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When it comes to earning travel rewards, nothing beats a credit card with a hefty welcome bonus, generous earn rate and ongoing perks. But there is a catch: Many popular credit cards also carry high annual fees.
While the perks often justify the cost, not everyone will maximize a card’s benefits enough to get their money’s worth. The good news is that for every top-ranking credit card, there is a cheaper alternative that offers similar perks with lower annual fee. Here are five to consider.
Blue Business Plus instead of Capital One Spark 2% Cash Plus
The Blue Business Plus card earns double points on all business purchases. Getty Images
The Capital One Spark 2% Cash Plus gets high marks thanks to earning 2% cash back on all purchases, plus 5% cash back on hotels and rental cars booked through Capital One Travel. The card offers a high welcome bonus too: $500 after you spend $5,000 in the first six months and another $500 after you spend $50,000 in the first six months. It has a $150 annual fee, which can be offset by a $200 annual cash bonus when you spend $200,000 or more per year.
With a steep annual fee and high spending requirements, the Spark 2% Cash Plus Card can be a tough sell for some business owners. Instead, The Blue Business® Plus Credit Card from American Express might be a better alternative. It has no annual fee (see rates and fees) and earns 2 American Express Membership Rewards points per dollar spent on all purchases (up to $50,000, then 1 point per dollar).
The card has a lower welcome bonus than the Spark 2% Cash Plus Card, but the spending requirement is lower: 15,000 points after spending $3,000 in the first three months of opening the account. Plus, the Blue Business Plus offers a promotional 0% APR on purchases made in the first 12 months of opening the account (then 17.99% to 25.99% variable).
Read CNN Underscored’s Blue Business Plus review.
Learn more and apply now for the Blue Business Plus card.
Hilton Honors American Express Card instead of the Hilton Honors Surpass
Hilton’s no annual fee card still provides generous perks. Hilton
The Hilton Honors American Express Surpass® Card has a lot of useful perks for a card with a $95 annual fee (see rates and fees). Namely, it offers automatic Hilton Gold elite status, ten complimentary Priority Pass airport lounge visits every year and an annual free night when you spend $15,000 per calendar year. The welcome bonus is a generous 150,000 points after you spend $3,000 within six months of card membership.
This bonus can go a long way since Hilton award nights start at 5,000 points. The card’s category bonuses also help you accrue free nights faster. It earns 12 points per dollar at Hilton hotels, 6 points per dollar on dining, gas and groceries in the U.S. and 3 points per dollar on everything else.
But if you’re looking for a cheaper alternative, the Hilton Honors American Express Card is worth considering. The card has no annual fee (see rates and fees) but still offers a substantial welcome bonus and earn rate. Cardholders receive 100,000 points after spending $2,000 within six months of card membership. It earns 7 points per dollar at Hilton hotels, 5 points per dollar at U.S. restaurants, gas stations and supermarkets in the U.S. and 3 points per dollar everywhere else.
While the Hilton Honors Card only comes with Silver elite status, you can upgrade to Gold after spending $20,000 in a calendar year. This makes the Hilton Honors card a good alternative to the Surpass Card if you want to earn Hilton points but avoid paying an annual fee.
Read CNN Underscored’s Hilton Honors card review.
Learn more and apply now for the Hilton Honors card.
Bilt Mastercard instead of the Chase Sapphire Preferred Card
Earn points on your rent payments with Bilt. Getty Images
If you rent a home, the Bilt World Elite Mastercard® is an excellent alternative to the Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card, offering superior rewards and no annual fee (see rates and fees). The Bilt Mastercard earns 3 points per dollar on dining, 2 points per dollar on travel (flights, hotels, rental cars, and cruises booked directly), up to 5 points per dollar on Lyft rides and 1 point per dollar everywhere else. You must make five transactions per statement period to receive points on your purchases.
Meanwhile, the Sapphire Preferred earns 5 points per dollar on travel booked through Ultimate Rewards, 2 points per dollar on all other travel, 3 points per dollar on dining, grocery delivery and streaming services, 5 points per dollar on Lyft rides (through March 2025) and 1 point per dollar everywhere else. Unlike the Bilt Mastercard, the Sapphire Preferred has a welcome bonus: 60,000 points after $4,000 spent within three months of account opening.
The Bilt Mastercard awards points on rent payments. You’ll earn 1 point per $1 spent on rent payments, up to $50,000 per year. Rent payments are processed fee-free to any landlord. In fact, Bilt will mail a check to your landlord or provide you with a bank account number to use when making payments through an online portal.
Bilt offers double points during its monthly “Rent Day” promotion on the first day of every month. Rent payments are excluded, but card holders earn 6 points per dollar on dining, 4 points per dollar on travel and 2 points per dollar everywhere else.
Even though the Bilt Mastercard doesn’t have a welcome bonus, its category bonuses and ability to earn points on rent can amount to more rewards in the long run. Plus, Bilt Rewards points are similar to Chase Ultimate Rewards since you can redeem through the Bilt travel portal at 1.25 cents per point or transfer to various airline and hotel partners:
Aer Lingus AerClub
Air Canada Aeroplan
Air France-KLM Flying Blue
American Airlines AAdvantage
British Airways Executive Club
Cathay Pacific Asia Miles
Emirates Skywards
Hawaiian Airlines HawaiianMikes
Iberia Plus
IHG One Rewards
Turkish Airlines Miles & Smiles
United Airlines MileagePlus
Virgin Red
World of Hyatt
Learn more and apply now for the Bilt Mastercard.
Citi Double Cash instead of the Citi Premier
The Citi Double Cash earns 2% cash back on all purchases, regardless of where you spend. Getty Images
The Citi Premier® Card is a solid option for everyday spending, thanks to earning 3 points per dollar at restaurants, gas stations, supermarkets, airlines and hotels. All other purchases earn 1 point per dollar.
The card also includes an annual $100 hotel savings (valid on bookings of $500 or more), partially offsetting the $95 annual fee. Plus, the card’s 60,000-point welcome bonus that’s earned after spending $4,000 in the first three months of account opening can go a long way, since the Citi ThankYou program has many great redemption opportunities.
If you’re looking for a cheaper alternative, consider the Citi® Double Cash Card. The card has no welcome bonus but it also doesn’t charge an annual fee. Best of all, it earns 2% cash back on all purchases (1% when you buy, 1% when you pay it off). Cash back is earned in the form of Citi ThankYou points, but you’ll have fewer redemption options with the Double Cash (unless it’s paired with a premium Citi card).
More importantly, if most of your spending falls outside Citi Premier’s category bonuses, you’ll earn more points with the Citi Double Cash card. It also offers a 0% APR deal on balance transfers for 18 months (then 18.49% to 28.49% variable), which carries a 3% fee. This offer can be helpful for refinancing credit card debt as you’ll save on interest charges for well over a year.
Read CNN Underscored’s Citi Double Cash review.
Learn more and apply now for the Citi Double Cash.
Capital One Venture X instead of the Chase Sapphire Reserve
You can use Capital One miles to book flights on any airline you’d like. Julian Kheel
The Chase Sapphire Reserve® is one of the most popular travel rewards cards thanks to a robust welcome bonus and earning structure. The card offers 60,000 points after you spend $4,000 within three months of account opening. Plus, cardholders earn 10 points per dollar on Ultimate Rewards hotel and rental car bookings, 10 points per dollar on Chase Dining, 5 points per dollar on flights booked through Ultimate Rewards and 3 points per dollars on dining and all other travel purchases. It has offers a $300 annual travel credit to partially offset the $550 annual fee, along with a Priority Pass membership.
However, you can get many of those same benefits and a higher welcome bonus from the Capital One Venture X. The card’s $395 annual fee is mostly offset by a $300 annual travel credit (valid on Capital One Travel bookings) and 10,000 anniversary miles (worth $100). Cardholders also get Priority Pass membership and access to Capital One’s (albeit limited) airport lounge network.
Better yet, new cardholders earn 75,000 miles after spending $4,000 in the first three months of account opening. The card earns 10 miles per dollar on hotels and rental cars booked through Capital One Travel, 5 miles per dollar on Capital One Travel flight bookings and 2 miles per dollar on all other purchases. You can use Capital One miles to offset travel purchases (at a rate of 1 cent per miles) or transfer them to airline and hotel partners.
Learn more about the Capital One Venture X.
Click here for rates and fees of the Blue Business Plus card.
Click here for rates and fees of the Hilton Honors Surpass card.
Click here for rates and fees of the Hilton Honors card.
For more credit card info, read CNN Underscored’s guide to the best travel credit cards currently available.
Get all the latest personal finance deals, news and advice at CNN Underscored Money.
5 cheaper alternatives to popular high-annual fee cards
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