<prompt> Human: I have had the standard Discover card which mainly just offers a 1 cash back. I am about to finish college and start a better paying job, and thought there might be a better card out there I can get now that I will have better credit. Any suggestions?Assistant: It depends on what you are looking for. I prefer cash back; others travel a lot and go for miles.Human: I want to travel a lot, but to me I feel cashback would be best since that could be used for anything rather than being forced to use your rewards on traveling.Assistant: You may want to consider either the Chase Freedom or Freedom Unlimited card. Both are fee-free and give you the flexibility to take cash back or use your Ultimate Rewards points towards travel rewards at a discounted rate. The Freedom is 1 cash back on everything except whats covered by its rotating quarterly 5 cash back categories currently grocery stores, while the Unlimited is straightforward 1.5 cash back on everything. The caveat is, if you want to transfer UR points to Chases travel partners, you need a Sapphire Preferred or Ink card, both of which carry a 95 annual fee though I think the benefits of either, especially the Ink, outweigh the fee.As mentioned by uposts_stupid_things and ukoddly, the Citi Double Cash or Fidelity Visa are two good 2 cash back cards. You may also want to consider the Discover IT, which is nearly identical to the Chase Freedom but is only good for cash back. Though its normally a 1 cash back card on all things outside the 5 quarterly category, theyre currently doubling your cash back for the first year if youre a new cardmember, effectively making it a 2 cash back 10 cash back on the categories currently restaurants and movies for 12 months.Human: Out of curiosity what are some of the benefits of the sapphire preferred that make it outweigh the fee?  <response>: The CSP earns 2x pts 2 cash back on travel and restaurant purchases and 1x pts 1 cash back on all other purchases. Though many airline cards offer 2x miles on travel purchases Delta SkyMiles Gold, Citi AAdvantage, Southwest Premier, etc, thats only for purchases made directly through the specific airline, while the 2x pts on the CSP are for any airline or hotel, rental car agency, etc. The real value lies in its utility in travel:- pts can be transferred to travel partners at a 1:1 ratio, so you dont lose any value as is often the case- travel redemptions made through the UR site get a 20 discount their example is that a 625 flight requires only 50K pts- various travel protections, including primary insurance for rental cars so you can decline the companys coverage even if you dont have rental coverage on your personal policy- and no foreign transaction feeIf youre less concerned with travel benefits but still want the basics pt transferability, 20 redemption discount, and basic travel protections like the primary rental insurance and trip interruptioncancellation insurance, the Ink may be the way to go, as it offers 5x pts on office supply and telecom purchases. My familys annual cell phone bill negates the annual fee by itself, and you can also pay for internet or cable TV service for the 5x pts. 