Advertiser Disclosure

Many of the card offers that appear on this site are from companies from which Credit Card Tune-Up receives a commission for new cardmembers (e.g. Barclays, American Express, etc.), though many offers are from companies with which there is no such partnership (e.g. PenFed, Fort Knox FCU, Navy FCU, First National Bank, etc.). However, these commissions do not impact how or where products appear on this site, including the order in which they appear. Other factors, such as our own proprietary website rules (e.g. reward currency valuations) do impact how and where products appear on this site. The Credit Card Tune-Up calculation engine does not include the entire universe of available credit card offers.

Overview

It can be daunting to choose reward credit cards that are right for you. Credit card companies offer dozens of competing cards and their reward structures for cashback, frequent flier miles, and points are a complex mix of categories, tiers, limits, and earning percentages.

The Credit Card Tune-Up calculator makes all of that easy. Just choose your filter criteria in the box on the right, plug in how much you spend each month, and press the Recalculate button. You'll then be presented with a list of the cards in our calculation engine sorted in descending order by the expected value of your first-year rewards minus any annual fee. All reward types -- miles, points, cashback -- are converted into dollars for an easy apples-to-apples comparison. You can hover over a calculated dollar amount to see any details about how points or miles are valued for that card. Note that these valuations are based on our research and not assigned by the card companies.

If having more than one of the credit cards in our database and using each card for its more-rewarding categories will earn you a greater annual reward, then those best combinations are shown in the columns labeled "Best N-Card Combo" — up to as many as "Best 3-Card Combo". (Note that when calculating card combination rewards our tool conservatively assumes you'll only earn any initial bonuses from one card in the combination, even though it may be possible to simultaneously earn bonuses from more than one of the cards in that set.)

Usage Tips

• Only the "Total you spend per month" amount is required, but entering your expenses by category can make a significant difference in possible rewards. Since there is no "Other" category, don't worry about having your category amounts add up to your total amount; the calculator figures out your "Other" spending for you.
• To apply for credit cards or read the terms and conditions, you can click on the card name link or "Apply Now" button. Also, applying for credit cards through the category links above helps support this web site.
• For a detailed explanation of any credit card, category, or reward amount, hover your mouse pointer over that item. Card detail bullets can also be toggled with the "Show Details" button.
• To exclude a credit card from the "Best N-Card Combo" results (those with amounts highlighted in green), check its checkbox in the "Omit Card from Calc?" column and press the Recalculate button.