Excellent credit is hard to obtain. It takes years of diligent management of finances and disciplined spending and use of credit. With it being so much work to obtain it only makes sense that you are well rewarded for your efforts.
Once you have achieved excellent credit the financial gates open and you can apply for top tier credit cards with all the bells and whistles from low-interest rates, to cash back, rewards and no annual fees.
The cards listed below have some of the best offers for consumers with excellent credit.
Chase Sapphire Preferred
The Chase Sapphire Preferred credit card is ideal for you if you want travel rewards. When you are approved, you receive 50,000 points, and the $95 annual fee is waived for the first year. The regular APR for this credit card ranges between 17.99 percent to 24.99 percent variable.
Perks:
- Earn 60,000 bonus points after you spend $4,000 on purchases in the first 3 months from account opening. That's $750 toward travel when you redeem through Chase Ultimate Rewards®
- 2X points on travel and dining at restaurants worldwide & 1 point per dollar spent on all other purchases.
- Get 25% more value when you redeem for airfare, hotels, car rentals and cruises through Chase Ultimate Rewards. For example, 60,000 points are worth $750 toward travel
Capital One Savor Cash Rewards
The Capital One Savor Cash Rewards credit card is ideal if you want a variety of ways to get rewards. This credit card offers unlimited four percent cash back on entertainment and dining, two percent cash back at grocery stores, and one percent cash back on other purchases you make with the card. There is an intro bonus of $500, and the $95 annual fee is waived for the first year. The regular APR ranges between 16.74 percent to 25.74 percent variable.
Perks:
- Earn a one-time $150 cash bonus after you spend $500 on purchases within the first 3 months from account opening
- Earn unlimited 3% cash back on dining and entertainment, 2% at grocery stores and 1% on all other purchases
- No rotating categories or sign-ups needed to earn cash rewards; plus cash back won't expire for the life of the account and there's no limit to how much you can earn
- 0% intro APR on purchases for 15 months; 15.74% - 25.74% variable APR after that
- 0% intro APR on balance transfers for 15 months; 15.74% - 25.74% variable APR after that; 3% fee on the amounts transferred within the first 15 months
- No foreign transaction fee
- No annual fee
Chase Sapphire Preferred
The Chase Sapphire Preferred credit card is ideal for you if you want travel rewards. When you are approved, you receive 50,000 points, and the $95 annual fee is waived for the first year. The regular APR for this credit card ranges between 17.99 percent to 24.99 percent variable.
Perks:
- Earn a $150 Bonus after you spend $500 on purchases in your first 3 months from account opening.
- Earn unlimited 1.5% cash back on all purchases.
- 0% Intro APR for 15 months from account opening on purchases and balance transfers, then a variable APR of 16.74-25.49%.
- 3% intro balance transfer fee when you transfer a balance during the first 60 days your account is open, with a minimum of $5
- No annual fee
- Free credit score, updated weekly with Credit Journey℠
- No minimum to redeem for cash back
- Cash Back rewards do not expire as long as your account is open
Once you have seen what is available with excellent credit you will be sure to keep your score up and your history squeaky clean.
Pro tips: Chances are if you are on this page you already know these tips but it's worth repeating to save your credit.
- Now that you have reached excellent credit be sure to research the card that is for you so that you get the top tier perks that fit you.
- Don’t apply for a ton of new cards all at once like a bunch of new inquires could quickly cost you your hard-earned credit score.
- You might be ready to transfer your old card balances to your new card and close the account out to move on with your new premier perks. This may be a mistake, closing out old accounts can affect your score by changing the average age of your available credit.
- Don’t rack up a ton of new charges which will throw off your available credit ratio.
Dana George-Berberich is a freelance reporter and novelist. She has written finance articles for newspapers across the country and for companies like Dun & Bradstreet and Bankrate.
