Best Credit Cards For Amazon Purchases – Up to 5x Points/5% Cash Back

If you’re anything like me, you probably spend an unhealthy amount of money buying stuff from Amazon. I thought it was time to have a dedicated post on what the best credit card to use is for Amazon purchases. One thing that is worth considering is that most of the time Amazon.com is coded as a bookstore, so it’s possible to get a category bonus there.

Personal Cards

Citi AT&T Access More – 3x ThankYou Points, No Limits, $95 Annual Fee

This card earns 3x ThankYou points on all online retail websites. It should work on Amazon too.

There is a $95 annual fee, but you’ll also earn a bonus 10,000 points if you spend more than $10,000 within a card member year.

 

VantageWest Credit Union Connect Rewards Credit Card – 5x, No Annual Fee ($15 Joining Fee), $1,500 Limit Per Quarter

Our review

Card lets you choose one category to earn 5x points in. Unfortunately there is a limit of $1,500 per quarter.

Chase Amazon.com Rewards – 3-5% Cash Back, No Annual Fee Or Limits

This card earns a flat 3% cash back on all Amazon.com purchases and is issued by Chase. There are no annual fees or limits.

If you have Prime ($99 per year), the card now earns a flat 5% back on Amazon purchases.

Amazon Prime Store Card – 5% Cash Back, No Limits, Prime Required ($99 year)

Amazon recently upgraded their Amazon prime store card and this now earns 5% cash back on all Amazon purchases. The only downside is that you must have Amazon prime which will cost you $99 per year.

Affinity Federal Credit Union, 5% Cash Back No Annual Fee

Our review

This card earns 5% back on bookstores and that includes Amazon. It also has rotating 5% categories now as well.

Honorable Mentions

Chase Freedom – 5x Chase UR Points, No Annual Fee, One Quarter Annually ($1,500 Limit)

Our full review of this card

This card earns 5x Chase UR points in rotating categories that change quarterly. You can spend a maximum of $1,500 in these categories per quarter. In 2013 and 2014, it was possible to earn 5x points in the fourth quarter of the year. In 2015, you’ll also be able to earn 5x points on Amazon purchases.

Discover It – 5% Cash Back, No Annual Fee, One Quarter Annually ($1,500 Limit)

Our full review of this card

Very similar to the Chase Freedom, this card earns 5% cash back in rotating categories and there is a $1,500 spending limit per quarter. 2013 and 2014 have both included online shopping/holiday shopping and Amazon coded correctly as 5% cash back in the fourth quarter. This trend will continue in 2015 with Q4 also being holiday shopping.

Another Option To Get 5x+

One of the good things about Amazon, is that Amazon gift cards are sold almost everywhere. Because these gift cards do not come with any fees, it’s possible to use a card that earns a category bonus at that specific merchant and get up to 5%.

For example, you could use the Chase Ink Plus to get 5x Chase UR points by purchasing Amazon gift cards at an office supply store. If you’re planning on going this route, you’ll find these links helpful:

It’s also possible to earn 5x UR points purchasing Amazon gift cards online from Paypal Digital Gifts and from Gyft.

Final Thoughts

I’m sure I’ve missed some cards that earn at Amazon at good rates, if I have let me know what I missed in the comments. This is an update to the guest post I wrote for Saving Advice last year.

Don’t forget to use a shopping portal.

It’s always possible to get additional cash back by using a shopping portal, check Cash Back Monitor to see who currently has the best payout rates.

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storm
storm (@guest_1810137)
March 8, 2024 03:04

3% cash back on the American Express Blue Cash Everyday Card at Amazon and most other major online retailers.

Rand
Rand (@guest_1777594)
January 14, 2024 12:09

Bank of America’s Custom Cash Rewards card will return 3% cash back on Amazon.com purchases if Online Shopping is your selected 3% category.

Amanda
Amanda (@guest_1491676)
November 19, 2022 12:29

Affinity Fed Credit Union’s Cash Rewards Visa gets 5% back at Amazon and Bookstores.
https://www.affinityfcu.com/Credit-Cards/Cashback-Rewards-Visa-Signature.aspx

Zooter
Zooter (@guest_1308010)
January 2, 2022 12:40

You should add the Amex Amazon Business Prime card.

Zooter
Zooter (@guest_1203161)
June 9, 2021 07:25

Can you add a comparison of the Extended Warranty and Purchase/Return Protection of these cards? If these become your mainstay Amazon cards, eventually you’ll need those features.

Flyfish
Flyfish (@guest_975999)
May 9, 2020 08:47

Citi dividend sometimes offer 5x also.

Lightspeed
Lightspeed (@guest_727285)
February 25, 2019 23:42

Refreshed BofA Cash Rewards gets 3-5.25% if you pick Online Shopping as your bonused spend category.

Vince
Vince (@guest_574403)
March 27, 2018 01:04

FYI: This post needs updating. The Citi Cash Forward is not only not available for new signups, Citi converted all existing Cash Forward cards to the Citi Thankyou Preferred card. The US Bank Cash+ card has dropped bookstores as a category (Amazon purchases generally code as from a bookstore).

Jeremy
Jeremy (@guest_412033)
May 30, 2017 01:46

The downside of using gift cards is you lose the ability to receive an extended warranty or price protection offered by a credit card. Chase has quite good insurance on their cards. Anyone who buys a lot on Amazon would likely be best off with this card for that reason (in addition to 5%). Also, DOC, you should update, the beloved forward card only gets 2x now.

graffiksguru
graffiksguru (@guest_401860)
May 5, 2017 12:53

RIP Sallie Mae 🙁