I need help figuring out what credit card works best for me and my situation. I don't have much knowledge when it comes to credit cards. I tend to look for advice on different cards then get overwhelmed and end up not applying at all.

Some background info: I am 23 years old, work full-time, and am debt-free. I currently live at home (pay no rent), only pay the phone bill, and travel about 2-3 times a year (hoping to do it more often). I live in a small town. I have a bank account through my local bank and savings through Discover. I have a large amount saved in my savings account (if that plays into my income). I applied for a rewards credit card through my bank in April and was declined. I don't mind paying a credit card annual fee if I get good enough rewards.

Current cards:

• Visa Platinum College Real Rewards Card $1000 (I was approved of a credit limit increase as of 12/1 after updating my income), August 2020

• FICO Score: 728

• Oldest account age: 4 years and 3 months

• Chase 5/24 status: 0/24

• Income: 80,000 (gross) and 58,000 (net)

• Average monthly spend and categories:

  • dining $200-400

  • groceries: $300 (I tend to shop at Walmart and Hy-vee)

  • gas: $60

  • travel: $50-100

  • shopping: $500

  • pet bills: $60

  • phone bill: $100

• Open to Business Cards: e.g. No

• What's the purpose of your next card? Travel, Cashback

  • Capital One Venture Rewards or Capital One Venture X

  • Chase Freedom Unlimited

  • Chase Sapphire Preferred

  • American Express Gold Card

• Are you OK with category spending or do you want a general spending card? I would want a general spending card. I want to transition from using my debit card to using a credit card for its perks.

I am open to hearing any thoughts on my situation and would be grateful for any recommendations! TYIA!

Edit:

Capital One: pre-approved for Quicksilver Rewards, Savor Rewards, Venture Rewards, VentureOne Rewards, Platinum Mastercard, and Venture X.

Chase: pre-approved for Chase Freedom Flex, Chase Freedom Unlimited, Chase Slate Edge, Chase Sapphire Preferred, Chase Sapphire Reserve, Southwest Rapid Rewards Plus, and United Explorer Card.

American Express: pre-approved for American Express Gold.

The Winner: Frequent Miler

Frequent Miler takes the crown for 2025, and it is not particularly close. What sets them apart is their commitment to maintaining editorial integrity in an industry drowning in affiliate relationships. Their analysis cuts through the marketing fluff that plagues so many other sites.

Their strength lies in several areas. First, they consistently break news about upcoming card refreshes and program changes, often with insider details you will not find elsewhere.When Chase refreshed the Sapphire Reserve benefits or Amex reduced transfer ratios to their airline partners, Frequent Miler was there with clear, unbiased analysis of what it meant for cardholders.

Second, their willingness to reach out directly to card issuers for clarification on confusing terms or policy changes demonstrates real journalism rather than just regurgitating press releases. They ask the tough questions and publish the answers, even when those answers are not favorable to the companies paying referral fees.

Third, their travel reports and redemption reviews provide genuine value. These are not sanitized hotel tours designed to make everything look perfect. They share what worked, what did not, and how to replicate their successes or avoid their mistakes.

The site maintains a careful balance. Yes, they have affiliate links, they need to keep the lights on, but those relationships do not appear to corrupt their editorial judgment. When a card has poor value or a program devaluation hurts consumers, they say so plainly.

Honorable Mentions: Danny the Deal Guru and Doctor of Credit

Both Danny the Deal Guru and Doctor of Credit deserve recognition, though they serve slightly different purposes than what I look for in a primary resource.

Doctor of Credit excels at being comprehensive and timely. If there is a new bank bonus, a data point about approval odds, or a lawsuit affecting the industry, they will cover it. Their comment sections have become valuable repositories of reader experiences that help inform decisions. However, the site can feel more like a news aggregator than a guide. You get the information, but less of the strategic thinking about how to use it.

Danny the Deal Guru has carved out a niche with daily deal alerts and practical redemption ideas. His approach is more accessible for people just getting into the hobby. The daily email format works well for staying current, though it lacks some of the depth I prefer for major decisions.

Both sites are valuable tools in the arsenal. I check them regularly. But Frequent Miler edges them out for the complete package of news, analysis, and genuine travel experiences.

The Loser: The Points Guy

The Points Guy has become a cautionary tale of what happens when a blog becomes a marketing conglomerate.

I genuinely cannot remember the last time I found useful information there that was not available elsewhere without wading through sponsored content, aggressive paywalls, and articles that read like they were written by the card issuer’s PR department.

The transformation has been stark. What began as Brian Kelly sharing legitimate strategies has morphed into a content farm optimized for search engines and affiliate revenue rather than reader value. Articles are often superficial cookie-cutter lists designed to generate clicks rather than inform decisions. The “reviews” of premium cards rarely include meaningful criticism because upsetting issuers might impact those lucrative partnership deals.

The site has also become nearly unreadable from a user experience standpoint. Paywalls block content mid-article. Advertisements overwhelm the page. Pop-ups interrupt reading. The mobile experience is particularly terrible. When I accidentally land on a TPG article from a search result, I immediately look for the same information elsewhere.

Perhaps most frustratingly, their recommendations often seem calibrated to maximize their commission rather than optimize the reader’s outcome. The cards they push hardest tend to be those with the best affiliate payouts, not necessarily the best fits for different spending patterns or travel goals.

The tragedy is that they have resources smaller blogs lack, staff writers, video production capabilities, access to industry insiders. They could create genuinely valuable content if editorial decisions were not so clearly driven by revenue optimization.

Why This Matters

The credit card and travel rewards space has become increasingly complex. Annual fees have climbed while benefits have been cut. Transfer partners change without notice. Devaluations happen overnight. Having trustworthy sources of information is more important than ever.

When a blog prioritizes affiliate revenue over editorial integrity, readers make worse decisions. They sign up for cards that do not match their spending, chase bonuses that are not actually valuable, or miss better opportunities because those opportunities do not pay the blog as well.

After two decades in this game, I have seen countless blogs launch with good intentions and then slowly compromise their standards as the money gets bigger. Frequent Miler has managed to resist that gravitational pull better than most, which is why they earn the top spot for 2025.

Your mileage may vary, of course. Different people value different things in their information sources. But if you want analysis you can trust without constantly wondering whether the recommendation serves you or the blogger’s bank account, Frequent Miler remains the gold standard.

What are your thoughts? Has your experience with these blogs been similar or different? I would be curious to hear which resources you trust and which ones you have written off.​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​

A quick note before we wrap up: I want to be crystal clear that I have zero affiliation with any of the blogs mentioned here. Nobody paid me, nobody asked me to write this, and I have no skin in the game beyond being someone who uses these resources regularly. This is just one traveler’s honest take on what works and what does not in 2025.

I feel like I’m always switching cards chasing points, cash back, or sign-up bonuses, but I’m wondering, what cards do people actually stick with for years?

For context, I travel a couple times a year, like some dining perks, and care about no foreign transaction fees. I’ve tried a few premium rewards cards, but I often end up not using all the perks.

Which cards have you found worth holding onto, even after the initial bonuses are gone? What makes them worth it for you?