The Amazon Prime Rewards Visa Signature credit card is issued by Chase Bank. Although it’s a store card with limited usage, it has decent benefits, and it’s good at what it does. The sign-up bonus is also easy to get, since it doesn’t have a minimum spending requirement like other cards.
FEATURES AT A GLANCE
- No annual fee
- No foreign transaction fee
- 5% cash back at Chase Travel for booking flights, hotels, or car rentals (3% instead if you’re not a Prime member) (new benefit as of May 2023)
- 5% cash back at Amazon and Whole Foods (3% instead if you’re not a Prime member)
- 2% cash back at restaurants and gas stations
- 2% cash back on transit and rideshare (as of May 2023, replacing the former “drugstore” category)
- 1% cash back for everything else
SIGN UP BONUS
The sign-up bonus varies widely, depending on time of year, and whether you’re an Amazon Prime member. The highest is $200. This appears in mid-July (around the time of Prime Day) and around Black Friday in November. Once approved for the card, you instantly get a digital gift card added to your Amazon balance. (To use the credit card, you do have to wait until it arrives in the mail.)
Outside of these two windows of time, the bonus is $100-150 at most. Therefore, if you’re not in a rush to get this card, you should wait for this $200 offer to appear. Once you do see it, we recommend becoming a Prime member if you’re not already one. You can pay for only 1 month of membership if you’ve already used a free trial. Non-Prime members get such a low bonus that paying for a month of Prime is 100% worthwhile.
OTHER BENEFITS OF THE AMAZON REWARDS CARD
- Visa Signature benefits, including:
- Travel and Emergency Assistance plus 24/7 Visa Signature Concierge
- Lost Luggage Reimbursement ($3,000)
- Baggage Delay Insurance (up to $300)
- Travel Accident Insurance ($500,000)
- Visa Roadside Dispatch
- Auto Rental Collision Damage Waiver (Secondary)
- Purchase Protection (120 days vs damage or theft)
- Extended Warranty Protection (up to 1 year)
- “Earn [10% back or more] on a rotating selection of Amazon products and categories. Limited-time offers. Prime exclusive.” (Example link here, valid as of July 2023)
- At checkout, you can choose cash back OR a promotional 0% APR on purchases of $50 or more. 6 months for $50+, 12 months for $250+, or 18 months for $500+.
- For Prime Day 2022, the card earned 6% cash back at Amazon and Whole Foods, instead of 5%. In 2023, you could earn up to 7% cash back by choosing “no-rush shipping” during Prime Day.
- Metal card
RESTRICTIONS AND CREDIT SCORE
Recommended credit score: 670+
Credit bureau: Experian
Since this is issued as a Visa Signature, you’ll want to be eligible for a credit line of $5,000 or more.
Chase typically has the 5/24 rule for its cards. The Amazon card seems to be an exception. There are multiple reports of people getting the card while at 5/24 or 6/24.
Audible purchases don’t earn 5% back; it’s considered a separate company despite being owned by Amazon. Use an everyday 2% card instead, if you pay for anything on Audible.
MAXIMIZING REWARDS WITH THE AMAZON REWARDS CARD
If you have other Chase cards, the Amazon card has a separate points pool. You can’t transfer between cards to use the Chase Trifecta. Amazon Rewards is a simple and straightforward cash back card.
Points are unlimited and don’t expire, as long as your account remains open.
The main downside is that the best bonuses are reserved for Prime members. This may not be a good deal for everyone, so the credit card is best for long-term Prime members. Being a member is $15 monthly or $140 annually ($40 discount compared to monthly) unless you qualify for discounted membership. Students for example can get about 50% off, after a 6-month free trial, plus some other benefits non-students don’t get.
The card usually doesn’t pay for itself in terms of pure cash back. Even if you spend $6,000 per year at Amazon and/or Whole Foods, there’s a shortfall of $20 versus other credit cards. 5% cash back on $6,000 of spend is $300 ($160 after the cost of Prime), while a 3% cash back card would earn $180. The difference doesn’t cover the $140 annual cost of Prime membership. So for many people, they’re better off with the 3% version of the card.
Other benefits of Prime membership include:
- Prime Video streaming (Netflix Standard is about $15/mo)
- Amazon Music streaming (Youtube Premium is $12/mo and Spotify Premium is $10/mo)
- Note: Amazon Music is limited, unless you pay extra for “unlimited” at $9/mo
- Amazon Photo with unlimited uploads (Google One is $2/mo for 100 GB storage)
- Free games and in-game rewards with Amazon Gaming (worth $5-10/mo for most people)
- Prime Reading with First Reads (worth $5-10/mo for most people)
- Note: Kindle Unlimited is $10/mo, and Audible is $8-15/mo (Prime members may be eligible for elevated introductory bonuses, such as 3 free months of Audible)
- AmazonRX (GoodRX is $0-10/mo) and a $56 discount on your first year of OneMedical membership
- 2-day shipping or faster (no-rush shipping, when available, gives you a $1-3 digital credit each time. Same-day shipping, when available, costs about $3)
For many people, the cost of Prime membership is already worthwhile. If you use multiple Amazon services, you’d easily get more than $20-30/month worth of benefits. In that case, you don’t have to do any math on whether you want the Amazon credit card. It’s an added bonus.
Lastly, you can add other cards to your Amazon account for additional discounts. For example, check amazon.com/citicardoffer and amazon.com/amexcardoffer to see if you’re eligible for a free $15 coupon. Offers vary, may be targeted emails, and are generally available just once per account. Discover Bank is another possibility.
ALTERNATIVES TO THE AMAZON PRIME REWARDS
The card is only useful for Amazon and Whole Foods. This isn’t surprising, since it’s a store card. Its Visa Signature benefits are decent, especially for a no-fee card, but we wouldn’t recommend using this for travel expenses. Other options can be better.
Penfed Pathfinder Rewards earns more cash back on travel, and has some extra perks. The only downside is that it doesn’t have Extended Warranty Protection and its Travel Accident Insurance is less. Premium cards have even more perks.
It doesn’t matter that this card earns 2% cash back at restaurants, gas stations, or other categories. Around two dozen cards earn at least 2% on every purchase. You can easily get 3-5% back in these specific categories too.
Some cards do have high cash back for groceries OR Amazon purchases. For example, Citi Custom Cash would get 5% back on groceries. Affinity Federal Credit Union Cash Rewards is a good alternative for most Amazon transactions. Rotating category cards can also earn 5% or more.
General no-fee cards for online shopping or retail purchases include the Bank of America Customized Cash and American Express Blue Cash Everyday. Such options can be more flexible than a card which only gets 3% back at Amazon.
CONCLUSION
The Amazon Prime Rewards card is a decent option for shopping at Amazon and Whole Foods. It can even be reasonable for non-Prime members. The 5% cash back for Prime members is unlikely to pay for itself compared to a 3% card, so you do need to weigh the pros and cons of Prime membership (see above).
For most people, it’s probably worthwhile to consider the Amazon card, even if it’s a short-term consideration. If you don’t use Amazon or Whole Foods, then this card would be worthless.
Signing up close to Prime Day (July) will give you a great sign-up bonus and extra perks. An instant free $200, after spending $0, is an unbeatable deal for many people. Other cards may have higher bonuses, except Amazon’s is easier to get.
We rate the Chase Amazon card 3 out of 5 stars. ⭐⭐⭐
Note: This review was last updated in July 2023. Details may have changed since then. Please do your own research where applicable, to ensure you’re getting the best deal. Or contact us directly to benefit from our personalized consulting services!