How much should I spend on an engagement ring in 2022?

In 2022, according to an article published by RealSimple,¹ the average cost of an engagement ring is $3,000 to $5,000.

Can I use my credit card to buy jewelry?

You can absolutely use a credit card to buy jewelry. In most cases, if you can afford to pay it off in a timely manner without accumulating interest, it’s a beneficial decision to use a credit card to buy jewelry. That’s because you can earn some awesome points or cash-back just by putting your purchase on a credit card!

What are the best credit cards to buy an engagement ring?

We recommend using the Amex Platinum card, Capital One Venture X card, Capital One Venture card, Freedom Unlimited card, Double Cash card, or Amex Cash Magnet card to buy an engagement ring.

Should I buy an engagement ring with a credit card?

If you can afford it, you should absolutely do it. You can earn a ton of rewards that will help you offset some of the engagement ring costs or pay for honeymoon travel. And with some credit cards, you can enjoy great rewards and take advantage of introductory financing promotions!

The 6 Best Credit Cards for Buying an Engagement Ring [2023]

Getting engaged may be one of the most important moments of your life — if you’re ready to pop the question and take that next step with your significant other, you want everything to be absolutely perfect.

You’ve probably got plenty to worry about, such as choosing the perfect ring or how you’re going to propose.

But about that ring: you’ll want to think twice before financing this major purchase through the jewelry company.

In this guide, we’ll show you how to maximize rewards and benefits on your engagement ring purchase, which could help with your honeymoon and more.

Let’s get into it!

Table of contents

What To Look for in a Credit Card for Buying an Engagement Ring
The 6 Best Credit Cards for Buying an Engagement Ring
Final Thoughts

Card	Welcome Offer and Annual Fee	Earnings on Ring Purchase
The Platinum Card® from American Express	Earn 80,000 points after spending $6,000 on purchases in the first 6 months. $695 (rates and fees)	1x miles on your engagement ring purchase
Capital One Venture X Rewards Credit Card	Earn 75,000 miles when you spend $4,000 on purchases in the first 3 months. $395	2x miles on your engagement ring purchase and all other purchase
Capital One Venture Rewards Credit Card	Earn 75,000 miles when you spend $4,000 on purchases in the first 3 months. $95	2x miles on your engagement ring purchase and all other purchases
Chase Freedom Unlimited®	INTRO OFFER: Earn an additional 1.5% cash back on everything you buy (on up to $20,000 spent in the first year) - worth up to $300 cash back! $0	Unlimited 1.5% cash-back on your engagement ring purchase and all other purchases
Citi® Double Cash Card	No welcome offer available. $0	Earn 2% cash-back on your engagement ring purchase and all other purchases
American Express Cash Magnet® Card	Earn $200 back after spending $2,000 within the first 6 months $0 annual fee	Unlimited 1.5% cash-back on your engagement ring purchase and all other purchases Access to Plan It, which gives the option to select purchases of $100 or more to split up into monthly payments with a fixed fee

Table of Contents

What To Look for in a Credit Card for Buying an Engagement Ring
The 6 Best Credit Cards for Buying an Engagement Ring
Final Thoughts

What To Look for in a Credit Card for Buying an Engagement Ring

The best cards to buy engagement rings offer superb rewards and flexible repayment terms.

Sure, retailers like Zales and Kay Jewelers usually offer 0% APR financing, but there is little-to-no space for rewards.

Additionally, the absolute winning options in this space will boast huge credit card welcome bonuses. Lastly, an important factor for a great card for engagement rings is a high credit limit.

So, to put yourself in the best position, find yourself a credit card with excellent rewards, attractive introductory APR promotions, a substantial welcome bonus, and a high credit limit!

The 6 Best Credit Cards for Buying an Engagement Ring

Many people who buy engagement rings choose to finance their purchase.

Financing can be a good idea to spread out payments, but most people don’t know that you can both finance and earn rewards!

One strategy is putting your purchase on a rewards credit card and paying it off over time as long as there’s a good introductory APR offer attached. You should also consider looking for the best welcome bonus and pay off the entire purchase if you can afford it.

Here’s a snapshot of our 6 favorite cards for buying an engagement ring. Notice how store cards from merchants such as Zales and Kay Jewelers are absent:

1. The Platinum Card® from American Express

The Amex Platinum card is the best card to use for your engagement ring purchase.

It comes with an enormous welcome bonus, which makes this card especially attractive. We value the welcome bonus at more than $2,000, which could translate to a huge discount on your ring purchase.

In addition, this card has some of the best luxury travel perks — that could definitely come in handy when you’re on your honeymoon.

Enjoy the ability to earn up to 5x Membership Rewards points on flights booked directly with airlines or with American Express Travel (up to $500,000 on these purchases per calendar year) and 5x Membership Rewards points on prepaid hotels booked with American Express Travel.

Access luxury hotel benefits with the Fine Hotels & Resorts and The Hotel Collection, enjoy the best airport lounge perks with the American Express Global Lounge Collection, and get hotel elite status with Hilton Honors Gold and Marriott Bonvoy Gold Elite status (upon enrollment).

There’s also more than $1,400 in statement credits, including:

Up to $200 in airline fee credits
Up to $200 in prepaid hotel credit on eligible stays
Up to $100 in Saks Fifth Avenue credits
Up to $240 in digital entertainment credits
Up to $155 in Walmart+ credits
Up to $300 in Equinox credits
Up to $100 in Global Entry/TSA PreCheck credits
Up to $189 in CLEAR Plus credit

Why We Like Earning Amex Membership Rewards Points

Amex Membership Rewards points are the most valuable rewards currency, in our opinion. That means every point you accumulate with Amex Membership Rewards, you can rest assured that you’re getting fantastic ROI.

While you can redeem your points for statement credits, charity, travel via the Amex Travel portal, and gift cards, we think that Amex Membership Rewards points are most valuable when you transfer them to Amex travel partners to book luxury travel.

2. Capital One Venture X Rewards Credit Card

One of our favorite cards is the Capital One Venture X card — first of all, the welcome bonus is exceedingly attractive. And you’ll earn 2x miles on your engagement ring purchase!

You’ll even have the ability to earn 10x miles on hotels and rental cars booked through Capital One Travel, as well as 5x miles on flights booked through Capital One Travel.

Also, you’ll get a bonus of 10,000 miles every year, starting on your first cardmember anniversary, as well as an up to $300 annual travel credit for Capital One Travel bookings.

Add onto that the unlimited access to Capital One Lounges and Plaza Premium Lounges, a complimentary Priority Pass membership, and a $100 Global Entry/TSA PreCheck application fee credit, and you’ve got a keeper of a credit card!

Remember that this card also comes with complimentary Hertz President’s Circle status, travel insurance, cell phone protection, no foreign transaction fees, and no annual fees for up to 4 authorized users.

Why We Like Earning Capital One Miles

Capital One miles can be used in a variety of ways, but the single best way to redeem Capital One miles is to transfer them to travel partners for award flights and hotel stays.

That way, you can get outsized value on your travel bookings, instead of settling for cash-back or merchandise at subpar value.

In fact, this is the best way to get excellent value — we believe earning 2x miles is worth a 3.6% return on spending.

3. Capital One Venture Rewards Credit Card

The Capital One Venture card is another fantastic way to get rewarded for your engagement ring purchase because you’ll earn 2x miles on this purchase.

You’ll also get 5x miles per dollar spent on hotels and rental cars booked via Capital One Travel.

Maximize your benefits here by using the 2 complimentary visits to Capital One Lounges or Plaza Premium Lounges every year, a Global Entry/TSA PreCheck application fee credit, Five Star status with Hertz, and no foreign transaction fees.

Of course, authorized user cards come at no additional cost, and you can also get purchase protection and travel insurance with this credit card.

4. Chase Freedom Unlimited®

The Freedom Unlimited card is one of the most underrated credit cards for engagement ring purchases. You can maximize an amazing rewards structure to earn 1.5% cash-back on your ring purchase with this entry-level card:

5% cash-back on Chase travel booked through Ultimate Rewards
3% cash-back on drugstore purchases and dining at restaurants (including takeout and eligible delivery services)
1.5% cash-back on all other purchases

Even better, this card offers a 0% introductory APR perk that you can use to defer interest accrual so you can spread out your payments on this big-ticket purchase.

This card also offers basic benefits such as no-cost authorized user cards, secondary rental car coverage, purchase protection, extended warranty, and more.

Why We Like Earning Chase Ultimate Rewards Points

If you have an Ultimate Rewards credit card in addition to the Freedom Unlimited card, you can unlock some amazing value beyond 1.5% cash-back.

That’s because with a card like the Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card or the Chase Sapphire Reserve® you’ll have the ability to convert your cash-back to Ultimate Rewards at a 1% to 1x ratio.

Earning 1.5x points is worth a 3% return on spending in our books, and the absolute best way to get phenomenal value is to transfer your points to travel partners.

5. Citi® Double Cash Card

The Double Cash card is one of our favorites because you can get an unlimited 2% cash-back: 1% back when you buy and 1% back when you pay (earned as ThankYou Points).

The rewards on this card are uncapped, so you can rest assured you’ll get fantastic rewards no matter how much you spend on your ring.

This card even has a 0% introductory APR on balance transfers, though not purchases.

Other notable benefits include fraud alerts, zero liability for unauthorized purchases, access to Citi Entertainment, and no fees for authorized users.

Why We Like Earning Citi ThankYou Rewards

The rewards you earn are called ThankYou Rewards Points — and if you have a card like the Citi Premier® Card or the Citi Prestige® Card, you can transfer your points to the full suite of Citi’s travel partners for some sweet redemption value.

With the right credit card pairing, your return on spending is from 2% to 3.2%.

6. American Express Cash Magnet® Card

The last card we’ll discuss is the Amex Cash Magnet card. With this unfussy card, you’ll get 1.5% cash-back on all purchases with no caps.

There’s usually a welcome bonus on this card, but one of the best benefits is the introductory 0% APR promotion on purchases!

This will help you earn valuable rewards and finance your engagement ring purchase!

Specifically, you’ll have the ability to use Plan It, a perk that splits up select purchases of $100 or more into monthly payments with a fixed fee.

You can access Amex Offers for additional savings, too.

Final Thoughts

The best card to use for an engagement ring purchase will depend significantly on your financial standing.

If you’re able to buy the ring outright without any financing, we would encourage you to consider getting the Amex Platinum card, the Capital One Venture X card, the Capital One Venture card, or the Double Cash card.

The rewards from the welcome bonus and the transaction itself will end up netting you a huge return on your spending.

But if you need to finance your purchase, take advantage of the offers on the Freedom Unlimited card or the Amex Cash Magnet card to earn some rewards while using the introductory APR promotions to spread out your payments!

We hope that you’ve found this complete guide useful on which cards are the best pay for your engagement ring. For your next stage of planning, check out our guide to the best credit cards for weddings and honeymoons.

For Capital One products listed on this page, some of the above benefits are provided by Visa® or Mastercard® and may vary by product. See the respective Guide to Benefits for details, as terms and exclusions apply.

Enrollment required through Capital One website or mobile app. Upon enrollment, eligible cardholders will remain at upgraded status level through December 31, 2024. Please note, enrolling through the normal Hertz Gold Plus Rewards enrollment process (e.g. at Hertz.com) will not automatically detect a cardholder as being eligible for the program and cardholders will not be automatically upgraded to the applicable status tier. Additional terms apply.

The information regarding the Capital One Venture X Rewards Credit Card was independently collected by Upgraded Points and not provided nor reviewed by the issuer.
The information regarding the Capital One Venture Rewards Credit Card was independently collected by Upgraded Points and not provided nor reviewed by the issuer.
The information regarding the American Express Cash Magnet® Card was independently collected by Upgraded Points and not provided nor reviewed by the issuer.
The information for the Citi Prestige® Card has been collected independently by Upgraded Points and not provided nor reviewed by the issuer.

For rates and fees of The Platinum Card® from American Express, click here.

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The 6 Best Credit Cards for Buying an Engagement Ring [2023]

What To Look for in a Credit Card for Buying an Engagement Ring

The 6 Best Credit Cards for Buying an Engagement Ring

1. The Platinum Card® from American Express

2. Capital One Venture X Rewards Credit Card