Best credit cards for Amazon

(CNN) —  

CNN Underscored reviews financial products such as credit cards and bank accounts based on their overall value. We may receive a commission through the LendingTree affiliate network if you apply and are approved for a card, but our reporting is always independent and objective.

People are shopping at Amazon more than ever, but when you’re ready to pay for your purchases at the online retailer, using the right credit card is vital. You could earn extra cash back or points and miles to put toward future travel, or you might want a card that extends the manufacturer’s warranty in case of loss or damage.

We’ve gone through hundreds of options and picked out seven of the best credit cards for your Amazon purchases. Our list offers an array of cash back, points and perks — a card for everyone depending on your needs.

Citi® Double Cash Card: Best for cash back
Chase Freedom Unlimited: Best for flexible rewards
Blue Cash Preferred® from American Express: Best for Amazon gift cards
Amazon Prime Rewards Visa Signature: Best for Amazon Prime members
American Express® Gold Card: Best for purchase and return protection
Capital One® Venture® Rewards Credit Card: Best for simple travel rewards
Amazon Business Prime American Express Card: Best for businesses

How did we choose our best credit cards to use at Amazon? Let’s dive into each of these cards and see how they compare to one another.

If you want to keep just one credit card in your purse or wallet to earn cash back on everything you buy — including your purchases at Amazon — the Citi Double Cash Card is the way to go. You’ll earn 2% cash back — 1% when you buy, and another 1% when you pay your statement — on all your purchases.

That’s a great return for a no-annual-fee card, and it’s simple — you don’t have to worry about bonus categories or figuring out complicated travel points. The card’s simplicity and solid earning rate is why CNN Underscored chose the Citi Double Cash as its benchmark credit card, and why we use it to compare and contrast other credit cards we review.

Related: Read CNN Underscored’s review of the Citi Double Cash Card.

Where the Citi Double Cash lags is in its shopping benefits. Unfortunately, the card no longer comes with damage and theft purchase protection, return protection or Citi’s previously well-known Price Rewind benefit.

So despite earning great cash back on your purchase with the Citi Double Cash, if you’re buying something expensive, you might want to choose a card that has you covered in the event your item is broken, lost or you potentially want to return it after the merchant’s return policy has ended.

Learn more and apply for the Citi Double Cash Card.

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The Chase Freedom Unlimited earns cash back rewards that can also be converted to travel points with the right combination of cards.

If you’re not sure whether you want cash back or travel points, a good compromise option could be the Chase Freedom Unlimited. With this card, you’ll earn 1.5% cash back on every purchase you make, including those at Amazon. That’s less than the Citi Double Cash, but in exchange for a slightly-lower earning rate, you’ll get rewards that are potentially more flexible and valuable down the line.

When you pair the Chase Freedom Unlimited with a premium Chase Ultimate Rewards card such as the Chase Sapphire Preferred Card or Chase Sapphire Reserve, you can convert your cash back to travel points at a rate of 1 cent per point. Then you’re able to redeem those points for travel at an increased value of 1.25 to 1.5 cents apiece via the Chase travel portal, or in other categories by using Chase’s “Pay Yourself Back” tool.

Even better, once you’ve converted the cash back to points, you can transfer them to any of Chase’s 13 airline and hotel loyalty partners. This amazing flexibility is why frequent flyer website The Points Guy values Chase Ultimate Rewards points at 2 cents apiece. At that rate, since you’re earning 1.5% cash back on the Freedom Unlimited, you could effectively end up with a 3% return on your purchases.

Related: Earn $200 in bonus cash back with this Chase Freedom Unlimited credit card offer.

You’ll also find that the Chase Freedom Unlimited is an ideal card to use in several bonus categories. The card earns 3% cash back for dining (including eligible delivery services), 3% cash back at drugstores and 5% cash back on travel booked through Chase Ultimate Rewards. Other benefits include a three-month subscription to DashPass, purchase protection and extended warranty protection.

But perhaps the best feature of the Chase Freedom Unlimited is its current sign-up bonus. New card holders can get $200 in bonus cash back after spending $500 in purchases in the first three months after opening the account. That’s a terrific deal and a strong reason to get the card if you don’t have it already.

Learn how to get $10 off at Amazon when using your Chase credit card.
Learn more and apply for the Chase Freedom Unlimited.

The Blue Cash Preferred from American Express may not earn the most cash back directly through Amazon. But this card shines when it comes to purchasing Amazon gift cards at select retailers.

One of the best perks of the Blue Cash Preferred is that you earn 6% cash back at U.S. supermarkets for up to $6,000 per year in purchases (then 1%). Many supermarkets sell Amazon gift cards, which you can buy and easily load into your own Amazon account to use for purchases. If you’re comfortable taking this extra step, this method will earn you the most cash back possible at Amazon — even more than Amazon’s own credit card.

Related: Get up to $300 bonus cash back with these Amex Blue Cash credit cards.

Just be aware that when you use gift cards on your purchase, you’ll be losing any credit card benefits you would have potentially received, such as extended warranty and purchase protection. Even if you use a credit card that offers those benefits when purchasing the gift card, those benefits don’t follow through when the gift card is actually redeemed.

So while the Blue Cash Preferred can earn you the most cash back at Amazon via gift cards (and the Amex Gold mentioned below is another top contender for purchasing Amazon gift cards since it earns 4 points per dollar at U.S. supermarkets up to $25,000 in purchases per year and 1x thereafter), for items where you might want purchase protections — especially on electronics — you might be better off using a credit card directly versus buying a gift card to earn a few extra rewards.

Read about how you can save up to 40% at Amazon with American Express cards.
Learn more and apply for the Blue Cash Preferred from American Express.

If your number one goal is to earn as much cash back as you can on every Amazon purchase, then the Amazon Prime Rewards Visa Signature is the way to go. This card offers 5% cash back at Amazon and Whole Foods, 2% cash back at restaurants, gas stations and drugstores, and 1% cash back on everything else. That’s a better return at Amazon than any other card on our list.

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You’ll earn 5% cash back at both Amazon and Whole Foods with the Amazon Prime Visa credit card.

But there’s one caveat: you must have an Amazon Prime membership to get an Amazon Prime Visa, and that can cost as much as $119 per year. Of course, if you’re looking for a card specifically for Amazon purchases, there’s a good chance you’re already a Prime member, in which case this card could be your best option.

The Amazon Prime Visa technically earns points, but the points can only be redeemed for a maximum of 1 cent apiece for a statement credit, a direct deposit to a checking or savings account or to pay for Amazon purchases. The card also offers extended warranty protection and purchase protection, but the coverage isn’t as comprehensive as some other credit cards.

For instance, with the extended warranty protection, you’ll get an additional year on eligible warranties of three years or less. On the purchase protection side, you’ll be covered on your purchase for 120 days against damage or theft, but only up to $500 per claim and $50,000 per account. If you’re making expensive purchases, these protections won’t cover you as well as some other cards on our list.

And if you’re a regular Amazon shopper but would prefer to just get a store card instead of a credit card, you can apply for the Amazon.com Store Card, which offers financing options depending on the size of your Amazon purchases. But unlike the Amazon Prime Rewards Visa, the Amazon Store card can’t be used anywhere but at Amazon.

Learn more and apply for the Amazon Prime Rewards Visa.

While maximizing cash back or points earned on your purchase is important, there are sometimes other factors you’ll want to consider when making large purchases. Two credit card benefits that you’ll especially want to factor in are purchase protection and return protection.

Purchase protection protects eligible items you buy against damage or theft. With this protection, you’ll be covered against the cost of replacing or repairing the item. With the American Express Gold, you’ll receive purchase protection for 90 days from the date of purchase, up to $10,000 per claim and $50,000 per card member account per calendar year.

This makes the Amex Gold a fantastic card to use on eligible Amazon purchases, especially the more expensive ones (think big screen TV, SLR cameras and computers). Purchase protection is a common benefit among credit cards, but many other cards are capped at $500 to $1,000 per claim, which can be limiting for those more expensive items.

Related: The American Express Gold Card practically pays for itself — and the Rose Gold version is back.

Another great credit card benefit is return protection and truth be told, American Express is one of the best card issuers on this front. With return protection, if you’re looking to return an eligible item that you bought on your Amex Gold within 90 days from the date of purchase and the merchant won’t take it back, American Express will refund the full purchase price (excluding shipping and handling).

The one major caveat to this policy is that you must purchase the item in its entirety with your eligible American Express card. Also, claims are capped at $300 per item and up to a maximum of $1,000 per card account per calendar year.

Learn more and apply for the American Express Gold Card.

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Even though most people aren’t traveling right now, you may want to earn miles for a future trip.

You likely aren’t looking to travel right now, but eventually hotels will reopen and airlines will be back in the air. So if you want to plan ahead for a future vacation by earning points you can redeem toward any travel purchase you make, the Capital One Venture Rewards card is one to consider.

With the Capital One Venture, you’ll earn 2 miles for every dollar you spend on every purchase. The miles can then be redeemed for any travel purchase on your credit card statement in the previous 90 days. This includes hotels, airfare, train rides, taxis, Ubers, Airbnb stays and more. When you redeem Capital One miles this way, you’ll get 1 cent per mile in value.

And for a limited time from now through April 30, 2021, you can also redeem miles for both food delivery and streaming services in this same way and at the same rate.

Related: Capital One Venture credit card adds redemptions for food delivery and streaming services.

Alternatively, you can also transfer your miles to 15 airline and hotel loyalty programs, such as JetBlue, Wyndham and many international airlines. Frequent flyer website The Points Guy values Capital One miles at 1.4 cents apiece because they can be transferred to these partner programs, which means your miles can potentially be worth more than just 1 cent each.

The Capital One Venture card also comes with extended warranty protection and up to a $100 credit toward the application fee for Global Entry or TSA PreCheck. It has a $95 annual fee, but no foreign transaction fees.

For businesses that make a lot of purchases at Amazon, the Amazon Business Prime American Express Card has a unique feature that could be extremely valuable right now. The card offers a choice of either 5% cash back on US purchases at Amazon — including Amazon Business, AWS and Whole Foods Market — on the first $120,000 in purchases each calendar year (then 1% cash back thereafter), or an interest-free 90 days to pay for those purchases.

With cash flow tight at the moment for many businesses, having the ability to pay for your Amazon purchases in 90 days without accruing any interest could be a huge help. And the card also earns 2% cash back at US restaurants, US gas stations and on wireless telephone services purchased directly from US service providers, as well as 1% cash back on all other purchases.

There’s no annual fee or foreign transaction fees on the Amazon Business Prime Amex card, and new card members can get a $125 Amazon gift card upon approval with no spending requirement at all. That’s a pretty decent welcome bonus offer for a card that doesn’t cost anything to keep year after year.

Just keep in mind that you need to have an Amazon Prime or Business Prime membership to be eligible for this card — businesses without a Prime membership can consider the Amazon Business American Express Card instead.

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The best credit card to use at Amazon depends on your priorities.

With so many credit cards available to maximize your Amazon purchases, you’re probably wondering which card is best for you. If you want a card that offers straight cash back, your best bet is the Citi Double Cash, or the Amazon Prime Rewards Visa if you’re an Amazon Prime member.

If your goal is to earn points toward travel, then you’ll want to consider the Chase Freedom Unlimited or Capital One Venture. And if you’re a business, then the Amazon Business Prime American Express is obviously the best choice.

But if your chief concern is protecting your purchase, regardless of the cash back or travel rewards earned, consider the American Express Gold card. And if you’re willing to go the extra step of purchasing Amazon gift cards at U.S. supermarkets, then the Blue Cash Preferred or American Express Gold can earn you the most cash back or travel rewards.

Looking for the best overall credit card? Find out which cards CNN Underscored chose as its best credit cards of 2021.

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