It’s that time of year again when frenzied crowds partake in Black Friday shopping.
In the past few years, Black Friday has expanded beyond just the one-day, in-person shopping to online deals, too. A huge portion of Black Friday shopping can now be done from the comfort of your own home via your cellphone, tablet or laptop.
The only consideration left to hash out is how you can maximize your purchases to put a little bit of cash — or points and miles — back into your pocket. To help you do just that, we created this guide with the best credit cards to use for all of your Black Friday shopping this year.
Blue Cash Everyday Card from American Express
If you’re looking for an entry-level cash-back card to use this Black Friday, the Blue Cash Everyday® Card from American Express is worth considering.
Annual fee: $0 (see rates and fees)
Rewards rate: Earn 3% cash back on groceries at U.S. supermarkets, 3% cash back on online purchases from U.S. retailers, 3% cash back at U.S. gas stations and 1% cash back on other eligible purchases.
It’s worth noting that you can only earn 3% back in the bonus categories on the first $6,000 spent in each category during a calendar year; after that, your earning rate will be 1% until the following year. Cash back is received in the form of Reward Dollars that can be redeemed as a statement credit or at Amazon.com checkout.
When to use this card: For your first $6,000 of online purchases from U.S. retailers each year, you can earn 3% cash back. If you’ll be shopping online during Black Friday or Cyber Monday, this is easily one of the best credit cards for your purchases.
New cardmembers can also earn a welcome bonus of $200 as a statement credit after spending $2,000 on purchases within the first six months of cardmembership.
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To learn more, check out our full review of the Blue Cash Everyday Card.
Apply here: Blue Cash Everyday Card from American Express
Chase Freedom Flex
The Chase Freedom Flex® is a fantastic card for beginners and seasoned credit card aficionados alike.
Annual fee: $0
Rewards rate: You’ll earn 5% back on up to $1,500 in quarterly rotating categories when you activate and 5% back on travel booked through Chase Travel℠. You can also earn 5% back on Lyft rides through March 2025. On top of this, you’ll earn 3% back at drugstores, 3% back on dining and 1% back on other purchases.
When to use this card: The Chase Freedom Flex is a great all-around earner, particularly now. Cardholders can earn 5% back on up to $1,500 in combined spending in a few different categories during the fourth quarter of 2024, including PayPal; that makes it perfect for any Black Friday shopping done online where PayPal is accepted. Activation is required for quarterly earnings.
Right now, new cardholders can earn a $200 bonus after spending $500 on purchases in the first three months from account opening.
Plus, if you also have another Chase card that earns Ultimate Rewards points (such as the Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card), the rewards earned with the Freedom Flex can be converted into full-fledged, transferable Ultimate Rewards points by combining your rewards.
To learn more, check out our full review of the Freedom Flex card.
Apply here: Chase Freedom Flex
Capital One Venture Rewards Credit Card
The Capital One Venture Rewards Credit Card is one of the best mid-tier cards on the market.
Annual fee: $95 (see rates and fees)
Rewards rate: Earn 2 miles per dollar on all purchases, plus earn 5 miles per dollar on hotels, vacation rentals and rental cars booked through Capital One Travel.
When to use this card: The Venture Rewards card earns at least 2 miles per dollar on every single purchase, no matter when or where, so it’s great to use on purchases that won’t earn you bonuses in specific categories on your other rewards credit cards.
It also means you’ll be earning solid rewards both in-store and online. Better yet, according to TPG’s November 2024 valuation, Capital One miles are worth 1.85 cents each, so you’re really getting at least a 3.7% return on all expenses.
Capital One miles can be redeemed as a statement credit for eligible purchases or transferred to one of the issuer’s many airline and hotel transfer partners, which can provide outsize value on your next vacation.
To learn more, check out our full review of the Venture Rewards card.
Apply here: Capital One Venture Rewards Credit Card
Prime Visa
If you’re a frequent Amazon shopper with a Prime membership, you’d be remiss not to consider the Prime Visa.
Annual fee: $0, but you need a Prime membership to get this card
Rewards rate: Earn 5% back on Amazon, Whole Foods and Chase Travel purchases, 2% back at restaurants, gas stations and local transit and 1% back on everything else.
When to use this card: The Prime Visa is only open to those who have an Amazon Prime membership; while the card has no annual fee, you do have to foot the $139 bill for an annual Prime account. But for those who find Prime worthwhile and use it frequently, the card excels with 5% back on a wide variety of items and groceries at Amazon and Whole Foods.
Cardmembers will also receive 10% cash back in select categories at Amazon, which is an amazing value.
Even better, eligible Amazon Prime members who apply for the Prime Visa card during the current offer will receive a $200 Amazon gift card immediately upon approval.
To learn more, check out our full review of the Prime Visa.
Apply here: Prime Visa
Citi Custom Cash Card
Although it may not get as much of a spotlight as other no-annual-fee cards, the Citi Custom Cash® Card (see rates and fees) deserves your attention this holiday season.
Annual fee: $0
Rewards rate: The Citi Custom Cash offers 5% cash back on the first $500 of purchases each billing cycle in your top eligible spending category from the following list (then 1%): restaurants, gas stations, grocery stores, select travel, select transit, select streaming services, drugstores, home improvement stores, fitness clubs and live entertainment. Earn 1% unlimited cash back on all other purchases.
When to use this card: This is a card that caters to your lifestyle, whether you’re traveling the globe one month or grocery shopping at home the next. If you max out the $500 spending limit each billing cycle, you’ll earn $25 in cash-back rewards per month — for a potential maximum of $300 in rewards annually.
That versatility is key: even if your Black Friday purchases aren’t in your normal high-spending categories, you can still earn 5% back on them if they make up the bulk of your bill this month, provided they’re in those eligible categories.
Plus, if you’re adding the Citi Custom Cash on top of your Citi Prestige® Card or Citi Strata Premier℠ Card (see rates and fees), you can unlock the option to convert your earnings into fully transferable points with Citi’s hotel and airline transfer partners to extract even greater value from them.
The information for the Citi Prestige card has been collected independently by The Points Guy. The card details on this page have not been reviewed or provided by the card issuer.
To learn more, check out our full review of the Citi Custom Cash Card.
Apply here: Citi Custom Cash Card
Discover it Cash Back
Fans of rotating bonus categories will appreciate what the Discover it® Cash Back has to offer.
Annual fee: $0
Rewards rate: Enroll every quarter to earn 5% back on up to $1,500 spent on purchases in quarterly rotating categories. Current categories for October to December 2024 are Amazon.com and Target.
When to use this card: If you’re planning on shopping online at Target or Amazon, the Discover it Cash Back could be a great option for earning cash back this Black Friday. These retailers are famous for their holiday shopping deals, making them prime locations for Black Friday and Cyber Monday shoppers.
Better yet, Discover will match the cash back you earn at the end of your first year. So, if you’re a new cardholder this holiday season, you’re effectively earning 10% back on bonus category purchases and 2% on non-bonused spending.
The information for the Discover it Cash Back has been collected independently by The Points Guy. The card details on this page have not been reviewed or provided by the card issuer.
Learn more: Discover it Cash Back
Citi Double Cash Card
If you’re searching for a great all-around card that you can use on everyday spending, look no further than the Citi Double Cash® Card (see rates and fees).
Annual fee: $0
Rewards rate: The Citi Double Cash earns cash back that can be converted into transferable ThankYou points to unlock huge value if you have the right Citi cards — namely, the Citi Strata Premier or the Citi Prestige. This allows you to use your rewards with the full range of Citi’s travel partners.
When to use this card: If you’ve checked our list of the best cards for each bonus category and don’t think your purchases will qualify for any bonus earnings, then this is a great card to use for everything else.
According to TPG’s November 2024 valuation, ThankYou points are worth 1.8 cents apiece, meaning you could earn a 3.6% return on all spending.
To learn more, check out our full review of the Citi Double Cash.
Apply here: Citi Double Cash Card
Tips to further maximize purchases
Utilize offers from your credit card
Major credit card issuers have programs that provide targeted offers, and you can use these to get extra rewards or bonus cash back on your purchases. Because these are targeted offers, not every offer is available for every person or on every credit card that you hold from that bank.
Options include Amex Offers, BankAmeriDeals, Capital One Offers, Chase Offers and Citi Merchant Offers. Many offers are applicable to both in-store (Black Friday) and online (Cyber Monday) purchases.
These offers can make a card that doesn’t typically offer bonus rewards at certain stores worth using while you shop non-travel Black Friday deals. By adding an offer to your card and then shopping with that merchant (you’ll need to pay with the card to which you added the offer), you can earn cash back or bonus points on top of your normal earnings.
Don’t forget to use shopping portals
When shopping online for Black Friday or Cyber Monday, make sure you’re going through a shopping portal in addition to using a great credit card so that you’re double-dipping (or potentially even triple-dipping) on rewards.
All you have to do is go through their link to shop on the sites you love. I typically start at a shopping portal aggregator such as CashbackMonitor.com to compare earning rates across these sites and then select the one that works best for me.
Note that these bonuses will be in addition to the standard earning rates on the cards above; you should also be able to stack them with discounts or bonuses. In this way, you can earn rewards from the shopping portal, rewards from your credit card and possibly use rebates from your credit card issuer — quite the combination.
Using Black Friday to hit welcome bonus spending requirements
If you just applied for a new card with a welcome bonus spending requirement, holiday shopping is a great opportunity to help you hit those spending thresholds. While I don’t suggest overspending just to hit a welcome bonus, if your holiday shopping can help you along the way (responsibly), you might as well leverage it to do so.
For instance, let’s say you applied for the Capital One Venture X Rewards Credit Card. The Venture X earns 2 miles per dollar on non-categorized spending. Currently, new Venture X cardholders can earn 75,000 bonus miles after spending $4,000 on purchases in the first three months from account opening, so use your holiday shopping to help you get there.
Accruing 2 miles per dollar on everyday spending is a solid rate of return — especially for shopping categories that typically may not receive a bonus of any kind on other credit cards. But if you’re also making a dent in the $4,000 initial spending requirement to earn 75,000 bonus miles, that’s an even better deal.
The best credit cards for your Black Friday purchases may not be in your wallet yet, so consider the following resources:
Bottom line
Black Friday represents an enormous shopping day in the U.S., making it an excellent opportunity to rack up rewards as you head into the holiday season. Whether you prefer to brave the stores or handle your shopping online while curled up with hot cocoa — or even do both — there are many ways to make the most of your purchases this holiday season.
The best credit cards for Black Friday shopping will provide extra cash back, earn more bonus points or miles or even allow you to unlock a valuable welcome bonus.
Related: How to maximize shopping portals for Black Friday and holiday deals
For rates and fees of the Amex Blue Cash Everyday card, click here.
