Tis the Season! The Best Travel Credit Cards for Holiday Shopping 2018
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Black Friday, the busiest shopping day of the year, is just around the corner, marking the beginning of the holiday shopping season.
Using the right credit card while you shop for holiday gifts and supplies can help you maximize rewards for your spending. Now is a great time to work towards meeting the spending requirements on one of the best travel credit cards to unlock a welcome bonus! That way, you can earn Big Travel for yourself while you’re splurging on others.
With the increase in spending that usually comes with the holidays, it is smart to strategize which cards to use to make the most of your purchases.
Here’s our list of the best credit cards to use for holiday shopping.
Best Cards for Holiday Shopping
- Blue Cash Preferred® Card from American Express: Best Holiday Shopping Credit Card for Department Stores
- Chase Freedom: Best Holiday Shopping Credit Card for Warehouse Clubs (Costco, Sam’s Club, etc)
- Ink Business Preferred Credit Card: Best Holiday Shopping Credit Card for Business
- The Platinum Card® from American Express: Best Holiday Shopping Credit Card for Online Shopping with Fast Shipping
- Amazon Prime Rewards Visa Signature Card: Best Holiday Shopping Credit Card for Amazon
Using a rewards credit card to pay for your holiday shopping can be a really easy way to earn cash back or points to use toward your next vacation!
Let’s take a look at 5 fantastic holiday shopping credit cards. Depending on what type of holiday shopping you do, consider one of these great cards to keep in your wallet.
5 Best Holiday Shopping Travel Credit Cards
The best card to use for any purchase is the card you’re currently meeting the minimum spending on. This helps you to unlock a big travel card bonus and earn miles, points, or cash back for Big Travel! ?
After you’ve done that, consider these cards to reward you for your thoughtful holiday gift buying.
Best Holiday Shopping Card for Department Stores: Blue Cash Preferred Card from American Express
Apply Here: Apply for the Blue Cash Preferred® Card from American Express
Read our review of the Blue Cash Preferred Card from American Express
Why the AMEX Blue Cash Preferred Is Great for Holiday Shopping
If you spend a lot at department stores, consider the American Express Blue Cash Preferred card. With the Blue Cash Preferred, you’ll earn 3% cash back at select US department stores.
Here are some of the department stores that qualify for 3% cash back:
- Bloomingdale’s
- Dillard’s
- J.C. Penney (JCP)
- Kohl’s
- Lord & Taylor
- Macy’s
- Neiman Marcus
- Nordstrom
- Saks Fifth Avenue
- Sears
The American Express Blue Cash Preferred offers $200 cash back (in the form of a statement credit) when you spend $1,000 in purchases on your new card within 3 months of account opening.
This card has a $95 annual fee (not waived the first year)
Best Holiday Shopping Credit Card for Warehouse Clubs: Chase Freedom
Apply Here: Chase Freedom
Read our review of the Chase Freedom
Why the Chase Freedom Is Great for Holiday Shopping
During the 4th quarter of 2018, the Chase Freedom bonus spending categories include warehouse clubs. This means using your Chase Freedom card at Costco or Sam’s Club this holiday season can earn you 5% back or 5X Chase Ultimate Rewards points per $1 on up to $1,500 in spending this quarter (combined with Chase Pay and department stores) when you activate the bonus.
This is especially awesome because warehouse clubs are usually not included in bonus spending categories with most other cards, so this is an awesome opportunity for shopping this season.
Don’t forget to activate your Chase Freedom bonus categories before December 14, 2018.
With the Chase Freedom, you’ll earn $150 (15,000 Chase Ultimate Rewards points) after you spend $500 on purchases in the first 3 months from account opening.
This card has no annual fee.
Best Holiday Shopping Credit Card for Business: Chase Ink Business Preferred
Apply Here: Ink Business Preferred Credit Card
Read our review of the Chase Ink Business Preferred
Why the Ink Business Preferred Is Great for Holiday Shopping
Even business owners need to buy gifts. From the gift basket to a nice new suit, the Chase Ink Business Preferred is the card you want to use to earn the most points toward future travel rewards.
Right now is a great time to apply for the Chase Ink Business Preferred. You’ll earn 80,000 Chase Ultimate Rewards points after you spend $5,000 on purchases in the first 3 months from account opening.
This is the highest public welcome bonus of any Chase Ultimate Rewards card. And the holiday shopping season is an excellent time to work towards the spending requirement for this bonus!
This bonus is worth $1,000+ of free travel when you redeem your points through the Chase Ultimate Rewards travel portal, and potentially much more when you transfer points to airline and hotel partners like Hyatt or United Airlines.
The card has a $95 annual fee, which is NOT waived the first year.
Best Holiday Shopping Credit Card for Online Shopping with Fast Shipping: The Platinum Card from American Express
Apply Here: The Platinum Card® from American Express
Read our review of The Platinum Card from American Express
Why the AMEX Platinum Is Great for Holiday Shopping
If you like to shop online, the Platinum Card from American Express is for you. This card offers tons of great perks and benefits that you can use during travel, but it also includes a complimentary ShopRunner membership, which will bring your online shopping to the next level.
With ShopRunner, you can shop at over 140+ online retailers and get free 2-day shipping plus free return shipping on all orders. And most ShopRunner retailers have no minimum order size either.
New Platinum Card From American Express cardholders can earn 60,000 AMEX Membership Rewards points after spending $5,000 on purchases with their new card in the first 3 months of account opening.
Those 60,000 AMEX Membership Rewards points are enough for 8 short-haul one-way coach flights on American Airlines when you transfer your points to British Airways, or 2 round-trip coach flights from anywhere in the mainland US to Hawaii on Delta when you move points to Flying Blue.
This card has a $550 annual fee (not waived the first year).
For many folks, the high annual fee is more than worth it. You can read our review of the AMEX Platinum to see how to make the most of the card’s perks and benefits!
Best Card for Amazon: Chase Amazon Prime Rewards
Apply Here: Chase Amazon Prime Rewards
The information for the Amazon Prime Rewards Visa Signature card has been collected independently by Million Mile Secrets. The card details on this page have not been reviewed or provided by the card issuer.
Why the Chase Amazon Is Great for Holiday Shopping
Amazon is one of the top destinations for holiday shopping. It should come as no surprise that one of the best cards to use for Amazon shopping is Amazon’s own Chase Amazon Prime Rewards card.
This card earns you 5% back on all Amazon and Whole Foods purchases if you have an Amazon Prime membership (otherwise 3% back). This balance is displayed at the checkout screen on Amazon, so that it can be applied to any future Amazon orders you place. There is no minimum rewards balance to redeem.
You’ll also earn 2% back at restaurants, gas stations, and drugstores.
Earning a full 5% back on a site that will let you buy almost anything is a great deal. For folks who do a lot of shopping on Amazon, this can translate into significant savings.
When you apply for the Chase Amazon Prime Rewards card, you can earn a $70 Amazon.com gift card instantly upon approval. This is automatically added to your Amazon account and can be used immediately on any shopping you have planned.
This card has no annual fee, however, you need to maintain an active Amazon Prime account (which costs ~$119 per year) to get the most out of this card.
Bottom Line
These are the best holiday shopping travel credit cards:
- Blue Cash Preferred® Card from American Express: Best Holiday Shopping Credit Card for Department Stores
- Chase Freedom: Best Holiday Shopping Credit Card for Warehouse Clubs (Costco, Sam’s Club, etc)
- Ink Business Preferred Credit Card: Best Holiday Shopping Credit Card for Business
- The Platinum Card® from American Express: Best Holiday Shopping Credit Card for Online Shopping with Fast Shipping
- Amazon Prime Rewards Visa Signature Card: Best Holiday Shopping Credit Card for Amazon
No matter where you shop this holiday season, there’s likely a rewards credit card that can earn you extra miles, points, or cash back!
What about you? Which card is your favorite for holiday shopping?
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