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!
What To Look for in a Credit Card for Buying an Engagement Ring
Image Credit: George Coletrain via UnsplashThe 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 credit cards in this space will boast huge 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:
| Card | Benefits | Annual Fee |
| The Platinum Card® from American Express | - Enormous welcome bonus and luxury travel perks
- 5x points per $1 spent for flights booked directly with airlines or with Amex Travel up to $500,000 per year, and prepaid hotels booked with Amex Travel
- 1x miles on your engagement ring purchase
- The best airport lounge access from any card, including Centurion Lounges
| $695 (Rates & Fees) |
| Capital One Venture X Rewards Credit Card | - 10x miles on hotels and rental cars booked through Capital One Travel
- 5x miles on flights booked through Capital One Travel
- 2x miles on your engagement ring purchase and all other purchases
- $300 annual travel credit on bookings via Capital One Travel
- 10,000 bonus miles every account anniversary
- Access to Capital One Lounges and Plaza Premium Lounges
- Complimentary Priority Pass Select membership
- Cell phone insurance
- Rental car and travel insurance
| $395 |
| Capital One Venture Rewards Credit Card | - 5x miles on hotels and rental cars booked through Capital One Travel
- 2x miles on your engagement ring purchase and all other purchases
- 2 complimentary visits to Capital One Lounges or Plaza Premium Lounges every year
- Rental car and travel insurance
| $95 |
| Chase Freedom Unlimited® | - Enjoy 0% Intro APR for 15 months from account opening on purchases and balance transfers, then a variable APR of 17.24% – 25.99%.
- 5% cash-back on travel purchased through Chase Ultimate Rewards
- 3% cash-back on drugstore purchases and dining at restaurants, including takeout and eligible delivery service
- Unlimited 1.5% cash-back on your engagement ring purchase and all other purchases
- Travel insurance
| $0 |
| Citi® Double Cash Card | - Earn 2% cash-back on your engagement ring purchase and all other purchases
- Access to Citi Entertainment
- Zero fraud liability protection
- 24/7 customer service
- No fees for authorized users
| $0 |
| American Express Cash Magnet® Card | - 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
- Access to Amex Offers
| $0 |
1. The Platinum Card® from American Express
Hot Tip: Check to see if you’re eligible for a huge welcome offer of up to 150,000 points with the Amex Platinum card! (The current public offer is 100,000.)
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:
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 travel partners to book luxury travel.
2. Capital One Venture X Rewards Credit Card
One of our favorite cards is the CapOne 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 CapOne 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 CapOne Venture X card, the CapOne 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.
The information regarding the Capital One Venture X Rewards Credit Card, Capital One Venture Rewards Credit Card, American Express Cash Magnet® Card, and Citi Prestige® Card was independently collected by Upgraded Points and not provided nor reviewed by the issuer.
For rates and fees of The Platinum Card® from American Express, click here.
