Getting a new credit card is all about timing: Do it right and you’ll end up with a big stash of points and miles once you meet your new card’s minimum spending requirement. Getting a big bonus often means you’re also going to be on the hook for a high annual fee … but not always.
Right now, there are multiple cards offering huge, limited-time bonuses while still charging under $100 a year in annual fees.
While a big pool of points can take the sting out of a high annual fee in year one, that cost gets harder and harder to justify as time goes on – and that’s what makes these specific card offers so special. You don’t have to compromise and earn fewer points just to avoid a high fee. While all the cards on this list have annual fees that clock in under $100 each year, some of them are even fee-free.
Here’s a look at the current best offers on credit cards with fees under $100 each year.
Looking for a new card? Check out our monthly list of all the best new card offers!
Get $1K (or more) Worth of Travel With the Venture Card
The *venture x* gets all the attention these days, but the original *capital one venture card* still finds a home in many traveler’s wallets – and for good reason.
Right now, you can earn bonus_miles_full.
Alternatively, you can earn a 100,000-mile bonus after spending $5,000 in the first three months through a personal referral link. This offer requires an additional $1,000 in spending, but the flexibility of earning more miles in favor of a one-time travel credit could no doubt be worth it for some.
Considering you can use Capital One miles to cover nearly any travel purchase at a rate of 1 cent per mile, both bonus offers are worth $1,000 towards travel … if not much more.
You’ll also earn identical rewards to the more expensive Venture X on your everyday purchases: Unlimited 2x miles per dollar, everywhere. Add in up to $120 in credit for Global Entry or TSA PreCheck and it’s easy to see why this card is so popular.
Full Benefits of the Capital One Venture Rewards Card
- Welcome Bonus: bonus_miles_full
- Or get a 100,000-mile bonus after spending $5,000 in the first three months through a personal referral link.
- Earn 2x miles per dollar on every purchase. There is no cap to the number of miles you can earn each year and miles never expire.
- Earn 5x miles on hotels and rental cars booked through Capital One Travel
- Up to a $120 credit for Global Entry or TSA PreCheck
- Fly on any airline or stay in any hotel with no blackout dates
- Foreign Transaction Fees: None
- Annual Fee: $95
Related reading: Earn a Big Bonus & More Perks With the Capital One Venture Card
Learn more about the *capital one venture card*
Earn 60K Points With the Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card
We’ve long considered the *csp* to be one of the best travel rewards credit cards for beginners and experienced travelers alike. Some things never change.
Chase is currently out with an incredibly valuable bonus offer: bonus_miles_full
With that big bonus offer, you’ll come out way ahead on the card’s low $95 annual fee in year one. But other benefits like travel and rental car insurance, trip delay and cancelation protection, and an annual $50 hotel credit make the Sapphire Preferred a mainstay in many traveler’s wallets for the long haul.
Above all, it’s the perfect card to start earning points to travel even more for less. Whether you’re planning your next trip or looking further out, we don’t think you can do better than the Chase Sapphire Preferred if you’re looking for a travel card with a low annual fee.
Full Benefits of the Chase Sapphire Preferred
- Welcome Offer Bonus: bonus_miles_full
- Earn 3x points per dollar spent on dining (including eligible delivery services), online grocery purchases (excluding Target, Walmart, and wholesale clubs like Costco and Sam’s Club), and select streaming services
- Earn 2x points per dollar spent on travel purchases
- Earn 5x points on travel purchased through Chase Travel℠, excluding hotel purchases that qualify for the $50 Anniversary Hotel Credit.
- Earn up to $50 in statement credits each year for hotel stays booked through Chase Travel℠
- 10% Annual Points Bonus: Receive a 10% points bonus on your total spending during the account anniversary year at a rate of 1 point for every $10 spent.
- Travel Protections: Trip Cancelation & Trip Interruption Coverage, Baggage Delay and Lost Luggage Coverage, Primary Rental Car Insurance
- Foreign Transaction Fees: None
- Annual Fee: $95
Read more: A Full Review of the Chase Sapphire Preferred
Learn more about the *csp*
Get a 90K Bonus With the Ink Business Preferred® Credit Card
If you have a small business (and trust us, you might be eligible for a business card and not know it), you won’t find a better welcome bonus at a lower price point than the current offer on the *chase ink preferred*.
With a 90,000-point bonus for new cardmembers who spend $8,000 in the first three months, this is a great offer.
But beyond a stellar welcome bonus, the Ink Business Preferred is one of the best business cards out there. It offers a solid ongoing return on spending and strong travel benefits for small business owners. Best of all, the card has a low annual fee of just $95, making it worth a spot in your wallet for the long run.
Full Benefits of the Chase Ink Business Preferred Card
- Welcome Offer Bonus: bonus_miles_full
- Earn 3x points for every dollar spent on travel, shipping, phone, internet, cable, and online advertising with social media sites and search engines, up to $150,000 in combined purchases per year.
- Earn 1x points for every dollar spent on all other purchases.
- Earn 5x points for every dollar spent on Lyft purchases through March 2025.
- Travel Protections: With the card’s trip cancellation and interruption insurance, you can be reimbursed up to $5,000 per person (or $10,000 total per trip) for pre-paid non refundable travel expenses if your trip is canceled or cut short due to a covered event.
- Rental Car Insurance: Get primary rental car coverage when you’re renting for business purposes and pay for your rental with the Chase Ink Preferred.
- Purchase Protection: Cover your new purchases for 120 days against damage or theft up to $10,000 per claim and $50,000 per account.
- Cell Phone Insurance: Get up to $1,000 per claim in cell phone protection against covered theft or damage for you and your employees listed on your monthly cell phone bill when you pay for it with your Chase Ink Business Preferred credit card.
- Foreign Transaction Fees: None
- Annual Fee: $95
Read our review of the Chase Ink Business Preferred Card!
Learn More about the *chase ink preferred*
Earn an Extra 1.5% With the Chase Freedom Unlimited®
What’s better than having a card with an annual fee under $100 each year? Not paying one at all.
The *freedom unlimited* currently earns a base 5% cash back on travel purchased through Chase Travel℠, 3% cash back on drugstore purchases and dining at restaurants, including takeout and eligible delivery service, and 1.5% on all other purchases.
This deal is made even sweeter with the current bonus offer: bonus_miles_full
The cash back your Freedom Unlimited card earns is doled out in the form of Chase Ultimate Rewards, which you can redeem for cash back, gift cards, or even for flights and hotels booked through Chase.
If you’ve also got another Chase card that earns Ultimate Rewards like the *chase sapphire preferred* or the *chase sapphire reserve* in your wallet, you can combine points between cards and transfer those points to airline and hotel partners to book travel.
Full Benefits of the Chase Freedom Unlimited Card
- Welcome Offer Bonus: bonus_miles_full
- Outside of the additional 1.5% bonus offer, the card earns cashback at the following rates:
- Earn 5% cashback on travel booked through Chase Travel℠
- Earn 5% cashback on Lyft rides through March 2025.
- Earn 3% cashback on dining, including takeout and delivery services
- Earn 3% cashback at drugstores
- Earn unlimited 1.5% cashback on all other purchases
- Subject to the Chase 5/24 rule, so you won’t get approved if you’ve opened five or more credit cards (from any bank, not just Chase) in the last 24 months.
- No Annual Fee
Read more: A Full Review of the Chase Freedom Unlimited
Learn more about the *freedom unlimited*.
Get 75K Miles With the Citi AAdvantage Platinum Select Card
Citi and AA just rolled out a new sign-up bonus of 75,000 AAdvantage miles after spending $3,500 in the first four months on the Citi® / AAdvantage® Platinum Select® World Elite Mastercard®,tying the best-ever bonus we’ve seen. To top it all off, the card’s $99 annual fee is waived for the first year.
That’s up from the standard bonus offer of 50,000 AAdvantage miles, easily making it the best offer we’ve ever seen on this card. Considering all the great ways you can use AAdvantage miles – even if you’re not an American Airlines flyer – this one is well worth your attention.
To be perfectly clear, there’s nothing in this for us if you apply: We just think this is an excellent bonus you should know about.
Full Benefits
- Welcome Offer: Earn 75,000 AAdvantage miles after spending $3,500 in the first four months of card membership.
- Earn 2x Miles on AA Purchases, Gas Stations & Restaurants
- First checked bag free on domestic flights
- Preferred Boarding: The primary cardholder and up to four traveling companions booked on the same reservation will get preferred Group 5 boarding.
- $125 Flight Discount: If you spend $20,000 or more on purchases with your card during your membership year, you’ll receive a $125 flight discount credit after renewing your card for another year.
- 25% Inflight Savings: When you use your Citi AAdvantage card to pay for in-flight food and beverage purchases you will receive a 25% savings. This will not work for other in-flight purchases like onboard Wi-Fi.
- No Foreign Transaction Fees
- Annual Fee: $99, waived for the first 12 months
All information about the Citi® / AAdvantage® Platinum Select® World Elite Mastercard® has been collected independently by Thrifty Traveler and has not been reviewed by the card issuer.
Learn more about the Citi® / AAdvantage® Platinum Select® World Elite Mastercard® (for full disclosure, this is not an affiliate link).
Earn Up to 75K Ultimate Rewards With the Chase Ink Cards
Yes, these are business cards, but remember: You might have what the banks consider a small business and do not even know it!
If you’ve got a side hustle, do consulting work, or even buy and sell items on Facebook Marketplace or eBay, you have a business and could qualify for these cards.
With the current offers, you can earn up $750 cash back (or 75,000 Chase Ultimate Rewards points). But exactly how the bonus works will depend on which version of the card you choose.
- With the *chase ink cash*, it’s broken up into two tiers. You can earn $350 (or 35,000 points) after spending $3,000 on purchases in the first three months and an additional $400 (or 40,000 points) after spending $6,000 on purchases in the first six months after account opening.
- With the *chase ink unlimited* you can earn $750 (or 75,000 points) after you spend $6,000 on purchases in the first three months from account opening.
While these cards technically earn cash back, you can turn that into valuable Chase Ultimate Rewards points so long as you hold another Chase card that earns them, including the *chase sapphire preferred*, the *chase sapphire reserve*, or even the *chase ink preferred*.
So long as you can responsibly meet either cards’ spending requirements, you won’t find a better or cheaper way to earn a big bonus. With one of those other Ultimate Rewards cards in tow, you can redeem those 75,000 points for more than $900 in travel booked through Chase Travel℠ – or potentially much more by using Chase’s transfer partners like Hyatt, United, Southwest Airlines, and more.
Not sure which card is best for you? Read our side-by-side comparison for more info!
Full Benefits of the Chase Ink Business Unlimited® Credit Card
- Welcome Offer: *Ink Unlimited Bonus*
- Earn unlimited 1.5x points (1.5% cash back) on all business purchases
- Earn 5x points (5% cash back) on Lyft rides through March 2025.
- Primary rental car collision and damage waiver coverage
- Lost luggage insurance of up to $3,000 per person per trip
- Foreign Transaction Fee: 3% of the amount of each transaction in U.S. dollars
- Annual Fee: None
Learn more about the *chase ink unlimited*.
Full Benefits of the Chase Ink Business Cash® Credit Card
- Welcome Offer: *ink cash bonus*
- 5x points (5% cash back) on office supply purchases; internet, phone and cable service charges (up to $25,000 in combined spending each account anniversary year).
- 2x points (2% cash back) at restaurants and gas stations (up to $25,000 in combined spending each account anniversary year).
- 1x points (1% cash back) on all other eligible spending
- Primary rental car collision and damage waiver coverage
- Lost luggage insurance of up to $3,000 per person per trip
- Foreign Transaction Fee: 3% of the amount of each transaction in U.S. dollars
- Annual Fee: None
Learn more about the *Ink Cash*.
Earn 70k points (& 1 Free Night) With the Hilton Honors American Express Card
Hilton and American Express offer a suite of co-branded credit cards ranging from the no-annual fee *Hilton Honors* to the priciest (but well worth it) Hilton Honors American Express Aspire Card. And each and every one of them just got a little lot more appealing with new limited-time welcome offers!
But if you’re looking for an option with no annual fee, the *Hilton Honors* is a great option. You’ll get 70,000 Hilton points plus a free night certificate to use at any Hilton property after spending $2,000 in the first six months of card membership.
Full Benefits of the Hilton Honors American Express Card
- Welcome Offer: bonus_miles_full
- Earn Hilton Honors Silver Status for as long as you have the card.
- Get Hilton Gold Status if you spend $20,000 or more in a calendar year.
- 7x Hilton Honors Points: At participating hotels in the Hilton portfolio.
- 5x Hilton Honors Points: At U.S. restaurants, U.S. supermarkets, and U.S. gas stations.
- 3x Hilton Honors Points: on all other eligible purchases.
- No foreign transaction fees.
- No Annual Fee (see rates & fees)
Learn more about the *Hilton Honors*.
Earn 70K Miles (Fast!) With the Hawaiian Airlines Card
There’s no easier way to earn a huge welcome bonus than with the Hawaiian Airlines® World Elite Mastercard®: Forget spending a few thousand dollars, you can get 70,000 miles with one quick, $1 purchase … at least for now.
Yes, it’s really that simple. All you need to do is make a single purchase within 90 days of opening the card (whether it’s a cup of coffee or a new refrigerator), pay the $99 annual fee, and voila … you’ve got 70,000 HawaiianMiles. That’s not even the best part: Thanks to Hawaiian and Alaska Airlines’ recent merger, you can easily turn those HawaiianMiles into far more valuable Alaska miles!
This is the epitome of a limited-time opportunity. Not only is it the biggest and best bonus we’ve ever seen on this card, but this Hawaiian card will likely disappear altogether sometime later this year when Hawaiian and Alaska officially combine loyalty programs.
So if you’ve got a good use for Hawaiian Alaska miles – and trust us, there are plenty – don’t let this chance pass you by. They’re some of the easiest miles you’ll ever earn!
Take it to the next level: How to Quickly Earn 140K Alaska Miles (& Why You Should)
Full Benefits of the Hawaiian Airlines® World Elite Mastercard®
- Welcome offer: Earn 70,000 bonus HawaiianMiles after making your first purchase within the first 90 days.
- There is an alternate offer from Barclays for the same 70,000 bonus miles that requires spending $2,000 on purchases in the first 90 days. This makes this new offer (from the Bank of Hawaii) a much better deal.
- 50%-off companion discount: Receive a one-time, 50%-off companion discount for roundtrip (economy) travel between Hawaii and North America on Hawaiian Airlines.
- Earn 3x miles on eligible Hawaiian Airlines purchases, 2x miles on gas, dining, and eligible grocery purchases, and 1x miles on all other purchases.
- Free checked bag: Get two free checked bags when you use your card to purchase eligible tickets directly from Hawaiian Airlines.
- $100 companion discount: Get a $100 companion discount every year for roundtrip travel between Hawaii and the Continental U.S. on Hawaiian Airlines.
- Transfer miles: Cardmembers can receive HawaiianMiles from friends and family without fees using the “Share Miles” feature.
- No foreign transaction fees.
- Annual fee: $99, which is not waived in the first year.
All information about the Hawaiian Airlines® World Elite Mastercard® has been collected independently by Thrifty Traveler and has not been verified by the issuer.
Learn more about the Hawaiian Airlines® World Elite Mastercard® (for full disclosure, this is not an affiliate link).
Bottom Line
It doesn’t have to be either a big bonus or a low (or no) annual fee. With any of these cards, you get the best of both worlds by earning a meaningful amount of points or miles upon completing the new card’s minimum spending requirement, and you’re not on the hook for an exorbitant annual fee.
Some of these offers are only available for a limited time, while others are mainstays. If one of these cards (and its big bonus) is the right fit for you, don’t delay!
