---
title: 'I Ranked Every Major Credit Card in 2026: Which Ones Are Actually Worth It?'
source: 'https://youtube.com/watch?v=btvrO8Kga1A'
video_id: 'btvrO8Kga1A'
date: 2026-07-27
duration_sec: 1951
---

# I Ranked Every Major Credit Card in 2026: Which Ones Are Actually Worth It?

> Source: [I Ranked Every Major Credit Card in 2026: Which Ones Are Actually Worth It?](https://youtube.com/watch?v=btvrO8Kga1A)

## Summary

The video presents a comprehensive tier ranking of popular credit cards for 2026, evaluating them from S (best) to D (worst) based on rewards, fees, and benefits. The reviewer provides detailed analysis of each card's strengths and weaknesses, helping viewers understand which cards are worth pursuing.

### Key Points

- **Apple Card Overrated** [00:14] — Despite no annual fee, no foreign transaction fees, and 2% back with Apple Pay, the Apple Card lacks a compelling sign-up bonus and faces an uncertain future after Goldman Sachs ended the partnership.
- **Robinhood Gold Card: 3% Back** [01:19] — Earns an impressive 3% unlimited cash back on all purchases, but requires a $50 annual Gold membership, has no sign-up bonus, and is still on a waitlist. Considered A tier.
- **Amex Gold Card: High Annual Fee but Potential Value** [02:36] — With a $325 annual fee, it offers up to $424 in credits (dining, Uber, etc.) and 4x points on restaurants and groceries. Value is subjective; placed in A tier.
- **Chase Sapphire Preferred: Solid All-Rounder** [03:33] — $95 annual fee with a $50 hotel credit, 5x on travel, and 3x on dining. 75,000-point sign-up bonus and access to great transfer partners like Hyatt. B tier due to competition.
- **Chase Freedom Flex: Rotating 5x Categories** [05:46] — No annual fee, 5x on rotating quarterly categories (groceries, dining, etc.), and 3x on dining/drugstores. A tier for high upside, but requires quarterly activation.
- **Capital One Venture X: S Tier Value** [06:55] — $395 annual fee offset by $300 travel credit and 10,000-mile anniversary bonus, effectively negative fee. Earns 10x on hotels via portal and 2x on everything. S tier.
- **Credit One Cards: Predatory and Low Value** [10:58] — Cards like Platinum X5 have high fees and no sign-up bonus, with poor rewards. Reputation for targeting subprime customers. D tier.
- **Citi Strata Premier: S Tier Transfer Card** [12:34] — $95 fee, $100 hotel credit, 3x on travel, restaurants, gas, and EV charging. Access to American Airlines transfer partners. S tier.
- **Citi Custom Cash: 5% on Top Category** [13:40] — No annual fee, earns 5% on top eligible category up to $500/month. Can convert to ThankYou points and transfer to partners. S tier.
- **Premium Cards: Sapphire Reserve and Amex Platinum** [17:22] — Both have high annual fees ($795 and $895) and extensive credits. Value depends on usage; placed in B tier.
- **Blue Cash Preferred: Best for Groceries** [20:09] — $95 fee (waived first year), 6% on groceries (up to $6k/year), 3% on gas. A tier for cash back enthusiasts.
- **Amazon Prime Visa: 5% at Amazon** [22:08] — No annual fee (requires Prime), unlimited 5% back at Amazon and Whole Foods, $150 gift card upon approval. A tier.
- **Discover It: Rotating Categories with Match** [23:39] — 5% on rotating categories up to $1,500/quarter, and Discover matches all cash back in first year. A tier.
- **Bank of America Customized Cash: Devaluation Coming** [26:52] — 3% on chosen category (e.g., online shopping), but Preferred Rewards boost is being nerfed in May 2026 (requires $1M instead of $100k). A tier for now.
- **Bilt 2.0 Cards: Complicated but Unique** [30:41] — Earn points on rent without fees. Three tiers ($0, $95, $495), each with different multipliers. B tier due to complexity and unpredictability.

### Conclusion

The best credit cards for 2026 include the Capital One Venture X and Citi Strata Premier for travel, Citi Custom Cash for cash back, and Amazon Prime Visa for Amazon shoppers. Many cards require careful consideration of fees and credits to maximize value.

## Transcript

to be doing an updated 2026 ranking of the most popular credit cards on the That way you can know the truth about which cards are actually good in the S are kind of underwhelming or overrated towards the bottom of this list. And
super popular card that's honestly always been a bit overrated to me and Apple Card sounds like a good product on the surface because it's got no annual fee, no foreign transaction fees, and no late fees. However, I think there's just
rewards and benefits because even though this card can get you 2% back on when Apple Pay is used or otherwise swipe that nice titanium metal card they give you. There's also never really been
a compelling sign-up bonus attached to the Apple Card except for the occasional out yourself by going through certain websites like Credit Karma. Plus the question right now. That's because Goldman Sachs was the previous issuer of
the Apple Card, but they had to end the partnership early due to severe losses. and purchased the Apple Card, but we're going to have to wait and see what that actually means for the future of this card in 2026 and beyond. Because of all
the Apple Card into the C tier, but it's still a fine credit card with features and the overall simplicity of the Apple ecosystem. But when it comes to fact is there's plenty of other better options out there including products
to talk about next here. So the Robinhood Gold Card earns an amazing 3% which kicks it up a notch from any other 2% cards out there. There's actually no Now there are a few downsides to this card. So first of all, there's still a
been out there for like 2 years now. So unfortunately, you do have to reserve invite to get it. And there's not really a great way of telling where you might fall on that waitlist because I'm still waiting for an invite myself. Also,
Robinhood Gold Card and even though that might not sound like a big deal to some people, keep in mind that lesser 2% cash back cards that do have a sign-up bonus of maybe 200 bucks can be a better deal in the short term. So it's really not
with this gold card that you'll have earned enough cash back at 3% over other 2% cards out there to offset that lack of a bonus. And then there's also the Gold member to get this card as well, which costs $50 per year. So that's
basically like a small annual fee here that you've got to consider as well even Robinhood Gold that might be worth it to you on top of getting this card. So because of all the positives of getting a super high 3% back on everything, this
deserve to be at the top of this tier list. But again, because there are some addressed, it's going to go into the A tier instead of the S tier, which I let's move over to the other gold card that most people are probably even more
going to be the Amex Gold Card which carries a $325 annual fee. Now that potential to be offset by some credits for select dining partners, Uber, Duncan, and Resy restaurants that can add up to as much as $424 of value per
value to you personally is going to be very subjective and it all just depends lot of other value that this card can give you as well including value from high as 100,000 membership rewards points after $6,000 in purchases within
primary spending multipliers on this card for 4x points per dollar at restaurants worldwide and 4x points on groceries from US supermarkets. There's of those and there's also no foreign transaction fees, but overall the Amex
just going to be very subjective depending on the person. But for people credits here, those 4x multipliers on food spend is going to be a big thing into the A tier as well even though I think it could be easily considered B
keep track of those credits. Next, let's go ahead and jump over to another that I think everyone should get at least once in the credit card journey Sapphire Preferred. So the Sapphire Preferred has a $95 annual fee which can
hotel credit that you get for hotels there's going to be some okay spending multipliers here as well including 5x on travel booked through Chase, 2x on other travel, 3x on dining, 3x for online
groceries only, and 3x for select streaming services. And then the CSP top of all that, there's some decent travel protections here on this card primary auto rental coverage it comes with. But there's really two main things
everyone at some point. First is the sign-up bonus because the standard welcome offer on the Sapphire Preferred usually sits at around 75,000 points months. And those points are going to be super valuable because of the second
card, which is access to great transfer partners. The main reason that I love Hyatt is one of them and even though Hyatt is now going to be going through still going to be the best hotel transfer partner in terms of getting
your credit card points. However, I do think Chase needs to update a few more it a more competitive option to hold onto for the long term. So the Sapphire Preferred for me is going to go into the B tier. Now next here, let's go over a
Preferred under what's known as the Chase Trifecta. So those are going to be Freedom Unlimited. Both of these Freedom cards come with no annual fee and they both have similar welcome offers that are typically for around $200 after
what's cool is that you're actually earning Ultimate Rewards points here points currency earned over on the Sapphire Preferred. That allows you to cards and Sapphire cards together under one Sapphire card account. And again,
to one of many great transfer partners for more value towards travel. For spending multipliers, both the Freedom Flex and Freedom Unlimited earn 3% or really 3x points per dollar on dining and drugstores as well as 5x on travel
Freedom Flex is special because it earns 5x on rotating quarterly categories for those rotating categories every 3 months. And then the Freedom Unlimited is special because it earns a flat 1.5x under the all other purchases category
considering the value of those points for travel. To me though, earning 1.5x many other credit cards offer these days. So this card is going to go into Flex, this card to me is just going to have much higher upside value because
we've seen rotating 5x categories like grocery stores, dining, Amazon, and going to go into the A tier with a downside being that you do have to categories and activate them every quarter. Next up, let's move on to
time on TV and through the mail and that is going to be the Capital One have in their wallets as well. So this card has no annual fee and it's sort of that can be a decent option for a lot of young people with not much credit
history. The Quicksilver card comes with a pretty standard $200 bonus after you then it also has no foreign transaction fees and it earns a flat 1.5% back on Freedom Unlimited. However, there's not really any incentive to have this 1.5%
Capital One card for the long term when there's a lot of other Capital One cards dollar on everything. So yeah, there's nothing really wrong with the that's exciting about it either that makes it worth using over other credit
cards out there. So this one is going to go down into the C tier. Now if you are credit card, then the Venture X Rewards Card could still very much be worth because first of all, this card comes with a standard 75,000 mile welcome
offer after spending $4,000 in the first 3 months. Now even though there's a $395 annual fee on the Venture X, that fee is pretty easily offset thanks to a $300 year as soon as you open this card as well as a 10,000 mile anniversary bonus
that you get every year starting on your first account anniversary, which is just those two credits alone, you're going to be able to come out ahead of the annual fee and then all of the other features on the Venture X are going to
Those features include the ability to earn 10x miles on hotels and rental cars booked through Capital One Travel, 5x miles on flights and vacation rentals 2x miles per dollar on all other purchases. You also get a ton of other
travel protections and benefits here including primary auto rental coverage, for Global Entry or TSA PreCheck, as well as airport lounge access to Capital just made an updated review video for
goes over everything you need to know about it for 2026 including the recent devaluation it just got for guest policies for that airport lounge access. changes, the Venture X remains a card that's tough to beat for the value that
just looking for a great 2x catch-all card. So until Capital One makes any into the top S tier as the first card in that tier for this video. Now since we might as well touch on two of their other most popular products with the
Venture Card first here, this is going to be basically like the younger sibling to the Venture X. It also comes with a standard offer that can be around 75,000 miles after minimum spend requirements and it also earns 2x miles per dollar in
got no foreign transaction fees as well, is that the Venture Card only comes with a $95 annual fee versus $395. However, there's not really any credits here to easily offset that $95 fee. You also
on travel booked through Capital One because you can earn 5x miles on hotels, in that portal, but there's no multipliers for flights booked over benefits and protections here like a credit for up to $120 that covers the
but the Venture Card just does not pack the same punch as the Venture X. So it's going to go into the A tier even though it is still a solid option especially if the Savor Card, this card's got no annual fee and no foreign transaction
fees. And then it comes with a standard $200 bonus after spending $500 in the multipliers, it earns 3% cash back on grocery stores, dining, entertainment, and popular streaming services. And it also actually gets the same 5% cash back
and rental cars booked through Capital One Travel just like the Venture Card. on that stuff whereas the Savor Card is advertised as earning cash back. channel here and you've seen any of my videos before, then you know that the
actually be be into miles if you have a card like the Venture or the Venture X. to have in a two-card Capital One duo setup. So, because of how many categories are getting covered here with a 3% or 3x multiplier on the Savor card,
well. And then really quickly, I also want to rank the no annual fee Venture get talked about a lot. But honestly, because this card only earns 1.25x miles below what you should be earning with a catch-all card like this. So, the
tier. Now, before we continue on with these rankings, I just want to say that choose from can feel pretty overwhelming. And things can get even taking all the points and miles you've earned and then try redeeming them for
beginner with this stuff, or you just have some friends or family members who sure you and all of your friends and family have signed up for a free 7-day email course that my team and I created called points and miles 101. With that
lesson to your email inbox every day for 7 days straight. And by the end of those 7 days, you should have a much better understanding of how to navigate this ahead and check out that email course for free with the link down below. But
these rankings by taking a look at another issuer that often gets mistaken similar their logo is. And that would be Credit One who offers cards like the Platinum X5 Visa and the Platinum Rewards Visa. So, the Platinum X5 Visa
earns 5% cash back on the first $5,000 of eligible spend on gas, grocery, mobile phone service purchases each year. But it comes with a $95 annual fee bonus, or any other value to help offset that annual fee in any way. Actually,
even if you manage to max out that 5% back on $5,000 of spend per year in those select categories, that's going to be $250 of cash back, which is really only worth $155 after paying the $95 annual fee. Then over on the Platinum
Rewards Visa, this card does have no annual fee, which is nice. But it's only below average because there's no elevated multipliers here for certain card even worse is that this 1% back itself is only for the same eligible
categories mentioned on the last card like gas, grocery, internet, cable, satellite TV, and mobile phone services. Now, I could go over other cards from a tangent here about them, all you need to know is that they are primarily an
customers who are more likely to miss payments or even carry a balance. So, their products and rewards reflect that, and their reputation in the credit card issuers is going to reflect that as well with many people over on Reddit
One. So, I'm sure that their products can be fine for the right customer, and could get you some value if they're used the right way. But because there's so issuers out there, and because these two Credit One cards are just objectively
bad cards anyway, they're going to go into the bottom D tier. All right, next Citi because they're another major issuer that we haven't covered yet. So, that I think is their very best, and that is going to be the Strata Premier.
So, the Strata Premier has a $95 annual fee, and it comes with a standard 60,000 point bonus after spending $4,000 in the first 3 months. And then there's a $100 potentially offset the annual fee. For this benefit, you can get $100 off a
single hotel stay of $500 or more excluding taxes and fees when booking power from this card is going to come from its spending multipliers. So, hotels, car rentals, and attractions booked through Citi Travel, and then 3x
points on air travel and other hotel purchases, as well as 3x on restaurants, charging stations. There's no foreign transaction fees here as well, plus some just okay. But because the Strata Premier has so many great ways of
everyday categories, and because this card gives you access to transfer to include American Airlines at a one-to-one rate, the Strata Premier is opinion. Then another Citi card that belongs right up there in the S tier
card. And that's because the main feature of the Custom Cash is that it can earn 5% cash back on your top eligible spend category for up to $500 categories include a ton of useful common ones that you can see on the
stations, grocery stores, and more. cool thing is they are actually earning Citi though it's marketed as another cash back card. Those points can be combined Premier we just talked about, and that allows you to then transfer the points
those same transfer partners like American Airlines from the Strata Premier. There's also a $200 or really 20,000 points standard welcome offer on first 6 months. So, yeah, for a no annual fee card to offer all this makes
Then next here, we've got the Citi Double Cash that's always been one of on the market. And that's because the Double Cash earns an unlimited 2% cash 1% back when you buy something, and then another 1% back when you pay that off.
However, just like the Custom Cash card, the Double Cash is also technically 2x points per dollar on everything here. Plus, there's also another $200 or standard welcome offer on this card, and that also comes after spending $1,500 in
this credit card. So, there's nothing super special that would make me want to really nothing bringing it down because it's a great catch-all card within the Citi ecosystem. So, it's going to be A tier for me. Now, recently, Citi also
travel credit card to their lineup with the Strata Elite that I want to rank next here. And this card's going to be interesting because it's got a $595 annual fee, as well as a standard 75,000 point welcome offer after spending
$6,000 in the first 3 months. The Strata Elite also comes with a few credits and the annual fee depending on your spending habits. And those credits are going to include a $300 annual hotel credit that requires a minimum stay of
two nights booked through cititravel.com, as well as a $200 annual to two brands that includes First Dibs, American Airlines, Best Buy, Future Personal Training, and Live Nation. And then you can receive up to $200 back
There's also a credit for a premium chauffeur service called Blacklane where you can get $100 semi-annually for up to $200 back per year, plus lounge access passes per year to American Airlines Admirals Clubs. And that's because Citi
like several other issuers do. There's a few other benefits and travel foreign transaction fees. And then there's also some decent spending multipliers in the form of 12x points on hotels, car rentals, and attractions
booked through Citi Travel, as well as 6x points at restaurants on Fridays and Saturdays from 6:00 p.m. to 6:00 a.m. Eastern Time, and then 3x points on restaurants at any other time outside of that, and 1.5x points on all other
does not have its own lounges, and there's not that much outsized easy because that whole 6x on restaurants thing is going to be limited to only certain days and certain times, this card is going to go into the B tier for
Premier is the much better option to go with in Citi's lineup. Now, Citi also offers a no annual fee Strata branded card that comes with a 20,000 point bonus after spending $1,000 in the first 3 months. And it's got a few decent
spending multipliers as well, including 3x at supermarkets, 3x on select transit, gas, and EV charging, 3x on a self-select category, and more. However, though it does have access to transfer partners like American Airlines, those
devalued because you're not getting the same one-to-one transfers. So, instead, for example, you're getting 1,000 to 700 point transfer ratios for American reason alone, it's going to be a card that's not really worth getting even
it's going to go into the C tier for me couple of top tier travel credit cards next here that I didn't get to talk Chase Sapphire Reserve, as well as the Amex Platinum card. So, both of these
cards recently got updates in 2025 with Chase bumping the annual fee on the Sapphire Reserve up to $795, and American Express bumping the annual fee on the Platinum card up to $895. Each card also added new credits and benefits
annual fees with the Sapphire Reserve receiving a much more dramatic update card. But basically, both of these cards are going to offer top tier travel protections, no foreign transaction fees, airport lounge access, lifestyle
stuff that's either worth it for you or not. But it really just depends on the person and your spending habits. So, to me, because both of these cards have too it's kind of tough to give them a really true objective rating. So, I'm going to
middle B tier, but you can move them up or down a tier depending on the person. And if you want to see a full detailed comparison between these two cards, as Capital One Venture X, then I'll leave a link down below to another video I made
cards against each other. Now, one other new travel card that I had to rank here announced Robinhood Platinum card that's coming in with a $695 annual fee. And because I don't really think it makes a ton of sense. To me, this is basically
like an off-brand version of the Amex Platinum right down to that Platinum credits here that either make it worth it to you or not worth it to you well. But the difference here is that I don't really think there's that much
credits. That's because even if you get enough value from any of these credits, dining as a standout feature here because there's not much else that's really unique to this card. At least the Amex Platinum card gives you access to
earn points and a large sign-up bonus that has much more upside travel value, benefits. So, the Robinhood Platinum card is something I'm going to have to going to go into the C tier for me because it's way too much effort for not
enough upside value. There's also a sort of forgotten American Express travel well, which is the Amex Green card. But honestly, I've never been a huge fan of needs to be updated in 2026. So, this
card has a $150 annual fee without any ways to really offset that fee. And I know there is a $209 Clear Plus credit, but for the average person, I don't you otherwise would pay out of pocket for. So, I just don't really like that
this Clear credit is the only credit on the Amex Green. The card also offers a sign-up bonus that's well below what a $150 card should have because you're only getting 40,000 Amex points after $3,000 of spend in 6 months. And the
spending multipliers are just okay here with 3x points on travel, transit, and transaction fees as well. There's countless other cards that also earn 3x going to be best used as a travel and
most other travel cards do not cover such as trains, buses, subway rides, car rentals, cruises, and more. But to me again that's just not going to be enough consistently year after year. So I'm going to put it into the seat here for
do see an Amex update for the green card at some point in 2026. Now all the Amex video have actually historically been structured as more of charge cards with let's go ahead and cover two other popular cards that Amex offers that
those are going to be the Blue Cash Everyday and the Blue Cash Preferred. cards that do not earn those more flexible points currencies. And both of to more people out there because of their annual fees which are $0 on the
everyday card and $95 on the preferred. Although that $95 annual fee is going to preferred which is nice. So in terms of welcome offers American Express recently here which means the offer they might give you is going to vary from person to
And so the Blue Cash Everyday is offering as high as $200 of cash back after spending $2000 in the first 6 months. And then the Blue Cash Preferred is offering as high as $300 of cash back after spending $3000 in the first 6
months. For spending multipliers the everyday card earns 3% back on groceries at US supermarkets, 3% back on US online retail, and 3% back on gas at US gas stations all for up to $6000 of spending in each one of those categories per
calendar year. And then the preferred card earns 6% back on groceries at US supermarkets, 6% back on select US streaming, 3% back on transit, and 3% back on gas at US gas stations. But that grocery category is still going to be
limited to earning 6% back on only the first $6000 of spend per calendar year Disney streaming credits that are going to be valid on certain plans from preferred is going to give you up to $10 per month on that while the everyday is
honestly really like these two cards if you're more of a cash back type of person and you can just choose between these two depending on whether you think the preferred with its $95 annual fee. And the only thing that's holding these
going to be the spending caps for the categories. So these are going to go into the A tier as well as great cash back options. Next up we've got the Prime Visa card which is going to be a
Prime member. And that's because this card has no annual fee if you are already a Prime member. And then it's going to earn an unlimited 5% cash back on Amazon purchases. That 5% extends to Whole Foods as well. And then there's a
few other elevated like 2% back at gas stations, restaurants, and on local shares. Plus it's got no foreign transaction fees and you can also get a nice $150 Amazon gift card instantly upon approval or sometimes even more
because Amazon spend is so high for so of us already have Prime anyway getting an unlimited 5% back on Amazon is tier cash back card in my opinion. Now
popular place that a lot of people do a ton of shopping at is the Costco Anywhere Visa card by Citi. So this one has no annual fee and no foreign to have a Costco membership. If you're a Costco member though then this can be a
great card for gas because it earns 5% back on Costco gas and 4% back on other eligible gas or EV charging for up to $7000 of combined spend per year. It also earns 3% back on restaurants and eligible travel including Costco travel
and 2% back on any other purchases from Costco which is useful because Costco is infamous for only accepting Visa cards and not MasterCard, Amex, or Discover. there's no standard sign up bonus. You might find offers in store from time to
time but for me this card is going to go into the high B tier for most people A tier if you're close to maxing out your $7000 of annual gas spend at 5% or right next up here we've got the Discover it which is a super popular
And honestly to me the Discover it is still one of the best cash back credit basically doing the same thing very well. So this card earns 5% cash back on rotating quarterly categories similar to the Chase Freedom Flex we talked about
earlier except this card is just purely earning cash back. And that 5% back is combined spending in those rotating categories each quarter as well. The has a unique welcome offer on this card where they're going to match your cash
your first year with it. So if you're earning 5% back on those rotating categories in your first year then that becomes effectively like earning 10% year. There's no foreign transaction fees here as well although Discover
isn't as widely accepted in certain places outside the US. But this one is the one downside being that you do have to activate and keep track of those rotating categories every 3 months. All right next up we've got the no annual
fee Wells Fargo Active Cash which is basically just another 2% cash back card miscellaneous spend. And this card also has a standard welcome offer of $200 first 3 months. There's a small cell
but other than that this card is pretty simple and actually similar to the Citi Double Cash. So to me there's no reason not to put this one into the A tier as you really just don't like Wells Fargo because then you might consider this
card more B tier due to the history this bank has. However I will say that if you Wells Fargo they've got some pretty unique credit card offerings these days those cards next here is the Wells Fargo Autune. This credit card earns 4% back
on self care, select sports, recreation, and entertainment as well as impactful purchases which includes things like public transportation, EV charging, actually breaks down what falls under these broad categories on a separate
Autune card. And there's a lot of potential things earning 4% back or really 4x Wells Fargo points per dollar if you hold certain other Wells Fargo cards. However earning that 4x back on all these things really just depends on
coded by Wells Fargo because there's plenty of data points out there of certain things not getting coded as 4x when they should be. So your mileage may be very good for some people but I'm going to go ahead and put it into the
cards that are worth ranking here would be the no annual fee Autograph card and starting with the no annual fee Autograph card first you're going to be able to earn 20,000 bonus points when you spend $1000 in the first 3 months.
bunch of different categories including restaurants, travel, gas, transit, plans. And then there's no foreign transaction fees and a cell phone protection benefit. For the $95 Autograph Journey you're going to be
able to earn 60,000 bonus points after spending $4000 in the first 3 months. And then you can also earn 5x points in hotels, 4x points on airlines, and 3x points on restaurants and other travel. You can also get a $50 annual statement
purchase to help partially offset some foreign transaction fees, a slightly better cell phone protection benefit, protections as well. Both of these cards also give you access to a small list of
can transfer the points earned from these cards and some other Wells Fargo cards to get more value towards travel. So these aren't amazing S tier cards but here other than the Wells Fargo name for
are going to be in the A tier as well for the amount of spending multipliers they cover. Next up we've got just a couple of Bank of America cards with the Cash Rewards. So both of these have no annual fees and I wanted to mention them
here because Bank of America is getting just a bit devalued in 2026. So the Customized Cash earns 3% cash back in a category of your choice which includes a valuable option for online shopping. Plus it also earns 2% back on grocery
restriction being that you can get those elevated rewards on the first $2500 of spending each quarter. Then the Unlimited Cash just earns a flat 1.5% cash back focused cards but a lot of cash back people like to be in the Bank
program they've had over the years called Preferred Rewards. That program Bank of America and Merrill Lynch who have $100,000 of balances from assets with them receive a 75% boost on credit card rewards. So 3% back on online
shopping with the Customized Cash for example turns into 5.25% back and 1.5% back on everything else with the Unlimited turns into 2.62% back. However starting in May of 2026 Bank of America is going to be rebranding this program
increasing the balance requirement from $100,000 to $1 million with Bank of America and Merrill Lynch to get that 75% top rewards boost. So for many of America decreases just a bit. But the fact is this is still a good program and
back cards anyway. So I'm going to go the A tier because the online shopping option at 3% is very good. And then the Unlimited card is going to go into the C tier because 1.5% in cash back could be
higher for you if you're still going to have a lot of money with Bank of America wanted to include three credit cards another more cash back focused issuer right now. So those are going to be the
Smartly Visa, the Altitude Go, and the Cash Plus cards. So the Smartly Visa was launched because it had no annual fee and you could earn 2% back on everything plus up to an additional 2% back if you held $100,000 or more in assets with US
accounts. That made this card an unheard of 4% cash back option. But that was too powerful and US Bank quickly nerfed it by introducing earning caps and massive their checking accounts in order to get any bonus cash back of up to 4%. But
because the Smartly Visa is still a base 2% cash back card it's going to go into definitely bottom of the B tier because there's still no sign up bonus here to make up for this devaluation. The Altitude Go card has seen some changes
spending multipliers. But it's still a no annual fee credit card with a 20,000 point bonus which is worth $200 after 1K of spend in the first 90 days. And it also earns 4x points per dollar which is equal to 4% back on dining, takeout, and
restaurant delivery for your first $2000 of spending each quarter. The other which is no better than any other 2x or 2% card out there. So the Altitude Go is not going to be a crazy high earning card but 4% back on dining is still very
quarter. So, it's going to go into the B fee Cash Plus card, this card has a standard offer of $200 after 1K of spend real power of this card comes from being able to earn 5% cash back on the first
$2,000 in combined eligible purchases each quarter on two categories that you can choose. Now, the cool thing here is that home utilities is one of those which can be super valuable to a lot of people. However, I want to point out
that some utility companies do charge a credit card processing fee of 2 to 3% that can eat into this 5% back. So, just be aware of that here. But again, for no annual fee and being able to choose one other category to also earn 5% back up
quarter, I'm going to say this is an A tier card for the right person. But tier card if the fees on utilities are too much. All right, next up here now credit cards they just launched in 2026 with their 2.0 program update. So, those
are going to be the $0 Bilt Blue card, the $95 Bilt Obsidian card, and the $495 lot of controversy and differing opinions about just how good or bad Bilt points on your rent or mortgage. But to me, there's two things that are true
here at the same time. Number one, Bilt 2.0 is complicated and confusing for the around. But number two, these cards and the points you can earn on housing are still a valuable option to consider taking advantage of. The Bilt Blue earns
1x on everything, the Bilt Obsidian earns 3x on groceries for up to 25K of spend per year, or just 3x on dining along with 2x on travel and 1x on Palladium earns 2x on everything, but all three of these cards also have no
Obsidian and Palladium cards come with some Bilt travel hotel credits to help offset their annual fees. But the real power of these cards really comes from mortgage based on how much non-housing spend you put on your Bilt card. It's
honestly way too complicated to explain here in this video, but my short opinion going to go into the B tier right now. However, keep in mind that Bilt points no other program other than Bilt allows you to earn any points on housing
without a transaction fee. So, personally, I'd probably put these cards month of using the Palladium card in my own credit card setup. But because of overall unpredictability there seems to be with Bilt, I think putting them into
the B tier for this video is fair. Even though I think it's perfectly fine if out there who doesn't find them worth the effort. But honestly, I still highly cards for yourself and just run your own numbers to see if Bilt is going to be a
already, then make sure to go ahead and check out this video over here on the everything you need to know about Bilt 2.0 in much more detail. But as always, thanks so much for watching and I'll see you in the next one.