Best Credit Cards of September 2026

Annual fee

$650

Rewards rate

6x at Marriott Bonvoy hotels (up to 21x total with membership and…

Welcome bonus

150,000 Marriott Bonvoy points plus a $250 statement credit after…

Intro APR

19.49% to 28.49% variable

The Marriott Bonvoy Brilliant American Express Card is the flagship of Marriott's card lineup, priced at $650 a year. Through September 30, 2026 it carries an elevated welcome offer: 150,000 Marriott Bonvoy points plus a $250 statement credit after $6,000 in purchases in the first 6 months. The card's anchor benefits are status and a free night. You get automatic Marriott Bonvoy Platinum Elite status, which normally takes 50 nights a year and brings breakfast at most brands, lounge access, 4 p.m. late checkout, and upgrade eligibility. Each card anniversary you receive a Free Night Award worth up to 85,000 points, high enough to cover many Ritz-Carlton, St. Regis, and W properties. You also get 25 Elite Night Credits per calendar year toward even higher status tiers. The running credits need attention. The $300 dining credit is metered at up to $25 per month at restaurants worldwide; miss a month and that slice is gone, and in practice many cardholders capture $200 to $250 rather than the full $300. There is a $100 property credit on paid two-night-plus stays at Ritz-Carlton and St. Regis booked through a specific rate, a fee credit for Global Entry ($120) or TSA PreCheck ($85), and Priority Pass Select lounge membership. Earning is 6x at Marriott hotels (up to 21x total with membership and status earn), 3x at restaurants worldwide and on flights booked directly with airlines, and 2x elsewhere. The APR is 19.49 to 28.49 percent variable with no foreign transaction fees. The Brilliant suits travelers who stay at Marriott properties 15 or more nights a year, eat out monthly, and will redeem the 85,000 point free night at an expensive property. For that traveler the dining credit plus the free night routinely beat the $650 fee before status is even counted. Skip it if you are a casual Marriott guest: the $95 Boundless delivers a 35,000 point night and 15 elite night credits at a seventh of the price. Skip it too if monthly credit-tracking annoys you, or if your travel is split across chains, where a transferable-points card wins.

Annual fee

$650

Rewards rate

3x miles on Delta purchases; 1x on everything else

Welcome bonus

As high as 100,000 bonus miles after $5,000 in purchases in the first…

Intro APR

None

The Delta SkyMiles Reserve American Express Card is Delta's top consumer card at $650 a year, and it is best understood as a lounge membership with a credit card attached. You get 15 Delta Sky Club visits per Medallion year when flying Delta; unlimited access requires $75,000 in purchases on the card in a calendar year. If you are in a Sky Club less than roughly once a month, the fee gets hard to justify. The welcome offer on delta.com in August 2026 runs as high as 100,000 bonus miles after $5,000 in purchases in your first 6 months, with offers varying by applicant. Everyday earning is thin for a $650 card: 3 miles per dollar on Delta purchases and 1 mile on everything else, so it should never be your default spend card. The variable APR is 19.49% to 28.49% and there are no foreign transaction fees. The annual companion certificate is the Reserve's second pillar and outclasses the Platinum version: it is valid on Delta First, Comfort+, or Main Cabin round trips, and you pay only $22 to $250 in government taxes and fees on itineraries of up to four segments. A First Class companion ticket on a route you were flying anyway can cover most of the annual fee on its own. Since June 4, 2026 certificates can also be applied to Delta Vacations packages, and all Delta consumer cards added a free second checked bag on domestic flights, on top of the free first bag worldwide. Statement credits total up to $560 a year: $240 at Resy restaurants ($20 monthly), $120 in rideshare credit ($10 monthly), and $200 for prepaid Delta Stays bookings. As with the Platinum, the monthly drip means most cardholders capture a fraction of the headline number, so value them at what you will actually use. Status math is stronger: a $2,500 MQD Headstart plus $1 MQD per $10 in purchases, double the Platinum's rate, and a Global Entry or TSA PreCheck application credit is included. This card is for Delta loyalists who fly at least monthly, value lounge access, and can reliably burn a premium-cabin companion certificate every year. Skip it if 15 lounge visits sounds like more than you would use (the Platinum keeps the certificate for $300 less), if you credit flights to another airline's program, or if you need the welcome bonus to rationalize the first year: the $650 fee recurs and the bonus does not.

Annual fee

$350

Rewards rate

3x miles on Delta purchases and hotels; 2x at restaurants worldwide…

Welcome bonus

As high as 90,000 bonus miles after $3,000 in purchases in the first…

Intro APR

None

The Delta SkyMiles Platinum American Express Card sits between the $150 Gold and the $650 Reserve at a $350 annual fee, and its case rests largely on one benefit: the annual companion certificate. Each year after renewal you receive a certificate good for a round-trip Main Cabin companion ticket within the US or to Mexico, the Caribbean, or Central America; you pay only government taxes and fees of $22 to $250. Redeem it for a trip you would have bought anyway and the math works. Let it expire and you paid $350 for a mid-tier airline card. The welcome offer advertised on delta.com in August 2026 is as high as 90,000 bonus miles after $3,000 in purchases in your first 6 months, with Amex varying offers by applicant. Earning is 3 miles per dollar on Delta purchases and hotels, 2 miles at restaurants worldwide plus US takeout and delivery and at US supermarkets, and 1 mile everywhere else. The variable APR is 19.49% to 28.49% and there are no foreign transaction fees. Amex layers up to $390 in annual credits on top: $150 for prepaid Delta Stays bookings, a $120 Resy dining credit paid as up to $10 per month, and a $120 rideshare credit, also $10 per month. The monthly structure is deliberate friction: you must enroll, remember, and have matching spend every month to capture the full amounts. Checked bags mirror the Gold: first bag free worldwide on Delta, plus a free second bag on domestic flights added June 4, 2026. That same update made companion certificates redeemable toward Delta Vacations packages. A Global Entry ($120) or TSA PreCheck (up to $85) application credit rounds it out. For Medallion status chasers the card carries real weight: a $2,500 MQD Headstart each qualification year plus $1 MQD per every $20 in purchases. Combined with TakeOff 15's 15% discount on Delta award bookings, the card is aimed squarely at loyalists who fly Delta by default and want a shortcut toward status without flying more. Buy this card only if you will use the companion certificate essentially every year; that single benefit is the difference between a bargain and an overpriced Gold. Skip it if your companion travel is international beyond Mexico, the Caribbean, and Central America (the certificate will not cover it), if you want Sky Club access (only the Reserve includes it), or if chasing $10 monthly credits annoys you more than $390 a year is worth.

Annual fee

$0

Rewards rate

2x Membership Rewards on everything (first $50k/yr), 1x after

Welcome bonus

15,000 points after $3,000 in 3 months

Intro APR

0% for 12 months on purchases

The Blue Business Plus is the simplest card American Express makes for small businesses: 2x Membership Rewards points on everything, with no categories to track and no annual fee. The 2x rate applies to the first $50,000 of purchases each year and drops to 1x after that, so it is sized for a business spending roughly $4,000 a month rather than a large operation. Approval generally starts at good credit, roughly 670 or higher, and the welcome offer is 15,000 Membership Rewards points after $3,000 in the first three months. What makes the card unusual is not the rate but the currency. Membership Rewards points can be moved to travel partners, and this is one of the few ways to earn them at 2x without paying an annual fee, which is why it works best as the everyday earner sitting behind a premium Amex card that handles redemptions. Used alone the arithmetic is more sober: if you value points at a cent each, 2x is a 2% card, a figure several no-fee cash back cards match without an award chart to learn. The value case therefore rests entirely on whether you will actually transfer points to partners or simply cash them out. The annual fee is $0, so there is no break-even calculation to run, but two other costs deserve attention. The card charges a foreign transaction fee, which is awkward for a business with overseas suppliers or regular international travel, and the regular APR is 16.74% to 28.49% variable, a wide band that means your approved rate could land near the middle of the market or well above it. The 0% intro APR for 12 months on purchases gives a young business room to invest ahead of revenue, but only if there is a credible plan to clear the balance before month thirteen. It is the wrong card for a business spending far more than $50,000 a year, since everything past that threshold earns 1x, and for anyone unwilling to learn transfer partners, because that is where the extra value over a cash back card lives. It is also poorly matched to international spending given the foreign transaction fee. If you want simplicity and cash in the bank rather than points, a flat rate cash back business card will serve you better with less work and no redemption research.

Annual fee

$0

Rewards rate

7x at Hilton portfolio hotels, 5x at US restaurants, US supermarkets,…

Welcome bonus

80,000 Hilton Honors points after $2,000 in purchases in the first 6…

Intro APR

19.49% to 28.49% variable

The Hilton Honors American Express Card is the no-annual-fee entry point to Hilton's Amex lineup. As of August 2026 the welcome offer is 80,000 Hilton Honors points after $2,000 in purchases in the first 6 months, a step down from the 100,000 point plus $100 statement credit offer that expired July 29, 2026. There is no foreign transaction fee, which is not a given on no-fee hotel cards. The earning rates look strong on paper: 7 points per dollar at hotels in the Hilton portfolio, 5 points per dollar at US restaurants, US supermarkets, and US gas stations, and 3 points per dollar on everything else. Calibrate for the currency, though. Hilton points are among the lowest-value hotel points, worth roughly half a cent each by most editorial valuations, so 5x at the supermarket works out to about a 2.5 percent return. That is respectable for a no-fee card, but it is not the windfall the multipliers suggest. The fine print matters. The 5x bonus categories apply only to US merchants, so restaurants and grocery stores abroad earn 3x. There is no annual free night certificate at this tier, which is the benefit that makes Hilton's paid cards pay for themselves. Complimentary Silver status is the bottom rung of Hilton's program; its most useful perk is the fifth night free on award stays. You can earn an upgrade to Gold status, but only after $20,000 in purchases in a calendar year, a threshold at which the $150 Surpass card is clearly better value. The regular APR runs 19.49 to 28.49 percent variable, so carrying a balance will erase any rewards value quickly. This card fits occasional Hilton guests who want to accumulate points from everyday US spending without paying an annual fee, and people who want a simple keeper card to preserve their Hilton points from expiring. It also works as a long-term holding spot after downgrading from a paid Hilton card. Skip it if you stay at Hilton properties more than a handful of nights a year: the Surpass earns 12x at Hilton, includes Gold status with its food and beverage credits at many brands, and offsets its $150 fee with up to $200 in quarterly Hilton credits. And if Hilton is not your default chain, a transferable-points card will serve you better than any single-hotel card.

Annual fee

$150

Rewards rate

2x miles on Delta purchases, at restaurants worldwide (plus US…

Welcome bonus

As high as 80,000 bonus miles after $2,000 in purchases in the first…

Intro APR

None

The Delta SkyMiles Gold American Express Card is the entry point to Delta's co-branded lineup: a $0 introductory annual fee for the first year, then $150. It is built for people who fly Delta a few times a year, check bags, and want useful perks without paying for lounge access or a companion certificate. The welcome offer shown on delta.com in August 2026 is as high as 80,000 bonus miles after $2,000 in purchases in your first 6 months. American Express personalizes offers, so treat 80,000 as the ceiling and check the figure on your actual application. Earning is 2 miles per dollar on Delta purchases, at restaurants worldwide including US takeout and delivery, and at US supermarkets, with 1 mile per dollar everywhere else. The variable purchase APR runs 19.49% to 28.49%, and there are no foreign transaction fees. The bag benefit is the anchor. Your first checked bag flies free on Delta flights worldwide, and a June 4, 2026 update added a free second checked bag on domestic Delta flights with no fee increase. The same update introduced a $120 annual rideshare credit, paid as up to $10 in monthly statement credits, but it only unlocks after your first card renewal, so first-year cardholders do not get it. You also get up to $100 back per year on prepaid Delta Stays hotel and vacation rental bookings and 15% off when booking Delta award travel with miles. Read the fine print on the $200 Delta flight credit: it requires $10,000 in purchases in a calendar year, an effective 2% return paid only as Delta flight credit. If you would push $10,000 through this card to chase it, a flat 2% cash back card returns the same value in actual cash with no annual fee. The monthly credits also demand attention: $10 rideshare increments require enrollment and expire month by month. Get this card if you fly Delta at least two or three round trips a year and check bags; the waived first-year fee makes it a low-risk trial. Skip it if you fly whichever airline is cheapest, never check a bag, or want lounge access, which requires the $650 Reserve. And if you carry a balance, skip the whole category: a 19.49% to 28.49% APR outruns any rewards math.

Annual fee

$895

Rewards rate

5x flights direct or via Amex Travel (capped), 5x prepaid Amex Travel…

Welcome bonus

As high as 175,000 points after $12,000 in 6 months (personalized)

Intro APR

19.49%-28.49% variable (Pay Over Time)

The Platinum Card is a membership fee wearing a metal jacket. At $895 a year it sits among the most expensive consumer cards in the United States, and American Express is candid about what you are buying: lounge access and a long list of statement credits, rather than a strong return on everyday spending. It fits frequent flyers who pass through large airports often enough to use the lounge network several times a month and who will treat the credits as a monthly chore rather than a pleasant surprise. Amex looks for excellent credit, roughly 740 or higher. Read the earn structure before assuming the points cover the fee. You get 5x on flights booked directly with the airline or through Amex Travel, subject to an annual cap, 5x on prepaid hotels booked through Amex Travel, and 1x on everything else. Everything else is most of a normal life: groceries, gas, utilities, insurance, medical bills, tuition. A household that runs $60,000 a year through this card without booking heavy travel on it finishes the year with roughly 60,000 points, well short of $895 on any sober valuation. The Platinum is an access card rather than a spending card, and using it as a daily driver is the most common way people lose money on it. That leaves the credits carrying the argument. They arrive in fixed windows with named merchants attached, and unused windows do not roll forward, so the value is real only for someone whose existing habits already match the list. Write down the credits you would genuinely use, add them up honestly, and if the total does not clear $895 without stretching, the card is a loss no matter how good the lounges are. The welcome offer, as high as 175,000 points after $12,000 in six months, is personalized, so treat the headline as a ceiling rather than a promise, and note that $12,000 in six months has to be spending you were already going to do. Mechanically this is a charge card with Pay Over Time, so the default expectation is that you clear the statement in full each month. Balances routed to Pay Over Time carry 19.49% to 28.49% variable and there is no introductory rate to soften the landing. Anyone who might revolve should stop here, because interest at those rates dwarfs every credit in the coupon book. Skip the card as well if you fly two or three times a year, if your home airport has no Amex lounge, or if you know from experience that you do not redeem credits on a schedule. A mid fee travel card with a simpler earn structure beats it for most households.

Annual fee

$895

Rewards rate

5x flights and prepaid hotels via Amex Travel, 1.5x eligible…

Welcome bonus

As high as 300,000 points after $20,000 in 3 months (personalized,…

The Business Platinum targets owners whose company travel is heavy enough that airport access changes their working week. It carries an $895 annual fee, and American Express expects excellent credit, roughly 740 or higher, on the personal guarantee behind the account. What makes it worth a look in 2026 is the offer: as high as 300,000 Membership Rewards points after $20,000 of spending in three months, which Amex presents as a record for the product. That is also the reason for caution, because $20,000 in ninety days is a genuine cash flow event for a small business rather than a rounding error. Earning splits cleanly into travel and not travel. You get 5x on flights and prepaid hotels booked through Amex Travel, 1.5x on eligible large purchases and selected business categories subject to an annual cap, and 1x on everything else. The 1.5x band is what separates this from the consumer Platinum, because it can apply to the large, lumpy invoices a company pays rather than only to retail spending. Outside those lanes the base rate is still 1x, so a business whose money goes to payroll, rent, and vendors that do not accept cards will not produce enough points to justify $895 on spending alone. Judge the fee on a three year view rather than on year one. A 300,000 point welcome offer swamps the fee in the first twelve months and makes almost any applicant feel clever. The honest question is year two: strip out the bonus, count only the points your ordinary spending would generate plus the benefits you would genuinely use, and see whether that clears $895. If the answer depends on routing all of your travel through Amex Travel rather than booking direct, factor in that you are trading flexibility, and sometimes price, for the multiplier. Treat it as a pay in full product. Our verified data does not carry a published regular APR range for this card, and terms for carrying a balance are set at approval, so do not plan on financing the $20,000 bonus requirement or pulling purchases forward that you cannot clear at statement close. Skip the card if company travel is occasional, if your spending is concentrated in categories that earn 1x, if the three month gate would force artificial spending, or if you are a sole proprietor whose expenses are really personal expenses. In those cases a lower fee business card, or a strong personal travel card, returns more for less effort.

Annual fee

$0

Rewards rate

3% US supermarkets, US online retail and US gas (each capped at…

Welcome bonus

As high as $200 back after $2,000 in 6 months (personalized)

Intro APR

0% for 15 months on purchases and balance transfers

The Blue Cash Everyday is American Express's no-fee household card, aimed at people whose spending concentrates in the supermarket aisle, at the pump and in online checkouts. It pays 3% at US supermarkets, 3% on US online retail and 3% at US gas stations, each capped at $6,000 a year, with 1% on everything else. Approval generally starts at good credit, roughly 670 or higher. Because it runs on the American Express network rather than Visa or Mastercard, acceptance is broad across the United States but thinner at small independent merchants. The caps are the part most applicants overlook. Each 3% category tops out at $6,000 of annual purchases, which is $180 of cash back per category and $540 across all three if you fully use every one. That is a solid return for a card that costs nothing, but it also means the card is sized for an average household rather than a heavy spender: a family spending $12,000 a year at the supermarket earns 3% on half of it and 1% on the rest. The welcome offer is personalized and runs as high as $200 back after $2,000 in the first six months, so the offer you are actually shown when you apply may be smaller than the headline. There is no annual fee, so nothing needs to be recovered. The trade is that the free version deliberately earns less than Amex's paid grocery card, and that gap only matters if your supermarket spending is large enough to push past these caps every year. On the borrowing side, the regular APR is 19.49% to 28.49% variable, toward the higher end of the no-fee market, softened for new cardholders by a 0% intro APR for 15 months on purchases and balance transfers. Treat that window as a fixed term with a hard deadline rather than as breathing room, because the rate that follows will overwhelm 3% earnings quickly. Pass on it if your grocery bill is large enough that the caps bind every year, in which case the fee-charging version does the same job better, or if you shop mainly at warehouse clubs and superstores, which frequently do not code as supermarkets. It is also the wrong pick if you cannot live with Amex acceptance at small merchants, or if you prefer one flat rate on everything, since roughly three quarters of a typical household budget still earns 1% here.

Annual fee

$375

Rewards rate

4x on your top 2 of 6 eligible business categories each cycle (capped…

Welcome bonus

As high as 200,000 points after $15,000 in 3 months (personalized)

Intro APR

17.74%-28.49% variable (Pay Over Time,…

The Business Gold Card solves a specific problem: businesses whose spending mix keeps moving. Rather than fixing your bonus categories at signup, it pays 4x on your top two of six eligible business categories in each billing cycle, so the card follows the spend instead of asking you to predict it a year in advance. American Express wants good to excellent credit, roughly 700 or higher. The annual fee is $375, which places it well above the free business cards and below the flagship premium tier, and that middle position is the question you must answer before applying. The 4x applies to the first $150,000 of eligible category spend per year combined, then drops to 1x, and anything outside your top two categories earns 1x as well. That structure rewards concentration. If your business has two dominant expense lines, the card is doing exactly what it was built to do. If your spend is spread thin across many small categories, the self-adjusting mechanic keeps selecting two winners that were never large enough to matter. Value Membership Rewards points at a conservative 1 cent each and the arithmetic is clear: the extra 3 points per dollar you earn in the bonus tiers needs about $12,500 of annual category spend, roughly $1,040 a month, to produce the 37,500 points that cover the fee. The welcome offer is advertised as high as 200,000 points after $15,000 in three months, and the phrase that matters is 'as high as.' American Express personalizes these offers, so many applicants will be shown materially less, and the sensible approach is to decide whether the everyday earning justifies $375 before the bonus enters the calculation at all. On cost of carry, purchases placed on Pay Over Time run 17.74% to 28.49% variable, with a maximum of 29.99%. Those are ordinary credit card rates, which is to say they are far more expensive than any rewards rate can offset, so the card assumes you settle in full. This is the wrong card for a business spending under roughly $12,500 a year in its bonus categories, for owners who want cash back rather than a points currency they have to learn to redeem well, and for anyone planning to finance purchases over time. American Express acceptance is worth a thought if you pay small vendors or operate outside major metro areas. Our verified data does not list a foreign transaction fee for this card, so confirm that with the issuer before relying on it overseas. Where it does fit, a business with two large and shifting expense lines and the discipline to pay every statement, the automatic 4x is genuinely hard to replicate elsewhere.