AAA Visa credit cards review: Generous bonus cash-back categories with no annual fee

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The American Automobile Association (AAA) offers two cash-back credit cards that are surprisingly rewarding for certain purchases: The AAA Daily Advantage Visa Signature® Credit Card and AAA Travel Advantage Visa Signature® Credit Card. These cards shine for earning cash back on groceries, gas and EV charging. However, both cards have caps on some the most rewarding spending categories, so they aren't the best fit for everyone.

CNBC Select has the details for the rewards, welcome bonus and rates and fees of these no-annual-fee cash-back credit cards.

• Welcome bonus
• Benefits and perks
• How to earn and use cash back
• Rates and fees
• Alternatives to the AAA credit cards
• Are the AAA credit cards right for you?
• Bottom line

Both AAA Visa Signature cards have the same welcome bonus, which allows you to earn a $100 statement credit after spending $1,000 within the first 90 days from account opening.

Both of these cards come with a handful of Visa Signature credit card perks, including:

• Three free months of Shipt membership (free delivery on $35+ orders)
• Three free months of Skillshare membership
• Travel and emergency assistance services
• Visa concierge services
• Exclusive access to Sofar events and eligibility for a free ticket per show

Earning

The AAA Daily Advantage Visa Signature® Credit Card and AAA Travel Advantage Visa Signature® Credit Card are both cash-back rewards credit cards, but they earn bonus cash back on different purchases.

The AAA Daily Advantage Visa Signature® Credit Card earns:

• 5% cash back on grocery store purchases
• 3% cash back on gas and electric vehicle charging stations, wholesale clubs, streaming services, pharmacy and AAA purchases
• 1% cash back on all other purchases

Cardholders can earn a maximum of $500 combined from the 5% and 3% bonus categories each calendar year at grocery stores, gas stations and wholesale clubs, after that purchases earn 1% for the rest of the year. So if you use this card exclusively for grocery store purchases, you would earn 5% back on $10,000 in spending.

The AAA Travel Advantage Visa Signature® Credit Card earns:

• 5% cash back on gas and electric vehicle charging station purchases
• 3% cash back on grocery stores, restaurants, travel and AAA purchases
• 1% cash back on all other purchases

The AAA Travel Advantage Visa Signature® Credit Card lets you earn a maximum of $350 in combined cash back each calendar year in the 5% bonus category, after that purchases earn 1% back for the rest of the year. That's the equivalent of spending $7,000 a year at gas stations and electric vehicle charging stations.

Redeeming

You can redeem cash back for a direct deposit or statement credit once you have earned at least $5 in rewards. You can also cash out your rewards for gift cards or merchandise and travel through participating AAA clubs.

Both AAA credit cards have the same rates and fees. There are no annual fees and no foreign transaction fees. Balance transfers and cash advances are charged a 5% fee of the amount of the transaction with a $10 minimum. The standard APR is a variable 18.49% to 32.49% and there is no introductory APR offer. There is a fee of up to $41 for late payments and returned payments.

AAA Daily Advantage Visa Signature® Credit Card vs. Blue Cash Preferred® Card from American Express

The Blue Cash Preferred® Card from American Express is CNBC Select's best credit card for groceries. It has a higher rate of return for groceries than the AAA Daily Advantage Visa Signature® Credit Card on grocery purchases (6% back on the first $6,000 per year in eligible purchases at U.S. supermarkets, then 1% thereafter) and U.S. streaming services (6% back).

It also has a more generous welcome offer and a $0 intro annual fee for the first year, then $95 (see rates and fees). The Amex Blue Cash Preferred card has better benefits, including *return protection, up to $84 a year in Disney Bundle credits ($10 a month with an eligible Disney Bundle subscription valid only at DisneyPlus.com, Hulu.com or Stream.ESPN.com in the U.S.)(Enrollment required; Subject to auto-renewal). These credits can offset the card's annual fee, so the decision may come down to how much cash back you'll earn with each card. The AAA Daily Advantage Visa Signature® Credit Card limits select bonus cash-back categories to $500 in rewards each year before the return drops to 1%. So if you expect to earn more cash back than that, the Blue Cash Preferred could be more lucrative.

AAA Travel Advantage Visa Signature® Credit Card vs. Chase Freedom Flex®

The Chase Freedom Flex® earns 5% cash back on the first $1,500 in combined purchases in a variety of rotating quarterly categories (activation required). That's a potential $75 in bonus cash per quarter or $300 per year. While this is $50 lower than the $350 annual cash-back cap for the AAA Travel Advantage Visa Signature® Credit Card's 5% bonus category (then 1% back), it applies to a wider range of purchases and the Chase Ultimate Rewards points you earn with the Freedom Flex can be much more valuable.

When you pair the Freedom Flex card with a Chase credit card that allows point transfers such as the Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card (see rates and fees) or Chase Sapphire Reserve® (see rates and fees), you can also transfer the points you've earned with your Freedom Flex card. For example, $300 cash back is 30,000 Chase points, which you can transfer to Hyatt to book a standard night award at a Category 7 hotel, like the Grand Hyatt Kauai Resort & Spa or Park Hyatt Tokyo. A night at these hotels can cost $700+, so having the ability to transfer Chase points dramatically increases the Freedom Flex's value.

The AAA Daily Advantage Visa Signature® Credit Card and AAA Travel Advantage Visa Signature® Credit Cards both have value. They have no annual fees and earn cash back, which is always useful and never complicated. If you want to add a card to your wallet to use exclusively for groceries or gas stations, then these cards are hard to beat. However, some of the most rewarding bonus cash-back categories for both cards have an annual limit, then the return drops to 1%. So heavy spenders may be better off with a card with unlimited bonus categories.

The American Automobile Association offers two co-branded credit cards, the AAA Daily Advantage Visa Signature® Credit Card and AAA Travel Advantage Visa Signature® Credit Card. These are no-annual-fee cash-back cards with generous bonus spending categories. However, the amount of bonus cash-back you can earn each year is capped for select categories (then it drops to 1%), which limits the value for anyone whose spending will exceed these limits.

At CNBC Select, our mission is to provide our readers with high-quality service journalism and comprehensive consumer advice so they can make informed decisions with their money. Every credit card review is based on rigorous reporting by our team of expert writers and editors with extensive knowledge of credit card products. While CNBC Select earns a commission from affiliate partners on many offers and links, we create all our content without input from our commercial team or any outside third parties, and we pride ourselves on our journalistic standards and ethics.

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For rates and fees of the Blue Cash Preferred® Card from American Express, please click here.

*Eligibility and Benefit level varies by Card. Terms, Conditions and Limitations Apply. Please visit americanexpress.com/benefitsguide for more details.

Clarification: This story has been updated to clarify that certain AAA credit card bonus categories have capped cash-back rates and earn a lower return once that limit is reached.