Each year CardRatings’ staff breaks down the top card picks for popular categories announcing a winner for each category. In addition to this, we’ve polled thousands of actual cardholders over the years so you can see what real cardholders think alongside what our editors think.
In November 2024, CardRatings polled over 1,600 credit card holders to get their opinions on 43 different credit cards. To determine which cards to poll, we examined website analytics to find the most popular cards on the site in terms of organic traffic – that is, people searching for a term via Google and then clicking through the link to visit that card’s unique review on CardRatings – from Jan. 1, 2024-Oct. 31, 2024.
The survey assessed respondent satisfaction by asking cardholders to rate ten aspects of their credit card experience on a scale of one to 10. These aspects included card usage and interactions with the issuing bank. For nine questions, respondents’ scores were averaged under broad topics, including satisfaction with the card’s various fees, the card’s rewards/primary feature, and customer service; usability of the card’s website/mobile app; likelihood the cardholder would renew the card and likelihood the cardholder would recommend the card to a friend or family member. The overall rating represents an average of respondents’ responses to their overall rating of each card. “Cardholder favorite” cards are those scored in the top 10 overall.
The survey results revealed actual cardholders tend to agree with the experts’ picks, but there were some notable exceptions.
For instance, for 2024 as well as for many years past, the CardName has been the CardRatings’ experts’ pick for the best travel rewards credit card; however, the overall rating for the card_name discontinued_disclaimer beat out the card_name by a full six rankings in this year’s survey. In fact, the card_name came in first place in this year’s overall ranking, while the card_name placed seventh overall, tying for the seventh position with three other cards.
Considering the high annual fee of the card_name, its rating lead wasn’t enough to sway us to dethrone the CardName as this year’s expert pick for the best travel card category; however, the card_name still won a winning spot on this year’s best card list. Because of its strong rewards offering in other categories, we chose the card_name as this year’s best pick for dining out.
Another interesting American Express result from this year’s survey is how well card_name discontinued_disclaimer ranked with cardholders. It tied for the fourth place position with an American Express business card. Again, considering a steep annual fee, we didn’t demote last year’s “best premium travel card” winner, the card_name, but like with the Gold card, card_name still earned a place on this year’s list, taking the crown for the “best card for luxury perks.”
“The Venture X card has such a manageable fee for a premium travel card, and it comes with a lot of easy-to-redeem perks that can help users quickly offset it. Because of that, we felt it still deserved the winning spot for the best premium travel card,” said Jennifer Doss, executive editor of CardRatings.com. “However, two high-fee cards ranking so well in our survey suggests consumers might be prioritizing rewards over annual fees.”
In the 12 categories CardRatings’ experts choose “best” cards for, half of the cards also ranked in the top 10 ratings overall in this year’s cardholder survey. (It should be noted that student credit cards we not polled in this year’s survey.)
“CardRatings experts personally hold many of the cards that make our best of lists each year, but we don’t have them all,” said Doss. “Even if we did, polling everyday cardholders to see how they feel about a wide range of cards and card features means CardRatings can offer more perspective to consumers as they make a personal choice for their own credit cards.”
CardRatings’ picks for the top credit cards of 2025
- Best for flat-rate cash back: card_name
- Best cash back card with tiered rewards: card_name
- Best for general travel rewards: card_name
- Best for premium travel rewards: card_name
- Best for dining out: card_name
- Best for groceries: card_name
- Best for gas purchases: card_name
- Best small business card: card_name
- Best balance transfer offer: card_name
- Best for luxury perks: card_name
- Best student credit card: card_name
- Best for building credit: card_name
Cardholder favorites: Top 10 highest-rated cards overall
“Cardholder favorite” cards are those scored in the top 10 overall. Some cards received the same overall rating, tying them for certain positions.
- card_name discontinued_disclaimer(8.70)
- card_name (8.52)
- card_name discontinued_disclaimer (8.5)
- card_name discontinued_disclaimer (8.47)
- card_name (8.45)
- card_name (8.35)
- card_name, card_name, card_name discontinued_disclaimer, card_name (8.33)
- card_name (8.32)
- card_name (8.3)
- card_name discontinued_disclaimer, card_name (8.27)
See full card details as well as updated cardholder scores in this year’s best credit cards of 2025 list. For additional card options, check out our full catalog of the best credit cards by category, which highlights all winners – both cardholder and expert picks – on the subcategory level. Here you’ll find additional options for the best travel credit cards, the best cash back credit cards, and more.
➤ SEE MORE:Credit card trends to look for in 2025
Survey methodology: CardRatings commissioned Slice MR in November 2024 to survey 1,666 cardholders nationwide. CardRatings’ website analytics from Jan. 1, 2024-Oct. 31, 2024 were used to determine a selection of the most popular cards. Responses to 10 questions were given on a scale of 1-10. For nine of these questions, respondents’ scores were averaged under broad topics. The overall rating represents an average of respondents’ responses to their overall rating of each card. “Cardholder favorite” cards are those scored in the top 10 overall.
