long as the policy stipulates. In fact, frequently closing and opening new accounts can be a red flag for issuers and cause you to be ineligible to open new accounts or receive a future bonus.

Learn more about credit cards with sign-up bonuses

For more information, read our expert reviews for individual cards and check out more resources from Bankrate.com:

• When to sign up for a new credit card
• Best cash back card welcome bonuses
• 4 ways to kick-start good habits with a new rewards credit card

Have more questions for our credit cards editors? Feel free to send us an email, find us on Facebook, or Tweet us @Bankrate