The best credit cards for Amazon purchases

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This page includes information about the Discover it® Cash Back, which is currently not available on Business Insider and may be out of date.

The best credit cards for Amazon purchases:

5% cash back at Amazon and Whole Foods: Amazon Prime Rewards Visa Signature Card
2% cash back at Amazon and everywhere else: Citi® Double Cash Card
Often includes Amazon as a bonus category: Chase Freedom Flex℠
50% bonus if you make 30 purchases each billing period: Amex EveryDay® Preferred Credit Card
Best for purchase protection: Platinum Card® from American Express
Any American Express card that has an Amex Offer for shopping with Amazon

If you find yourself shopping at Amazon frequently, you'll want to give some thought to the credit card you're using for these purchases. This is especially true if you're interested in earning travel rewards — you'll want to maximize the points on every dollar you spend.

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Amazon Prime Rewards Visa Signature Card

The Amazon Prime Rewards Visa Signature Card offers 5% cash back on Amazon and Whole Foods purchases, including Amazon gift cards. Cardholders also get an extra 5 to 15% cash back on certain promotional items, which is one of the highest rewards rates you'll find. This makes the card a great option for your Amazon purchases.

Until December 22, new cardholders who apply for the Amazon Prime Rewards Visa Signature Card will instantly receive a $100 Amazon gift card upon account approval. And until November 30, cardholders with an eligible Prime membership can receive a total of 10% back on select products from the Amazon.com gift guide, in categories like home, toys, electronics, pets, smart-home, kitchen, home improvement, and holiday decor.

Cardholders can also earn 5% cash back at Zappos.com until September 21, 2021.

The Amazon Prime Rewards Visa Signature Card also earns 2% cash back at restaurants, gas stations, and drugstores. Considering those are pretty common spending categories for most people, this isn't a bad card to have in your wallet, especially since it has no annual fee.

Citi® Double Cash Card

If you prefer a versatile cash-back credit card with a solid earning rate at Amazon (and everywhere else), the Citi® Double Cash Card is hard to beat. You'll earn 2% back (1% at the time of purchase and 1% when you pay your bill) on all purchases, with no limit to what you can earn.

Because the Citi® Double Cash Card has no annual fee, it's a good card to keep for the long term. You can also convert your cash rewards into Citi ThankYou points, which you can redeem for travel, gift cards, merchandise, and more.

Chase Freedom Flex

Like the Discover it® Cash Back, the Chase Freedom Flex℠ offers 5% cash back on the first $1,500 (then 1%) spent on rotating bonus categories every quarter, once you activate the bonus each quarter via your card account.

Sometimes those categories include Amazon purchases, in which case the Chase Freedom Flex℠ is a great option for shopping on that site.

Chase Freedom Flex℠

Amex EveryDay® Preferred Credit Card

The Amex EveryDay® Preferred Credit Card from American Express is a solid choice for Amazon purchases. The card earns 1 American Express Membership Rewards point per dollar spent on non-bonus category spending, which includes Amazon. So why use it if you're just earning 1 point?

One reason is that Amex Offers often runs bonus-point promotions for Amazon purchases. All you have to do is check the currently available Amex Offers via a tab under your account. If you're eligible, just register and make purchases with your card to earn those extra points.

Additionally, Amex EveryDay® Preferred Credit Card cardholders earn 50% bonus points every billing period when they charge 30 or more purchases to the card. So if you charge at least one purchase per day on the Amex EveryDay® Preferred Credit Card, you'll essentially earn at least 1.5 points per dollar spent.

Amex Platinum card

It doesn't earn bonus points at Amazon (unless your account is eligible for an Amex Offer for bonus points at Amazon), but Platinum Card® from American Express is also worth considering, especially for more expensive Amazon purchases. That's because it offers purchase protection for up to 120 days from your date of purchase, with a maximum of $10,000 per claim and $50,000 per account per year.

The card has a $550 annual fee (See Rates), so it's not worth getting for this benefit alone, but if you travel frequently and can take advantage of benefits like annual statement credits for Uber, airline incidental fees, and Saks purchases, not to mention airport lounge access, it can be a great option.

Platinum Card® from American Express

Any Amex card with an Amex Offer for Amazon

One benefit of having an American Express card is that you get access to Amex Offers. These are deals for bonus points or cash back when you shop with a specific retailer. There are frequently Amex Offers for bonus points on Amazon purchases.

Since Amex Offers are targeted (they vary for each cardholder), you may not see this offer in your account, but it's worth checking. Keep in mind that you need to add the Amex Offer to your account online to be eligible for the bonus.

Some of the best American Express cards include:

Best for dining rewards:American Express® Gold Card (this card also earns 4x points on the first $25,000 spent at US supermarkets each calendar year, then 1x, and this category includes Amazon partner Whole Foods)
Best for cash back: Blue Cash Preferred® Card from American Express
Best for bonus points on travel: American Express® Green Card
Best premium business card: The Business Platinum Card® from American Express
Best business card for everyday spending: The Blue Business® Plus Credit Card from American Express

Any card that offers an annual spending bonus

If you're more concerned with long-term gain, consider charging your Amazon purchases to a credit card that offers an annual incentive for meeting certain spending thresholds.

For example, the Hilton Honors American Express Aspire Card offers an annual weekend night reward after you spend $60,000 in a calendar year. You can use your reward at just about any Hilton hotel, including high-end resorts with rates approaching $1,000 per night or more.

Another option is to put your Amazon spending on a Southwest credit card in order to earn the Southwest Companion Pass. If you're unfamiliar with this benefit, it essentially allows you to bring a designated companion along with you for free (just pay taxes and fees) on paid and award tickets. You'll earn the Companion Pass when you earn 125,000 qualifying Southwest points in a calendar year, and points earned via credit card sign-up bonuses and spending count towards this requirement.

You can earn welcome bonuses on the following Southwest credit cards. Note that you can only have one personal Southwest co-branded card at a time.

Southwest Rapid Rewards® Plus Credit Card—80,000 points (50,000 points after you spend $2,000 on purchases in the first 3 months ,and an additional 30,000 points after you spend $10,000 on purchases in the first 9 months)
Southwest Rapid Rewards® Premier Credit Card—80,000 points (50,000 points after you spend $2,000 on purchases in the first 3 months ,and an additional 30,000 points after you spend $10,000 on purchases in the first 9 months)
Southwest Rapid Rewards® Priority Credit Card—80,000 points (50,000 points after you spend $2,000 on purchases in the first 3 months ,and an additional 30,000 points after you spend $10,000 on purchases in the first 9 months)
Southwest Rapid Rewards® Premier Business Credit Card— 60,000 points after you spend $3,000 in the first three months from account opening
Southwest Rapid Rewards® Performance Business Credit Card— 70,000 points after you spend $5,000 in the first three months from account opening, another 30,000 points after you spend $25,000 in the first six months of account opening

If you earned the sign-up bonus from one of these cards and channeled your everyday spending, including Amazon purchases, on to it, you could get within easy reach of the Southwest Companion Pass. You could also earn a sign-up bonus from one personal Southwest card and one business Southwest card, which would make qualifying even easier.

And if you earn both tiers of the bonus for the current Southwest Rapid Rewards® Performance Business Credit Card offer, you'd earn the Companion Pass outright.