7 of the best credit card offers this May - including hotel and airline bonuses ending soon
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- When you sign up for a new rewards credit card, you can often get a big new member bonus - tons of points or cash back.
- Sometimes, credit card issuers will offer higher-than-normal bonuses to try and attract new customers. By taking advantage of offers when they're at their highest, you can rack up points, miles, or bonus cash quickly.
- This May, there are a few big limited-time offers, including on the Marriott Bonvoy and United Airlines credit cards. Hurry, though - some of these aren't around for the whole month.
The fastest way to earn rewards points, cash back, and frequent-flyer miles is to open a new credit card and earn its sign-up or welcome bonus.
Credit card issuers offer huge bonuses to attract customers, while designing card features with long-term, continuing value in an effort to keep them. This offers consumers a chance to take advantage of these bonuses, perks, and features.
You can read more about earning new card-member bonuses and how that will affect your credit score here, or scroll down to find some of the best offers available this month.
Keep in mind that we're focusing on the rewards and perks that make these credit cards great options, not things like interest rates and late fees, which can far outweigh the value of any rewards.
When you're working to earn credit card rewards, it's important to practice financial discipline, like paying your balances off in full each month, making payments on time, and not spending more than you can afford to pay back. Basically, treat your credit card like a debit card.
1. Marriott Bonvoy Boundless Credit Card
Sign-up bonus: 100,000 Marriott Bonvoy points (after spending $5,000 in the first three months). Offer ends May 16.
Originally slated to end May 2, there's been an extension on the introductory bonus for Marriott's newest rewards credit card, the Marriott Bonvoy Boundless credit card, which is issued by Chase.
The Bonvoy Boundless offer - 100,000 Marriott points if you spend $5,000 in the first three months - now ends on May 16.
Learn more: The best credit card rewards, bonuses, and benefits of 2019
Like the premium Marriott Bonvoy Brilliant American Express® Card, the Boundless offers a free night award each year on your cardholder anniversary; the difference is that it's only good on rooms that would cost up to 35,000 points per night, rather than 50,000. Fortunately, that still includes plenty of properties.
The Boundless card comes with complimentary Silver elite status. Silver doesn't get you as much as Gold, but it's still something. You'll get a 10% bonus on points earned, priority for late checkout, access to a dedicated customer service line, free Wi-Fi, and more. While it's not a published benefit, you may also be given preferential rooms. You can get Gold status if you spend $35,000 or more in a calendar year. You'll also get 15 qualifying nights' worth of elite credit each calendar year, making it easier to earn Gold status or higher through hotel stays.
The card earns 6x points per dollar spent at Marriott hotels, and 2x points per dollar on everything else.
Click here to learn more about the Marriott Bonvoy Boundless card from Business Insider's partner, The Points Guy.
2. United Explorer Card
Sign-up bonus: Up to 60,000 United miles (40,000 after spending $2,000 in the first three months, and an additional 20,000 miles after spending a total of $8,000 in the first six months). Offer ends May 16.
Another one ending soon: United's mainstream co-brand card issued by Chase. Last year, United and Chase re-launched their co-branded credit card, slightly changing the name, but more importantly, tweaking the benefits and improving how the card earns points. Previously, the card earned 2x miles on every dollar spent with United Airlines and 1x dollar on everything else.
The card, which was relaunched last year, earns 2x United miles on purchases with United and at restaurants and hotels, and 1x mile on everything else.
This sign-up bonus is one of the better public offers we've seen on this card, given the spending requirement, but it's only available until May 16.
The card offers a free checked bag when you use your card to purchase your tickets, priority boarding as long as you have the open card attached to your MileagePlus account, 25% off in-flight purchases, and up to a $100 fee credit to cover your application to Global Entry or TSA PreCheck.
The United Explorer also has two benefits that are unique among US airline credit cards in the same class.
First, you'll get two complimentary one-time United Club lounge passes each year. In the lounges, you can enjoy comfortable seating, Wi-Fi, free food and drinks, and more before your flight. Normally, one-time entry to a United Club would cost $59 if you didn't have a membership.
Second, although this is an unpublished benefit, United cardholders also get access to more saver award space than other United members - that makes it easier to find good flights when it's time to use your miles. It's unclear what will happen to this benefit when United switches to dynamic award pricing in November.
The card has a $95 annual fee, which is waived the first year.
Click here to learn more about the United Explorer Card from Business Insider's partner, The Points Guy.
3. Blue Cash Preferred® Card from American Express
Welcome offer: $200 statement credit (after spending $1,000 in the first three months) (increasing May 9)
If you're less excited about earning Membership Rewards points - which can be valuable, but also tricky to redeem - and want to stick with cash back, the Blue Cash Preferred is the best option, despite its $95 annual fee.
AmEx recently announced a refresh to the card on May 9. Starting then, new and existing cardholders earn 6% cash back on US streaming services and 3% back on all transit. That's in addition to the existing categories of 6% cash back at US supermarkets on up to $6,000 in purchases per year (and 1% after that), 3% back at US gas stations, and 1% cash back on everything else.
The card previously offered 3% back at some US department stores. That won't be available for anyone who applies on or after May 9. For existing cardholders, it will stick around through the end of July.
Like the EveryDay cards, the Blue Cash Preferred offers a 0% intro APR on purchases and balance transfers for the first 12 months, before switching to a variable 15.24-26.24% APR.
The Blue Cash Preferred comes with a handful of travel and purchase protections as well. Cash back comes in the form of a statement credit, so effectively you can use it to "erase" purchases.
Click here to learn more about the Blue Cash Preferred from Business Insider's partner, The Points Guy.
4. Chase Sapphire Preferred Card
Sign-up bonus: 60,000 points (after spending $4,000 in the first three months)
The Sapphire Preferred is one of the most popular all-around rewards credit cards, and it's easy to see why. This card earns 2x points per dollar spent on just about all travel and dining purchases, and 1x point on everything else. It also comes with a ton of travel and purchase protections, such as rental car insurance, trip delay coverage, and extended warranty.
The card's sign-up bonus was recently increased for the first time since 2015- it's now 60,000 Ultimate Rewards (UR) points. That's worth, at the very least, $600 as cash back or gift cards. However, if you book travel through the Chase Ultimate Rewards portal and use points to pay, you'll get a 25% bonus, making points worth 1.25 cents each. That means that the sign-up bonus would be worth $750.
Even more lucrative - the Chase Sapphire Preferred lets you transfer your UR points to a few different frequent-flyer and hotel-loyalty programs. This comes in handy because in many cases it costs fewer points to book a trip if you go through one of those programs, as opposed to using the points as cash. You can read more about why transferring points to frequent-flyer programs gets you more value here.
This all comes for a fairly standard annual fee of $95, which is not waived the first year.
Click here to learn more about the Sapphire Preferred from Business Insider's partner, The Points Guy.
5. American Express® Gold Card
Welcome offer: 35,000 Membership Rewards points when you spend $2,000 in the first three months.
Right now, the AmEx Gold Card is arguably the best card available for dining, unless you're only interested in cash back, rather than potentially more valuable rewards points, and unless you find yourself abroad at restaurants often - if that's the case, you should go with the Capital One Savor Cash Rewards Credit Card (scroll down to the next card).
The Gold Card earns 4x points at US restaurants and on up to $25,000 per year at US supermarkets (and 1x point after that), 3x points on flights booked directly with the airline, and 1x point on everything else. Based on the fact that you can easily redeem Membership Rewards points for more than 1¢ of value each, that makes this the highest-earning card for everything food-related.
The Gold Card offers up to a $100 airline fee credit each calendar year, and adds up to $120 of dining credits - split into $10 each month - at Grubhub, Seamless, The Cheesecake Factory, Ruth's Steak House, or participating Shake Shack locations.
While it's difficult to assign an exact value to Membership Rewards points, The Points Guy subjectively estimates each point as worth 2¢. That makes the welcome bonus worth $700. Even without factoring in the annual credit benefits, that's more than enough to make up for the card's $250 annual fee.
Check out our full review for more details.
Keep in mind that it's possible to be targeted for a higher welcome bonus.
Click here to learn more about the AmEx Gold Card from Business Insider's partner, The Points Guy.
6. Capital One Savor Cash Rewards Credit Card
Sign-up bonus: $500 (after spending $3,000 in the first three months).
If dining and cooking are your thing, and cash back is what you're after, the Capital One Savor is sure to please.
The card earns unlimited 4% cash back on all dining and entertainment, 2% back at grocery stores, and 1% on everything else. Plus, the card offers a whopping $500 sign-up bonus when you spend $3,000 in the first three months.
The Savor carries a lower annual fee than the AmEx Gold - $95, waived the first year. The earning rate will make up for the fee in many cases, based on normal spending, but if that's too high for you, there's an alternative: the Capital One SavorOne Cash Rewards Credit Card.
The SavorOne card has no annual fee, and offers a slightly lower - but still valuable - earning rate of 3% cash back on dining and entertainment, 2% back at grocery stores, and 1% on everything else. It offers a lower sign-up bonus of $150 when you spend $500 in the first three months.
Click here to learn more about the Capital One Savor card from Business Insider's partner, The Points Guy.
Click here to learn more about the Capital One SavorOne card from Business Insider's partner, The Points Guy.
7. Wells Fargo Propel American Express® Card
Welcome offer: 30,000 Go Far points (after spending $3,000 in the first three months).
This card from Wells Fargo has one of the more attractive rewards offerings you'll find from a no-annual-fee card. The current Propel card is a relaunch of an old product - Wells Fargo stopped accepting applications for the old card a year ago, before announcing the new product and reopening applications this summer.
The card earns 3x points on all travel, dining, and select streaming services (and 1x point on everything else). If that sounds familiar, it's because it's almost the same as the popular Chase Sapphire Reserve.
There are key differences between the cards. The Propel lets you redeem points for 1¢ each toward cash back, merchandise, travel, or more, while the Sapphire Reserve offers a range of more valuable redemption options - it's easy to get at least 50% more value for Chase points. Plus, the Sapphire Reserve offers a number of premium perks that the Propel doesn't, like airport lounge access, a $300 annual travel credit travel delay insurance, and more.
Of course, the Sapphire Reserve also comes with a $450 annual fee, while the Wells Fargo Propel doesn't have a fee. Between the new member offer, and the solid earning rate on popular spend categories, the Propel makes a decent option for those who don't travel often, or who aren't comfortable floating a large annual fee.
We named the Propel the best no-fee card of 2018.