Best Visa Rewards Credit Cards

Visa rewards are points, miles, or cash back earned by Visa cardholders for making purchases, though the Visa credit card network itself does not give any rewards. Rather, the individual banks and credit unions that issue Visa credit cards give the rewards.

How Visa Rewards Work

Earn Cash Back, Points, or Miles. Cardholders earn rewards by making purchases with a Visa card. Whether you earn cash back, points or miles depends on the type of rewards card you have.

Redeem Your Rewards. Once you’ve earned rewards, you can redeem them by logging in to the card issuer’s website or by calling the issuer. Rewards are often redeemable for cash back, gift cards, merchandise, and select travel purchases, but the options will vary based on your Visa rewards card.

Not All Rewards Have the Same Value. Visa points and miles are usually worth about 1 cent each, on average. But the exact value can vary based on the rewards type, the issuer’s rewards program, and how the rewards are redeemed.

For the most part, Visa rewards don’t expire as long as your account remains active. Some cards’ rewards could be forfeited if the account is inactive for an extended amount of time, however – usually 12+ months. Additionally, you might lose any unredeemed rewards when you or the issuer closes the account, regardless of the reason. Check the terms and conditions of your Visa rewards card for details.

Potential for Extra Visa Benefits. Some Visa cardholders may be eligible for Visa Offers & Perks, which include discounts on select luxury hotel reservations, merchandise, car rentals, and more. These savings opportunities are in addition to the secondary benefits that Visa credit cards provide.

Redeem Loyalty Program Rewards Through Your Mobile Device. If your Visa card is linked to a participating loyalty program, you can redeem rewards through a mobile device with Visa Rewards Redemption. When you make a qualifying purchase, you will receive a notification from the loyalty program inviting you to redeem your rewards. If you choose to redeem, a statement credit for the purchase amount will be applied to your linked Visa card account.

“Visa Platinum Rewards” is branding language that can be found on a surprising number of Visa credit cards. The best Visa Platinum Rewards card is the PenFed Platinum Rewards Visa Signature® Card because it offers 15,000 points for spending $1,500 in the first 3 months. Cardholders also earn 1 - 5 points per $1 spent on purchases.

Visa Platinum is not an official Visa benefits tier, such as Visa Signature or Visa Infinite, yet more than 200 Visa credit cards have the word “Platinum” in their name. Not all of them have rewards, however, and even fewer are elite offers.

Still, there are several top-notch Visa Platinum credit cards with plenty of worthwhile perks. You can find the best options listed by category below.

Best Visa Platinum Rewards Cards

The best Visa Platinum rewards cards may also come with supplemental benefits such as rental car insurance, extended warranty, and travel accident insurance. But many Mastercard rewards cards offer these benefits as well, and you don’t want to miss out on a great deal by not taking under consideration cards from one major network without a good reason.

There are hundreds of Visa credit cards with rewards points, which individual credit card issuers give cardholders for making purchases and reaching certain milestones, but Visa does not have its own rewards points. Rewards are the responsibility of the banks and credit unions that issue credit cards, and Visa is not a credit card issuer.

Visa still provides plenty of perks, just not points, miles or cash back for making credit card purchases. Cardholders can claim special Visa offers for savings on travel and shopping, for instance. Visa also is responsible for secondary credit card benefits such as rental car insurance, extended warranty protection, travel insurance and more.

When it comes to rewards points credit cards on the Visa network, the points that you can earn are worth about 1 cent each, on average. The exact value varies by rewards program and depends on what you redeem the points for. Typically, you can spend your Visa card’s rewards points for travel, merchandise through an issuer’s online shopping portal, cash, gift cards, charity donations and more. In some cases, Visa rewards points may be worth more with some redemption methods than others.

You can earn rewards points by making purchases with the right Visa credit card as well as by meeting the spending requirements for a bonus, referring a friend and more, depending on the card.

There isn’t a single Visa rewards points catalog for all Visa credit cards. When you earn rewards points, miles, or cash back on a Visa credit card, Visa (the card network) isn’t responsible for how you use those rewards. Instead, Visa credit card rewards can be redeemed through each credit card’s issuer.

Visa does, however, offer a range of perks to its cardholders that could be considered rewards. Some of the most basic are car rental insurance and a $0 liability guarantee. Visa also offers cardholders discounts for some hotel reservations and merchandise from various retailers via the Visa Offers & Perks page. Some of the Visa discount offerings include Green Chef, Lenovo, Hertz, Grand Hyatt Vail, and many others. You could call these rewards, but they’re better defined as “perks.”

To see what other perks and discounts your Visa card is eligible for, log into your credit card account on your card issuer’s website and find the perks or benefits section. Or, you can call your credit card’s customer service number.

The Amazon.com Credit Card approval odds are good if you have at least a good credit score. Generally, the higher your credit score, the better your odds of approval are. However, your credit score is just one part of your creditworthiness. On its own, it does not guarantee approval.

What you need for good Amazon.com Credit Card approval odds:

• At least good credit
• Enough income to pay credit card bills
• Low debt relative to income
• Good payment history
• Positive recent credit inquiries

If you have less than good credit, your approval odds are better for the Amazon.com Store Card. You’ll only need a fair credit score to have a reasonable shot at getting the card.

The tradeoff is that unlike the Amazon.com Credit Card, which you can use anywhere Visa cards are accepted, the Amazon.com Store Card is limited to purchases on Amazon.com and at retailers that accept Amazon Pay. And you’ll only get rewards from the store card if you’re a Prime member, unlike the Amazon.com Credit Card.

The Visa Signature Concierge service is basically a glorified customer-service line that’s available to Visa Signature cardholders 24/7. What’s unique is that they’ll help you with certain types of special requests. They include booking dining, entertainment and recreation; coordinating travel; and delivering gifts.

The good news for folks who don’t have a Visa Signature credit card is most of that is pretty easy to do online without one.

Visa rewards points redemption process depends on the card. But keep in mind that rewards points are offered by the credit card issuers, not by Mastercard or any other network. So, cardholders will need to follow the instructions for their specific card issuer’s rewards program.

Most of the time, it’s possible to redeem points through the cardholder’s online account, mobile app, or through a dedicated rewards website run by the issuer. It’s also often possible to redeem points over the phone.

What you should know about Visa rewards:

• There are three types of rewards currencies for credit cards (including Visa cards): cash back, points, and miles. All work pretty much the same way, allowing you to redeem by either going online or calling the card’s issuer. The difference is the flexibility offered to cardholders when redeemed.
• Cash back rewards are the most flexible and the simplest to use. The rewards you earn are a percentage of the purchases made. Cash back rewards can be usually be redeemed for a check, direct deposit into a bank account, or a statement credit.
• Points are earned for each purchase and generally can be redeemed for gift cards, merchandise, hotel reservations and/or cash back, depending on the card.
• Miles are typically redeemable for travel expenses at any hotel or airline, among other options. But in the case of co-branded airline cards, miles offer good value only when redeemed for purchases with that specific airline.

Most Visa rewards points never expire as long as your account remains active. However, some cards’ rewards could be lost after 12+ months of account inactivity. Similarly, you will lose any unredeemed rewards when you close the account. But there may be a grace period in which you can redeem points before they become invalid. Make sure to check your Visa rewards card’s terms and conditions for specifics.