Did you know that, according to Urban, the percentage of Americans who were 65 years old or older in 2020 was 16.3%? This percentage is expected to go up to 20.4% by 2040.
If you’re 65 years or older, or have a family member who is, then you might be curious about what the best credit cards for seniors are.
You might be asking yourself questions such as:
- “What are the most popular credit cards among seniors?”
- “What APR do they have, and what are their annual fees?”
- “Do they have any welcome offers or rewards?”
If you don’t have the answers to these questions, then you might not be sure which credit card is best for you or for the senior citizen in your family.
This might be stressful, especially if you are dealing with any other financial issues, such as budgeting during retirement or planning for future care home fees.
That’s why we’ve put together this article. We’ll cover all the best credit cards for senior citizens so that you can choose the best one for you or the senior citizen in your family. Read on to learn more.
Is the AARP credit card a good deal?
AARP® Credit Card from Chase
Best Card for Dining Out
The AARP® Credit Card from Chase is a great choice if you’re an AARP member. Out of all the cards on this list, this is the best card for dining out. This is because of the cashback you get when you go to restaurants.
Whatever you spend when dining out, you earn 3% cashback.
There are some additional cashback rewards with this card. You also earn 3% cashback at gas stations. So if you want to drive a little farther out to your favorite restaurant downtown, why not do it?
On purchases that aren’t at restaurants or gas stations, you earn 1% cashback.
Additionally, there’s a cashback welcome offer. If in the first three months after you’ve got the card, you spend $500, then you get $100 cashback.
One of the biggest benefits of this card is that there isn’t an annual fee. However, the annual percentage rate isn’t that great. It’s between 16.24% and 22.99%.
Additionally, it’s not a great card if you love to travel because the foreign transaction fee is 3%.
If you’re thinking of getting this card, it’s important to know what kind of credit is required. For this card, your credit needs to be good or excellent.
Keep in mind that you don’t actually need to be an AARP member to apply for this card. You don’t have to be a specific age, either.
If you do become an AARP member, you can pay for your membership with the rewards you get through this card.
Overview:
APR:16.24% - 22.99%
Annual Fee: $0
Welcome Offer: $100 cashback when you spend $500 in the first 3 months
Rewards: 3% cashback for dining out & gas stations, 1% for all over purchases
Credit Needed: Good or Excellent
Capital One Venture Rewards Credit Card
Best Card for Miles Rewards
The next card we’ll review is the Capital One Venture Rewards Credit Card. The biggest benefit of this card is its miles rewards system. When combined with the welcome offer, you can earn points so that you can travel to many places.
Here’s how it all works. If in the first three months after you’ve received the card, you spend $3,000, you get 50,000 bonus miles.
On top of this, you get 2 miles for every dollar you spend afterward. There are also no foreign transaction fees, so you can use this card abroad.
To give you an idea, those bonus miles are worth $600 in travel. This could be enough for a one-way ticket to Europe or a roundtrip set of flights to another US state.
The annual fee for this card is $95. However, it’s worth it if you travel often and want to take advantage of the miles rewards system.
As for the annual percentage rate, there isn’t an introductory one. Once you’ve started using the card, the APR is 24.49%, 21.99%, or 17.24%. The APR is determined by your credit.
Speaking of your credit, the credit required for this credit card is good or excellent.
Overview:
APR:17.24%-24.49%
Annual Fee: $95
Welcome Offer: 50,000 bonus miles if you spend $3000 in the first 3 months
Rewards: 2 miles for every dollar spent
Credit Needed: Good or Excellent
Blue Cash Preferred from American Express
Best Card for Grocery Shopping
This credit card is the best card for cashback rewards. With this reward system, you earn 6% cashback when you go to US supermarkets. (The limit is $6,000 annually.) So, if you love cooking at home and enjoying staying in, this is a great card.
You also get cashback for other types of purchases. For example, you get 3% cashback when you spend money at gas stations.
For purchases that aren’t at US supermarkets or gas stations, you get 1% cashback. On specific US streaming services, you get 6% cashback. Finally, when you make transit purchases, you get 3% cashback.
Because of the streaming services cashback perk, this is a great card for you if you love winding down at night watching a film or your favorite TV show.
Additionally, there’s a welcome offer. If during the first six months after you’ve received the card, you spend $3,000, you’ll earn a statement credit of $300.
As for the annual fee, there isn’t one the first year that you have the card. After this, the annual fee for Blue Cash Preferred from American Express is $95 a year. Considering how much cash you get back, this is a pretty good deal.
The annual percentage rate for this card is 0% for the first year. After the first year has gone by, the APR is between 13.99% and 23.99%.
For this card, your credit score has to be good or excellent.
Overview:
APR:0% for first 12 months, then 13.99%-23.99%
Annual Fee: $95
Welcome Offer:$300 statement credit if you spend $3,000 during the first 6 months
Rewards: 6% cashback at supermarkets and some streaming services, 3% at gas stations, 1% on all other purchases
Credit Needed: Good or Excellent
Citi Double Cash
Best Card for Balance Transfers
There are several benefits that come with this card. The first is that there is no interest charged on balance transfers during the first 18 months of having the card. So if you are currently struggling to pay off a credit card, and your debts are mounting, you can transfer that amount to this card.
Even though this isn’t technically a welcome bonus, it certainly is a big reason to get this card.
An additional benefit of this card is that they have a cashback reward system. It works both for purchases and for paying off your card.
Whenever you make a purchase with Citi Double Cash, you earn back 1% in cashback. Then, when you’re paying off this purchase at the end of the month, you earn another 1% back in cashback.
In addition to getting cashback, this card has the added benefit that you’re more incentivized to pay off your credit card in time.
There is no annual fee for this card. This is an additional reason why it’s a great card to transfer your credit card balance from another card if you want to pay it back without having to pay interest or extra fees.
The annual percentage rate for this card is 0% during the first 15 months you have the card. Afterward, it’s between 13.24% and 23.24%.
As for the credit required for getting this card, yours needs to be excellent.
Overview:
APR:0% for the first 15 months, then 13.24%-23.24%
Annual Fee: $0
Welcome Offer: Balance transfers have 0% interest for the first 18 months
Rewards: 1% cashback for purchases and 1% for paying off purchases at the end of the month
Credit Needed: Excellent
Discover It Cash Back
Best Card for Online Shopping
The Discover It Cash Back card has an impressive cashback reward system. Anytime you spend money when using Paypal, at gas stations, at restaurants, at grocery stores, and on Amazon.com, you get 5% cashback.
For other purchases, you get 1% cashback. So if you’re a big shopper, this could be a great card for you.
There’s also a great welcome offer with this card: the Unlimited Cashback Match. This is only available with Discover. Basically, by the end of your first year, Discover will match all the cash you’ve made back.
This is double the amount you would have made otherwise.
When it comes to the Unlimited Cashback Match, there aren’t any limits on how much you can spend. As a result, there aren’t limits on how much you can earn.
There isn’t an annual fee for this card. As for the annual percentage rate, it’s quite impressive to start with.
When you first get this card, APR is 0% not only for the first year but also for the first 14 months. If you want some extra time to pay off your card, the Discover It Cash Back card is a great choice.
After these 14 months have passed, the APR is between 11.99% and 22.99%.
If you want to get this card, you must have good to excellent credit.
Overview:
APR:0% for the first 14 months, then 11.99%-22.99%
Annual Fee: $0
Welcome Offer: Unlimited cashback match for the first year
Rewards: 5% cashback from PayPal, Gas Station, Amazon.com, restaurants, grocery stores and 1% on all other purchases
Credit Needed: Good or Excellent
Discover It Miles
Best Card for Travel
Discover It Miles is the best card for travel. This is because of the miles-based point system that comes with the card. With every dollar you spend on your card, you earn back 1.5x miles. You can also turn these miles into cash if you want.
You can do this with any amount. As for travel, you can redeem these miles in the form of a statement credit when you’re making travel purchases.
These travel purchases include those made at restaurants, gas stations, rideshares, hotels, and payments for airfare.
There aren’t any blackout dates, which means you can even travel during busy travel dates like when the holidays come around. Additionally, mile value never changes and never expires.
There’s also an impressive welcome offer. By the end of your first year with the card, Discover will match the number of miles you’ve earned.
For example, if you earn 30,000 miles, then at the end of that first year you’ll have a total of 60,000 miles.
There isn’t a minimum spending requirement or a limit to how many of these miles you can earn or have matched.
There also isn’t an annual fee. As for foreign transaction fees, there aren’t any of these either. So if you plan to travel abroad, this is a great card to take with you.
As for the annual percentage rate, it’s 0% for the first 14 months. Then, it’s between 11.99% and 22.99%. The credit required for this card is good to excellent.
Overview:
APR:0% for the first 14 months then 11.99%-22.99%
Annual Fee: $0
Welcome Offer: Discover matches your miles after the first year
Rewards: 1.5 miles for every dollar spent which can also be turned to cash
Credit Needed: Good or Excellent
Chase Freedom
Best Card for Cashback Rewards
Chase Freedom is the best card for cashback rewards. Whenever you spend money on travel that you’ve purchased through Chase Ultimate Rewards, you earn 5% cashback. When you're dining out or making purchases at drug stores, you earn 3% cashback.
If you travel often now that you’re retired, or you have health needs that require medication, you can get a lot of cashback with this card.
Additionally, you earn 1.5% cashback on any other purchases. Considering that most cashback cards only let you earn 1%, this is quite impressive.
There’s also a cashback welcome offer. If you spend $500 during the first three months after you’ve received the card, you’ll get back $200.
There isn’t an annual fee for this card. In terms of APR, it’s 0% for the first 15 months. Then, it’s between 14.99% and 23.74%.
To be eligible for this card, your credit needs to be at least good.
Overview:
APR:0% for first 15 months then14.99-23.74%
Annual Fee: $0
Welcome Offer: $200 cashback if you spend $500 in the first 3 months
Rewards:5% cashback on travel purchases, 3% on dining out or purchasesdrug stores, 1.5% on all other purchases
Credit Needed: Good
Costco Anywhere Visa® Card by Citi
Best Card for Frequent Drivers
This is the best card for those who drive a lot. This is because of the reward system with this card. Whenever you buy gas, you get 4% cashback. This is both worldwide and at Costco. There is a limit of $7,000 for this reward system.
After that, the cashback you get for gas purchases is 1%. Additionally, you get 3% cashback on eligible travel purchases and restaurant purchases.
You also get 2% cashback on any purchases made at Costco.com and at Costco.
When you make other purchases outside of these, you will earn 1% cashback.
There is no annual fee for this card. As for the APR, it’s a variable rate of 15.24%. When it comes to the kind of credit required for this card, it needs to be excellent.
Overview:
APR:Variable rate 15.24%
Annual Fee: $0
Welcome Offer: No welcome offer
Rewards: 4% cashback on gas purchases, 3% eligible travel and restaurant purchases, 2% Costco purchases & 1% on all other purchases
Credit Needed: Excellent
What is the best credit card for a senior citizen?
Now it’s time to decide: What’s the best credit card for you or for the senior citizen in your life?The cards we’ve reviewed are the best credit cards for senior citizens. We hope the information helps you make your decision.
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