If you don’t have the right credit card in your wallet, you could be leaving hundreds — if not thousands — of dollars on the table each year!
Rewards credit cards are not created equal, so it's important for high-volume spenders to take a few minutes to assess whether they have the right credit card for heavy usage.
If you're a frequent traveler, you may be a candidate for a travel credit card. If you're not, you may be better served by a card that gives you a consistent rate of cash back on all purchases.
And you may want to consider adding more than one card to boost rewards in your most-used spending categories.
In this article, we'll determine the best credit cards for big spenders and discuss some factors you should consider before applying. You can read our full credit card analysis methodology here.
Best Credit Cards for Big Spenders Right Now
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The Platinum Card® from American Express
Best for: High-volume Travel
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Chase Sapphire Reserve®
Best for: Welcome Bonus and Dining
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Capital One Venture X Rewards Credit Card
Best for: Travel Bonus and Perks
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Alliant Cashback Visa® Signature Credit Card
Best for: No Annual Fee and Everyday Cash Back
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Fidelity® Rewards Visa Signature®
Best for: Investing Your Rewards
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4 Things Big Spenders Should Consider Before Applying for a Credit Card
Before we get deeper into the details on each of these cards, here are a few things you should consider before applying:
- How do you spend your money? We've established that you're a "big spender," but those come in different shapes and sizes. Some people do an inordinate amount of spending in one particular category. Others spend in volume across the board. Before you pick a card, it's probably a good idea to take inventory of your monthly expenditures to see if there's a spending pattern that makes it worth tailoring your credit card rewards for optimal returns.
- Are you spending for a business? If the majority of your purchase volume comes from the day-to-day operations of a small business, you may want to consider a business credit card that provides perks and protections for those types of purchases. We're focusing on personal credit cards in this article.
- Are you spending internationally? We'll primarily focus on maximizing your spending through welcome bonus offers and rewards boosts, but international spenders have another consideration to make. You'll want to make sure you have a card that does not charge foreign transaction fees so that you're not dinged 1-3% on every purchase you make outside the U.S.
- Will you need to carry a balance? Spending a lot of money on a rewards credit card and then carrying a balance could be disastrous. These cards usually have a very high APR, and if you have a large balance you could find yourself paying hundreds in interest charges each month. You may be better served by a low, fixed APR card from your local credit union.
Best for High-Volume Travel: card_name
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Annual Fee:
$695 (See Rates & Fees)
Foreign Transaction Fee:
None
Bonus Offer:
Earn 80,000 Membership Rewards® Points
Bonus Offer Disclaimer:
after you spend $8,000 on purchases on your new Card in your first 6 months of Card Membership.
Rewards Program Details:
Earn 5X Membership Rewards® Points for flights booked directly with airlines or with American Express Travel up to $500,000 on these purchases per calendar year and earn 5X Membership Rewards® Points on prepaid hotels booked with American Express Travel.
This Is the Card for You If:
You are a high-volume traveler who will get more benefit out of the long list of perks, which includes airport lounge access, than the annual fee will cost you. |
Why We Like It for Big Spenders
This travel card has a high annual fee, but there are some premium perks included that you won’t find with many credit cards.
Three key perks include:
- Airport Lounge Access: This card provides access to The Centurion® Network, which includes 40+ Centurion Lounge and Studio locations worldwide.
- Premium Status: Card membership comes with automatic "gold status" with both the Marriott Bonvoy and Hilton Honors hotel rewards programs. You'll also get complimentary premium status with major car rental companies, including Hertz and Avis.
- Complimentary Global Entry or TSA PreCheck®: Get either a $100 statement credit every 4 years for a Global Entry application fee or a statement credit up to $85 every 4.5 years for a TSA PreCheck® (through a TSA official enrollment provider) application fee, when charged to your Platinum Card®. Card Members approved for Global Entry will also receive access to TSA PreCheck at no additional cost.
In total, you’ll get access to more than $1,500 worth of benefits on top of the rewards you can earn with your spending. Terms apply.
The card isn’t for everyone, though. You need to be an extremely frequent traveler to make the annual fee worth paying.
Best for Welcome Bonus and Dining: card_name
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Annual Fee:
$550
Foreign Transaction Fee:
$0
Bonus Offer:
Earn 60,000 bonus points
Bonus Offer Disclaimer:
after you spend $4,000 on purchases in the first 3 months from account opening. That’s $900 toward travel when you redeem through Chase Ultimate Rewards®
Rewards Program Details:
Earn 5x total points on flights and 10x total points on hotels and car rentals when you purchase travel through Chase Ultimate Rewards® immediately after the first $300 is spent on travel purchases annually. Earn 3x points on other travel and dining & 1 point per $1 spent on all other purchases
This Is the Card for You If:
You are a high-volume traveler who will earn the $300 annual travel credit and can maximize the value of rewards points by using the Chase Ultimate Rewards portal to book travel. |
Why We Like It for Big Spenders
This card, which is one of the top travel cards on the market, offers you a chance to earn a nice welcome bonus with your big spending.
Then, you can continue to earn 3x points on travel and dining, which are two key categories for a lot of big spenders.
If you’re willing to redeem your points with the Chase Ultimate Rewards ecosystem, you can get redemption multipliers that give your points even more value.
Best for Travel Bonus and Perks: card_name
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Annual Fee:
$395 (See Rates & Fees)
Foreign Transaction Fee:
None
Bonus Offer:
Earn 75,000 bonus miles
Bonus Offer Disclaimer:
when you spend $4,000 on purchases in the first 3 months from account opening
Rewards Program Details:
2 Miles per dollar on every purchase, every day. 10 Miles per dollar on hotels and rental cars booked through Capital One Travel. 5 Miles per dollar on flights booked through Capital One Travel.
This Is the Card for You If:
You are a frequent traveler who wants airport lounge access and can easily claim the annual $300 travel credit and anniversary miles provided. |
Why We Like It for Big Spenders
If many of your purchases are travel-related, you may want to consider going for the welcome bonus offer on this card.
Not only will that be lucrative, but having this card in hand will also net you lounge access, help you avoid foreign transaction fees and will cover the cost of your TSA PreCheck or Global Entry membership.
You’ll also be set with at least 2% back in miles on all purchases and as much as 10% back in miles on travel that is booked through Capital One’s portal.
You may be concerned by the $395 annual fee, but there is an easy-to-redeem annual $300 travel credit available that effectively makes it a $95 per year card.
This card is in Clark Howard's wallet, and it is his favorite travel credit card for a reason.
“I think it’s absolutely great,” Clark says. “How could I say that you should spend $395 per year on a card? They give you $300 of it back as travel credits for travel you purchase through their travel portal. So the net annual fee is $95. And on top of some travel benefits, you get free airport lounge access … Plus, you get 2x miles on all of your purchases, just like a 2% cash back card.”
Best for No Annual Fee and Everyday Cash Back: Alliant Visa Signature® Card
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Annual Fee:
$0.00
Foreign Transaction Fee:
None
Rewards Program Details:
Tier 1 rewards members receive 2.5% cash back on all purchases up to $10,000 in spending per billing cycle. After that, they’ll receive 1.5% back for the remainder of the billing cycle. Tier 2 rewards members receive 1.5% cash back on all purchases.
This Is the Card for You If:
You are willing to join a credit union and keep money there in exchange for a great return of 2.5% back with no annual fee or categorical restrictions. |
Why We Like It for Big Spenders
If you’re willing to go through the inconvenience of joining a credit union and setting up a checking account to apply for a credit card, you could make a great return on your big spending each month.
Tier 1 rewards members get 2.5% cash back on all purchases on the first $10,000 you spend in each billing cycle. That’s one of the best rates of return for a card with no annual fee and no spending category requirements.
This may not be worth the hassle for low-volume spenders who could get 2% cash back elsewhere, but big spenders may see it as a worthwhile time investment.
Best for Investing Your Rewards: Fidelity® Rewards Visa Signature® Card
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Annual Fee:
$0.00
Foreign Transaction Fee:
None
Rewards Program Details:
Earn unlimited 2% cash back on everyday spending. You can spend your rewards or deposit them into any eligible Fidelity account, giving your money more chances to grow.
This Is the Card for You If:
You want a cash back rewards card that can aid your investing goals. This card can deposit rewards directly into Fidelity retirement and investment accounts. |
Why We Like It for Big Spenders
This card is an easy way to supplement your investment goals with your big spending.
If you have a qualified Fidelity investment account, you will be able to receive 2% cash back on every purchase you make as a deposit into that account.
This is effectively taking 2% of every purchase you make as a big spender and sticking it into the investment vehicle of your choice.
This card comes with no annual fee and you’ll pay no foreign transaction fee on purchases with this Visa Signature card. So, this is a low-risk way to “up the ante” on your investment portfolio while you’re making your frequent purchases.
Methodology for Credit Card Analysis
For the purposes of determining which credit cards are “best,” we got input from Clark Howard and sought to find cards that fit his credit card strategy best.
Team Clark spent many hours reviewing the rewards credit cards on the market, assessing them for several factors including:
- Annual fees
- Rewards programs
- Welcome offers
- Length of introductory APR periods
- Balance transfer introductory periods
- Additional fees (transaction or otherwise)
- Perks offered to cardholders
- Reputation of the financial institution issuing the card
We did not factor in non-introductory APR as a part of the evaluation, because interest rates are going to vary based on your financial circumstances. Clark recommends never carrying a balance on credit cards, so the non-introductory interest rate shouldn’t matter for your card anyway.
We also did not include offerings from local or regional banks or credit unions because they’re not available to everyone. Often, local institutions will have desirable cards, so we recommend that you compare your local bank or credit union’s cash back credit cards to the ones that made this list.
Are you a big spender who will be applying for a credit card soon? Did you recently get one and have some advice to share? We’d love to hear from you in the Clark.com community.
To see the rates and fees for the American Express cards featured, please visit the following link: The Platinum Card® from American Express: See Rates and Fees.
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