What are the benefits of having an excellent credit score?

Having an excellent credit score unlocks a multitude of benefits, many of which can save you money. These can include: Easy approval for most credit products Low interest rates on credit cards and loans Low or no deposits for rentals and utilities Higher credit card limits and loan amounts Excellent credit can also be helpful when applying for various insurance products, though this varies by product and company.

How do I choose the best credit card for excellent credit?

You can have your pick of most credit cards when you have excellent credit, so choosing a card really comes down to what you need from your new card. You'll want to consider the type of rewards it earns, as well as the rewards rates and any cardholder perks. You should also look at the annual fee and interest rates. For example, if you travel frequently, you'll likely want to focus on cards that earn transferable travel rewards and that offer bonus rewards on travel purchases. On the other hand, if you spend a lot on groceries or dining, look for cards that offer high rewards rates on those purchases.

Best Credit Cards for Excellent Credit of September 2021

It can take years to build up a high credit score, but that work can pay off big time. An excellent credit score is the key to unlocking all manner of credit perks, not the least of which is having your pick of the best credit cards around. Want a luxury travel rewards card? How about high-rate cash back credit cards? Maybe you just want a 0% intro APR deal. With excellent credit, the card possibilities are endless.

Overview of the best credit cards for excellent credit

While folks with average or low credit scores are limited in the cards they can get, applicants with excellent credit aren't limited by their own creditworthiness. On the contrary, excellent credit means you'll pass muster for nearly any credit card you could want. Here's a look at just a few of the best credit cards available to you when you have excellent credit.

Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card

Great for: Transferable points and benefits

The Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card is a mid-tier travel rewards card that earns bonus points on travel and dining purchases. Users earn Ultimate Rewards points, valuable rewards that can be transferred to Chase travel partners.

Read the full Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card review

Chase Sapphire Reserve®

Great for: Travel rewards and perks

The Chase Sapphire Reserve® is a premium travel rewards card that earns 3x Ultimate Rewards points per dollar on travel and dining purchases. The card also comes with a plethora of travel perks, including an annual travel credit, airport lounge access, and trip insurance.

Read the full Chase Sapphire Reserve® review

Blue Cash Preferred® Card from American Express

Great for: U.S. supermarkets and streaming rewards

The Blue Cash Preferred® Card from American Express is one of the best everyday rewards cards around, offering 6% cash back on up to $6,000 in U.S. supermarkets purchases each year. You'll also earn 6% back on select streaming services, as well as 3% back on transit purchases and at U.S. gas stations. Terms apply.

Read the full Blue Cash Preferred® Card from American Express review

The Platinum Card® from American Express

Great for: Travel rewards and lounge access

The Platinum Card® from American Express is a top-rated travel card that offers high rewards rates on select hotel and airline purchases, as well as a ton of travel perks. Users get annual credits with Uber, access to more than 1,300+ airport lounges, and hotel elite status. Select enrollment required, terms apply.

Read the full The Platinum Card® from American Express review

Bank of America® Travel Rewards credit card

Great for: Travel rewards with no annual fee

The Bank of America® Travel Rewards credit card is a no annual fee travel rewards card that provides unlimited 1.5x miles per dollar on purchases. However, miles can't be transferred; instead, they're redeemed for statement credit to cover travel and dining purchases.

Read the full Bank of America® Travel Rewards credit card review

American Express® Gold Card

Great for: Restaurants and U.S. supermarkets rewards

The American Express® Gold Card is ideal for foodies of all kinds, offering 4x Membership Rewards points per dollar at U.S. supermarkets (on up to $25,000 in eligible purchases), as well as 4x points per $1 at restaurants. Users also get annual dining and Uber credits. Select enrollment required, terms apply.

Read the full American Express® Gold Card review

Citi Simplicity® Card

Great for: 0% intro APR offer and no late payment fee

The Citi Simplicity® Card packs in one of the best 0% intro APR offers we've come across at 18 months. Other standout features are no late payment fee and no penalty APR.

Read the full Citi Simplicity® Card review

Bank of America® Customized Cash Rewards credit card

Great for: Choosing your rewards

The Bank of America® Customized Cash Rewards credit card lets cardholders choose their own 3% cash back rewards category from a list of options that includes things like travel, gas, and drugstores. You'll also earn 2% back on groceries and at wholesale stores. Bonus rewards are capped at $2,500 in purchases each quarter.

Read the full Bank of America® Customized Cash Rewards credit card review

Bank of America® Premium Rewards® credit card

Great for: Choosing your rewards

The Bank of America® Premium Rewards® credit card matches the competition well in its category, including rewards and a nice sign-up bonus. But where the card excels is with its travel-related statement credits and up to 25% to 75% bonus points for Preferred Rewards members.

Read the full Bank of America® Premium Rewards® credit card review

U.S. Bank Visa® Platinum Card

Great for: Long 0% intro APR offers

The U.S. Bank Visa® Platinum Card has the longest 0% intro APR offer we've come across at 20 billing cycles for both purchases and balance transfers.

Read the full U.S. Bank Visa® Platinum Card review

What is an excellent credit score?

In general, you can consider your credit score to be excellent if it falls within the top 10% of the range for the scoring model being used. That said, the exact definition of an excellent credit score can vary based on the model and lender.

The majority of lenders will use some version of a FICO® Score when evaluating your credit. Most FICO® Score models use a range of 300-850, with 850 being the highest possible score. So, a FICO® Score of 800 to 850 would definitely be considered an excellent credit score. However, in practice, any score over 780 will likely qualify you for most credit products.

Benefits of having an excellent credit score

An excellent credit score comes with a ton of benefits, many of which can save you money. These benefits can include:

Easy approval for credit products: With an excellent credit score, you'll likely be approved for most credit products, including premium credit cards and loans. Of course, lenders look at more than just your credit score, so there's no guarantee you'll be approved, but it probably won't be your credit that holds you back in these cases.

Lower interest rates and fees: Your credit score has a huge impact on the interest rate you're charged by various credit products, including:

Credit cards
Personal loans
Mortgage loans

The better your credit, the lower the interest rate you'll be charged. This can easily save you thousands of dollars over the course of a loan, especially long-term loans like home mortgage loans.

Low or no down payments: Although we often associate credit scores with products like credit cards and loans, lots of places will check your credit before doing business with you. This can include apartment complexes, utility companies, and cell phone providers. With excellent credit, you're less likely to have to put down a deposit to open an account or obtain a rental; even if you do need to still make a deposit, chances are good that deposit will be much lower than required for applicants with lower credit scores.

Larger credit limits and loan amounts: Although your income certainly plays a role in how much credit you can get, having an excellent credit score will go a long way towards being approved for higher credit limits. This can mean higher credit limits on your credit cards, as well as the ability to get approved for larger loans. Some high-limit credit cards have been known to offer limits of $50,000 or more. Similarly, improving your credit score can go a long way towards increasing your credit limit for existing cards, too.

What is the best credit card for excellent credit?

The credit card market is full to bursting with different types of credit cards, so there's no "best" credit card for everyone. The best card for you will depend on things like your spending habits and the type of rewards you want to earn.

Happily, when you have excellent credit, you can take your pick of just about any credit card you want. This includes credit cards for good credit, as well as premium options reserved for those with the best credit scores.

For example, if you want to earn travel rewards, you could choose one of the top-tier travel cards like the Chase Sapphire Reserve® or the The Platinum Card® from American Express. On the other hand, folks who want to maximize their everyday purchases would likely enjoy the Blue Cash Preferred® Card from American Express or the American Express® Gold Card.

With an excellent credit score, you can likely get approved for any of the best rewards credit cards on the market. Keep in mind, however, that your credit isn't the only factor in approval. A low income, too many recent new accounts, or too many cards with a single issuer could all lead to being denied a new card.

How to get an excellent credit score

Building an excellent credit score takes several years of responsible credit use, including paying your debts on time every month, keeping low balances, and being conscientious about opening new credit. To get a better idea of what's involved in understanding your credit score, let's look at the five factors that go into your FICO® Score calculation:

Payment history: Making your debt payments on time is the most important part of your credit score, and it is worth 35% of your FICO® Score. Any credit card or loan payment more than 30 days past due can be reported to the credit bureaus as delinquent, which will damage your credit scores. To get full marks, be sure to make every credit card and loan payment on time, every single month. You can set up automatic payments on your debts to help ensure you never miss a payment.
Amounts owed: This is worth 30% of your FICO® Score and it considers both how much total debt you have, as well as your credit utilization ratio, which is the combined credit limits of all your cards compared to how much in total you owe on your cards. Your credit utilization ratio is calculated by dividing your balance by your available credit. For example, a credit card with a $1,000 balance and a $5,000 credit limit has a utilization rate of 20%: $1,000 / $5,000 = 0.2 = 20%. Ideally, you want your utilization to stay below 10%. At the very least, avoid maxing out your credit cards, as that will cause your utilization to skyrocket -- and your credit scores to drop.
Credit history length: How long you've been building credit plays a big role in your credit score, weighing in for 15% of your score calculation. The longer your positive credit history, the better you'll do in this factor. Building credit early and keeping older credit card accounts open when possible are the best ways to improve this factor. Outside of that, it just takes time.
Credit mix: The entire point of your credit history and score is to show lenders you can responsibly handle credit. One way to show this is with a healthy credit mix of different credit types, such as having both loans and credit cards. Even having multiple credit cards can contribute to your credit mix, as it shows you can handle several lines of credit at one time.
New credit: Each time you apply for a new credit product, the lender will perform a hard credit check. These credit inquiries are logged on your credit report, as are any new accounts you open. Having too many hard credit inquiries -- or too many new accounts -- on your report can indicate you plan to take on a lot of new debt, which makes lenders nervous. The best way to keep this factor in good shape is to wait at least a few months between applications.

Which credit card for excellent credit is right for you?

With excellent credit, you can get just about any credit card you like, which can make it hard to pick the right one from all the options. When comparing credit card offers, you'll need to consider what you want out of your credit cards. Do you want to earn rewards? If so, what kind? Do you need a 0% intro APR offer, or are you just looking for a card with a low annual fee?

In some cases, you may want to consider the card issuer, as well. For instance, if you're over the Chase 5/24 limit (if you've opened 5 or more accounts in the last 24 months) you'll likely need to choose a different card issuer. Take a look at these options below to get started:

If you want travel rewards:

Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card
Chase Sapphire Reserve®
The Platinum Card® from American Express
Bank of America® Travel Rewards credit card
Bank of America® Premium Rewards® credit card
American Express® Gold Card

If you want grocery and U.S. supermarkets rewards:

Blue Cash Preferred® Card from American Express
American Express® Gold Card
Bank of America® Customized Cash Rewards credit card

If you want flat-rate rewards:

Bank of America® Travel Rewards credit card

If you want a 0% intro APR:

Citi Simplicity® Card
U.S. Bank Visa® Platinum Card

If you want a $0 annual fee:

Bank of America® Travel Rewards credit card
Bank of America® Customized Cash Rewards credit card
Citi Simplicity® Card
U.S. Bank Visa® Platinum Card

The Picks
Card	Rating	Great For
Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card	Rating image, 5.00 out of 5 stars. 5.00 stars	Great For: Travel and points transfers
Chase Sapphire Reserve®	Rating image, 4.50 out of 5 stars. 4.50 stars	Great For: Travel and dining
Blue Cash Preferred® Card from American Express	Rating image, 5.00 out of 5 stars. 5.00 stars	Great For: U.S. supermarkets and U.S. gas stations
The Platinum Card® from American Express	Rating image, 4.50 out of 5 stars. 4.50 stars	Great For: Premium travel
Bank of America® Travel Rewards credit card	Rating image, 5.00 out of 5 stars. 5.00 stars	Great For: Travel card with no annual fee
American Express® Gold Card	Rating image, 4.50 out of 5 stars. 4.50 stars	Great For: Dining and U.S. supermarkets
Citi Simplicity® Card	Rating image, 4.50 out of 5 stars. 4.50 stars	Great For: 0% intro APR offer and no late payment fee
Bank of America® Customized Cash Rewards credit card	Rating image, 4.50 out of 5 stars. 4.50 stars	Great For: Bonus cash back of your choice
Bank of America® Premium Rewards® credit card	Rating image, 4.50 out of 5 stars. 4.50 stars	Great For: Bank of America loyalists
U.S. Bank Visa® Platinum Card	Rating image, 4.50 out of 5 stars. 4.50 stars	Great For: Long 0% intro APR offer

FAQs

In general, an excellent credit score is one that falls into the top 10% of the scoring range. For FICO® Scores with a range of 300 to 850, an excellent credit score is typically a score of 800 or higher.
Having an excellent credit score unlocks a multitude of benefits, many of which can save you money. These can include:
- Easy approval for most credit products
- Low interest rates on credit cards and loans
- Low or no deposits for rentals and utilities
- Higher credit card limits and loan amounts
Excellent credit can also be helpful when applying for various insurance products, though this varies by product and company.
You can have your pick of most credit cards when you have excellent credit, so choosing a card really comes down to what you need from your new card. You'll want to consider the type of rewards it earns, as well as the rewards rates and any cardholder perks. You should also look at the annual fee and interest rates.
For example, if you travel frequently, you'll likely want to focus on cards that earn transferable travel rewards and that offer bonus rewards on travel purchases. On the other hand, if you spend a lot on groceries or dining, look for cards that offer high rewards rates on those purchases.