Best Credit Cards for April 2022 – CNET

The Chase Freedom Unlimited credit card offers a wide array of benefits, but its cash-back rewards are particularly impressive. You can earn 5% cash back on travel booked through Chase Ultimate Rewards, 3% on drugstore purchases, restaurants and dining, and a flat rate of 1.5% on all other purchases. You can earn an additional 1.5% cash back on up to $20,000 in purchases for the first year via the welcome bonus, and through March 2022, you can also earn 5% cash back on Lyft rides. 

This Chase credit card also offers no annual fee and a 0% introductory APR on purchases and balance transfers for 15 months (14.99% to 23.74% variable APR thereafter), making it well-rounded. We’ve also evaluated several other cash-back rewards credit cards, as some readers may be looking for different types of reward categories.

The Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card is arguably the best travel card on the market. It’s hard to rival its rewards program — it expands to everyday categories and has competitive rates on travel. Points are worth $0.01 when redeemed for statement credit, but you get a 25% boost in redemption value if you redeem your points for travel through Chase Ultimate Rewards. The welcome bonus — 60,000 points when you spend $4,000 in purchases within the first three months of account opening — is worth $750 toward travel booked through Chase Ultimate Rewards, as well. 

You also get a slew of travel-related perks. There are no foreign transaction fees, a one-to-one point transfer with airline and hotel partners, baggage delay insurance, trip delay insurance and trip cancellation/interruption insurance. In combination, this is a standout offer for a $95 annual fee. 

Read more details in our full review of the Chase Sapphire Preferred.

Discover it® Cash Back* offers a unique sign-on bonus: an unlimited cash-back match at the end of your first year. You don’t even have to reach a minimum spending threshold, like with most other sign-up bonuses — but you can outearn other credit cards with such bonuses if you spend enough. 

You will enjoy 5% cash back up to the quarterly maximums (then 1%) on rotating quarterly categories as you activate them. Some of these quarterly categories include purchases from Amazon.com, grocery stores or gas stations. Discover will also give you 1% cash back on all other purchases. We’ve also collected a few other credit cards with generous sign-on bonuses.

Check out more details in our full review of the Discover it Cash Back.

The Discover it® Student chrome* offers a winning combination of incentives as well as lenient terms for first-time credit card holders. You’ll earn 2% cash back at gas stations and restaurants on up to $1,000 in combined purchases each quarter, then 1%. You’ll also earn an unlimited 1% cash back on other purchases.

Discover will then double your cash back: New cardholders will receive a cash-back match from Discover at the conclusion of their first year. On top of that, an introductory 0% APR on purchases for six months (12.99% to 21.99% variable APR after that) will give you a little wiggle room. You may decide that you like one of our other top picks for student credit cards, also.

How should I choose a credit card?

Ultimately, the right credit card is individual to each person and their goals and preferences. Decide what features you’re looking for: maximized rewards, spaced-out payments on a large purchase, credit building, an emergency credit card or other benefits. From there, you can decide the type of card you’re looking for. You can then use online reviews like those at CNET to further narrow down what terms will work best for you.

How do I qualify for a credit card?

The better the benefits, the more hoops you’ll need to jump through to be eligible for certain credit cards. Credit cards with attractive rewards programs or cash-back rewards require better credit than more basic credit card varieties.

If you have poor or fair credit, you might only qualify for credit builder or secured credit cards. If you have good to excellent credit, you may easily qualify for any credit card you want. But if you don’t have the right score, you can always work to improve your credit for better odds of approval.

What’s the best credit card to get for first-time users?

The best credit card for beginners is one that will help you build credit, so make sure to get a card that reports to the three credit bureaus. You’ll also want to determine how you plan to use a credit card. Are you expecting to carry a balance from month to month, or can you reliably pay the credit issuer off? Are you a student who needs to finance a bunch of back-to-school purchases? Depending on what you need, one credit card might be better than another.