Tip: Ways to Track Your Credit Card Rewards
Here are the best strategies and apps to help you stay current with your credit card rewards.
Most Americans — nearly three in four — have a rewards credit card, according to a 2024 poll from market research company Ipsos. But ensuring that you maximize your cash back, points and miles, and other benefits can be a challenge, especially if multiple cards are in your wallet.
Try one of these apps to stay on top of your cards' rewards and perks.
The best apps for tracking credit card rewards
AwardWallet lets you track more than 600 credit card, airline and hotel programs. The app shows you how much you earn in rewards with each transaction and your rewards balance with each program.
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It also offers a tool that tells you which cards provide the most valuable rewards at specific merchants. One of the best features of the app's paid version, AwardWallet Plus ($50 yearly), is that it displays expiration dates for an unlimited number of programs (the free version displays just three).
Meanwhile, the MaxRewards app focuses on credit card rewards, pointing out the best card to use based on your location. For example, if you're at Target, it will tell you which card provides the most valuable rewards at the store.
MaxRewards Gold (starting at $108 yearly) offers additional perks that may be especially helpful if you have a premium credit card. It automatically activates offers and quarterly bonus categories, and it monitors your benefits usage.
If, say, you have a $100 quarterly credit for spending at certain restaurants, it tracks how much of the credit you've used and notifies you when it's about to expire.
Similarly, the free app from The Points Guy (available only for iPhone), which tracks rewards for more than 70 credit card, hotel and airline loyalty programs, keeps tabs on the benefits that you've used as well as how soon they expire. It also calculates how much those rewards are worth.
Note: This item first appeared in Kiplinger Personal Finance Magazine, a monthly, trustworthy source of advice and guidance. Subscribe to help you make more money and keep more of the money you make here.
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