Best Credit Cards Of 2022

This will be a compilation of the best credit cards of 2019 and beyond . Many people own different types of credit cards but they are a blessing and a curse at the same time.

Having credit cards allows you to increase your credit score and give you some purchasing power . However, they can also make you spend more than you can afford and incur very brutal interests on your already big debt which defeats the purpose of financial independence !

Many people fall to the prey of spending more than that I can actually afford and credit cards make that very easy to happen. There are promises of discounts and rewards to specific consumers who use credit cards and people often fall for the trap and buy more .

In the end it is up to each and everyone of us to have individual responsibility about how much we spend because credit cards can actually give you very nice bonuses

The golden rule of credit cards

There is a correct way of using credit cards even if it is one of the Best credit cards of 2019, there is always going to be tracking involved . But if done correctly , you can definitely get all the bonus rewards before cancelling the card and incurring annual fees .

Always pay off your whole statement every single month ! 

That is pretty much the first and foremost and only rule for credit cards. If you can achieve that then you can have multiple credit cards and upgrade to the next level : credit card churning

By doing this you will not increase your interest which averages around 20 to 22% . This is a very high interest-rate assuming you spend $100 and you only pay off the minimum balance of $25; if you wait for one month then you will have to pay and a balance of $120 the next month. 

so even with the amount you have paid you will only have decreased your principal by $5 that is an absurd calculation to allow to happen. 

But if you have that part mastered that there is honestly a lot of benefits to having credit cards.

Credit Card Churning 

Credit Card Churning is signing up for credit cards that offer large signup bonuses in the form of miles, points, or straight cash back for the purpose of obtaining the bonus before cancelling the card.

I recently applied for a credit card the Chase Sapphire reserve card that allowed me to get almost $750 worth of plane tickets for free along with plenty other benefits after spending a certain amount of money I was already planning on spending and paying it off . 

These benefits in total would probably be worth $1000 per year for a price of $150 annual fee . Along with free rental insurance for cars travel insurance for baggage is access to a very nice airport lounge for free with free drinks and food for two guests. 

This is one of the best cards out there for travel along with the US Bank Altitude card . 

If traveling is not your thing and you would like to have more practical rewards then there are plenty of cards that give cash back for example the citi double cash back card. This can get you directly cash for everything that you spend whether it’s online or in shopping. 

Another one of my favorite cards is the Costco executive card this is because I shop a lot at Costco especially for gas which gives me cashback on those purchases.

So there are plenty of categories of different cashback rewards some of them ranging from stores specific rewards for example the Kohls credit card and some of them like the Citi double cashback with 2% cashback on everything 

The Bad Side 

First The temporary impact on your credit score. Applying for multiple credit cards at once will reduce your score for a few months; this hurts your chances if you thinking of getting a mortgage, car loan, job, apartment, or other situation that requires a check of your credit.

It is a good idea to stop all churning activity as far in advance as possible. recommend at least 2 years as “hard pulls” from credit card inquiries will fall off your credit report in 2 years.

The second thing to remember is that you must be absolutely sure to hit the spending requirement during the bonus period. If you are short by even $1.00 you will not receive any bonus points. This is simple to handle with a single card, but multiple cards could require significant planning. Keep track of your spending using an app (Personal capital), a spreadsheet, a piece of paper, even though most credit cards come with apps that show your progress.

Again , I can’t reiterate this enough, paying interest for even a single month can significantly reduce, or even completely eliminate, any gains you may have made by obtaining bonus points and miles. Credit card companies are betting that you will mess up and have to pay interest, but this can be avoided with proper planning.

Finally, it is important to remember to cancel/downgrade your cards once you are finished with them and you don’t want to pay the annual fee. Most churnable cards come with an annual fee and you can find yourself paying hundreds or thousands of dollars in annual fees if you aren’t paying attention.

To avoid this you can cancel/downgrade before this fee hits. Note that in some cases, especially for business users, there may be enough spending on the card to profit despite the fee. In some cases you can receive a retention offer/waived annual fee if you call in. 

Do the math for your situation to be certain whether it is worth the fee or not.

Best Credit Cards of 2019 

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I’ll be updating this page constantly for my top 10 picks of credit cards in any given time, so you can refer to this page in the future for updated information . These are my personal picks for the best credit cards of 2019 : 

• Chase Sapphire reserve

1. $300 Annual Travel Credit
2. 3X Points on Travel and Dining Worldwide
3. Global Entry or TSA Pre✔® Fee Credit
4. No Foreign Transaction Fees
5. Trip Cancellation / Trip Interruption Insurance
6. Auto Rental Collision Damage Waiver
7. Complimentary Airport Lounge Access ; Priority Pass 
8. No Blackout Dates or Restrictions

• U.S. Bank altitude

1. Sign up bonus of 50,000 points after $4,500 in spend within 90 days of account opening.
2. Points are worth 1.5¢ each towards flights.
3. Card earns at the following rates:
   1. 3x on mobile payments 
   2. 3x on travel purchases made directly with airlines, hotels, car rental companies, taxis, limousines, passenger trains and cruise line companies
   3. 1x on all other purchases
4. Annual fee is $400 for the primary cardholder and $75 for authorized users
5. $325 annual travel credit
6. Priority Pass Select Membership
7. Visa Infinite Benefits. Does not come with $100 saving on round trip flight
8. TSA PreCheck/Global Entry Reimbursement once every four year.
9. Silvercar discount. Rent an Audi A4 with no lines or paperwork from airport locations in select cities and receive a discount of up to 30%  on rentals of two days or more.
10. GroundLink Black Car Service. 15% discount and $30 off first ride
11. Metal card.
12. No foreign transaction fees.

• Citi Costco 

1. 4% Cash back on eligible gas worldwide including gas at Costco 
2. 3% Cash back on restaurant and eligible travel purchases worldwide 
3. 2% Cash back on all other purchases from Costco and Costco.com 
4. 1% Cash back on all other purchases.

• Chase freedom Unlimited 

1. Best Freedom bonus offer: $200 cash back
2. Earn unlimited 1.5% cash back
3. No annual fee
4. Cash Back rewards do not expire
5. 5x rotating categories 

• Citi double cash ; When you make a purchase, you’ll earn 1% unlimited cash back. Then, you earn an additional 1% cash back as you make payments for that purchase.

• Capital one venture

1. No Foreign Transaction Fees
2. 24-Hour Travel Assistance Services
3. Auto Rental Collision Damage Waiver
4. 50,000 Bonus Miles
5. unlimited 2X miles per dollar on every purchase, every day
6. Annual Fee $0 intro for the first year, $95 after that

• Discover it 

1. Same as Chase freedom unlimited card Earn 5% cash back at different places
2. 1% cash back on all other purchases.

• American Express platinum 

1. Annual fee of $550 is not waived the first year
2. 5x points per $1 spent on purchases made with airlines or with American Express Travel
3. 5x points per $1 spent on hotel bookings made directly from the American Express travel website
4. 1x points on all other purchases
5. $200 airline incidental credit per calendar year
6. $200 Uber credit ($15 per month and additional $20 in December)
7. No foreign transaction fees
8. Hilton gold status
9. Fee Credit for Global Entry or TSA Pre✓
10. Lounge access: Centurion lounge access, International American Express lounge access, Delta SkyClub lounge access, Priority pass select membership, Airspace lounge access

• American Express gold

1. Earn 4X Membership Rewards points when you dine at restaurants worldwide
2. 4X Membership Rewards points at US supermarkets, on up to $25,000 per year in purchases
3. $120 Dining Credit 
4. No Foriegn transaction fee 
5. 50,000 Sign up bonus when spending $4,000 in first 3 months 

These are by no means the only credit cards you can get, But these are the best credit cards of 2019 for each category . As I mentioned before , having different rewards for your needs is very important like the Apple or Amazon Cards. 

This Article is meant to be used as a framework of how you should make decisions on which credit card to choose, what you need to be careful of and what type of rewards you can potentially get .