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Boasting a portfolio of over 20 cards, Jarrod has been an expert in the points and miles space for over 6 years. He earns and redeems over 1 million points per year and his work has been featured in o...
With years of experience in corporate marketing and as the Executive Director of the American Chamber of Commerce in Qatar, Keri is now Editor-in-Chief at UP, overseeing daily content operations and r...
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Since credit card welcome bonus offers are constantly changing, and the value of certain point programs can vary drastically, we’ve put together this monthly guide to keep you up to date on which cards are currently offering the best welcome offers. We suggest taking a look at this list before you sign up for a credit card!
11 Best Personal Credit Card Welcome Bonus Offers in August 2023
NEW OFFER: Earn 60,000 points after spending $3,000 on purchases in your first 6 months. Plus, earn 20% back on eligible travel and transit purchases made during your first 6 months, up to $200 back as a statement credit.
Earn 60,000 points after spending $4,000 in purchases within the first 3 months. Plus, for a limited time, earn a total of 10 points per $1 spent on hotel, car rentals, and attractions (excluding air travel) booked on the Citi Travel portal through June 30, 2024.
Earn $750 cash-back after spending $6,000 on purchases in the first 3 months
Annual fee of $0
$750
15x per $1
* This bonus value is an estimated valuation calculated by Upgraded Points after analyzing redemption options, transfer partners, award availability, and how much Upgraded Points would pay to buy these points. ** Calculated as bonus points divided by the dollars spent to achieve the bonus.
Best Personal Credit Card Welcome Bonus Offers Card Details
The Amex Green card is a stellar all-around travel rewards card thanks to its 3x points per $1 at restaurants worldwide, on all eligible travel purchases (including airfare, hotels, cruises, tours, car rentals, campgrounds, and vacation rentals), and transit purchases (including trains, taxicabs, rideshare services, ferries, tolls, parking, buses, and subways). This variety of categories will have you racking up Amex Membership Rewards points fast.
Plus the card offers up to $189 per calendar year in statement credits after you pay for a CLEAR Plus membership with the Card, up to $100 in statement credits annually when you purchase airport lounge access through LoungeBuddy, trip delay insurance, access to the Amex transfer partners, and more.
Citi®/AAdvantage® Executive World Elite Mastercard®
The new perks of the card include 4x miles on American flights on up to $150,000 in spend, and then 5x miles for the remainder of the year, plus 10x miles on rental cars booked through aa.com/cars and hotels booked through aa.com/hotels. There are also new statement credits, including an up to $120 annual statement credit for Avis or Budget car rentals, an up to $10 monthly statement credit for Grubhub, and up to $10 monthly Lyft credit after taking 3 eligible rides in a month.
Cardmembers can also earn 10,000 bonus Loyalty Points after reaching 50,000 Loyalty Points in a status qualification year, plus an additional 10,000 bonus Loyalty Points after reaching 90,000 Loyalty Points in the same status qualification year.
Capital One Venture X Rewards Credit Card
The Capital One Venture X card is a great all-in-one premium rewards card thanks to perks like 10x miles on hotels and rental cars booked through Capital One Travel, 5x miles on flights booked through Capital One Travel, and an uncapped 2x miles on all other purchases.
Playing little brother to the Capital One Venture X card is the Capital One Venture card, and while it doesn’t offer all the bells and whistles of the premium version, it currently offers the same great welcome offer and plenty of solid perks.
It also earns an uncapped 2x miles on all purchases, a Global Entry or TSA PreCheck credit, 2 complimentary Capital One Lounge or Plaza Premium Lounge visits per year, and more.
The Amex Gold card is easily one of our favorite rewards cards. This is because Amex Membership Rewards points are some of our favorite points to earn, and the Amex Gold card is great at earning them. With it, you’ll earn 4x points at U.S. supermarkets (on up to $25,000 in spend) and restaurants, plus 3x points on flights booked directly with airlines or at Amex Travel.
Cardholders also receive great benefits (some of which require prior enrollment), such as Uber Cash of up to $120 annually (up to $10 monthly Uber Cash for Uber Eats orders or Uber rides in the U.S.), up to $120 in annual dining credit (up to $10 each month at select restaurants and food delivery services), travel protections, access to Amex Offers, and more.
Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card
The Chase Sapphire Preferred card is one of our top picks when it comes to starter travel rewards credit cards thanks to its combination of bonus categories, benefits, and the value of Chase Ultimate Rewards points.
Cardholders earn 5x points on travel purchased through the Chase travel portal, 3x points on dining, online grocery purchases, and select streaming services, and 2x points on all other travel purchases. Plus, on your account anniversary, you’ll earn bonus points equal to 10% of your total purchases made the previous year.
You’ll also receive annual statement credits for hotel stays, Gopuff, and Instacart, along with excellent travel and purchase protections. When you’re ready to redeem, you receive a 25% bonus when redeeming through the Chase travel portal, or transfer your points to one of the excellent Chase airline and hotel transfer partners.
The Chase Sapphire Reserve card is the premium, big-brother, version of the Chase Sapphire Preferred card and offers more perks and higher bonus categories, but with a higher annual fee.
It earns 10x points on hotels and rental cars purchased through the Chase travel portal, 5x points on flights purchased through the Chase travel portal, plus 3x points on dining and general travel purchases. Cardholders receive an up to $300 annual travel credit, Priority Pass lounge access, and top-notch travel and purchase protection.
Of course, it still offers the same great access to the Chase airline and hotel transfer partners, but when you redeem points through the Chase travel portal, your point bonus value increases by 50%.
United Club℠ Infinite Card
For United loyalists, you’d be hard-pressed to find a card better suited for you than the United Club Infinite card.
Not only does it offer a full United Club membership, but you’ll also receive perks like free checked bags, Premier Upgrades on award tickets, 25% back on United inflight purchases, the ability to earn Premier Qualifying Points for your spend, and a 10% discount on United Economy Saver awards within the continental U.S. and Canada.
Citi Premier® Card
In terms of great all-around starter travel rewards cards, the Citi Premier card is up there with the best of them. It is excellent at earning points as it offers 3x points at restaurants, supermarkets, gas stations, airfare, and hotels. You’ll also receive $100 off a single hotel stay of $500 or more each year you hold the card.
While we don’t value Citi ThankYou Points quite as highly as other transferable points currencies, they are still incredibly useful when redeemed through the ThankYou portal, and you also have access to excellent transfer partners such as Avianca, Turkish Airlines, Virgin Atlantic, and more.
You might initially feel that British Airways Avios would be useless to you if you seldom fly with British Airways, but that couldn’t be further from the truth.
In fact, British Airways Avios are incredibly useful when it comes to booking short-haul flights within the U.S. with American Airlines and Alaska Airlines, its Oneworld partners. Domestic U.S. flights on American Airlines and Alaska Airlines under 1,151 flight miles (think NYC to Miami) can be booked for just 9,000 Avios each way. This can be immensely helpful on short routes where the cash costs are high.
The British Airways Visa card has interesting benefits, as well, including 3x Avios on British Airways, Aer Lingus, and Iberia flight purchases, and 2x Avios on hotel accommodations. You’ll also receive 10% off British Airways flights starting in the U.S., up to $600 in Rewards Flight statement credits, and the popular Travel Together Ticket if you spend $30,000 on the card in a calendar year.
Best Business Credit Card Welcome Bonus Offers Card Details
The Ink Business Preferred card is a great all-around business rewards card that offers 3x points on your first $150,000 in spend each year on travel, shipping purchases, and advertising purchases made with social media sites and search engines, plus internet, cable, and phone services — allowing business owners to really rack up points with this card.
Plus, even with only a $95 annual fee, it offers access to Chase transfer partners, your points are worth 25% more through the Chase travel portal, and you have great coverage, such as cell phone insurance, purchase protection, extended warranty protection, rental car insurance, and more.
The Amex Business Gold card is a great option for business owners looking to earn as many Amex Membership Rewards points as possible thanks to its 4x points on your top 2 spend categories each month on up to $150,000 in annual spend from the following categories:
Airfare purchased directly from airlines
U.S. purchases for advertising in select media (online, TV, radio)
U.S. purchases made directly from select technology providers of computer hardware, software, and cloud solutions
U.S. purchases at gas stations
U.S. purchases at restaurants, including takeout and delivery
U.S. purchases for shipping
Plus, it offers perks like trip delay insurance, baggage insurance, and access to Amex’s The Hotel Collection.
Southwest Rapid Rewards® Performance Business Credit Card
If you’re a frequent Southwest flyer, the Southwest Performance Business card can offer tons of value. It earns 4x points on Southwest purchases, 3x points on hotel and rental car partners, and 2x points on local transit, social media and search engine advertising, and internet, cable, phone, and select streaming services.
You’ll enjoy 4 complimentary Upgraded Boardings each year, 9,000 annual bonus points, inflight Wi-Fi credits, and a $500 annual fee credit towards point transfers.
Beyond the value that you can receive from the welcome bonus offer, one aspect that is so great is that this welcome offer gets you 64% of the way to the 135,000 points needed to earn the highly coveted Southwest Companion Pass. If you’re unfamiliar, the Southwest Companion Pass gets you buy one, get one free flights (on both cash and award tickets) for you and a traveling companion for the rest of the year in which you earn it, and all of the following year — talk about big-time value!
Ink Business Premier℠ Credit Card
The Ink Business Premier card is the newest business credit card from Chase, and it is sure to be a hit for business owners with large expenditures, as the card earns an uncapped 2.5% back on every purchase of $5,000 or more and 2% back on every other purchase.
While the card does earn Ultimate Rewards points, unfortunately, the rewards are not combinable with cards that have access to Chase transfer partners like the Ink Business Preferred card. That said, the card is still very compelling, and quite lucrative given the ability to earn $1,000 in cash back after you spend $10,000 on purchases in your first 3 months from account opening.
Ink Business Cash® Credit Card
The Ink Business Cash card is a fantastic $0-annual-fee business credit card for those whose spending habits align with its bonus categories. You can earn 5% cash-back on the first $25,000 spent in combined purchases at office supply stores and on internet, cable and phone services each year and 2% cash-back on the first $25,000 spent in combined purchases at gas stations and restaurants each year.
Ink Business Unlimited® Credit Card
Another great $0-annual-fee business card option, the Ink Business Unlimited card earns an unlimited 1.5% cash-back on all purchases and offers useful perks for business owners like employee cards at no additional cost, purchase protection, extended warranty protection, and more. Further, it is also one of the best 0% APR business credit cards.
How To Choose the Right Credit Card Welcome Bonus?
While a credit card welcome offer is great, one important thing to take into account before signing up for a new card is whether or not the card is a good fit for you. Consider the card’s bonus categories, benefits, protections, redemption options, and annual fee.
If most of the card’s perks seem like a good fit for you, then the welcome bonus you receive is just that — a bonus!
Is a Credit Card Welcome Bonus Worth It?
A credit card welcome offer is extremely worth it. A new bonus can really kick-start your rewards balance and get you that much closer to your next vacation. Many of the best welcome bonus offers can be worth thousands of dollars in travel.
Consider this, if the welcome offer on a card like the Amex Gold card is 60,000 points, you would need to spend a combined $15,000 on its 4x bonus categories of U.S. supermarkets and restaurants before you’d earn 60,000 points. This is why a great card welcome bonus can be so lucrative!
Methodology: How We Selected the Best Credit Card Welcome Bonus Offers
Put simply, we rank order the best credit card welcome bonus offers based on the dollar valuation we think the bonus provides. Of course, not all loyalty programs offer the same value proposition, so we determine the value of a current bonus offer based on our monthly points and miles valuations. For instance, if a welcome bonus offer is 60,000 points, and we value those points at 2 cents each, we’d say that bonus is worth $1,200 and it would be ranked accordingly.
Final Thoughts
There you have it — the best credit card offers for this month! Keep in mind that, though a welcome offer might be great, it might not necessarily be the right card for you. Make sure you are weighing which cards can offer you the most value, beyond just the welcome offer, when deciding what new card to add to your wallet.
Don’t forget that we update this page each month, so remember the check back next month as new welcome offers are released to see which cards make our top list.
For Capital One products listed on this page, some of the above benefits are provided by Visa® or Mastercard® and may vary by product. See the respective Guide to Benefits for details, as terms and exclusions apply.
For the trip delay insurance benefit of the American Express® Business Gold Card, eligibility and benefit level varies by card. Terms, conditions and limitations apply. Visit americanexpress.com/benefitsguide for more details. Underwritten by New Hampshire Insurance Company, an AIG Company. For the baggage insurance plan benefit of the American Express® Business Gold Card, eligibility and benefit level varies by card. Terms, conditions and limitations apply. Visit americanexpress.com/benefitsguide for more details. Underwritten by AMEX Assurance Company.
For the baggage insurance plan benefit of the American Express® Business Gold Card, eligibility and benefit level varies by card. Terms, conditions and limitations apply. Please visit americanexpress.com/benefitsguide for more details. Underwritten by AMEX Assurance Company.
The information regarding The Hilton Honors American Express Surpass® Card was independently collected by Upgraded Points and not provided nor reviewed by the issuer.
For rates and fees of The Platinum Card® from American Express, click here. For rates and fees of the American Express® Green Card, click here. For rates and fees of the American Express® Gold Card, click here. For rates and fees of The Business Platinum Card® from American Express, click here. For rates and fees of the American Express® Business Gold Card, click here.
Featured Image Credit: Upgraded Points
Frequently Asked Questions
Credit card welcome bonus offers can vary drastically from month to month, often increasing or decreasing by tens of thousands of points at a time. That is why we’ve put together this monthly guide to make sure you’re always up to date on the current top welcome bonus offers.
Credit card welcome bonuses are a one-time bonus that you can receive when you open up the card. Credit card welcome bonuses are accompanied by a minimum spend requirement that require you to spend a certain amount of money (often somewhere between $3,000 to $5,000) on the card in the first few months of opening your card in order to receive the bonus.
Credit card welcome bonus offers, and the rewards you receive for your card spend, are categorized as a rebate and, therefore, are not taxable.
If you were recently approved for a credit card, and then the welcome bonus offer increased, you can contact the bank and ask that they match you to the higher welcome bonus offer. Some issuers, like Chase, have a history of matching cardmembers to higher offers, while others, like American Express, usually do not. That said, there are no guarantees either way, but it never hurts to ask.
Usually, yes, though, it depends on the card. Some cards require a waiting period of 2 to 4 years before you can receive a bonus again. Some credit cards from American Express are “once in a lifetime,” though you can usually get them again after 7 years.
There isn’t a set credit score that will guarantee your approval for a new credit card. However, generally speaking, you should have reasonably good approval odds for most credit cards if you have a credit score of 670 or better.
Usually, you’ll receive the welcome bonus for your new card in the statement after you meet the minimum spend requirement. The minimum spend requirement is a set amount of money that you must spend on the card to get the welcome bonus, and it usually must be completed within the first 3 months of having the card.
Boasting a portfolio of over 20 cards, Jarrod has been an expert in the points and miles space for over 6 years. He earns and redeems over 1 million points per year and his work has been featured in outlets like The New York Times.
