Although the media likes to portray millennials as youngsters who live on their phones, that image needs to grow up — because those millennials certainly have.
In fact, most millennials are well into their twenties, with the older faction of the generation pushing 40. Yes, all the millennials are now full-fledged adults, with all the trappings that implies — like credit cards.
While millennials are growing up, their adult lifestyles reflect their coming of age in a digital world — and so, too, should their credit cards.
Overall | Ride-Sharing | Dining | Travel | Online Shopping | Entertainment
Best Overall Credit Cards for Millennials
If you’re going to have a single credit card in your wallet, then you’d better make sure that card has a lot to offer. Otherwise, why waste the space? But there’s no one-size-fits-all credit card.
Picking the right everyday card instead comes down to picking the card that best fits your lifestyle. For example, a travel rewards card is little good if you hardly travel. So, choose the rewards type you’re most likely to redeem, and the card that will offer the most rewards where you spend the most.
This card is obviously designed with the millennial lifestyle in mind, offering huge rewards on both dining and entertainment purchases. These broad categories include everything from restaurants and bars to movie tickets and live events, making them a must-have accessory for anyone looking to make the most of their experiences.
One of the top dogs of travel rewards, this card offers 2X Ultimate Rewards® points on travel and dining purchases and unlimited 1X points on everything else. Those Ultimate Rewards® can be redeemed for travel through Chase or transferred to one of a dozen hotel and airline partners for maximum travel value.
Additional Disclosure: Citi is a CardRates advertiser.
If your spending doesn’t fit neatly into any categories — or you simply don’t want to have to keep track of where to use what card — this card’s unlimited 2% cash back is an easy way to earn on every card purchase without any hassle. So, whether you prefer to order in and binge stream the latest series, or spend a night on the town hitting the latest hot venues, this card can help you get cash back on every purchase.
Best Credit Cards for Ride-Sharing
While millennials are hardly the only group to jump on the ride-sharing bandwagon, younger folks are certainly in love with the sharing economy.
Happily, with the right credit card, that love can earn bonus rewards. With these picks, you’ll earn extra points for every rideshare ride with companies such as Lyft and Uber, making it even more affordable to share.
This card offers a triple points for travel purchases, a broad category that includes ride-sharing companies, as well as the expected hotel and airline purchases so you can earn big no matter how you travel. Plus, this card offers a number of travel perks, including airport lounge access and an annual travel credit.
This card recently introduced the highest annual fee of a consumer card we know of — but that fee includes $15 a month in Uber credits, whether for UberEats or ride-sharing. That’s up to $200 for Uber rides or eats orders annually. You’ll also become an Uber VIP, where available, without meeting minimum ride requirements and be matched with top-rated drivers.
Cards to Earn Rewards on Dine-In, Take-Out & UberEATS
Whether you’re starting your career, building your empire, or starting a family — we all have to eat.
But while millennials may be more inclined to ride-share their meals with things like UberEATS, plenty still enjoy the “traditional” dine-in and take-out meals of their forefathers. And, no matter how you get your food, you can save on every dining purchase with the right credit card.
This card’s 3% cash back on dining will apply to your restaurant purchases at a huge range of restaurants, including dine-in and takeout, with no limit on how much you can earn. Cardholders can also enjoy 2% cash back on grocery store purchases, meaning this card has you covered no matter who makes your meal.
- Earn 90,000 Membership Rewards® points after you spend $6,000 on purchases on your new card in your first 6 months of card membership
- Earn 4X Points at U.S. supermarkets on up to $25,000 per calendar year in purchases. Also earn 4X Points at restaurants, including takeout and delivery, and 3X points on flights when booked directly with airlines or on amextravel.com. All other eligible purchases earn 1X point.
- No foreign transaction fees
- Earn up to $10 in statement credits monthly when you pay with the American Express® Gold Card at Grubhub, The Cheesecake Factory, Goldbelly, Wine.com, Milk Bar and select Shake Shack locations. Enrollment required.
- Delight your senses when you book The Hotel Collection with American Express Travel. Get a $100 experience credit to use during your stay. Minimum 2-night stay is required.
- $250 Annual Fee
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Intro (Purchases)
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Intro (Transfers)
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Regular APR
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Annual Fee
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Credit Needed
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|---|---|---|---|---|
N/A
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N/A
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21.24% – 29.24% Pay Over Time
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$250
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Excellent
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The American Express® Gold Card has become the card to beat when it comes to dining, offering an unbeatable 4X Ultimate Rewards® points per dollar on purchases made at US restaurants, including both dine-in and takeout purchases.
Cardholders can also enjoy a monthly $10 dining credit for select restaurants including Grubhub, Seamless, The Cheesecake Factory, Ruth’s Chris Steak House, and participating Shake Shack locations, up to a total of $120 a year. New cardholders will also get 20% dining purchases for the first three months, up to $100 total back.
Flexible Rewards Credit Cards for Travel Expenses
Although travel may be good for the soul, it can wreak havoc on the budget — that is, unless you have an awesome travel rewards credit card.
Our favorite travel rewards cards are those that offer flexible rewards that can be used with a wide variety of airline and hotels brands, making sure you can redeem your rewards when you want — not when it’s convenient for the airline or hotel.
Chase’s Ultimate Rewards® are much lauded as some of the best, most versatile travel rewards, with more than a dozen hotel and airline partners to which you can transfer your points. With smart transfers and redemptions, you can get top value out of your Ultimate Rewards®.
The miles you earn with this card can be used with any travel brand at any time, no blackouts or exclusions, as you’ll simply redeem them for a statement credit to cover qualifying travel-related purchases. Or, transfer miles to a qualifying airline loyalty program to combine with your existing frequent flyer miles.
Another simple travel rewards card, this card’s miles are redeemed for statement credit to cover eligible travel-related expenses, including hotels, airfare, and car rentals. This means you never have to deal with pesky blackout dates.
Cards for Maximizing Online Shopping Purchases
While not exclusive to millennials, it’s clear that younger generations are driving the growth in online shopping, enjoying both the convenience and potential savings to be found online.
And credit card companies are catching on. A number of issuers are now offering the chance to earn bonus rewards for online shopping purchases.
Although not guaranteed, this card has offered online shopping as a bonus category at least one quarter per year for a few years running, often in the fourth quarter when holiday shopping starts in earnest. Activate your category each quarter to earn the bonus rate on qualifying purchases up to a set limit.
- Earn 5% cash back at Aamzon.com and Whole Foods market
- Earn 2% cash back at restaurants, gas stations, and drugstores, 1% back on all other purchases
- Exclusively for customers with an eligible Prime membership
- Get a $100 Amazon Gift Card instantly upon credit card approval
- See your rewards balance during checkout at Amazon.com and easily use rewards to pay for all or part of your purchase — no minimum rewards balance to redeem rewards
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Intro (Purchases)
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Intro (Transfers)
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Regular APR
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Annual Fee
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Credit Needed
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|---|---|---|---|---|
N/A
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N/A
|
14.24% – 22.24%
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$0 (Prime Membership Required)
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Good/Excellent
|
So long as you have an activated Prime membership, the Amazon Prime Rewards Visa Signature Card provides 5% cash back on every Amazon.com purchase. Plus, receive 5% cash back when you use your card at Whole Foods grocery stores.
The points you earn with the Amazon Rewards card can be redeemed directly at checkout to pay for most Amazon.com purchases, and you can redeem them for cash back, gift cards, or travel.
13. Bank of America® Customized Cash Rewards Secured Credit Card
This card is currently not available.
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Intro (Purchases)
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Intro (Transfers)
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Regular APR
|
Annual Fee
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Credit Needed
|
|---|---|---|---|---|
N/A
|
N/A
|
N/A
|
N/A
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N/A
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Additional Disclosure: The information related to Bank of America® Customized Cash Rewards Secured Credit Card has been collected by CardRates.com and has not been reviewed or provided by the issuer or provider of this product or service.
This card rewards 3% cash back for online shopping purchases, which is but one of several 3% categories you can choose from. This is a new offer from Bank of America that is quite appealing given the flexibility in cash back rewards. You’ll also receive a 0% intro APR to help finance a large purchase and achieve a nice signup bonus.
Cards to Save on Streaming, Concerts & Other Entertainment
While your average person may complain about the cost of cable, millennials do something about it — by avoiding it altogether. After all, between streaming, gaming, and other forms of entertainment, who needs cable?
Whether you like to stream TV, see live concerts, or enjoy a good amusement park, you can save on your entertainment by using the right card for your purchases.
A no-annual-fee option for saving on entertainment and dining, this card provides 3% cash back on everything from museums to sporting events.
- Earn $250 back in the form of a statement credit after you spend $3,000 in purchases on your new Card within the first 6 months of Card Membership.
- Earn 6% cash back at U.S. supermarkets on up to $6,000 per year on purchases (then 1%). Also earn 6% cash back on select U.S. streaming subscriptions.
- Earn 3% cash back on transit, including U.S. gas stations, taxis/rideshare, parking, tolls, trains, buses, and more. All other purchases earn 1% cash back.
- $120 Equinox Credit – Use your Blue Cash Preferred Card to pay for Equinox+ at equinoxplus.com and receive $10 in monthly statement credits. Enrollment required.
- 0% intro APR for 12 months from the date of account opening, then a variable APR applies
- $0 intro annual fee for the first year, then $95
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Intro (Purchases)
|
Intro (Transfers)
|
Regular APR
|
Annual Fee
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Credit Needed
|
|---|---|---|---|---|
0% for 12 months
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N/A
|
19.24% – 29.99% Variable
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$0 intro annual fee for the first year, then $95
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Excellent Credit
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If you do a lot of streaming, whether music, podcasts, or videos — this card just may be your new best friend. The Blue Cash Preferred Card features an industry-leading cash back rate for select U.S. streaming subscriptions, including Hulu, Netflix, Audible, Spotify, Pandora, and more.
- Earn 60,000 bonus ThankYou® Points after you spend $4,000 in purchases within the first 3 months of account opening.
Plus, for a limited time, earn a total of 10 ThankYou® Points per $1 spent on hotel, car rentals, and attractions (excluding air travel) booked on the Citi Travel℠ portal through June 30, 2024. - Earn 3 Points per $1 spent at Gas Stations, Air Travel and Other Hotels
- Earn 3 Points per $1 spent at Restaurants and Supermarkets
- Earn 1 Point per $1 spent on all other purchases
- Annual Hotel Savings Benefit
- 60,000 ThankYou® Points are redeemable for $600 in gift cards or travel rewards at thankyou.com
- No expiration and no limit to the amount of points you can earn with this card
- No Foreign Transaction Fees on purchases
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Intro (Purchases)
|
Intro (Transfers)
|
Regular APR
|
Annual Fee
|
Credit Needed
|
|---|---|---|---|---|
N/A
|
N/A
|
21.24% – 29.24% (Variable)
|
$95
|
Excellent, Good
|
Additional Disclosure: Citi is a CardRates advertiser.
The Citi Premier® Card gives users bonus rewards on multiple spending categories including the most common day-to-day transactions. ThankYou Points can be redeemed for a variety of things, but generally offer the best value when redeemed for free flights through the ThankYou® Travel Center.
Find a Card that Fits Your Lifestyle
No longer the youngest generation, millennials are growing up — and they need grown-up credit cards to match their changing adult lifestyles. Of course, that doesn’t mean you need to be stuck with your parents’ boring old card.
That’s because credit card issuers are embracing the millennial generation. Whether you love to eat out, order in, shop online, or stream your favorite shows, there’s likely a credit card out there that not only complements your lifestyle but rewards it.
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CardRates.com is a free online resource that offers valuable content and comparison services to users. To keep this resource 100% free, we receive compensation for referrals for many of the offers listed on the site. Along with key review factors, this compensation may impact how and where products appear across CardRates.com (including, for example, the order in which they appear). CardRates.com does not include the entire universe of available offers. Editorial opinions expressed on the site are strictly our own and are not provided, endorsed, or approved by advertisers.
Editorial Note: Our site content is not provided or commissioned by any credit card issuer(s). Opinions expressed on CardRates.com are the author's alone, not those of any credit card issuer, and have not been reviewed, approved, or otherwise endorsed by credit card issuers. Every reasonable effort has been made to maintain accurate information; however, all credit card offer details, including information about rewards, signup bonuses, introductory offers, and other terms and conditions, is presented without warranty. Clicking on any offer on CardRates.com will direct you to the issuer's website, where you can review the current terms and conditions of the offer.
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