Best Credit Cards of September 2026
We've reviewed hundreds of credit cards to find the best overall options — from flat-rate cash back to premium travel rewards. Updated monthly.
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Wells Fargo Active Cash® Card
Annual fee
$0
Rewards rate
2%
Unlimited 2% cash rewards on purchases
Intro offer
$100
Credit needed
670–850 (Good – Excellent)
Intro APR
0% intro APR for 12 months from account opening on purchases and qualifying balance transfers
Regular APR
18.49%, 24.49%, or 28.49% Variable
Why we picked it
- Flat 2% cash rewards on every purchase with no category tracking — still the cleanest 2% card available, and NerdWallet's 2026 pick for best all-purpose cash back
- No annual fee keeps your rewards truly free, and rewards don't expire while the account stays open
- The welcome bonus is now $100 after $500 in spend, down from $200 — at 2% back, ordinary spending replaces that lost $100 in about $5,000 of purchases, so the ongoing rate matters far more than the bonus here
- 0% intro APR for 12 months on purchases and qualifying balance transfers (transfers must be made within 120 days of account opening) — note this window was cut from 15 months, so debt-payoff shoppers should compare against the 21-month cards below
- Cell phone protection up to $600 per claim when you pay your monthly bill with the card; 3% foreign transaction fee makes it a poor choice abroad
Chase Freedom Flex®
Annual fee
$0
Rewards rate
1% – 5%
5% on rotating quarterly categories (up to $1
Intro offer
$200
Credit needed
670–850 (Good – Excellent)
Intro APR
0% intro APR for 15 months on purchases and balance transfers
Regular APR
18.24% – 27.74% Variable
Why we picked it
- Up to 5% cash back on rotating bonus categories each quarter you activate, on the first $1,500 in combined purchases — worth $75 per quarter, or 7,500 Ultimate Rewards points, if maxed out
- Two deadlines land within days of each other this month: Q3 2026 activation (gas stations & EV charging, public transit, select live entertainment, and United Way donations) closes Sept 14, 2026 and applies retroactively, so every qualifying purchase since July 1 still earns 5% even if you activate on the final day — but miss it and the whole quarter reverts to 1%
- Q4 2026 categories are now published: Chase Travel, department stores, Old Navy, and PayPal, running Oct 1 – Dec 31 with activation opening Sept 15, 2026. It's the strongest holiday-quarter lineup Chase has offered in years — PayPal alone covers a wide swath of online checkout, and department stores capture gift shopping, so maxing the $1,500 cap is realistic for most households in Q4
- 3% on dining (including takeout & delivery) and drugstores year-round, plus 5% on travel purchased through Chase Travel
- 0% intro APR for 15 months on purchases and balance transfers, then 18.24% – 27.74% variable
- Cash back is really Ultimate Rewards points — pool them with a Chase Sapphire card to unlock 1:1 transfers to 14 airline and hotel partners, where the value far exceeds 1¢ per point
Wells Fargo Reflect® Card
Annual fee
$0
Rewards rate
None
No rewards program — this card is built to save you interest
Intro offer
None
Credit needed
670–850 (Good – Excellent)
Intro APR
0% intro APR for 21 months from account opening on purchases and qualifying balance transfers (transfers must be made within 120 days)
Regular APR
17.49%, 23.99%, or 28.24% Variable
Why we picked it
- 0% intro APR for 21 months on both purchases and qualifying balance transfers — 21 months is the ceiling anywhere on the market right now, and Reflect is one of the few cards applying it to purchases and transfers alike
- It no longer stands alone, though: U.S. Bank Shield Visa, the reintroduced Chase Slate, and BankAmericard all now match 21 months, and Shield's go-to APR tops out lower at 27.99%. Compare the back end, not just the headline number
- $0 annual fee, so the entire 21-month runway costs nothing to hold — the real expense is the 5% balance transfer fee (min. $5), which runs $250 on a $5,000 transfer. Citi Simplicity charges 3% for the first four months if the fee is your deciding factor
- Cell phone protection up to $600 per claim (two claims per 12-month period, $25 deductible) when you pay your monthly cell bill with the card
- Earns no rewards — the play is to pair it with a flat-rate cash-back card for new spending and use the Reflect purely to clear existing balances before the 17.49%–28.24% variable APR takes over
Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card
Annual fee
$95
Rewards rate
1x – 5x
5x on all Chase Travel purchases (flights
Intro offer
75,000 points
Credit needed
690–850 (Good – Excellent)
Intro APR
N/A
Regular APR
19.24% – 27.49% Variable
Why we picked it
- 75,000 point welcome bonus after $5,000 spend in 3 months — the card's best-ever 100,000-point limited-time offer expired July 30, 2026, so this is the current standard offer; worth roughly $1,538 per TPG's 2026 valuations, versus $750 if you cash out at the base 1¢ rate
- Redemptions now run through Chase's Points Boost system: select hotels and flights redeem at up to 1.5¢ per point and select premium-cabin flights at up to 1.75¢, versus a 1¢ base rate on all other Chase Travel bookings for new applicants. (Cardholders who applied before June 23, 2025 keep the old flat 1.25¢ rate on points earned before Oct 26, 2025, redeemable until Oct 26, 2027.)
- $100 annual Chase Travel hotel credit (doubled from $50 in the June 15, 2026 refresh) more than covers the $95 annual fee on its own, plus up to $120 in Global Entry/TSA PreCheck/Nexus credits every four years, a complimentary one-year Apple TV subscription (activate by Dec 31), and a DoorDash DashPass membership with a $10 monthly non-restaurant credit; note: applicants on or after June 15, 2026 no longer get the 10% anniversary points bonus
- Transfer points 1:1 to 14 airline and hotel partners including United MileagePlus, Southwest, Air Canada Aeroplan, British Airways Avios, and Air France/KLM Flying Blue — transferring to airline partners beats the Chase Travel portal in almost every case, even at the boosted 1.75¢ rate; note: effective June 15, 2026 for new applicants (Oct 1, 2026 for existing cardholders) the Hyatt transfer ratio drops to 4:3 (1,000 points → 750 Hyatt), while every other partner stays 1:1. You can still hold both Preferred and Reserve and earn a welcome bonus on each — the Reserve's record 150,000-point offer expired June 15, 2026, and its public online offer remains 100,000 points after $6,000 in purchases in the first 3 months (confirmed on chase.com Sept 9, 2026), against a $795 annual fee
Capital One Venture Rewards Credit Card
Annual fee
$95
Rewards rate
2x – 5x
5x miles on hotels
Intro offer
75,000 miles + $300 credit
Credit needed
690–850 (Good – Excellent)
Intro APR
N/A
Regular APR
19.49% – 28.49% Variable
Why we picked it
- The strongest mid-tier travel offer on the market right now: 75,000 miles after $4,000 in 3 months plus a $300 Capital One Travel stays credit, against a $95 annual fee — the credit alone returns more than three years of fees in year one
- Read the $300 credit carefully before you count it: it covers hotels and vacation rentals booked through Capital One Travel only, not flights, and it expires one year after account opening. If you don’t have a portal-bookable hotel stay planned, value the offer at the 75,000 miles alone
- Flat 2x miles on every purchase with no categories to track — a higher floor than the Sapphire Preferred's 1x base rate, and the reason this card works as a genuine one-card setup rather than half of a pairing
- Transfer miles 1:1 to 15+ airline and hotel partners including Air Canada Aeroplan, Virgin Atlantic, and Air France/KLM Flying Blue — the same transfer table as the $395 Venture X, which is what separates this from an ordinary 2% cash-back card; miles cash out at 1¢ but routinely fetch more through partners
Capital One Venture X Rewards Credit Card
Annual fee
$395
Rewards rate
2x – 10x
10x on hotels & rental cars via Capital One Travel
Intro offer
75,000 miles
Credit needed
740–850 (Excellent)
Intro APR
N/A
Regular APR
19.49% – 28.49% Variable
Why we picked it
- $300 annual travel credit (via Capital One Travel) + 10,000 anniversary bonus miles ($100 value) — offsets most of the $395 annual fee, bringing the effective cost to roughly $0 if you use both
- Know how the $300 credit works: since 2025 it applies as a discount at checkout inside the Capital One Travel portal, not as a statement credit. You earn no miles on the discounted portion, and canceling a booking restores the credit — so it only pays off if you actually book travel through Capital One
- Primary cardholder lounge access is unchanged — 1,300+ lounges via Capital One Lounges, Capital One Landings, and Priority Pass, with no fees or spending requirement; but effective Feb 1, 2026, guests cost $45/adult ($25 ages 17 and under, free under 2) and authorized users cost $125 each (up to four), waived only if you spend $75,000+ on the card in a calendar year
- Global Entry or TSA PreCheck application fee credit (up to $120 every 4 years)
- Transfer miles 1:1 to 18+ airline partners (including Air Canada Aeroplan, Virgin Atlantic, Air France/KLM Flying Blue) and 4 hotel partners
Blue Cash Preferred® Card from American Express
Annual fee
$0 intro first year, then $95
Rewards rate
1% – 6%
6% at U.S. supermarkets (up to $6
Intro offer
Up to $300
Credit needed
670–850 (Good – Excellent)
Intro APR
0% intro APR for 12 months on purchases and balance transfers (balance transfers must be requested within 60 days of account opening)
Regular APR
19.49% – 28.49% Variable
Why we picked it
- 6% cash back at U.S. supermarkets (on up to $6,000/year, then 1%) — up to $360 back annually, which alone covers the $95 fee nearly four times over for a household spending $500 a month on groceries
- 6% back on select U.S. streaming subscriptions with no cap, plus a $120/yr streaming credit ($10 monthly toward Disney+, Hulu, HBO Max, or ESPN+ bundles; enrollment and auto-renewal required)
- 3% at U.S. gas stations and 3% on transit — rideshare, parking, tolls, trains and buses — which is unusually broad for a card marketed on groceries
- $0 intro annual fee the first year, then $95, so the first 12 months are effectively a free trial; note the 2.7% foreign transaction fee makes it a domestic-only card
American Express® Gold Card
Annual fee
$325
Rewards rate
1x – 5x
4x at restaurants worldwide (up to $50
Intro offer
Up to 100,000 points
Credit needed
690–850 (Good – Excellent)
Intro APR
N/A (charge card with Pay Over Time option)
Regular APR
See Pay Over Time APR (Amex publishes no fixed range)
Why we picked it
- Welcome offer as high as 100,000 points after $8,000 spend in the first 6 months (~$1,334/month) — worth up to $2,000 per TPG's August 2026 valuations; the spend threshold rose 33% from $6,000 to $8,000 in 2026, and offers are personalized, so you may not be eligible for the top tier
- 4x points at restaurants worldwide and at U.S. supermarkets (on up to $25,000/yr, then 1x), plus a refreshed 5x on prepaid hotels via AmexTravel.com
- $424 in recurring annual statement credits against the $325 fee: $120 Dining Credit ($10/mo at Grubhub/Seamless, Buffalo Wild Wings, Five Guys, The Cheesecake Factory, and Wonder), $120 Uber Cash ($10/mo), $100 Resy Credit ($50 semi-annually at 10,000+ U.S. Resy restaurants), and $84 Dunkin’ Credit ($7/mo) — the dining, Resy, and Dunkin’ credits require enrollment before spending counts; Uber Cash activates automatically once the card is added in the Uber app
- Complimentary Hertz Five Star status, plus a limited-time statement credit up to $96 on an Uber One annual membership — this one expires Oct 30, 2026, so enroll now if you want it
- Transfer 1:1 to 20+ Membership Rewards partners including Delta SkyMiles, Air Canada Aeroplan, British Airways, Virgin Atlantic, and Hilton Honors
Our Methodology
We evaluate credit cards based on rewards value, fees, APR, sign-up bonuses, and consumer protections. Our data is researched monthly using publicly available issuer information and cross-referenced with trusted financial sources including Bankrate, NerdWallet, and The Points Guy. Ratings reflect our editorial assessment and are not influenced by affiliate partnerships.
Data last verified: September 9, 2026