Many people ask which credit card they should use for everyday purchases or specific bonus categories. The answer is simpler than you might think: Use the card that gives you the biggest new card bonus, even for everyday spending.

How Welcome Offers Work

Credit card issuers use a big "one time" signup bonuse (SUB) to attract new customers. These offers typically give you a large number of points or miles after you spend a certain amount within the first few months of opening the card.

You get these bonus rewards in addition to any points you earn from purchases while meeting that spending requirement.

Example: If a card offers 100,000 points after spending $6,000 withing 3 months of opening the account, once you hit that spend you’ll have at least 106,000 points (100,000 bonus + at least 6,000 base points).

Why These Offers Can Outperform Everyday Rewards

• Huge point yield: In the example above, you effectively earned at least 17 points per dollar during the welcome period (100,000 ÷ 6,000).
• That’s far higher than what any everyday spending category offers, even bonus categories that give extra points for dining, travel, groceries, etc.

To match 100,000 points with a card that earns 4x points on groceries, you’d need to spend $20,000 instead of just the $6,000 required for the welcome offer.

When Everyday Categories Make Sense

Of course, you can’t always open a new card whenever you want. Banks have rules about how often they approve new cards, and you shouldn’t spend more than you can afford just to earn miles. When you don’t have a current welcome offer to work toward, that’s when using your cards’ everyday bonus categories (travel, dining, gas, groceries, etc.) becomes the best way to earn more rewards on regular purchases.

Bottom Line

If you have a valuable welcome offer available, using that card to meet the required spend often earns you more points per dollar than any bonus category on any card. But once you’ve maximized that offer or don’t have a new one to chase, your everyday bonus categories should guide which card you use for each purchase.