Card Comparisons

The IRS fee is 1.75% at the cheapest processor, and most rewards cards pay back less. We run the math on a $10,000 payment and show the only three cases where paying taxes by card actually pays off.

Chase Sapphire Preferred ($95) vs Capital One Venture X ($395) in 2026. After each card’s automatic credits the fee gap nearly vanishes, so the real decision is airport lounges. An honest, numbers-first comparison.

Two Amex cards built for food spending: the Gold earns 4x points on dining and groceries, the Blue Cash Preferred earns 6% cash back at supermarkets. Which wins depends on how much you spend — and whether you want points or cash.

Discover pays more if you work for it; Chase pays less and asks nothing. The year-one match, the 12.5% break-even rule, and the activation trap that costs real money.

Same 1.5%, opposite strengths: Chase adds 3% dining, Capital One drops the 3% foreign fee. The simple rule that decides it from your own spending.

Two almost identical Chase cards with exactly two differences – and the second one, a 3% foreign transaction fee on the Unlimited, can erase the first one in a single trip.

Both advertise 2% with no annual fee, but only one 2% is unconditional. The asterisk on Citi’s rate, the balance transfer grace-period trap, and which card suits whom.

One keeps the fee near zero with a 2X floor, the other charges $795 but hands back a credit you can actually use anywhere – and still lets two guests into a lounge free.

The Gold ($325) is built for dining and groceries; the Platinum ($895) is built for travel and lounges. They’re not really rivals — here’s which one fits your spending.

Both earn strong rewards on dining, but there’s news: Citi stopped accepting new Custom Cash applications in 2026. Here’s how the two compare, and what to get if you’re applying today.