Earning rewards for travel can help you save on airfare, hotels and vacation packages -- it’s even possible to get thousands of dollars in travel for free. But juggling multiple programs, including flexible rewards from credit cards and loyalty points, can be a difficult feat. Keeping track of all your rewards balances and making sure you’re using the right rewards credit card for each purchase can become downright overwhelming.
Fortunately, there are apps that can help with tracking your credit card rewards. Some make it easier to monitor your rewards balances, whereas others help you strategize how to earn and redeem the maximum rewards. If you’re ready to level up your credit card game, here’s a rundown of the best apps for tracking your rewards based on your ultimate goals.
Best Apps for Tracking Credit Card Rewards
AwardWallet aims to help you keep track of your credit cards, loyalty points and actual travel plans, all while making it easier to know your rewards balances and which benefits you have access to. This app lets you manage your points with more than 660 loyalty programs, with access to your rewards balances as well as cardholder and loyalty benefits like free night awards, upgrade certificates and travel vouchers, among others.
AwardWallet also shows which of your rewards credit cards you should use for purchases based on how much you can earn in rewards. It can even send expiration reminders to help you avoid losing points.
There are two versions of this program -- a free version and a paid AwardWallet Plus membership that costs $30 a year. Both versions of the app offer the same basic tracking features, but the paid version gives you reward expiration dates for an unlimited number of accounts (you get three with the free version), unlimited account updates (vs. twice every 24 hours with the free version), access to historical rewards balance information and the ability to export award balances into Excel or PDF formats.
App store rating: 4.8 out of 5 stars
Google Play rating: 4.2 out of 5 stars
MaxRewards focuses on travel rewards points and cash back. The app advises which cards to use to maximize rewards on every purchase, and it tracks spending to ensure users earn credit card welcome bonuses within the specified timeline.
However, while MaxRewards is set up to track rewards offered by credit card issuers, including travel rewards, it does not track separate loyalty accounts. This means you’ll only see your airline and hotel loyalty points automatically updated in the app if you have a travel credit card that earns those specific rewards points.
Like AwardWallet, MaxRewards offers both a free version of the app and a paid version called MaxRewards Gold. The fees for this premium service works on a sliding scale but start at $7 a month (charged upfront as $84 per year). MaxRewards Gold benefits include auto-activation of quarterly bonus categories, auto-activation of various rewards deals, filtered search options for deals, enhanced notifications and the ability to track your remaining spend on reward categories with limits.
App store rating: 4.6 out of 5 stars
Google Play rating: 3.7 out of 5 stars
The Points Guy app is free and offers a range of useful features to help reward enthusiasts get the most out of their points and miles. This mobile app lets you track rewards, welcome offers and more from its helpful dashboard, and it tells you which card to use for purchases to maximize your rewards haul.
You can see all your cards in one place and which cardholder benefits you have access to. It also lets you monitor minimum spending requirements for welcome offers you’re pursuing. You can track all your airline miles and hotel loyalty accounts in one place, too, and you’ll get alerts when your rewards points are about to expire.
Note that one major downside of this app is it’s only available for Apple devices for now. There’s a waitlist for Android users who want to download this version of the app when it’s available.
Note: The Points Guy is a sister site of CNET.
App store rating: 4.5 out of 5 stars
Google Play rating: Not available
CardPointers helps users earn credit card rewards by recommending card options and which rewards credit cards to use for everything they buy.
The free version of this app offers basic functionality, letting users track rewards from each of their credit cards (but only one of each card type). The paid version of this app (called CardPointers+) will set you back $60 a year, but it does offer a free trial. The paid version features notifications for rewards based on location, the ability to ask Siri which card to use for stores by name (for Apple users), direct integration into Apple Wallet (for Apple users), the ability to track 5/24 status for Chase credit cards and more.
App store rating: 4.3 out of 5 stars
Google Play rating: 4.6 out of 5 stars
Consider Uthrive if you want a basic app that helps you maximize rewards for each dollar you spend. This app is free and you don’t have to commit to any sort of subscription. You can set up an account with ease and start figuring out how to maximize rewards.
Functions include the ability to track travel rewards and cash back. The app also offers recommendations on which card to use for the most rewards points and custom credit card recommendations based on your spending habits.
App store rating: 4.6 out of 5 stars
Google Play rating: 4.1 out of 5 stars
Why you should track your rewards
Tracking your rewards balance may not be necessary if you only use a single cash-back credit card or flexible rewards credit card. However, things get more complicated when you have several rewards credit cards, especially when you use different travel loyalty programs to earn rewards.
When you have multiple accounts, it’s easy to forget to use rewards before they expire. That’s certainly true for hotel loyalty points and airline miles, which may expire if you don’t earn or burn any rewards for 12 to 24 months (depending on the program).
Tracking your rewards and credit card benefits in one place is also helpful for reminding you which rewards you have so you actually use them.
Factors to consider when choosing an app
Before you settle on an app to track your credit card rewards, you should consider the features that would be most valuable to you. Questions to ask yourself include:
- How many credit cards do you have? If you only have a single rewards card to track, using an app may be overkill. Reward-tracking apps become more useful when you have three or more reward credit cards you want to keep tabs on.
- What types of credit cards do you have? Some apps are geared to cards that earn cash back, whereas others offer many more benefits in the travel rewards realm.
- Do you need to track travel loyalty account balances or just credit card rewards? Consider whether you want to track airline miles and hotel loyalty points with programs you don’t necessarily have a credit card for when deciding which app would be most helpful.
- Are you willing to pay an annual fee? Apps tend to have free and paid versions to access the features. If you want to get the most out of an app for tracking credit card rewards, you may have to pay for it.
How to maximize your credit card rewards using a tracking app
You can get the most from your rewards if you use an app to make the process seamless.
Organize multiple card rewards in one place
Use your app to keep track of all your credit card rewards in one place. That way, you’ll always know how many rewards you have and can avoid forgetting about smaller rewards balances.
Earn more rewards on every purchase
The best apps for credit card rewards suggest which card to use for each purchase you make and every bill you pay. By following the app’s recommendations, you can build your rewards balances much faster. But remember to avoid running up your credit card balance just to earn more rewards.
Avoid rewards expiration
Most of the apps we profiled also let you track reward expiration dates, particularly among frequent flyer and hotel loyalty programs. You can avoid wasting rewards by checking with the app regularly for upcoming expiration dates.
FAQs
All the apps in our ranking will track important details about your credit cards all in one place. This includes AwardWallet, MaxRewards, The Points Guy app, CardPointers and Uthrive.
To get the most out of a credit card that earns rewards, use it for purchases you know you have the cash for and pay your balance in full each month. If you wind up in credit card debt while in pursuit of rewards, the high APR credit cards charge will typically cost you a lot more than your rewards are worth.
Other apps we researched
There are other credit card rewards tracking apps worth checking out that didn’t make our ranking. Other apps we researched:
- Waly
- Point.me
- Travel Freely
- CardWiz
Methodology
To pick the best apps for tracking credit card rewards, we checked out each app and its features and benefits. We looked for apps that offer a range of free benefits that help users track and maximize their rewards, and we compared paid plans based on the additional features and tools they offer. Paid plans were also given more scrutiny in terms of the value proposition each offers for users who upgrade from a free version.
Ultimately, we only picked credit card tracking apps with good or exceptional rankings in the App store and on Google Play. We also only included apps that feature bank level encryption and security features.
The editorial content on this page is based solely on objective, independent assessments by our writers and is not influenced by advertising or partnerships. It has not been provided or commissioned by any third party. However, we may receive compensation when you click on links to products or services offered by our partners.
