December 16, 2024: You may have noticed that we’ve recently started giving cards star ratings and adding our take to our credit card guides. We decided to do this because it’s something our readers have asked for—many wanted a quick way to assess the quality of a credit card product and they wanted our expert takes on the cards we write about.
Here’s a bit more on our star ratings and what they mean, as well as a little bit of background on why we started publishing reviews and star ratings.
What our star ratings mean: A quick guide
One of the best. This card is one of the best cards in its category, has a solid value proposition, and offers easy-to-use rewards and/or benefits. If the card has an annual fee, it’s easy to get value in excess of the annual fee with minimal effort.
A very good card. This card has a solid value proposition and compares well to other cards in its category. It won’t be a good fit for everyone, but it’s easy to get value out of this card if it’s right for you.
A good choice for some. It’s definitely possible for many to get plenty of value out of this card. In many cases, there may be another, more compelling card available. The card may require you to jump through some hoops to access value.
Most people should ignore this card. Either there are more compelling card options available in most cases or this simply isn’t a great card. There might be a way to squeeze value out of this card, but it’s likely to be a niche case.
Avoid this card. There are other cards out there with better rewards, benefits, and perks in every case we could think of. There is no reason to get this card. The card might have a predatory fee structure.
Our star ratings are based on expert review of each card, how it compares to other cards in the market, and whether it offers compelling value.
Five stars means a high quality card, but it may not be a fit for you
It’s important to note that A five-star rating doesn’t necessarily mean that the card is a good fit for you.
An airline credit card might offer an easy value proposition: A free checked bag for you and everyone traveling with you for $99/year. If you’re flying that particular airline more than twice a year and would otherwise pay $40 to check a bag each way, just having the card means that you’re not spending $160 a year.
We would likely rate that airline credit card highly because it offers easy value and similar cards charge higher annual fees, but if you don’t fly that particular airline often, the card isn’t a good fit for you.
Questions we’re asking
Here are the types of questions we’re asking ourselves as we review cards:
- How does this card compare to other cards in its category? Can you earn rewards in bonus categories? Is this common in this card segment? Does one ultra-premium airline card offering lounge access give you unlimited access while another allows only a handful of visits per year?
- How easy are the rewards to use? Can you get cash back rewards? If you need to redeem points for travel, how easy is that to do? Are awards available?
- How much potential value can you get from the program? Is there an opportunity to get additional value out of points through a travel portal or easy-to-use travel transfer partners?
- What is our experience with the benefits? If we’ve used the card’s benefits, how easy was the process? Did our trip delay protection claim take multiple hours of back-and-forth to get paid $50, or was the claims process smooth and efficient?
- Can you get value in excess of the annual fee? Are you going to get that value naturally by using the card or do you have to jump through a bunch of hoops, like making small purchases at restaurants or specific merchants?
The problem we see with credit card reviews
For the first few years of cardsandpoints.com, we didn’t have credit card reviews and we didn’t assign ratings to credit cards. Why? Ultimately it came down to our readers-first ethos.
Since we monetize our size (in part) through credit card affiliate links, we thought that publishing too much subjective content could be a slippery slope. If we’re getting paid when our readers sign up for some cards, how could we be objective? So we stuck to making it easy to find factual information about cards and digging up the details on benefits that other sites overlooked.
Why you’ll find few negative credit card reviews online
You’ll find very few negative reviews of credit cards online. Some of that is because of selection bias. It’s uninteresting and our readers don’t care about the random card from a small credit union that earns no rewards and has a $59 annual fee.
But a large part of that is because of financial incentives. Negative reviews don’t sell credit cards. And our experience writing for other outlets tells us that monetization influences content massively at many outlets.
I recall a freelance client from many years ago that asked me to write a review about a credit card product. That particular credit card product was a high-fee card that was clearly designed to entrap people in a circle of debt. After taking a look at the card, I told my editor that the review would be negative. Upon publication, my review was significantly edited, spinning it as a good card for some people and softening the significant downsides. That editor never asked me to review another financial product.
Why we changed course
Ultimately, our change in direction and launch of our star ratings is an editorial decision that we think helps us give our readers what they have told use that they want.
Our readers have told us directly that they want star ratings. While those of us who write for this site are credit card nerds who enjoy parsing guides to benefits and figuring out how to maximize value, the majority of our readers are not. Our readers have told us that star ratings help them to quickly assess whether a card is worth their consideration.
Our readers value our perspective and analysis. Objective, thorough research based on primary sources is the basis of our content, but our readers are interested in our perspectives as well. As experts who have used the vast majority of credit card products and rewards programs we’re writing about, our insights are valuable to our readers even if they are subjective.
People search for reviews. A large portion of online searches for a particular card are for “CARD NAME review”. People searching on the internet want to see reviews, so we’ll give the people what they want.
Bottom line: Star ratings are a useful tool
Our star ratings give you an easy way to assess the quality of a credit card product, and our subjective takes on the card can help you better assess if the card is a good fit for you. It’s a tool that our readers have told us that they want, in addition to our deep-dives on the specifics of benefits and rewards.
