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Rewards credit cards that waive the first year of annual fees offer cardholders an instant head start compared to cards that charge an annual fee right from the get-go. You enjoy premium perks, earn thousands of points, and in some cases generate a substantial balance of points from a new cardmember bonus without any out of pocket expense on annual fees.
The list we've compiled doesn’t include cards with no annual fee, as we tackled the best $0 annual fee cards in a previous post. This post is specifically geared toward rewards credit cards that waive the annual fee for the first year.
Rewards Cards Featuring Waived Annual Fee for the First Year
| Credit Card | Card Issuer | Personal / Business | Annual Fee |
|---|---|---|---|
| Delta SkyMiles® Gold American Express Card | American Express | Personal | $0 introductory annual fee for the first year, then $99 - Rates & Fees |
| Marriott Bonvoy™ American Express® Card | American Express | Personal | $0 introductory annual fee for the first year, then $95. |
| Delta SkyMiles® Gold Business American Express Card | American Express | Business | $0 introductory annual fee for the first year, then $99 - Rates & Fees |
| The Plum Card® from American Express | American Express | Business | $0 introductory annual fee your first year, then $250 - Rates & Fees |
| Capital One Savor Cash Rewards Credit Card | Capital One | Personal | $0 intro for first year; $95 after that |
| Capital One Spark Cash for Business | Capital One | Business | $0 intro for first year; $95 after that |
| Capital One Spark Miles for Business | Capital One | Business | $0 intro for first year; $95 after that |
| United℠ Explorer Card | Chase | Personal | $0 introductory annual fee for the first year, then $95 |
| Citi® / AAdvantage® Platinum Select® World Elite Mastercard® | Citi | Personal | $99, waived for first 12 months |
| Citi® / AAdvantage® Gold World Elite™ MasterCard® | Citi | Personal | $50, waived for first 12 months |
| CitiBusiness® / AAdvantage® Platinum Select® Mastercard® | Citi | Business | $99, waived for first 12 months |
| FlexPerks® Travel Rewards Visa Signature® Card | U.S. Bank | Personal | $0 introductory annual fee for the first 12 months, then $49 |
| AeroMexico Visa Signature® Card | U.S. Bank | Personal | $0 introductory annual fee for the first 12 months, then $80 |
The Best No Annual Fee Cards for the First Year from Each Card Issuer
American Express
American Express offers the largest range of credit cards with $0 introductory annual fees for the first year.
Our pick:
- Limited Time Offer: Earn 70,000 bonus miles after you spend $2,000 in purchases on your new Card in your first 3 months. Offer expires 4/28/2021.
- Earn 2X Miles on Delta purchases at restaurants worldwide, including takeout and delivery and at U.S. supermarkets.
- Earn 1X Mile on all other eligible purchases.
- Enjoy your first checked bag free on Delta flights.
- Earn now. Travel when you're ready. After you spend $10,000 in purchases in a calendar year, you will receive a $100 Delta Flight Credit on your Card to inspire your next travel.
- Enjoy a $0 introductory Annual Fee for the first year, then $99.
- Terms Apply.
- Rates & Fees
- 2X Miles per dollar spent on purchases made directly with Delta
- 2X miles per dollar spent at U.S. supermarkets
- 2X miles per dollar spent at restaurants
- 1X miles on all other eligible purchases
This card provides a ton of value for Amex fans.
Capital One
Following the introduction of Capital One's new flexible rewards program, this card has become a go-to card for collecting flexible points, providing a fifth bank rewards program for points and miles fans to collect rewards.
- Earn 50,000 bonus miles once you spend $4,500 on purchases within 3 months from account opening; worth $500 in travel if redeemed for a fixed-value, or potentially much more when transferred to airline partners
- 2 Miles per $1 on every purchase, everywhere
- Fee credit for Global Entry or TSA Pre✔® (up to $100)
- No foreign transaction fees
- $0 intro for first year; $95 after that
- 2 Miles per $1 on every purchase, everywhere.
Chase
Our picks from Chase:
- 40,000 bonus miles after you spend $2,000 on purchases in the first 3 months your account is open. Plus, an additional 25,000 bonus miles after you spend $10,000 in the first 6 months.
- $0 introductory annual fee for the first year, then $95
- Earn 2 miles per $1 spent at restaurants, on hotel stays, and on United purchases
- Up to $100 Global Entry or TSA PreCheck® fee Credit
- 25% back on United inflight purchases
- Check your first bag for free (a savings of up to $140 per roundtrip) when you use your card to purchase your ticket
- Enjoy priority boarding privileges and visit the United Club℠ with 2 one-time passes each year for your anniversary
- Earn 2 miles per $1 spent at restaurants and eligible delivery services
- 2X miles per $1 spent on purchases from United
- 2X miles per $1 spent at restaurants and on hotel stays
- 1X mile per $1 spent on all other purchases
- 75,000 bonus miles after you spend $5,000 on purchases in the first 3 months your account is open.
- $0 introductory annual fee for the first year, then $99.
- Receive a 5,000-mile "better together" bonus each anniversary when you have both the United℠ Business Card and a personal United credit card.
- Earn 2 miles per $1 spent on United purchases, at restaurants (including eligible delivery services), gas stations, office supply stores, and on local transit and commuting.
- Earn 1 mile per $1 spent on all other purchases. Plus, employee cards at no additional cost - miles earned from their purchases accrue in your account so you can earn rewards faster.
- Check your first bag for free (a savings of up to $140 per roundtrip) when you use your card to purchase your ticket.
- Enjoy priority boarding privileges and get 2 United Club℠ one-time passes at account opening and each year for your anniversary.
- $100 United travel credit after 7 United flight purchases of $100 or more each anniversary year.
- 2x on United purchases
- 2x on local transit and commuting- including train tickets, taxicabs, mass transit, tolls and ride share services
- 2x at gas stations, restaurants and office supply stores
- 1x on all other purchases
The United Explorer Card earns a solid 2 miles per $1 spent at restaurants and on hotel stays, 2 miles per $1 spent on purchases from United, and 1 mile per $1 spent on all other purchases worldwide, and comes with an array of money-saving perks like free checked bags when paying for United flights with the card, and expanded award space only available to United co-brand cardholders and elite status members.
The United Business Card shares many of the benefits of its personal stablemate, but in addition, offers 5,000 bonus miles each anniversary if you also hold a personal United co-brand card.
Citi
If you fly American on a regular basis, our pick is:
Even better, this card gives you access to Reduced Mileage Awards, which can save you up to 30% on the miles required for domestic awards. With these perks, it's easy to justify the annual fee of $99, waived for first 12 months.
- Free checked bags for you and up to 4 companions on domestic itineraries
- Priority boarding to help you win the race for overhead bin space
- A 25% discount on inflight food, beverage, and Wi-Fi purchases
- Reduced Mileage Awards can save you 7,500 miles on roundtrip MileSAAver Awards
- Earn 2X miles for every $1 spent at restaurants
- Earn 2X miles for every $1 spent at gas stations
- Earn 2X miles for every $1 spent on eligible American Airlines purchases
- Earn 1X mile for every $1 spent on all other purchases
The card features no foreign transaction fees, and offers the first checked bag free of charge on domestic itineraries. Check out our review for all the details.
U.S. Bank
Our pick from U.S. Bank:
You'll get double FlexPoints on the category you spend the most on (choose from gas stations, grocery stores, airlines, and most cell providers).
Final Thoughts
Receiving your first year free is another way of maximizing your returns on rewards travel. Although many of these cards have benefits that make them easy to keep for the long term, it's great to be able to check out the benefits without the upfront cost.
If we’ve missed any cards off the list that you think should be on there, please let us know in the comments, and we can update the post with any new info provided.
For rates and fees of the cards mentioned in this post, please visit the following links: The Plum Card® from American Express (Rates & Fees), Delta SkyMiles® Gold Business American Express Card (Rates & Fees), and Delta SkyMiles® Gold American Express Card (Rates & Fees)
The comments on this page are not provided, reviewed, or otherwise approved by the bank advertiser. It is not the bank advertiser's responsibility to ensure all posts and/or questions are answered.
I love the comment that if you call they will waive the fee – I am looking at getting the Chase Sapphire Card (per your blogs) and will definitely remember the fee for year 2 and call when it happens.
I’ve been lucky where sometimes when year 2 rolls around, and the fee get charged, I can call them and get them to waive that too. It never hurts to ask.
That’s great news… Thanks for the list.
I signed up for the Chase Sapphire a few months ago and the points really grow fast if you can pile up the expenses. This post has a pretty good list – in a few months I’ll be back to refer to this list to sign up for my rewards next card!
Lists like these are critical as you obtain more and more cards, you have to know what options you still have…
no fee is always a winner
Can you publish another story that would feature balance transfer cards complete with the introductory interest offer and the fee charged for the transfer? That would be very helpful to me.
sure!
I sooo wish we could have get one of these in Italy…!
Cards like these are the best since you can cancel if the ongoing value isn’t worth the af
Super helpful post! So many out there on cards with no fees, but as they often don’t give me the rewards I’m looking for, it’s useful to know which waive the fee that first year. Plan to add a new card to my arsenal soon – cheers 🙂
will try to get a City plat, we’ll if this will work as I’m from outside US
IHG is one of the best i think
Anyone know if AMEX will give you 35k points if you call them (after signing up at 30k)?
YMMV, worth an ask.
Glad to have this list . Plan on adding a new card soon. Thanks!
Very useful info, I am shopping for a new credit card and this makes my search so much easier.
Unfortunately the American Express is really not practical for the travel abroad, its not as widely accepted as Visa.
I applied for Capital one venture cards periodically over the years and always recd a letter stating I am denied due to have too many cards. I never had Capital one card and do have a few cards with different banks. My FICO score is over 800 and income 100k+ and debt free. Why? Is capital One very strict? I only been turned by other banks because I was over 5/24 rule. Help?
What *exactly* does it state for reason? I’ve never heard of someone being denied due to having too many cards unless they have too many cards with that specific creditor.
“Too many credit cards opened in the last two years associated with you”
States: We used info from your credit report to make the decision…Experian
I recd these letters from Capital One and Chase at various times. With Chase I had cards but with Capital One I never had their card.
Tkxs
Joseph, I’d highly recommend calling them up, asking to review your application and reconsider you as a customer. The answer may change to a yes, but at least you’ll get an explanation in English from a human as opposed to something stock from a computer system.
Thxs will do and I will let you what the outcome is.
Only if Chase Marriott & Hyatt card can follow IHG’s annual night rules ($49 for any hyatt or marriott room)…. I canceled Marriott card since I can’t find a good use for that annual cert.
This may be the time for me to place the Premier Rewards Gold cc on my radar. I’ve been thinking about it off and on for a long time and I’m in a good position right now to be approved. I just may go for it and thx for the reminder.
I love my Chase IHG Rewards credit card. The first year was free, each subsequent year is $49 and it comes with a free night at one of their hotels. $49 for a nice hotel room is a great deal!
Sometimes the card holder can negotiate the annual fee to be waived subsequently or offer with a certain spend limit bonus points depending on the situation. Always worth a call.
IHG is my personal fave on that list. Because as I’m sure we all know, the anniversary night starting after year 1 is worth well more than $49, especially when combined with whatever signup bonus you get. Check your emails. My mother recently got a 100,000 targeted offer with 5,000 for authorized user spend as well. 105K in IHG can be worth a good bit if stretched right or combined with PointsBreaks, etc.
Chase Preferred credit card for me.
Are 20k extra IHG points worth not having the annual fee waived?
Personally, I would say yes to that.
$0 AF fee cards are great to keep to increase your average age of accounts.
If the benefits outweigh the fee, go for it!
Very helpful list. I am going to have to favorite this article and refer back to it, when I am ready to apply for more cards.
I love being able to try out cards the first year w/out a fee! Any tips when the Chase Sapphire might get another large bonus on points? Is it something they usually do? Or is it rare? How do ya’ll handle the opening of a card, getting the bonus and then getting to the year and canceling? Closing hits your credit score so I would hate to lower my score really but $95 is a lot and then I wouldn’t be able to get the Sapphire again with the bonus, do I understand this correct?
We have no information on any increase for the Sapphire Preferred — I honestly doubt we’d see another increase on the card.
As for closing the card, you need to decide if the value received on it is worth the annual fee. I definitely think so on the Sapphire Preferred but if it isn’t for you simply close the card or look to convert it to another card with no annual fee. Under current conditions you wouldn’t be eligible for the bonus again on the card unless it has been 24+ months since you last received the bonus and you don’t currently hold the card.
Keep in mind, closing a card account won’t decimate your credit score. Yes, it’ll drop due to a change in your credit utilization by losing the line of credit you have on the card, but if you have an otherwise strong credit portfolio, you might not notice any change at all.
Thank you! I appreciate your insight!
Thank you for the post, this is a good reference of a lot of the cards I should be aiming to acquire. No annual fee the first year seems to add about 20% more value to the sign up bonus.
is there any card having similar perks within Europe?
Sorry, I do not know.
How about the Chase Marriott Rewards card? Where would you rate it in comparison to the other Chase cards that you have listed here?
The Marriott card has a big signup bonus, which I think makes up for the annual fee on it. It really comes down to what you’re looking to cash in on and your travel goals, but because the card does not waive its annual fee the first year we left it off of this list.
Super helpful- thanks for the list!