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While it’s important to have a credit card that earns rewards every time you swipe it, one of the best — and fastest — ways to rack up a bunch of cash back or travel points and miles right off the bat is with a lucrative credit card sign-up bonus. Accumulating rewards from a sign-up bonus is the best way to put more money in your wallet, or to jet off on a dream vacation, from flying down to Disney World to exploring the beaches of Thailand.
But offers come and go regularly, so it’s vital to know when a credit card is offering a top-notch sign-up offer that can earn you the biggest possible bonus. And since many credit card issuers these days restrict the number of cards you can get with them — or the number of times you can get a card — you’ll want to apply for a credit card when it’s offering a peak sign-up bonus.
So, how do you know which credit card sign-up bonuses are currently higher than normal? We’ve put together a list of the best credit card sign-up bonus offers available in November 2023 so you can get as many points or miles as possible when you apply. Get a new credit card with the right offer, and you’ll rack up rewards in no time.
The best credit card sign-up bonuses for November 2023
- Best for flexibility: Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card.
- Best for groceries: Blue Cash Preferred® Card from American Express.
- Best for bonus categories: Citi Premier® Card.
- Best for travel perks: The Platinum Card® from American Express.
- Best for family travel: Southwest Rapid Rewards® Performance Business Credit Card
- Best business card with no annual fee: Ink Business Unlimited® Credit Card.
- Best for small businesses: American Express® Business Gold Card.
Why did we choose these credit card sign-up bonus offers as the best for November? Dive into the details of each card with us, and see how they stack up.
Best for flexibility: Chase Sapphire Preferred
If you want rewards that are flexible and easily redeemable, then the Chase Sapphire Preferred offers many options. And right now, new applicants can earn 60,000 bonus points after you spend $4,000 on purchases in the first three months after opening the account.
Although this isn’t one of the highest offers we’ve seen from this card, it’s still a great card for those getting their feet wet in points and miles and you can still get a ton of value from the sign-up bonus.
The Chase Sapphire Preferred earns Chase Ultimate Rewards points, which can be redeemed for cash back at 1 cent apiece, or for travel via the Chase travel portal at a rate of 1.25 cents each. At that rate, 60,000 bonus points would be worth $600 in cash or $750 in travel, which on its own is a great return just for getting one credit card.
But you can also transfer your points to any of Chase’s 14 airline and hotel partners and potentially get even more value for them. That’s why frequent flyer website The Points Guy values Ultimate Rewards points as high as 2 cents apiece, meaning 60,000 points can be worth up to $1,200 in travel.
Aside from the sign-up bonus, you’ll also earn 3 points for every dollar you spend on dining, select streaming services and online grocery purchases with the Chase Sapphire Preferred, 2 points per dollar on travel (or 5 total points for travel booked through Chase Ultimate Rewards) and 1 point per dollar on all other purchases. Plus, through March 2025, you’ll also earn 5 points per dollar on Lyft rides, which is a nice extra bonus.
Other money-saving benefits of the Chase Sapphire Preferred include a complimentary DoorDash DashPass membership for at least 12 months when you sign-up by Dec. 31, 2024. The card also offers many extra insurance benefits, such as purchase protection, extended warranty, trip delay/cancellation protection, trip delay protection, lost baggage protection and primary rental car coverage.
With a relatively low $95 annual fee, the Chase Sapphire Preferred is the perfect card to dip your toes in the water with travel rewards and start learning how to utilize them to get outsized value.
Now, if you prefer a luxury credit card, the Chase Sapphire Reserve® is another option. It currently offers new card holders a lower 60,000 bonus points after spending $4,000 on purchases within the first three months after opening the account. Points from the card can be transferred to the same travel partners as the Chase Sapphire Preferred — at the same 1-to-1 ratio — or can be redeemed through the travel portal at a higher rate of 1.5 cents each.
While this card has a significantly higher annual fee of $550 per year, you’ll find many benefits that help offset the cost, such as $300 in annual travel credits, a Priority Pass Select membership and more.
Click here to earn 60,000 bonus points when you apply for the Chase Sapphire Preferred.
Click here to earn 60,000 bonus points when you apply for the Chase Sapphire Reserve.
Best for groceries: Blue Cash Preferred
If you prefer a credit card that puts cash right in your pocket, that’s where the Blue Cash Preferred Card from American Express comes into play, and right now, new card members can earn a $250 statement credit after spending $3,000 in purchases in the first six months after opening an account.
Since the card offers a $0 introductory annual fee for the first year, then $95 (see rates and fees), you’re coming out well ahead in the first year, and the $3,000 minimum spending requirement averages out to just $500 per month.
The Blue Cash Preferred is also one of the best cards to use for groceries, since you’ll earn 6% cash back as a statement credit on up to $6,000 in U.S. supermarket purchases each year (then 1%). With groceries taking up a significant portion of the average household budget, this could mean some serious cash back.
You’ll also earn 6% cash back on select U.S. streaming subscriptions with the Blue Cash Preferred, 3% cash back on transit and at U.S. gas stations and 1% on all other purchases. But if you’d prefer a card that never has an annual fee, the Blue Cash Everyday® Card from American Express might be the better choice. It offers less in cash back and has a smaller welcome offer, but it could make sense if you don’t spend that much on groceries each year.
Click here to learn more about the Blue Cash Preferred.
Click here to learn more about the Blue Cash Everyday.
Best for bonus categories: Citi Premier Card
While Citi credit cards don’t typically get as much attention as Chase and American Express cards, don’t overlook the Citi Premier card. New card holders can earn 60,000 bonus points after spending $4,000 on the card in the first three months after opening the account. Plus, with the current limited time welcome offer, new cardmembers will earn a total of 10 ThankYou points per dollar spent on hotel, car rentals and attractions (excluding air travel) booked through the Citi Travel portal through June 30, 2024.
And even after you’ve earned the bonus, it’s easy to keep racking up points with the Citi Premier, because the card comes with a slew of bonus categories. You’ll earn 3 points for every dollar you spend at gas stations, at restaurants, at supermarkets, at hotels and on air travel, and 1 point per dollar on all your other purchases.
Once you’ve got all those points, you can redeem them for gift cards or book travel with them through Citi’s travel portal and get 1 cent per point in value. But if you’ve got some time and flexibility, you can do even better by transferring your points to any of Citi’s 16 airline and hotel partners, which now includes both Choice and Wyndham hotels.
The ability to transfer points to Citi’s airline partners is why The Points Guy values Citi ThankYou points at 1.7 cents apiece. At that rate, those 60,000 bonus points are worth as much as $1,020 in travel.
Plus, if you get the Citi Premier and like the way it works, you can dive even further into the Citi ThankYou Rewards ecosystem by pairing it with either the Citi® Double Cash Card or the Citi Custom Cash℠ Card — or both. Both cards are marketed as cash back cards, but they actually earn rewards in the form of ThankYou points, which you can then combine all together in one big pot.
So you can put all the cards in your wallet and use each one where it earns the most rewards — the Citi Premier in its bonus categories, the Citi Custom Cash in the one eligible category each month where you spend the most money and the Citi Double Cash for everything else. It’s a great strategy to quickly rack up a huge balance of travel rewards while paying only one $95 annual fee across all three cards.
Click here to earn 60,000 bonus points when you apply for the Citi Premier card.
Best for travel perks: American Express Platinum
If you expect to be flying the skies often in 2023, The Platinum Card from American Express provides many elite VIP benefits when you travel… and a few even when you aren’t.
Right now, new card members can earn 80,000 bonus points when you spend $8,000 on purchases within the first six months of card membership. Frequent flyer website The Points Guy values American Express Membership Rewards points at 2 cents each, making this offer worth as much as $1,600 in travel.
The list of benefits that come with the Amex Platinum card are endless. But with a $695 annual fee (see rates and fees), you’ll have to make sure you can use those benefits.
One of the most popular perks that comes with the Amex Platinum is access to more than 1,300 airport lounges around the world, including Amex Centurion Lounges, Delta Sky Clubs (when flying Delta) and Priority Pass Select lounges (enrollment required). You’ll also receive complimentary Marriott Gold and Hilton Gold elite status (enrollment required), which offers special perks such as room upgrades (when available), complimentary breakfast at participating properties, bonus points on paid rates and more.
And, if you rent cars often, you’ll also be bumped up to Avis Preferred status, National Car Rental Emerald Club Executive status and Hertz Gold Plus Rewards (enrollment required).
Then there are the annual credits. The Amex Platinum comes with up to $200 in credits each year for airline incidental fees, up to $200 in Uber Cash each year (doled out in $15 monthly portions with $35 in December), up to $240 in annual digital entertainment credits in portions of $20 per month, up to $189 in annual CLEAR® membership credits and up to $100 in credits for purchases at Saks Fifth Avenue, split into $50 increments for each half of the year (enrollment required before using these credits). Additionally, you’ll get up to $100 in credits toward a Global Entry or TSA PreCheck membership every five years you have the card.
The Amex Platinum also comes with cell phone protection, extended warranty protection, purchase protection, trip cancellation and trip insurance, trip delay insurance, car rental loss and damage insurance and no foreign transaction fees (see rates and fees).
Click here to learn more about The Platinum Card from American Express.
Best for family travel: Southwest Rapid Rewards Performance Business Credit Card
Looking to fly a friend or family member with you — for almost free — through Dec. 31, 2024? If so, the Southwest Rapid Rewards® Performance Business Credit Card is a great option, especially right now with its increased sign-up offer.
Right now, new card holders can earn 80,000 bonus points — earn 60,000 points after you spend $5,000 on purchases in the first three months from account opening. Southwest points are consistency worth about 1.4 cents each when you redeem them for the airline’s cheapest “Wanna Get Away” fares, which means 80,000 bonus points are worth roughly $1,120 towards Southwest travel.
And while the card comes with some nice perks, such as four upgraded boardings per year (when available), in-flight WiFi credits, up to $100 Global Entry or TSA PreCheck application fee credit, no foreign transaction fees and 9,000 bonus points on each account anniversary, the real bread and butter here is the opportunity to earn the Southwest Companion Pas.
To earn the Southwest Companion Pass, you need to earn 135,000 qualifying points in a calendar year. And fortunately, all points earned from Southwest credit cards, including those earned from the welcome offer, count as qualifying points.
With the current offer on the Southwest Rapid Rewards Performance Business Credit Card you can be one step closers to earning the Companion Pass. This is because you’ll earn 80,000 points with the welcome offer, plus an additional 5,000 points from the points earned from meeting the minimum spend requirement. This will then give you 85,000 qualifying points — which is two-thirds on the way to earn the pass. You can earn the remaining points with regular credit card spend, as well as with partner activity like shopping through the Rapid Rewards Shopping portal.
Or, you can combine the Southwest Rapid Rewards Performance Business Credit Card with one of Southwest’s personal credit cards to earn the pass right away — especially since all three are also offering a limited time bonus. The only caveat is that you must earn the points in the same calendar year to qualify for the pass.
If you aren’t familiar with the Southwest Companion Pass, it offers the opportunity for a friend or family member to fly with you for free (plus taxes and fees) an unlimited number of times during the life of the pass. You can think of it as an ongoing buy-one-get-one deal that’ll allow someone to travel with you for almost nothing. The pass expires Dec. 31 in the year after it’s earned. This means if you apply now, but wait until Jan. 1, 2024 to meet the minimum spend requirement — thus earning the pass in — the pass won’t expire until the end of 2025.
Best business card with no annual fee: Ink Business Unlimited
Chase currently has some unbelievable sign-up offers on its no-annual-fee business credit cards, including the Ink Business Unlimited. Right now, new card holders can earn $900 in bonus cash back after spending $6,000 on purchases in the first three months. You’ll be hard pressed to find an offer this high on any other credit card with no annual fee.
This card is very straightforward, as you’ll earn 1.5% cash back on all purchases, with no bonus categories to worry about or track. And if you prefer travel rewards to cash back, the Ink Business Unlimited offers potential flexibility on that front as well.
If you have a premium Chase Ultimate Rewards card, such as the Chase Sapphire Preferred, the Chase Sapphire Reserve or the Ink Business Preferred℠ Credit Card, the rewards you earn with the Ink Business Unlimited can be transferred to your premium card, and from there, redeemed for travel at a higher rate, or even transferred to one of Chase’s partner loyalty programs for potentially even more value.
Even though it’s a no-annual-fee card, you’ll still find many valuable benefits on the Ink Business Unlimited, such as purchase protection, extended warranty protection and primary car rental coverage when you rent a car for business purposes. But you’ll want to steer clear of using this card internationally, as you’ll be charged a 3% foreign transaction fee on overseas purchases.
And this isn’t the only Chase business card currently offering a top-of-the line sign-up bonus. The Ink Business Cash® Credit Card also earns $900 in bonus cash back after you spend $6,000 within the first three months after opening the account. The main difference between the two cards are the number of points you’ll earn on your everyday purchases, as the Ink Business Cash has several bonus categories but earns only 1% on all other purchases instead of the 1.5% of the Ink Business Unlimited.
Finally, the Ink Business Preferred is also offering an incredibly rich credit card sign-up bonus — 100,000 bonus points when you spend $8,000 in the first three months after opening the account. This card comes with a $95 annual fee, but additional point-earning opportunities and even more benefits.
Click here to earn 90,000 bonus points when you apply for the Ink Business Unlimited.
Click here to earn 90,000 bonus points when you apply for the Ink Business Cash.
Click here to earn 100,000 bonus points when you apply for the Ink Business Preferred.
Best for small businesses: American Express Business Gold
The American Express Business Gold Card is an intriguing card for small businesses who don’t have expenses the fall into easy-to-predict categories each month, and the card currently comes with a rich welcome offer of 70,000 bonus points after you spend $10,000 on eligible purchases within the first three months after opening the account.
With the Amex Business Gold, you’ll earn 4 points per dollar on the two select categories where your business spends the most each month, and those categories will automatically change each month to match where you’ve spent the most. There’s a $150,000 annual cap for earning bonus points in these select categories, but you’ll still earn 1 point per dollar even after you reach the cap. You’ll also earn 3 points per dollar spent on flights and prepaid hotels booked on amextravel.com.
The select categories eligible to earn bonus points are:
- U.S. purchases made directly electronic goods retailers and software & cloud systems providers.
- U.S. gas stations
- U.S. restaurants (including take out and delivery)
- Monthly wireless telephone service charges made directly from a wireless telephone service provider in the U.S.
- U.S. purchases for advertising in select media (online, TV, radio).
- Transit purchases (including trains, taxicabs, rideshare services, ferries, tolls, parking, buses, and subways).
The Amex Business Gold card does have a $295 annual fee ($375 if application is received on or after 2/1/24; see rates and fees), which is quite hefty. While the card does come with a few monthly statement credit opportunities, they don’t necessarily serve to the masses. With this card, you’ll earn up to $20 in statement credits monthly for eligible U.S. purchases at FedEx, Grubhub, and Office Supply Stores (enrollment required). You’ll also get $12.95 back in statement credits each month when you pay for a monthly Walmart+ membership (which costs $12.95 plus applicable taxes; subject to auto-renewal).
Click here learn more about the American Express Business Gold Card.
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Click here for rates and fees of the Blue Cash Preferred card.
Click here for rates and fees of the Blue Cash Everyday card.
Click here for rates and fees of the American Express Platinum card.
Click here for rates and fees of the American Express Business Gold card.
Click here for rates and fees of the Hilton Amex Surpass
Click here for rates and fees of the Hilton Amex Business Card
American Express cell phone protection, extended warranty, purchase protection, trip cancellation and interruption insurance, trip delay insurance, and car rental loss and damage insurance eligibility and benefit levels vary by card. Terms, conditions and limitations apply. Visit americanexpress.com/benefitsguide for more details. Purchase protection, extended warranty and car rental loss and damage coverage underwritten by AMEX Assurance Company. Trip delay, trip cancellation and interruption insurance and cell phone protection underwritten by New Hampshire Insurance Company, an AIG Company. Car rental loss and damage coverage offered through American Express Travel Related Services Company, Inc.