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What’s the Best Premium Credit Card? Side-by-Side Comparison of 6 Cards
What the best premium credit card? That’s what we hope to figure out today. We’ll compare 6 premium credit cards that people talk about as contenders for “the best” and rank them according to their welcome offers, earning structures, real annual fee (residual value after credits), and their perks. After we see the winner in each category, we’ll figure out who comes out on top as the best premium credit card overall. Remember to add your own point and perks valuations in to figure out which works best for you.
Some of the welcome offers below may have changed since posting.
Methodology
For our consideration of the best premium credit card, we will compare the following 6 cards:
- American Express Hilton Honors Aspire Card
- American Express Marriott Bonvoy Brilliant Credit Card
- American Express Platinum Card
- Capital One Venture X
- Chase Sapphire Reserve
- U.S. Bank Altitude Reserve Visa Infinite Card
We will compare the following categories in our ranking:
- Welcome offer – based on total value, using our data on what your points & miles are worth. The value of the welcome offer will be determined as follows: value of 1 point x number of points, then subtract the annual fee if it must be paid in the first year.
- Earning structure – based on the quality of categories, how easy it is to amass points via spend, and whether there are any particularly unique/strong categories that help with points earning.
- Real annual fee – based on the residual cost of keeping the card each year. After using any credits the card offers, what does it really cost to keep it in your wallet? Difficulty of using credits will reduce the value we assign to them.
- Perks – based on what the card offers. Strength and breadth of perks will be the determining factors in this area.
Assigning points will be done as follows:
- 5 points for the best card in a category
- 4 points for second best
- 3 points for third best
- 2 points for fourth best
- 1 point for fifth best
- 0 points for worst card in the category
The final rankings will be a simple addition of points across all categories to see which card ranks as the best premium credit card overall.
Welcome Offer Comparison
Let’s look at the current, publicly-available welcome offers on these cards and then compare their overall values.
American Express Hilton Honors Aspire Card
- Welcome offer: Earn 150,000 Hilton Honors Bonus Points after you spend $4,000 in purchases on the Card within your first 3 months of Card Membership.
- Value of points: 0.5 cents per point
- Number of points to be earned: 150,000
- Total value of points: $750
- Free weekend night certificate: $250 value
- Annual fee to be paid in the first year: $450
- Final value of welcome offer: $550
American Express Marriott Bonvoy Brilliant Credit Card
- Welcome offer: Earn 75,000 Marriott Bonvoy Bonus Points after you use your new Card to make $3,000 in purchases within the first 3 months of Card Membership. Plus, earn up to $200 in statement credits for eligible purchases made on your new Card at U.S. Restaurants within the first 6 months of Card Membership.
- Value of points: 0.67 cents per point
- Number of points to be earned: 75,000 + $200 in restaurant credits
- Total value of points: $702.50, including the $200 in credits
- Annual fee to be paid in the first year: $450
- Final value of welcome offer: $252.50
American Express Platinum Card
- Welcome offer: Earn 125,000 Membership Rewards® Points after you spend $6,000 on purchases on your new Card in your first 6 months of Card Membership. Plus earn 15X on restaurants and when you shop small on $25,000 in combined purchases during the first 6 months. We won’t include the restaurant spend in our calculations since its usefulness will vary widely from person to person but be sure to account for that.
- Value of points: 2.4 cents per point
- Number of points to be earned: 125,000+
- Total value of points: $3,000+
- Annual fee to be paid in the first year: $695
- Final value of welcome offer: $2,305+
Capital One Venture X
- Welcome offer: Earn 100,000 bonus miles after spending $10,000 on purchases within the first six months. For a limited time, receive up to $200 in statement credits for vacation rentals like Airbnb and VRBO.
- Value of points: 2 cents per point
- Number of points to be earned: 100,000
- Total value of points: $2,000
- Statement Credits: $200
- Annual fee to be paid in the first year: $395
- Final value of welcome offer: $1,805
Chase Sapphire Reserve
- Welcome offer: Earn 50,000 bonus points after you spend $4,000 on purchases in the first 3 months from account opening.
- Value of points: 2.4 cents per point
- Number of points to be earned: 50,000
- Total value of points: $1,200
- Annual fee to be paid in the first year: $550
- Final value of welcome offer: $650
U.S. Bank Altitude Reserve Visa Infinite Card
- Welcome offer: Earn 50,000 bonus points worth $750 on travel. Just spend $4,500 in the first 90 days of account opening.
- Value of points: 1.5 cents per point
- Number of points to be earned: 50,000
- Total value of points: $750
- Annual fee to be paid in the first year: $400
- Final value of welcome offer: $350
Category rankings:
| # of points | Card name | Welcome offer value |
|---|---|---|
| 5 | American Express Platinum Card | $2,305+ |
| 4 | Capital One Venture X | $1,805 |
| 3 | Chase Sapphire Reserve | $650 |
| 2 | American Express Hilton Honors Aspire Card | $550 |
| 1 | U.S. Bank Altitude Reserve Visa Infinite Card | $350 |
| 0 | American Express Marriott Bonvoy Brilliant Credit Card | $252.50 |
Earning Structure Comparison
American Express Hilton Honors Aspire Card
-
- 14x at Hilton hotels and resorts
- 7x on travel booked directly with airlines or rental car companies, as well as through AmexTravel.com
- 7x at U.S. restaurants
- 3x on everything else
- Analysis: given that Hilton points are not very valuable overall, earning them via spend is already a less valuable concept than other types of points. That’s why the numbers look so inflated, so take “14” with a grain of salt. Being able to earn extra on travel and restaurants is pretty standard, so there isn’t anything special about the earning structure on this card.
American Express Marriott Bonvoy Brilliant Credit Card
-
- 6x at Marriott hotels
- 3x at U.S. restaurants
- 3x on flights booked directly with airlines
- 2x on everything else
- Analysis: while Marriott Bonvoy points are more valuable than the Hilton points above, the earning structure is even less compelling. You can earn 3 points on this card or 3 points that are far more valuable with another card via the same categories. The earning structure is not strong at all.
American Express Platinum Card
-
- 10x at restaurants worldwide and when you Shop Small in the U.S., limited to you first 6 months of card membership and capped at $25,000 in combined purchases (this is part of the current, publicly-available welcome offer)
- 5x on flights booked directly with airlines or via AmexTravel.com
- 5x on hotels booked with AmexTravel.com
- 1x on everything else
- Analysis: earning transferable points that you can do a lot of things with automatically increases the strength of the earning structure, even though it does lack more robust categories. 5x on travel is the standard-bearer in this category, and the limited-time 10x at restaurants/Shop Small is excellent, though capped. This makes up for the lack of categories, though only temporarily.
Capital One Venture X
-
- 10x earning on hotels and rental cars booked with Capital One Travel
- 5x earning on flights booked with Capital One Travel
- 2x earning on all other purchases
- Analysis: being forced to booked travel through a portal was the number one grievance when we first mentioned this new card. If you don’t mind booking this way, the earning structure can be strong; otherwise, this turns into a “2x on everything” card for everyone else.
Chase Sapphire Reserve
-
- 10x on Chase dining, hotel and car rental purchases through Chase Travel
- 5x on airline travel booked through Chase Travel
- 3x on travel and dining at restaurants
- 1x on all other purchases
- Analysis: we have previously mentioned that Chase Dining is bad for most everyone, so the promise of 10x earning here is a smoke screen by and large. For the few of you who enjoy it, you’re in the minority, but it’s great that you can take advantage of this. Otherwise, the earning structure on this card offers 5x if you are willing to book through a portal that caused unending frustrations for tons of people during the pandemic. Removing this, there is 3x earning on a broad travel category, 3x on restaurants, and then 1x on everything. It’s OK, but it’s not amazing.
U.S. Bank Altitude Reserve Visa Infinite Card
-
- 5x on prepaid hotels and car rentals booked directly in the Altitude Rewards Center
- 3x on purchases made with the Apple Pay, Google Pay, and Samsung Pay mobile wallet payments
- 3x on travel
- 1x on everything else
- Analysis: most people don’t like booking through travel portals, and this reduces the overall value of the 5x category. The 3x earning on mobile payments is a unique category, which strengthens the earning structure. Earning 3x on travel is quite standard.
Category rankings:
| # of points | Card name | Explanation |
|---|---|---|
| 5 | U.S. Bank Altitude Reserve Visa Infinite Card | It covers what other cards has but also has a boost for mobile wallet purchases |
| 4 | Chase Sapphire Reserve | 3x earning in 2 common categories, plus you can get more if you're willing to deal with the portal |
| 3 | American Express Platinum Card | Yes, 5x is better than 3x, but this comes in below the other cards because of a lack of bonus categories beyond travel |
| 2 | Capital One Venture X | If you consider it essentially a "2x on everything" card, the earning structure is fair for anyone who wants to avoid portal booking requirements |
| 1 | American Express Hilton Honors Aspire Card | The points earned aren't worth much, but you get more of them for a higher total value than with the Marriott option |
| 0 | American Express Marriott Bonvoy Brilliant Credit Card | Low amount of points value compared to the Hilton option in similar categories |
Real Annual Fee Comparison
American Express Hilton Honors Aspire Card
- Annual fee: $450
- Value of annual credits: $687.50
- $250 Resort credit – full value
- $250 Airline Fee Credit – 75% value, due to difficulty/restrictions on use
- $100 property credit at Conrad and Waldorf-Astoria properties – no value, since it requires a 2-night stay and is only available at certain properties
- Free weekend night certificate – $250 value
- Net annual fee: (-$237.50), a net positive value
American Express Marriott Bonvoy Brilliant Credit Card
- Annual fee: $450
- Value of annual credits: $625
- $300 Marriott Bonvoy spending credit – full value
- $100 Marriott Bonvoy property credit – no value, due to difficulty/restrictions on use and the cost of these properties, since you must book a stay of at least 2 nights at Ritz-Carlton or St. Regis properties to use it
- Free night award, capped at 50,000 points value – $300 value. We gave it more value because you will soon be able to combine points and certificates for more expensive stays.
- $100 Fee Credit for Global Entry or TSA Pre✓ (every 4 years) – $25 ($100 divided by 4)
- Net annual fee: (-$150), a net positive value
American Express Platinum Card
- Annual fee: $695
- Value of annual credits: $911.95
- $300 SoulCycle At-Home Bike Credit – no value, requires tremendous cost to get the benefit
- $300 Equinox Credit – no value, because it costs more per month than what you get as a credit
- $240 Digital Entertainment Credit, given as $20/month – 50% value
- $200 Annual Uber Credit + Uber VIP Status – 80% value, because it’s in small monthly chunks and not annual/lump sum
- $200 Annual Airline Fee Credit – 75% value, due to difficulty/restrictions on use
- $200 Annual Hotel Credit – 100% value
- $179 CLEAR Credit – 75% value, due to discounted offers on CLEAR via other methods.
- $100 Annual Saks Department Store Credit – 50% value; we’ve covered how to use this, but the value of what you can actually get for this from Saks and cutting it into 2 pieces reduces the value
- $100 Fee Credit for Global Entry or TSA Pre✓ (every 5 years) – $20 ($100 divided by 5)
- Monthly Walmart+ Credits of $12.95 for the monthly fee – 50% value; the credit is equal to the cost, but it’s not saving money on something people were already using. You’re likely signing up just because it’s there, if you’re like most cardholders.
- Net annual fee: (-$216.95), a net positive value
Capital One Venture X
- Annual fee: $395
- Value of annual credits: $360
- $300 in statement credits for bookings made on Capital One Travel – 80% value, due to portal use requirements
- 10,000 bonus miles every account anniversary – $100
- $100 Fee Credit for Global Entry or TSA Pre✓ – $20 ($100 divided by 5)
- Net annual fee: $35
Chase Sapphire Reserve
- Annual fee: $550
- Value of annual credits: $325
- $300 annual travel credit – full value
- $100 Fee Credit for Global Entry or TSA Pre✓ (every 4 years) – $25 ($100 divided by 4)
- Net annual fee: $225
U.S. Bank Altitude Reserve Visa Infinite Card
- Annual fee: $400
- Value of annual credits: $350
- $325 annual travel credit – full value
- $100 Fee Credit for Global Entry or TSA Pre✓ (every 4 years) – $25 ($100 divided by 4)
- Net annual fee: $50
Category rankings:
| # of points | Card name | Net annual fee |
|---|---|---|
| 5 | American Express Hilton Honors Aspire Card | (-$237.50) |
| 4 | American Express Platinum Card | (-$216.95) |
| 3 | American Express Marriott Bonvoy Brilliant Credit Card | (-$175) |
| 2 | Capital One Venture X | $35 |
| 1 | U.S. Bank Altitude Reserve Visa Infinite Card | $50 |
| 0 | Chase Sapphire Reserve | $225 |
Perks Comparison
American Express Hilton Honors Aspire Card
- Hilton Honors Diamond status
- Priority Pass Select membership with up to 2 guests, but no access to Priority Pass restaurants
- Concierge Assistance
- Earn another free weekend night if you spend $60,000 on the card in a year
- Secondary collision damage waiver on rental cars
- Lost baggage insurance
- Travel accident insurance
American Express Marriott Bonvoy Brilliant Credit Card
- Marriott Gold Status
- Priority Pass Select membership with up to 2 guests, but no access to Priority Pass restaurants
- Trip Delay & Cancellation Insurance
- Purchase protection
- 15 elite night credits toward Marriott status each year
American Express Platinum Card
- Centurion Lounge access
- International American Express Lounges access
- Delta SkyClub access when flying Delta that day
- Airspace lounge access
- Escape Lounges access
- Priority Pass Select membership with up to 2 guests, but no access to Priority Pass restaurants
- International Airline Program
- Premium Private Jet Program
- Insider Fares
- Cruise Privileges Program
- Platinum Vacation Destinations
- The Luxury Travel Collection Membership
- Marriott Gold Status
- Hilton Honors Gold Status
- Rental car elite status with Avis, Hertz, and National Car Rental
- Concierge Assistance
- Global Dining Collection
- ShopRunner
- InCircle
- Extended Warranty
- Purchase Protection
- Return Protection
- Trip Delay & Cancellation Insurance
- Premium Global Assist Hotline
- Baggage Insurance Plan
- Car Rental Loss and Damage Insurance
Capital One Venture X
- Unlimited access to Capital One Lounges with up to 2 guests
- Priority Pass Select membership with up to 2 guests
- Cell phone insurance
- Visa Infinite perks
- Cell phone protection
- Concierge service
- Trip delay and cancellation coverage
- Hertz President’s Circle status
- Up to 4 free Authorized Users, who each get Priority Pass membership
Chase Sapphire Reserve
- Priority Pass Select membership with up to 2 guests
- Redeem Chase Ultimate Rewards points in the Chase portal at 1.5 cents a piece, higher than other Chase card redemption rates
- For a limited time (until March, 31, 2022), cardmembers can also redeem points at 1.5 cents each using Pay Yourself Back in these categories: Airbnb, Away, and dining purchases.
- Car rental privileges from National Car Rental, Avis, and Silvercar when you book with your card.
- Trip cancellation/interruption insurance
- Auto rental collision damage waiver
- Lost luggage reimbursement
- Trip delay reimbursement
- The Luxury Hotel & Resort Collection
U.S. Bank Altitude Reserve Visa Infinite Card
- Priority Pass Select membership with up to 4 guests
- 12 Gogo in-flight wi-fi passes each year
- Trip cancellation and interruption coverage
- Trip delay reimbursement
- Lost luggage reimbursement
- Emergency evacuation and transportation coverage
- 30% discount on Silvercar rentals with no location, date, or class restrictions
Category rankings:
This category is extremely subjective for most people, depending on the perks you value you most and preferred travel partners. Comparing simply on perks that one card has that others don’t, we assign the following rankings:
| # of points | Name of card |
|---|---|
| 5 | American Express Platinum Card |
| 4 | American Express Hilton Honors Aspire Card |
| 3 | Capital One Venture X |
| 2 | Chase Sapphire Reserve |
| 1 | U.S. Bank Altitude Reserve Visa Infinite Card |
| 0 | American Express Marriott Bonvoy Brilliant Credit Card |
Tallying the Points – Best Premium Credit Card Winner
| # of points | Name of card |
|---|---|
| 17 | American Express Platinum Card |
| 12 | American Express Hilton Honors Aspire Card |
| 11 | Capital One Venture X |
| 9 | Chase Sapphire Reserve |
| 8 | U.S. Bank Altitude Reserve Visa Infinite Card |
| 3 | American Express Marriott Bonvoy Brilliant Credit Card |
After adding up the results, it wasn’t even close. The new kid on the block Venture X had a solid showing and fan favorite Aspire came in really strong as well. The old fan favorite Sapphire Reserve continues to lose its shine and its value. The Altitude Reserve is a great every day earner if you use mobile wallet but lacks a little bit outside of that. Was anyone surprised that something from Bonvoy comes in bringing up the rear?
Final Thoughts
In some ways, the results are surprising. In other ways, they aren’t. Going into this, we were anxious to see which card would come out ahead, and we actually didn’t think this would be the winner.
While the perks and credits from the Platinum Card become trickier to use every year, there are a ton of them. Cards that offer nothing unique when compared to other cards wound up low on the list, and this didn’t surprise us. Overall, it looks like the best premium credit card is the Platinum Card from American Express. The worst on the list also comes from American Express, which is an odd juxtaposition.
Does seeing all of this in number form, counted up at the end, change your view of any of these cards? Do you have a different opinion on the best premium credit card?
Disclosure: Miles to Memories has partnered with CardRatings for our coverage of credit card products. Miles to Memories and CardRatings may receive a commission from card issuers.
Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card is the old king of travel rewards cards. Right now
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Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card
Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card is the old king of travel rewards cards. Right now
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You may want to consider the points gained via Mobile wallet/Apple Pay in your valuation of the US Bank Altitude Reserve. That makes a big difference for me.
It is, that is why the card finished first in the spending category. If that is most important to you then it would sway the rankings for sure.
Hi Mark,
Can you do this and omit the SUB’s? This really screws the conversation as Card V. Card. I got the 150K +85KFNA for Bonvoy and what if you had do this when that was out? That would also adjust your AF category…thus making not a true head to head but a cards’ usefulness as set by the SUB comparison. OR maybe in year 2 altogether as the 6month Plat ROS is no longer skewing the numbers.
I am a newbie to this hobbie so, correct me here but I just get so confused in the Marriot v Hilton battle. All of these comparisons say the same thing: Hilton is way inflated and they have low cpp, Bonvoy is inflated but the cpp tends to regarded higher. But Bonvoy looses? NTM Bonvoy (yes yes I know at a loss) has airline transfer partners and i dont think Hilton does? And I think these are some common airlines too. And while this should not be what someone does with their Bonvoy points as a move it can be useful no?
You can just ignore the sign up bonus category and tally the numbers from the other categories if that is what you are after. Bonvoy points are worth slightly more than Hilton but you can earn Hilton at a much higher rate so you end up coming out ahead. Plus the Aspire card offers more perks and freebies than they Bonvoy Brilliant does so that is why it comes out ahead.
Having airline partners is a nice perk of Bonvoy but requiring 60,000 points in order to get the maximum value from them makes it difficult to use for many. Back when it was SPG it took $20K in spend to trigger an airline transfer bonus now it requires $30K in spend.
Mark, would it be fair to assume that the reason that most in this hobby who has a distaste for Marriott could potentially be that you can’t get top tier status simply by holding the highest AF card?
My heartburn with Hilton is that everyone who holds the $450 Aspire is a Diamond member which has made the status completely useless…at least here in the US.
My heartburn with Marriott is that they customer service is just terrible and they don’t hold hotels accountable when they play games with status benefits due to the customer.
But all that aside, it seems, if one reads enough, that they preference of Hilton over Marriott seems to come down to Diamond status.
Thoughts?
On what planet are UR worth 2.4cpp unless you’re doing something extraordinary…which at that point, all point values of these cards can be inflated.
Another, any card where value is derived from dealing with a travel portal should be cut in half as most in this hobby know that there’s nothing fun or easy about dealing with cxLoyalty or the likes of anything similar. I’ve actually let points go by the wayside because it was a lot less painful than dealing with a travel portal or their customer service in efforts to get things changed or the points returned.
Also, why was TSA/Global entry credit listed as value for every card except the Bonvoy Brilliant? If you’re going to divide the $100 over 5 years then be fair and add it to this card.
Baggage protection is the same on the Bonvoy as the Hilton.
I’m no Bonvoy or Hilton fan (I’d take Hyatt over both) but at least be fair in your assessment of these cards for those who are trying to make an educated decision.
Point valuations are taken from our points valuation guide where we did multiple dummy bookings across partners etc. to figure out what values people can get. International business class definitely can sway it higher than some people will get with them if they use UR primarily for Hyatt etc. As stated at the beginning you should plug in your own valuations based on your own experiences. The point valuations doesn’t play a huge role in these rankings though.
We’ll update Bonvoy, just missed it nothing intentional there but it won’t change anything either in terms of rankings.
How much you discount the portal totally depends on the person. Some people book through portals almost exclusively so to say it is the same for everyone isn’t really accurate.