Annual Fee

Welcome Bonus

Base Earn Rate

Top Earn Categories

Network

Key Benefits

Pros

• +5% on rotating categories up to $1,500/quarter when activated
• +3% on dining and drugstores with no annual cap
• +5X on Chase Travel portal purchases
• +$0 annual fee with Mastercard World Elite benefits
• +Transfer points 1:1 to travel partners with Sapphire card

• +Cashback Match doubles all cash back earned in year one automatically
• +$20 statement credit annually for 3.0+ GPA (up to 5 years)
• +5% on rotating quarterly categories (when activated)
• +No annual fee or foreign transaction fee
• +No credit score required to apply

Cons

• −Must activate quarterly categories or miss 5% bonus
• −$1,500 quarterly cap on 5% categories ($300 max bonus/quarter)
• −3% foreign transaction fee
• −Points worth only 1 cent without Sapphire card pairing
• −Welcome bonus lower than Sapphire cards

• −Must activate categories each quarter to earn 5%
• −$1,500 quarterly cap on 5% categories
• −Only 1% on non-bonus spending
• −Discover network has less acceptance than Visa/Mastercard
• −Shorter 6-month intro APR than some competitors

Annual Fee

Welcome Bonus

Base Earn Rate

Top Earn Categories

Network

Key Benefits

Pros

• +5% on rotating categories up to $1,500/quarter when activated
• +3% on dining and drugstores with no annual cap
• +5X on Chase Travel portal purchases
• +$0 annual fee with Mastercard World Elite benefits
• +Transfer points 1:1 to travel partners with Sapphire card

• +Cashback Match doubles all cash back earned in year one automatically
• +$20 statement credit annually for 3.0+ GPA (up to 5 years)
• +5% on rotating quarterly categories (when activated)
• +No annual fee or foreign transaction fee
• +No credit score required to apply

Cons

• −Must activate quarterly categories or miss 5% bonus
• −$1,500 quarterly cap on 5% categories ($300 max bonus/quarter)
• −3% foreign transaction fee
• −Points worth only 1 cent without Sapphire card pairing
• −Welcome bonus lower than Sapphire cards

• −Must activate categories each quarter to earn 5%
• −$1,500 quarterly cap on 5% categories
• −Only 1% on non-bonus spending
• −Discover network has less acceptance than Visa/Mastercard
• −Shorter 6-month intro APR than some competitors

Annual Fee

Welcome Bonus

Base Earn Rate

Top Earn Categories

Network

Key Benefits

Pros

• +5% on rotating categories up to $1,500/quarter when activated
• +3% on dining and drugstores with no annual cap
• +5X on Chase Travel portal purchases
• +$0 annual fee with Mastercard World Elite benefits
• +Transfer points 1:1 to travel partners with Sapphire card

• +Cashback Match doubles all cash back earned in year one automatically
• +$20 statement credit annually for 3.0+ GPA (up to 5 years)
• +5% on rotating quarterly categories (when activated)
• +No annual fee or foreign transaction fee
• +No credit score required to apply

Cons

• −Must activate quarterly categories or miss 5% bonus
• −$1,500 quarterly cap on 5% categories ($300 max bonus/quarter)
• −3% foreign transaction fee
• −Points worth only 1 cent without Sapphire card pairing
• −Welcome bonus lower than Sapphire cards

• −Must activate categories each quarter to earn 5%
• −$1,500 quarterly cap on 5% categories
• −Only 1% on non-bonus spending
• −Discover network has less acceptance than Visa/Mastercard
• −Shorter 6-month intro APR than some competitors