How we rate credit cards.

The editorial firewall

destination.com earns affiliate commissions when a reader applies for a credit card through one of our links. Those commissions never influence which cards we recommend or how we rank them. The editorial team decides what makes a card "best for X" before we look at whether a network affiliate program exists.

When we recommend a card we do not have an affiliate relationship for, we still recommend it. When we would not recommend a card we do have an affiliate relationship for, we do not recommend it. Our full editorial standards live at /editorial-standards.

How we score each card

Every card review at /cards/[slug] carries an editorial rating on a 5.0 scale. That number is a weighted composite of six dimensions:

• Effective earning rate (25%). Points earned per dollar in the categories a typical cardholder actually spends on, translated to dollars via our monthly point valuations.
• Welcome bonus value (20%). The bonus in dollars at the best realistic redemption path, minus the minimum-spend hurdle.
• Net annual fee after credits (15%). Published fee minus credits a normal cardholder can reasonably capture. Coupon-book credits requiring specific behaviors (Grubhub, Dell, Walmart+) are discounted for realistic usage.
• Perks quality (15%). Lounge access, elite status, trip protection, and free-night certificates — each valued at its independent market price, not the issuer's headline number.
• Points value at exit (15%). How flexible the currency is — transferable cards score higher; airline/hotel co-brands score lower.
• Application friction (10%). Approval odds for a typical applicant, 5/24 exposure, credit score requirements, targeted-only offers.

Our point valuations

Every "worth $X" claim on the site is anchored to a canonical valuation for the underlying currency. We update those valuations monthly at /cards/tools/points-value.

We publish more conservative valuations than The Points Guy or NerdWallet. Our readers should overestimate expected value less often than they do at those sites.

Who reviews each card

Card reviews are edited under the destination.com editorial collective byline. We publish under one masthead rather than individual bylines. Every review is fact-checked against the issuer's public terms, tested against real redemption scenarios, and dated on the page itself.

Review refresh cadence

Every card review carries an "updated" date. We refresh a review whenever any of the following change:

• Welcome bonus offer changes (public offer, spend requirement, elevated bonus).
• Annual fee changes.
• Bonus category earning rates change.
• Meaningful perks add or drop (lounge access, credits, insurance benefits).
• The underlying loyalty program devalues meaningfully.

How we handle affiliate disclosures

Every card page carries an advertiser disclosure banner. Every outbound affiliate link uses rel="sponsored nofollow noopener"in compliance with 2026 Google guidance and FTC requirements. We label "apply" buttons clearly and never disguise a commercial link as an editorial one.

Corrections and reader feedback

When we get something wrong, we fix it visibly on the page and log the correction. Email corrections@destination.com to flag errors or stale facts.