The Best Credit Cards for Good and Excellent Credit Scores [In-Depth]

BY 

Christine Krzyszton

- May 16, 2018September 12, 2018

1. Credit Cards  / 
2. Strategies & Guides

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Congratulations! Having good or excellent credit means you’ve managed your credit well, and have earned the privilege of being able to select from the best credit cards available.

The world of enjoying premium travel benefits, paying for your trip with miles or points, earning cash-back on your purchases, and knowing you have coverage when things go wrong is great to experience.

However, you probably didn’t reach a high credit rating without having a few premium cards already, so you’ll want to select any new credit cards wisely. Consider factors such as Chase’s 5/24 Rule, avoiding duplication of benefits, and the expense of high multiple annual fees not offsetting the benefits received.

Let’s take a look and compare some of the best credit cards for those who have achieved a good to excellent credit score, review the benefits and drawbacks of each card, and determine which cards are worth adding to your credit card portfolio.

What is Good to Excellent Credit?

Credit scores are used by lenders to determine whether to grant you credit, and the terms under which they’ll extend that credit. Having a credit score that is good to excellent will get you the best terms, including lowest interest rates, lowest down payment, and lowest fees.

The exact numbers for a good to excellent credit score vary. Credit reporting agency Experian, for example, defines a good credit score as one that is 700 or better and an excellent credit score as 800 or better. Equifax, another of the three credit reporting agencies, describes a good credit score as being between 700 and 750 and an excellent score 750 or above.

VantageScore, a credit scoring model developed by the three credit reporting agencies (Equifax, Transunion, and Experian), concurs that a good credit score is one that is at least 700 to 749 and an excellent score is one that is 750-850.

Bottom Line: If your credit score is between 700 and 850, you fall into the good to excellent credit range. Check out this article for more info on this topic. If your score is still low, you might need to look into getting a credit card for bad credit to start boosting your score.

For information on monitoring your credit score, see our article “The Best Ways to Monitor Your Credit Score & Credit Report“.

The Best Premium Credit Cards for Travelers with Good to Excellent Credit

If you’re a frequent traveler with significant travel spending, having a premium travel credit card is essential for earning maximum travel rewards, getting the best travel perks, and being able to redeem those points for the most value flexibly.

Any of these premium travel credit cards can deliver to varying degrees in all cases, so if you can offset a hefty annual fee with the value you receive, select the card that matches up best with your specific travel preferences and spending habits.

All of these credit cards have no foreign transaction fees.

Bottom Line: Premium travel credit cards deliver significant travel benefits, but they often come with a high annual fee. If you think a card may have value for you, try the card for a year, then evaluate whether you received enough value to justify keeping the card and paying the renewal annual fee. 

The Best Overall Rewards-Earning Credit Cards for Good to Excellent Credit

Best Rewards Credit Card For Good to Excellent Credit	Benefits	Drawbacks
Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card	50,000 bonus points That's worth $625 toward travel when you redeem through Chase Ultimate Rewards. 2X points on travel and dining at restaurants worldwide. $0 foreign transaction fees Annual Fee: $0 the first year, then $95	Annual Fee: $0 the first year, then $95
Barclays Arrival® Premier World Elite MasterCard®	75,000 miles each year if you spend $25,000 on purchases Earn unlimited 2X miles on every purchase. Global Entry - Expedite your Re-entry with a $100 automatic statement credit for the cost of one Global Entry application fee every five years.	Annual Fee: $150 (waived first year) Minimum $100 redemption requirement Rates & Fees
Capital One® VentureOne® Rewards Credit Card (Learn More)	Earn 20,000 mile sign up bonus (worth $200) once you spend $1,000 on purchases within 3 months from account opening. Earn 10X miles per $1 spent across thousands of hotels Earn 1.25X Miles on every purchase Redeem points for travel as a statement credit Click To Learn More	Only good for the frequent traveler Cannot transfer miles to partners
Citi ThankYou® Premier Card (Learn More)	Limited Time Offer: 60,000 Bonus Points after spending $4,000 within the first 3 months of account opening. Redeemable for $750 in Airfare at ThankYou.com 3 ThankYou® Points per $1 spent on Travel, including Gas 2 points per $1 spent on dining/entertainment Annual Fee: $95 (Fee waived for the first 12 months) (Learn More)	$95 Annual Fee

The Capital One® Venture® Rewards Card and the Barclays Arrival® Premier Card each earn 2 miles per dollar on every purchase, not just specific categories. If your purchases don’t fall into the bonus categories offered by other cards, the simple earning structure on either of these cards might serve you well.

The Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card earns flexible Chase Ultimate Rewards©, which are worth 25% more when redeemed through the travel portal, you can transfer points to airline or hotel partners. If your spending is heavy on travel, you can also fare well with the Citi ThankYou® Premier Credit Card.

Bottom Line: This collection of rewards-earning credit cards focuses on earning and redeeming rewards versus travel perks and benefits. If you travel frequently, you may receive enough value to justify paying the higher annual fee on a premium travel credit card that includes benefits such as lounge access, priority boarding, free checked bags, and airline credits, plus other luxury travel perks. 

The Best Business Credit Cards for Good to Excellent Credit

If your business has high travel expenses, you’ll want to select the Chase Ink Business Preferred® over the Cash Ink Business Cash, as the latter earns only 1% cash-back on travel expenses, while the Ink Business Preferred earns 3 points per dollar spent in this category.

If the majority of your business expenses do not fall into the bonus categories of the Chase business cards, earning 2 points per dollar spent on all purchases (on up to $50,000 annually) with the Blue Business® Plus Credit Card from American Express might be an appropriate choice, especially since it doesn’t have an annual fee.

Another no annual fee card that delivers solid cash back for your business is the Chase Ink Business Unlimited. No need to keep track of bonus categories or quarterly promotions as the card earns 1.5% cash back on every purchase you make resulting in real dollars you can invest directly back into your business.

Bottom Line: Selecting the right business credit card to maximize earnings requires making sure your most significant business expenses match up with the bonus spending categories of the card you’re considering — and the rewards and benefits you receive offset any annual fees.

The Best Domestic Airline Credit Cards for Good to Excellent Credit

None of these cards charge a foreign transaction fee.

Bottom Line: If you travel frequently and value lounge access, you will benefit greatly from having one of the premium airline-branded credit cards that charge a $450 annual fee and offer airline lounge access. The annual fee you pay for any of these premium cards will be less than a 1-year lounge membership in either the Delta Sky Club, American Airlines Admirals Club, or the United Club. The benefit of free checked bags also provides savings that can offset the annual fee. 

The Best Hotel Rewards Credit Cards for Good to Excellent Credit

Best Hotel Credit Card for Good to Excellent Credit	Benefits
Starwood Preferred Guest® Credit Card from American Express	Earn 75,000 bonus points after you make $3,000 in purchases in your first 3 months. Earn 6 points for each dollar of eligible purchases at participating SPG® and Marriott Rewards® hotels and 2 points on all other eligible purchases. Terms Apply. $0 introductory annual fee for the first year, then $95.
Marriott Rewards® Premier Plus Credit Card	Earn 75,000 Bonus Points after you spend $3,000 on purchases in the first 3 months from account opening. Free Night Award (valued up to 35,000 points) every year after account anniversary. Earn 6 points per $1 spent at participating Marriott Rewards & SPG hotels.
Hilton Honors® Aspire Card from American Express	Earn up to 100,000 Hilton Honors Bonus Points 14X on qualifying purchases with hotels from the Hilton portfolio. Earn 7X Hilton Honors Bonus Points for eligible purchases on flights booked directly with airlines or amextravel.com; on car rentals booked directly from select car rental companies; & at U.S. restaurants. Terms Apply. $250 Hilton Resort statement credit, $250 airline fee credit & $100 Hilton on-property credit
Chase Hyatt Credit Card (Learn More)	3x points at Hyatt properties and 2x points at restaurants, airfare purchased directly from the airline and car rental agencies Hyatt Discoverist elite status
Chase IHG® Rewards Club Select Credit Card (Learn More)	Earn 10 points per $1 spent on purchases when you stay at IHG® hotels. Earn 2 points per $1 spent on purchases at gas stations, grocery stores, and restaurants. Enjoy a Free night after each account anniversary year at IHG hotels worldwide. Free reward night when you redeem points for any stay of 4 or more nights.

If you frequently stay with any one hotel brand, you’ll realize co-branded credit cards typically come with a long list of benefits including free nights, elite status, and in some cases, lounge access. There’s a hotel credit card that will fit your hotel stay preferences and elevate your experience.

That said, we’re not comparing apples to apples here, as there are some premium cards on this list with substantial benefits and equally hefty annual fees.

Before applying for Chase credit cards, be sure to check how the Chase 5/24 rule affects each card.

Bottom Line: Select the perfect hotel loyalty credit cards based first on the brand you stay frequently and then on whether the benefits you receive offset the annual fee. 

The Best No Annual Fee Credit Cards for Good to Excellent Credit

There are plenty of no annual fee credit cards to choose from; we’ve just selected a few.

Bottom Line: If your credit card portfolio includes several cards with annual fees and you’re trying to reduce these costs, you may want to find similar cards that do not charge annual fees. For example, the Hilton Honors® Ascend Card charges a $95 annual fee, while the Hilton Honors® Credit Card does not charge an annual fee. There may be a trade-off in benefits that you’ll have to evaluate in the process, but you could save a lot on annual fees. 

The Best Quarterly Bonus Category Cards for Good to Excellent Credit

The Chase Freedom earns valuable Chase Ultimate Rewards® Points with rotating bonus categories. You can transfer these points to premium Chase cards such as the Chase Sapphire® Reserve, where they are worth 50% more when redeemed for travel on the Ultimate Rewards® travel center.

Discover It® and Discover It® Cash Back Match cards earn 5% cash-back on quarterly bonus category purchases, and all cash-back is doubled on your first year card anniversary, making these cards good savings tools to fund an annual vacation at the end of your first year as a new cardholder.

Bottom Line: Credit cards with quarterly bonus earnings limit the amount you can earn annually, but there may be value beyond the quarterly earnings, such as additional redemption options, 0% APR periods, or other perks and benefits. 

The Best Cash-Back Cards for Good to Excellent Credit

For everyday purchases in any category, the Citi Double Cash Card will allow you to earn a consistent 2% cash-back on every purchase.

If you want to transfer high-interest credit card balances, the Discover It® may be a good choice, with its 0% APR for 18 months balance transfer option. If you can max out earning 5% cash-back on quarterly category purchases and have all your cash-back doubled at the first card anniversary, you can use those funds to help repay the balance transfer amount before the 0% APR period expires.

If you have significant everyday spending for groceries, gas and department stores, the Blue Cash Everyday® by American Express is a good choice, delivering as much as 3% cash-back.

Bottom Line: Cash-back is the most flexible reward you can earn, so you can’t go wrong having a cash-back card in your wallet. For the best possible earning potential, it is critical to select a card that closely matches your spending habits. 

Final Thoughts

Although this may seem like an exhaustive list, this is only a sample collection of credit cards we consider best for good to excellent credit. Depending on the category of card you’re looking for, you’ll find dozens, if not hundreds, of other choices.

We’ve abbreviated some of the benefit summaries for condensed content and easier comparisons, so you should review cardholder agreements for each card before applying.