Rakuten is not a credit card, it is an online shopping portal, but you can earn either American Express Membership Reward Points or cash back through your purchases. It’s something I always think is a no brainer, as most of us are already online shopping, so why not earn rewards in the process. For your first purchase of $30 or more, you can earn $30 cashback, or 3,000 Amex MR points. Below is my referral link to use if you do wind up signing up for Rakuten.

Referral link- www.rakuten.com/r/REBECC63318?eeid=28187

American Express shines in the area of customer service, typically high intro bonuses for their cards, and they also are arguably one of the best credit card issuers for their abudance of transfer partners across the board. One notable transfer partner unique to Amex is ANA. On the hotel front, Hilton is also a unique transfer partner at a 1:2 points ratio. Some of the notable credit cards with Amex are the Gold, Platinum and Hilton Honors cards, and their respective business versions of those cards.

Referral link (for bonvoy)- https://americanexpress.com/en-us/referral/marriott-bonvoy?ref=REBECB3Xo1&XLINK=MYCP

Chase is one of the most popular credit card issuers, and some highlights of Chase are some of the purchase protections offered on some of their higher end cards, as well as their unique transfer partner of World of Hyatt (with the exception of the Bilt card). United is a transfer partner unique to Chase as well. One thing to note is their application card rules before applyying, notably the 5/24 rule, meaning you cannot be approved for a Chase credit card if you have opened 5 or more cards in the last 24 months. Some of the notable credit cards with Chase are the Chase Sapphire Preferred and Reserve, Freedom cards and Ink Business cards.

Referral link for Freedom Flex and Unlimited-

https://www.referyourchasecard.com/18A/5N89H3SG10

Capital one has one of the better 2x on everything earning credit cards on the market, with no foreign transaction fees, so it can be ideal for those looking to have a simple card set up with an easy to follow 2x on everything. The 2x cards being the Venture and Venture X cards. They have a good amount of transfer partners, a notable one being Turkish Airlines, which is unique only to them and Citi.

My referral link- https://i.capitalone.com/JfGrAtqQz

Citi is often over looked as a credit card issuer, but there are some sweet spots and unique areas they do shine in. They are now the only issuer that offers American Airlines credit cards, and they also have some unique transfer partners such as EVA Air at a 1:1 ratio, Turkish Airlines (alongside Capital One), and Choice Priviliges at a 1:2 ratio (alongside Wells Fargo). Some of the notable credit cards with Citi are the Citi Strata Premier Card, as well as the Citi Double Cash and Custom Cash cards. I do not have a referral link for Citi, but I wanted to briefly highlight some of their areas worth mentioning as a credit card issuer.

I do not have referral links for any of these issuers, but I wanted to briefly highlight some of the travel cards each issuer has. Some of the notable Wells Fargo credit cards are the Autograph Journey Card and the Bilt Rewards Card. Barclays has a number of airline specific cards such as Jetblue, Emirates and Hawiian Airlines, and on the hotel front they have the Wyndham Rewards cards. Bank of America has the Alaska Airlines credit cards, both the personal and business versions.