This content is not provided or commissioned by American Express. Opinions expressed here are author's alone, not those of American Express, and have not been reviewed, approved or otherwise endorsed by American Express. This site may be compensated through American Express Affiliate Program.
Top 5 Family Credit Card Deals
The following is a list of what I feel are the five best credit card offers out there for families. I wouldn’t recommend a card I didn’t have, (or want to add to my collection in the near future) so rest assured that if it is in this list, I am a firm believer that it is a great value. I come to that determination based on the sign-up bonus, the benefits that go with the card, the minimum spending requirements, and the annual fee. Some of the cards on this page are affiliate links, and I do get a referral if you do decide to sign up. Some of them are not my links, they are just the best deals out there! I’ll continue to update this page as card offers become available or expire. I do sometimes post “unofficial” links for credit cards when those offers are better than the official offers I can promote directly. I do not take responsibility for the unofficial links, but I want to make sure you have all available choices and information available to decide which offers are best for you!
1. The Chase Sapphire Preferred Card – 40,000 bonus points
$95 Annual fee is waived the first year.
This card is my favorite offer right now as it comes with 40,000 very flexible bonus points upon spending $3000 within the first three months. That minimum spending requirement sounds like a lot at first, but read this post to see how that is actually pretty easy for many families. This card also comes with a 7% bonus on all points earned at the end of the year, so the sign-up bonus is really worth 46,010. These points are transferable to Continental, United, British Airways, Hyatt, Marriott, Priority Club (Holiday Inn), and many other programs. You can also use them as “cash” to book travel. The customer service that comes with this card is top-notch and your calls are answered by real people, not a computerized queue. This card charges no foreign transaction fee – that can be huge if you have any international purchases or travel. This card is in my wallet and actively being used. I also got my mom to sign up recently. You know if I recommend it to my mom, it must be good!
Official Chase Sapphire Preferred Visa 40,000 Point Link
2. American Airlines AAdvantage Visa and American Express cards – 30,000 – 50,000 bonus miles
$95 annual fee waived the first year.
Earn 30,000 American Airlines AAdvantage bonus miles after $1,000 in purchases within the first 3 months of card membership. Your first eligible checked bag is free when you travel. You receive Priority Boarding and 25% savings on eligible in-flight purchases. Earn a $100 American Airlines Flight Discount every card membership year with qualifying purchases and card membership renewal. Receive double AAdvantage miles on eligible American Airlines purchases. And perhaps one of my favorite card benefits of all, earn 10% of your redeemed AAdvantage miles back up to 10,000 AAdvantage miles each calendar year.
There are some other unofficial offers for this card that come with 50,000 bonus miles after spending $3,000 on the card within four months, and also give a $150 statement credit after your first American Airlines purchase on the card within the first 12 months! In addition, you will receive two Admiral’s Club passes. Airline lounges, like the Admiral’s, can be fantastic places for families to wait for their flights. I have found American Airlines to have some of the best domestic saver award space availability. So, not only do you get 50,000 bonus miles, but you will probably be able to put the points to good use with this program!
Another neat trick is to apply for both the Visa and American Express versions of this card on the same day, at the same time, using two different browsers. If done correctly, this could net you 100,000 miles! Just make sure you can meet the minimum spending requirements on both cards.
Since these offers for the 50,000 points are not clearly marked on the application page, it is best of you click on this link to learn more about how to successfully apply for this offer directly from Flyertalk. Read post #1 of the thread.
There is an official version for 30,000 points available here:
Citi® Platinum Select® / AAdvantage® Visa Signature® Card – 30,000 miles
3. American Express Starwood Preferred Guest – 25,000 bonus points
$65 annual fee waived the first year.
This card is also a mainstay in my credit card collection. The main reason is that SPG points are so versatile and valuable. You can use them towards stays at SPG hotels (Westin, Aloft, W, Sheraton, etc…) or you can transfer them to most of the main airline programs at at rate of 25,000 airline miles for every 20,000 SPG points transferred. That is amazing! You will earn 10,000 SPG points after making your first purchase on this card and then an additional 15,000 bonus points after spending $5000 on this card within six months. This card also gives you 5 nights and 2 stay credits towards elite status with SPG. If you get both the business and personal version of this card this should give you 10 nights and 4 stay credits – that is a great head start towards elite status!
Currently, I use this card and my Chase Sapphire card the most for my daily spending as I feel the points those two cards earn are extremely valuable and flexible.
Personal version:
Starwood Preferred Guest® Credit Card from American Express
Business version:
Starwood Preferred Guest® Business Credit Card from American Express OPEN
4. Southwest Airlines Rapid Rewards Plus Credit Card – 25,000 Points ($416 in Wanna Get Away Credit)
$69 annual fee
This card is phenomenal if you are interested in domestic travel and Southwest is convenient for you. Southwest isn’t fancy, but it gets you from point A to B and is actually usually pretty family friendly. The annual fee is not waived the first year, but you do receive 3,000 points (worth $50 towards Wanna Get Away fares) at each anniversary, so that offsets much of the annual fee. Southwest points are used at a fixed value towards Southwest flights, so the less expensive the flight the further your points can go. The best news is that there are no black-out dates or capacity restrictions with the Rapid Rewards program, so you can use points toward any available seats on any flight! Read this post to find out more about how Rapid Rewards points work.
Official Southwest Airlines Rapid Rewards® Plus Credit Card for 25,000 Points Link
5. Chase Ink Bold – 50,000 Ultimate Reward points
$95 annual fee waived the first year.
This card is a business charge card, so you have to pay off the balance each month, and you need some sort of business to qualify. However, think globally about the word business. Do you sell things on eBay or Etsy? Do you do anything on your own to make some extra money? You will likely be asked some questions about your business, but the threshold for “business” doesn’t seem terribly high. 25,000 Ultimate Reward points are awarded after the first purchase on the card and 25,000 more are awarded after spending $10,000 on the card in the first three months. This card also has no foreign transaction fee and awards 5x points per $1 on the first $50,000 spent annually at office supply stores, on cable and wireless service, and landline communications. It awards 2x points per $1 on the first $50,000 spent annually on gas and hotel expenses.
The Ultimate Rewards earned with this card can be transferred on a 1:1 ration to Continental, United, British Airways, Hyatt, Marriott, Priority Club (Holiday Inn), and many other programs. You can also use them as “cash” to book travel. You also have access to the Ultimate Rewards mall with this card. There are reports that if you had the old Ink Bold card that was released prior to November 28, 2011 that you can also get this “new” Ink Bold and qualify again for the 50,000 point sign-up. No guarantees, but that has been reported as possible. Most people do have to call the reconsideration line to get approved for this card, but it is not that bad of a process in most cases. That phone number is 1-800-453-9719and you can call as early as the same day you apply for the card.
Ink Bold℠ with Ultimate Rewards
Other Good Credit Card Options:
I am having a hard time keeping my favorite credit cards down to just the “Top 5″, so here are some other good choices that might work well for your family.
The American Express Platinum Card – 25,000 Bonus Membership Reward Points
$450 annual fee
This card is great for frequent, or even fairly frequent travelers. It grants you a $200 airline fee allowance per year (bag fees, drinks on board, food on board, lounge access, and more) plus it gives you free enrollment in Priority Pass Select and Global Entry. It also earns Membership Rewards points. You will receive your 25,000 bonus points after spending $1,000 on the card within the first three months. MR points are some of the most flexible points out there and they can be transferred to many airline and hotel programs – often with a nice bonus! The annual fee for this card is high at $450 per year, but the benefits do outweigh the costs for many families – including mine.
The Platinum Card® from American Express
There is also a Mercedes-Benz Platinum version of this card that does come with a slightly higher annual fee ($475) and some additional MB oriented benefits. This is worth considering since the 50,000 Membership Reward points sign-up bonus is currently better than the bonus for the regular Platinum card. It also requires $1,000 spending on the card within the first three months.
The Mercedes Benz Platinum from American Express
The American Express Premier Rewards Gold Card – 25,000 Bonus Membership Rewards Points
$175 annual fee waived the first year
What I love about this card is that it earns 3x Membership Rewards points on airline tickets and 2x points on gas and groceries. Those are three of the largest expenditures at my house, so I think that is phenomenal. It pairs very well with the Chase Sapphire card that gives you 2x points on restaurants and travel expenses. The annual fee is waived the first year and then is $175 for every year thereafter. You receive 25,000 bonus Membership Rewards point after spending $2,000 on the card within the first three months. This card does carry foreign transaction fees. The sign-up bonus is admittedly not exciting, yet Amex has recently increased this from 15,000. However, since Membership Reward points are so flexible and there are often transfer bonuses, it is absolutely worth considering – especially if you are already maxed out on Chase cards for now. My mom has this card now and I hope to get it myself in 2012.
American Express(R) Premier Rewards Gold Card
Chase Freedom – 10,000 bonus Ultimate Rewards points/$100 cash
No annual fee
This card is only average by itself, but if you have this card in combination with a card that earns Ultimate Rewards (Chase Sapphire Preferred or Chase Ink Bold), then the points earned on the Freedom can be used as Ultimate Rewards points. That makes this a great card because of the quarterly bonus categories that this card offers. Each quarter you can earn 5x points in certain categories up to the first $1,500 spent in those categories for that quarter. For 2012 the bonus categories are Q1: gas stations and Amazon, Q2: grocery stores and movie theaters, Q3: gas stations and restaurants, Q4: hotels, airlines, Best Buy, Kohls. You will receive $100 cash back (or 10,000 points if you have another card that earns Ultimate Rewards) after spending $500 on the card within the first three months.
Read this post to understand how the Chase Freedom, Chase Sapphire, and Chase checking can really work together to bring in maximum point earnings!
The United MileagePlus Explorer Card – 40,000 bonus miles
$95 annual fee waived the first year.
The sign-up bonus on this card isn’t great, but I like it because it has no minimum spending requirement (just make a purchase and 25,000 bonus miles are yours!) and United miles are very valuable. I have had very good success booking reward tickets at the low levels with United miles. You get an additional 5,000 bonus miles for adding an authorized user and the final 10,000 for spending $25,000 on the car each calendar year. So, if you can’t put that much spending on the card, view this as a 30,000 mile sign-up bonus. Many were targeted for a 60,000 point version, so try moving or earning at least one mile in your United account to see if you can get targeted for that offer before applying for this version. In addition to the bonus miles, it comes with two United Club passes at each anniversary, free first checked bag for you and your companion, and priority boarding. Very huge pluses when traveling with families! My family saves hundreds of dollars per year with the free checked bags that come from having this card. The car rental coverage with this car is also better than most as it provides Primary Rental Coverage.
United MileagePlus Explorer Card
Citi ThankYou Premier Card – 50,000 points
$125 annual fee waived the first year.
Update: There is a link for 50,000 points that appears to be working, that requires $2,500 of spending within the first three months and has the $125 annual fee waived the first year. That is not my link, so I can’t vouch for it personally, so take screen shots.
This card is on my credit card “wish list” for now, but I think it is a great option for those who might have maxed out their Chase applications. You will earn 50,000 points after spending $2,500 within 3 months of account opening. This sign-up bonus is especially good for families looking to redeem their miles and points for domestic economy class travel. Since these points don’t transfer to frequent flyer programs, but rather are used at a fixed dollar amount towards resumptions, they aren’t ideal for those looking to save points for international or first class travel, but it is perfect for those looking to fly to see Grandma in Ohio or Mickey Mouse at Disney World (assuming you already live in the US).
There are two huge bonuses related to using points as cash.
#1 No “blackout dates” or hassle of looking for award seats, just book any ticket that is on sale through their booking engine (which seems to match Expedia) and use your points at a $0.0133 value when you redeem for airfare and $.01 value when redeeming for gift cards of other redemption options. So, your 30,000 sign-up bonus points are worth anywhere from $500 – $665 depending on how you plan to redeem them. Not a bad deal for a card with no annual fee for the first year!
#2. Your airline tickets booked using Citi ThankYou Points are treated as “cash” purchases by the airlines, so those tickets are eligible to earn both redeemable and elite qualifying miles. That is a huge win for everyone, but especially for those that are trying to earn elite status with a certain airline.
This card has no foreign transaction fee and at the end of each Citi ThankYou Card account membership year (your membership year begins the date you became a Citi ThankYou Cardmember), you will also earn an Anniversary Bonus calculated as a percentage of ThankYou Points earned from purchases during that membership year that ranges from 1% – 4% depending on how long you have been a cardmember
Hyatt Visa – Two Free Nights to Use at Any Hyatt Worldwide
$75 annual fee – not waived the first year
If you are looking to visit a high price Hyatt (such as the Park Hyatt Paris-Vendome, Park Hyatt Tokyo, the NYC properties, etc…) this card should get strong consideration as the two free nights you get upon sign-up could easily be worth $1,000 in those cases. The two free nights are awarded after the first purchase on the card, so if meeting minimum spending requirements is tough for your family, then this may be a solid choice. If you have Hyatt Diamond status, then your two free nights are in a suite! If you have Platinum status with Hyatt then in addition to your two free nights in a regular room, you get two suite upgrades on paid reservations within the first year. If you don’t already have Platinum or Diamond status with Hyatt, you can ask Hyatt for a challenge at goldpassport@hyatt.com. You will need to already have elite status with another chain in order to get a challenge with Hyatt.
The Hyatt Visa will give you Platinum status once you get the card, but you have to already hold elite status when you apply to get the additional suite perks that come from having Platinum and Diamond status with this card. Additionally, this card awards 3 points per dollar on all Hyatt charges and has no foreign transaction fees. You are also given a free night in a Category 1-4 hotel each year upon renewal. This card comes with chip and signature technology.
US Airways MasterCard – 40,000 US Airways Dividend Miles
$89 annual fee waived the first year
This is a pretty great card issued by Barclays Bank that comes with several benefits other than just the 40,000 miles that are awarded after the first purchase made using the card. First, it gives you a 5,000 mile discount when you book US Airways award tickets on US Airways operated flight. That is a great way to have your miles stretch even further! Second, it awards an annual Companion Discount Certificate that can be used to fly up to to additional persons on your itinerary for just $99 for each of the additional tickets. The initial ticket must cost at least $250, and the flight must be a flight operated by US Airways in the contiguous 48 states or from the US to Canada (subject to some black-out dates and restrictions). This card also comes with Preferred Check-in and Zone 2 boarding.
Historically, using this card has also counted as a hit in the US Airways Grand Slam. You get one free pass to the US Airways Club each year as well as a $75 discount if you purchase US Airways Club membership. At each anniversary you are awarded 10,000 US Airways miles. That alone is enough to off-set the annual fee for most users. I have this card and have no plans of getting rid of it anytime soon.
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Disclaimer: This content is not provided or commissioned by American Express. Opinions expressed here are author’s alone, not those of American Express, and have not been reviewed, approved or otherwise endorsed by American Express. This site may be compensated through American Express Affiliate Program.
