Kyle's Place somewhere to put my thoughts

Credit Card Recommendations for Military Service Members

05 Feb 2025      Army Military Credit Card Credit

Credit Card Recommendations for Military Service Members

The audience for this is active duty military service members. Although many recommendations have nothing to do with military service, I would not recommend several of the below credit cards if the annual fee was not waived. I will attempt to keep this strictly about credit cards, however, some credit cards do require establishing a banking relationship as well.

If you have poor financial responsibility and would ever charge an amount to a credit card without the ability to pay off the credit card in full by its due date, do not apply for or use credit cards.

Before applying to a new credit card:

1) Ask your coworkers for a referral; typically you both will benefit from a referral. There are no referral links in this post. I only highlight primary category benefits of each card. Benefits are all subject to change.

2) Be cognisant of credit inquiries, credit card company application restrictions, and timeline to achieve minimum spend bonus offers. You will not be able to apply for a high number of credit cards in a short time.

3) Understand the credit card’s benefits and have a plan for how you will use the credit card.

4) Know which companies waive annual fees for military.

  • American Express
  • Chase
  • Citi
  • U.S. Bank

Maximizing Cashback and Points

Getting Started with an “Everything” Card

At the very least, you should be getting a minimum of 2% cashback on all purchases with your credit card. There are many ways to earn higher than 2%, but many require additional steps. For example, with the Bank of America Unlimited Cash Rewards, you earn 1.5% at baseline, however, if you have $100,000 in a Merrill Lynch brokerage account you can earn a 75% bonus through Preferred Rewards resulting in 2.62% cashback on all purchases. Similarly, the U.S Bank Smartly Visa Signature offers to 4% cashback on everything with $100,000 in a U.S Bank Brokerage/Savings account. The new Robinhood Gold Card earns 3% cashback on all purchases, but requires a RobinHood Gold subscription ($5/mo or $50/yr). Below are a couple recommended “no-hoops” 2% cashback credit cards.

1) Citi Double Cash: 2% cashback

2) Wells Fargo Active Cash Card: 2% cashback

Restaurants

1) Chase Sapphire Reserve: 3x points (50% bonus on all Chase points when redeemed through the Chase Travel Portal so effectively 4.5x points).

2) American Express Gold Card: 4x points on up to $50,000/yr, 4x points on up to $25,000/yr on groceries, $120 dining credit, $10/mo Uber credit, $100 Resy Credit, $7/mo Dunkin’ Donuts Credit

Online Purchases

1) Bank of America Customized Cash Rewards 3% on up to $2,500/quarter. Bank of America Preferred Rewards increases the cashback to 5.25% if you have $100,000 in an IRA or brokerage in a Merrill Lynch account.

2) Chase Prime Visa: 5% at Amazon

3) Amex Blue Cash Everyday: 3% on up to $6,000/yr

Travel

1) American Express Platinum: 5x points with airlines, Priority Pass Lounge access, Centurion Lounge access, $200 airline credit

2) Chase Sapphire Reserve: 5x points on airline purchases through Chase Travel portal, 50% point bonus (for all Chase cards) when redeemed for travel in the Chase Travel portal, Priority Pass, Chase Sapphire Reserve lounge access (note: if you have multiple credit cards with a Global Entry credit, you can use the additional credits on other people)

3) Airline Specific (lounge access):

4) Hotel Specific (free night(s)):

Grocery Shopping

1) American Express Blue Cash Preferred Card: 6% cashback on up to $6,000/yr.

2) American Express Gold Card: 4x points on up to $25,000/yr.

Gas

1) PenFed Platinum Rewards: 5x points on gas and EV charging

2) American Express Blue Cash Preferred Card: 3% cashback.

Rotating Categories

1) Discover It: 5% cashback on quarterly category. These categories include grocery, Amazon/Target/Walmart, PayPal, restaurants, etc.

2) Chase Freedom Flex: 5x points (effective 7.5x with Chase Sapphire Reserve) on quarterly category

3) Bank of America Customized Cash Rewards 3% on up to $2500/quarter of your selected category (Gas/EV charging stations, dining, travel, drug stores and pharmacies, or home improvement). With preferred rewards, 5.25% cashback.

Advanced Credit Card Topics

1) Churning and manufactured spend

2) Upgrading credit cards to maximize sign-up bonuses on lower tier cards, but receiving multiple benefits of higher tier cards.

3) Maximizing sign up bonuses

4) Point breakdowns

Credit Card Rumors:

1) You should never carry a balance on your credit cards, it is not a way to improve your credit score.

2) Having many credit cards does not mean you will have poor credit (the number of open accounts is a small factor relative to others when your credit score is calculated. Credit inquiries are a predominately temporary impact to your credit score. If you are anticipating taking out a loan, especially a mortgage, you should avoid necessary credit inquiries for several months prior to applying). I have nearly 30 active credit cards and over an 800 credit score across each credit bureaus.

3) Paying with a credit card is always safer than paying with cash or a debit card due to the liability and fraud protection available.

4) Even with some places charging more for credit compared to cash or debit, you can still “out-earn” the fee with some credit cards. For example, if a restaurant charges 2.5% for credit card users, but your credit card earns 4% cashback, you will still net 1.5% cashback by using your credit card.

5) You can have multiple of the same credit card to maximize its perks. Sometimes this requires upgrading from a lower tier card, sometimes you can apply through a co-branded credit card.

What’s in my wallet

Credit Card Benefits Utilized Carried or Drawer*
Bank of America Unlimited Cash Rewards 2.62% cashback on all purchases carried
Bank of America Customized Cash Rewards 5.25% cashback on online shopping drawer
Citi Prestige 5x points at restaurants, 3x at hotels, 3x transit, $250 annual travel/restaurants, 4th night hotel free (2x/yr), $100 global entry credit, cell phone protection ($1,000/claim, $1,500/yr, $50 deductible), Priority Pass Select membership, 24 months extended warranty carried
PenFed Platinum Rewards 5x points on gas carried
American Express Platinum 5x points on air travel, $200 airline credit, $20/mo digital entertainment credit, $100 global entry credit, $200 hotel credit, $100 Saks credit, $15/mo Uber credit, Walmart+ credit drawer
American Express Blue Cash Preferred Card 6% cashback on groceries (on up to $6,000/yr), 6% cashback on select streaming subscriptions (including Apple subscriptions and gift card purchase through your Apple Account) carried
American Express Delta Reserve $2,500 MQD head start, $10/mo rideshare credit, $20/mo at Resy restaurants, $200 Delta Stays Credit, Hertz President’s Circle Status, Companion Certificate, TakeOff 15, drawer
American Express Delta Platinum $2,500 MQD head start (automatic Silver status combined with the Delta Reserve), $10/mo rideshare credit, $10/mo at Resy restaurants, $150 Delta Stays Credit, drawer
Discover It 5% cashback on rotational category carried depending on quarter
Chase Freedom Flex 5x points on rotational category carried depending on quarter

*Drawer card means I only charge purchases to them for the benefit (and they typically stay in my drawer).

Personally, I value cash back over points because I can immediately treat them as monthly “rebates” on purchases. Even though you can redeem points for more than 1¢/ea, I generally value all points at 1¢ each because they typically require “saving” points over months or years to achieve higher redemption values (except PenFed which are valued at .75-85¢ each because redemption options are so poor) through transfer or travel portals. I pay $0 in annual fees for all of my credit cards.

Next cards I’ll be applying for:

1) Robinhood Gold Card, 3% cashback on everything 2) US Bank Smartly, up to 4% cash ack on everything

Other Posts

© 2025. All rights reserved.