Best Credit Cards for Excellent Credit of December 2023

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 to earn miles to cover airfare? How about high-rate cash back credit cards? Maybe a 0% intro APR deal? With excellent credit, the card perks and possibilities are endless.

The downside to those endless possibilities is needing to pick a card. We chose the cards on our list based on their best-in-class rewards or perks. They include some of our favorite travel rewards cards, as well as top-tier cash back options. We also picked cards that trade rewards for some of the longest intro APR offers we could find. And we went for a healthy mix of cards with and without annual fees.

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.

• Rewards: Think about the type of rewards -- cash back versus points -- as well as the rewards rates. We like to choose cards that maximize our rewards on the things we purchase most often.
• Annual fee: Some annual fees are worth paying. Others aren't. Consider what kind of value you'll get from your card to make your decision.
• Interest rates: If you have big purchases coming up, a long intro 0% APR card could be more important than even rewards.

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. Here's a look at just a few of the best credit cards available to you when you have excellent credit.

Chase Sapphire Preferred

Great for: Transferable points and benefits

The Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card is a mid-tier travel rewards card that can earn a slew of bonus points on travel and dining purchases for a low annual fee. Users earn Ultimate Rewards points, which are 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 annual fee is steep ($550) but cardholders enjoy a plethora of travel perks, including an annual travel credit, airport lounge access, and trip insurance.

Read the full Chase Sapphire Reserve® review

Amex Blue Cash Preferred

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. The card also offers 6% back on select U.S. 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

Amex Platinum Card

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 $200 in annual Uber Cash, access to more than 1,400 airport lounges across 140 countries, and hotel elite status. Select enrollment required, terms apply.

Read the full The Platinum Card® from American Express review

Bank of America Travel Rewards

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 between airline partners; instead, they're redeemed for statement credits to cover travel and dining purchases.

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

Amex 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 $120 in annual dining credits and in annual Uber Cash. 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 for balance transfers -- 21 months of no interest from the date of the balance transfer, after a balance transfer fee of 3% ($5 min) for first 4 months, then 5% ($5 min.) Other card offers include no late payment fee and no penalty APR.

This content is not provided by the issuer. Any opinions expressed are those of The Ascent alone, and have not been reviewed, approved or otherwise endorsed by the issuer

Read the full Citi Simplicity® Card review

Bank of America Customized Cash Rewards

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 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

Great for: Choosing your rewards

The Bank of America® Premium Rewards® credit card earns 2 points for every $1 spent on travel and dining, plus 1.5 points everywhere else. For the low annual fee ($95), the card excels big time with its $200 in travel statement credits and the 25% to 75% bonus point bump for Preferred Rewards members.

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

U.S. Bank Visa Platinum

Great for: Long 0% intro APR offers

The U.S. Bank Visa® Platinum Card has one of the longest 0% intro APR offers we've come across, at 21 billing cycles for both purchases and balance transfers.

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

The exact definition of an excellent credit score will vary based on the credit scoring model and the lender. That said, your score is generally considered excellent if it falls within the top 10% of whatever scoring model is being used.

LEARN MORE: Complete Guide to Understanding Your Credit Score

The majority of lenders use some version of a FICO® Score when evaluating your credit. Most FICO® Score models use a range of 300 to 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 and upgrades, many of which can save you money. Let's take a look at a few of them.

Easy approval for credit products

We've all had that edge-of-our-seat wait while a credit card or loan application is being evaluated. But having excellent credit can help you feel more confident when you click "Apply."

It's worth noting that excellent credit isn't a guarantee of approval. Issuers could still reject your application for any number of reasons. For instance, if your income is too low to qualify for the card's minimum credit limit, you may be declined. And some issuers will turn you down for a new card if you've opened too many other card accounts in the last year or two. (Chase is notorious for this!)

LEARN MORE: The Chase 5/24 Rule

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.

LEARN MORE: How Credit Card Interest Works

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
• Cellphone service providers

With excellent credit, you're less likely to have to put down a deposit to open an account or sign a rental lease. Even if you do need to make a deposit, chances are good it will be much lower than would be required if you had a lower credit score.

Larger credit limits and loan amounts

Your income certainly plays a role in how much credit you can get. However, having an excellent credit score will go a long way toward 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.

RELATED: Best High Limit Credit Cards

We've found reports of people getting credit card limits of $50,000 or more at approval. Excellent credit can help you after the fact, too. Improving your credit score can get you credit limit increases on your existing cards.

LEARN MORE: How to Increase Your Credit Limit

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

LEARN MORE: How to Choose a Credit Card

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.

LEARN MORE: The Best Travel Rewards Credit Cards

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 cautious 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 score. 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 and 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 handle credit responsibly. 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 new applications.

We put together a brief list of different card types to help you 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

There is so much hype placed on your credit scores that it can seem like the only factor when it comes to applying for a card. But most of us in the credit card game have been turned down for a card at least once, despite having great credit scores.

Why does it happen? Your credit score is just one of the things issuers consider when you apply for a new card. Many other factors can also play a role, including:

• Your income: By law, an issuer has to confirm you can afford the credit line it gives you. If the issuer thinks your income is too low to manage the minimum credit limit for a card, it'll likely reject your application.
• Your recent new accounts: Many issuers have policies in place that limit how many new credit cards you can have and still be approved. Chase, for instance, won't approve you for a new card if you have five or more new card accounts opened in the last 24 months.
• Your history with the issuer: Banks have long memories. If you ever had a default or other problem with the issuer -- even if your mistake was decades ago -- it could stop you from getting a card now.

Any of these things (or something else entirely) could be behind your rejection. In most cases, the issuer will send you a letter telling you why you were turned down. If you need more information, contacting the issuer may also shed some light on the situation.