Hi guys, today I’m going to share with you some exciting information on the best credit cards for 2021. So this credit card week is the third and final week of the TPG awards 2021. Readers voted for six categories from September 13 to October 15, and the results are also out now.
Now let’s see those six categories and the cards that have won awards.
Six categories
First category
It is the best premium credit card. In here guys, they have chosen the cards which have an annual fee above $300.
This year has seen a flood of new product launches. It includes some in the previous few weeks. So they considered the cards that officially unveiled on or before November 12, 2021. However, they considered Any other new cards released after November 12, 2021, for the next year.
Are you excited to know the winner? I guess it’s a yes.
Well, the winner was citi®/ AAdvantage executive world elite MasterCard.
Let’s see why this card has won this award.
Citi®/ AAdvantage executive world elite MasterCard
American airlines’ highest-tier partner credit card is the Citi/AAdvantage executive world elite MasterCard. The hefty yearly price compensated by a long list of perks aimed at frequent flyers on American airlines.
Advantages of Citi®/ AAdvantage executive world elite MasterCard
- The primary cardholder’s admirals club membership is the most outstanding advantage of the Citi/AAdvantage executive world elite MasterCard.
- The card offers users who want to achieve American Airlines elite status the opportunity to earn 10,000 elite eligible miles after spending $40,000 in a year.
- Additionally, American Airlines will eliminate the elite qualifying dollar criteria for AAdvantage gold, platinum, or platinum pro status. Further, this is applicable for members who purchase $30,000 or more on the card.
- On American airlines flights inside the united states, primary cardholders get their first checked bag free.
- When users pay with their card, passengers also enjoy priority check-in and boarding, as well as a 25% discount on in-flight food and beverage purchases.
- You can also obtain the sign-up bonus if you spend $5,000 in the first three months after starting your account.
- The card also grants access to the coveted lounge benefit to up to 10 authorized users, a feature not seen on previous airline club cards. When opposed to buying multiple or household admirals club memberships, this might save you hundreds of dollars.
- Showers, laptops, copiers, and printers are all available in several lounges.
More benefits of Citi®/ AAdvantage executive world elite MasterCard
- With a same-day boarding pass on American airlines, this membership enables the member and up to two guests or spouses. Further, it enables all children under 18 to visit the admirals club lounges.
- In addition, the membership gives members access to Oneworld clubs and other clubs across the world where American airlines customers are welcome.
- You may also be entitled to a partial refund of your membership cost if you are currently a member of the admirals club.
- Moreover, domestic and international travelers will benefit from the AAdvantage executive world elite card.
- It provides VIP airport experiences such as priority check-in, priority airport screening, and priority boarding when available.
- This offer is valid for you and up to 8 additional guests mentioned on your reservation.
- In regions like Europe and Asia, where the technology is standard, EMV intelligent chip integration makes overseas transactions a breeze. You also won’t have to pay any overseas transaction fees, which is a significant saving.
- You’ll also get credit for your global entry or TSA precheck application price.
Annual Fee of Citi®/ AAdvantage executive world elite MasterCard
Their annual fee is $450. This $450 yearly airline credit card is less expensive than paying cash for a lounge membership.
Why Citi®/ AAdvantage executive world elite MasterCard is in the top?
For no additional charge, the card allows you to share advantages with up to 10 approved cardholders. However, the perks of the approved user club are more limited. For example, while flying on same-day American airlines flights, authorized users can only access admirals clubs, not Oneworld or related clubs. They also don’t get a free checked bag or preferential access to the airport and boarding gates.
So, what kinds of benefits are available at admirals club lounges? To begin, you’ll serve light appetizers and house beverages. You’ll also have access to free Wi-Fi and power outlets so you can get some work done or binge-watch your favorite shows.
Higher annual fees on cards like the chase sapphire reserve and American express’s platinum card® may have pushed this unlikely champion to the top. So it’s reasonable to assume that aa fliers just turned out in massive numbers during voting.
Second category
It is the best travel rewards credit card. All the travel credit cards which have a small annual fee of less than $300 can apply for this award. And a well-known name took the top spot in this category. Guess what! It was a chase sapphire preferred card. There are many reasons for this to become the first. Let’s see those reasons now.
Chase sapphire preferred card
When it comes to travel cards, the chase sapphire preferred is a great option. This is because it might suit both newcomers to points and miles and seasoned reward maximizers.
Advantages of Chase sapphire preferred
- You’ll earn 5 points per dollar on travel purchased via chase ultimate rewards. 3 points per dollar on meals, 2 points per dollar on all other international purchases, and one point per dollar on all other qualifying transactions.
- Low annual fee of $95 each year. You’ll also get 5 points for each dollar spent on Lyft trips until March 2022.
- Those are simple earnings that someone who is just getting started with travel rewards is likely to be able to handle. However, the card comes with a few perks that will appeal to even the most seasoned rewards wranglers. Such as a 25% boost in value when you spend your points for travel booked through the chase travel center and a $50 yearly credit on hotel stays purchased through ultimate rewards. Nearly everyone who has ever planned a vacation beyond their home door can appreciate that type of prize redemption value.
- Add in the opportunity to transfer your points to over a dozen travel partners, like United and Hyatt, for possibly even more value, as well as some noteworthy travel protections and insurances, and you’ve got yourself a pretty good deal.
Anyway, this chase sapphire preferred is primarily a card for people who travel frequently. It boasts the best rewards for travel (as well as dining out), and it gives you the most bang for your buck when you use your points to book travel through the chase ultimate rewards site. It’s an even better bet for people who already have or are considering acquiring other chase ultimate rewards cards. If you’re ready to put in some effort to get the most out of your points, you may move them to your chase sapphire preferred account and use them to book travel through the chase portal at a discounted cost.
Third category
An annual fee on a credit card may unlock a lot of value, but even cards without one can be useful in your travel rewards plan. It’s a repeat winner once more. Chase freedom unlimited took the award this year as well.
They were able to get the award for consecutive years. So let’s see the secret behind it.
You may now get 5% cash back on travel purchased through chase ultimate rewards, 3% on eating, including takeout and drugstores, and 1.5 percent on all other purchases under the chase freedom unlimited rewards scheme. For example, the chase freedom flex, freedom unlimited’s sister card, gives 5% cashback on chosen categories that rotate every three months. Still, such high rewards necessitate enrollment and may not earn as much as the unlimited freedom rate over time.
However, the freedom flex, like unlimited, gets 5% cash back on travel purchased via chase, 3% on eating (including takeout and drugstores), and 1% on all other expenditures, so flex is absolutely worth considering if you’re preparing to register for its quarterly bonus spending categories.
While the cash bonus on this card is tiny, it is simple to get. When you spend $500 in the first three months, you’ll get $200 in cashback, equating to a whopping 40% return on your investment. You’ll also get a 15-month introductory 0% apr on purchases, which is a reasonable period for such a program. New cards earn 5% back on grocery shop purchases (excluding Target and Walmart) on up to $12,000 in purchases for the first year.
Although the chase freedom unlimited is a cashback credit card, you get chase ultimate rewards points instead of cashback. This makes calculating the value of your rewards a little more difficult because you have to multiply the points by a cent each to figure out how much they’re worth as a statement credit, a deposit into a u.s. Checking or savings account, a gift card, or purchasing items through the chase ultimate rewards portal. Calculating their (reduced) value on amazon.com or making apple purchases, where each point is worth 0.8 cents, requires more complex math.
The chase freedom unlimited is for consumers who desire a straightforward rewards program with good returns and some exciting new bonus earning opportunities. This card should be on your radar if you’re searching for a top-of-wallet credit card that won’t need you to do any extra research to optimize its worth.
If you have other chase ultimate rewards cards, the card is really worth considering because you can pool your points from all of them to get more value out of them.
When you redeem your points for travel through chase with the chase sapphire preferred, and ink business preferred credit cards, for example, you’ll gain 25% extra value. Plus, with the chase sapphire reserves, you’ll get a 50% bonus.
Finally, for those seeking a relatively long initial 0% apr on transactions and a bonus that won’t break the bank to obtain, the card may be worth it.
#4 the fourth category is the best business card.
So from this area, they have a first-time winner. American express business gold card won this award, and let’s see how they won this.
This is a versatile card designed for small business owners that spend a lot of money. On qualified purchases in specific categories, this card earns a generous number of points. The points earned may be redeemed for travel on amextravel.com or transferred to renowned Amex airline and hotel transfer partners like delta airlines, British Airways, and Marriott.
Earn 70,000 membership rewards points after spending $10,000 on qualifying purchases with the business gold card in the first three months of card membership. In addition, employee cards can added at no additional cost, and there are no international transaction fees when using the card outside of the united states.
This card is suitable for small firms with monthly spending that falls into at least two of the card’s six bonus areas. Again, small businesses are the best prospects, as you may earn 4x points on the first $150,000 in total purchases from these two categories each calendar year.
This card is also suitable for company owners who want to get incentives in the form of Amex membership points rather than cash. However, receiving points is more complicated since it necessitates an understanding of Amex’s rewards scheme. And the only way to get some money out of your points is to buy gift cards, which is a time-consuming alternative that also results in lower point values per dollar spent than other choices like redeeming points for vacation.
Finally, this card is a good choice for traveling overseas because it doesn’t charge the 3 percent international transaction tax that many cards charge on purchases made outside the country.
So these are some of the reasons for their winning.
#5 now it’s time to look at the fifth category. It is the best airline co-branded credit card. In 2021, we saw some great new airline credit card deals have launched, but one card stood out above the rest, according to TPG readers. So they choose Citi / AAdvantage platinum select world elite MasterCard as the best airline co-branded credit card.
I’ll tell you their futures in detail.
This is Citi’s mid-tier premium credit card, which is available in collaboration with American airlines. Every dollar spent on qualified American airlines transactions, restaurants, and petrol stations earns you 2 AAdvantage points, while every dollar spent on anything else earns you 1 AAdvantage mile. In addition, the card has a $99 annual charge, which waived for the first 12 months.
With this card, you’ll also gain frequent flyer benefits, such as a free checked bag for you and up to four passengers on your domestic route while flying American. When flying with four passengers, a checked bag costs $30 on domestic flights in the united states, so you might save $150 one-way or $300 round-trip. You’ll also get a 25% discount on food and beverage purchases made with the airline during the journey, as well as priority boarding.
Finally, if you spend $20,000 on your card in a calendar year and renew it, you’ll earn a $125 airfare discount. If you anticipate spending this much on your Citi / AAdvantage platinum select card, the yearly airfare discount more than makes up for the $99 annual fee, which waived for the first year.
The card does not include any travel insurance coverage, such as trip cancellation and interruption insurance, lost luggage insurance, or vehicle rental collision damage waiver insurance, as do many premium credit cards at the same price point.
This is ideal for frequent flyers who like to reserve economy class tickets and don’t want to spend more than $100 per year for a credit card. You’ll earn a lot of miles thanks to the card’s sign-up reward and the miles you receive on everyday purchases. You’ll also save money if you need to check a bag and will be able to board earlier.
Now we have come to the last category, which is the best hotel co-branded credit card. Let’s see who has won this award this year. Well, this is something obvious. Marriott Bonvoy Boundless Credit Card has won this award.
Let’s quickly see why they have won this award.
For Marriott fans, this credit card appears to be a no-brainer. With every transaction, you’ll earn Marriott points, as well as a sizable welcome bonus to use toward your preferred hotel. However, most transactions only receive 2 Marriott points per dollar spent, so points accumulate slowly. Most consumers would better serve to put their charges on a separate card at that rate. Even cashback cards can make you more money than Boundless.
This card is redeemable for a package of Marriott perks. In the Bonvoy program, cardholders are instantly elevated to Silver Elite, giving them access to privileges such as free Wi-Fi, priority late checkout, and bonus points on every stay. Gold Elite is also reachable: cardholders receive 15 elite night credits instead of the required 25, making it simpler to fit in the remaining stays. Alternatively, by spending $35,000 in a single year, cardholders can achieve Gold Elite status.
This card is for customers who chose Marriott Bonvoy as their favorite hotel chain. It’s useful if you’re already a member of the Bonvoy reward program and are looking for a speedier method to earn points toward Gold, Platinum, Titanium, or Ambassador Elite status. It’s a little less adaptable as an all-around travel card because the maximum points rate is applied to hotel stays. However, the hefty starting bonus and a variety of travel incentives available through the Bonvoy program more than make up for it. Aside from hotel bookings, it also boasts a great rewards rate per dollar on all other transactions.
Well, we have come to an end now. It was all about the credit card week of TPG awards. The readers’ favorite categories here at Credit Cards Week at the 2021 TPG Awards had some unexpected winners, but that’s just how the votes fell this year. So if you like this article, please share it with your friends.
