The best first credit cards of November 2024

Using your debit card has virtually no point — pun intended.

You’re spending money and not getting anything back in return. For all the money you spend on food, clothing, skincare, workout classes, transportation and everything else in your life, you could be earning valuable rewards toward your next vacation or toward cash back that helps you save money.

It’s not going to happen overnight, but we promise the points really do add up. Plus, one day, you may want to get a house or a car, and we guarantee that you will be asked for your credit score. 

Applying for your first real credit card is a big step toward financial freedom, and it’s also a way for you to start racking up valuable points and miles that you can use to start traveling the world for little to no out-of-pocket cash.

Travel credit cards can help you earn points and miles. In other words, these pieces of plastic (or metal) are putting you one step closer to a (mostly) “free” trip to your dream destination, wherever that might be.

There are many ways to pick up points and miles, from flying on airlines and staying at hotels to using online shopping portals when making online purchases. However, the most lucrative way is through sign-up bonuses and welcome offers on credit cards. Cards often offer new cardholders a way to earn a sizable bonus usually worth hundreds (if not thousands) of dollars in exchange for spending a certain amount of money on your new card in a certain amount of time. 

Good credit cards will also offer bonus points for spending on certain categories of purchases. For example, if you get 3 points per dollar on dining and your dinner costs $15, you’d earn 45 points. Those 45 points won’t get you anywhere by themselves, but they do add up over time.

Of course, points and miles aren’t the only reason why having credit cards is important for your overall financial health. Credit cards offer fraud protection in case your card details are compromised, and they also help you build credit.

As an authorized user, you’re added to a primary credit card holder’s account. You’ll receive a card with your name on it linked to the main account holder’s card. You can then use this card like they would their own — and some of the best cards for authorized users even offer perks for the authorized user, too. 

When you are an authorized user, it helps you build up your credit history before applying for your own credit card. Just keep in mind that any charges you make are the primary account holder’s legal responsibility. So you’ll need to make arrangements for how you’ll pay off your account, how much you can spend each month and more.

We live in a world where credit scores have a huge impact on your financial life. Your credit report (which includes your payment history, accounts and more stats about your borrowing history) and credit score are what lenders look at when deciding to approve you for new lines of credit.

This includes mortgages, small-business loans, car loans, credit cards and possibly even apartment rentals. The better your score, the more likely you are to be approved — and the better your interest rates on accounts.

Credit cards aren’t the only way to build credit, but they are the easiest. And while we’re a bit biased here at TPG, it’s also one of the most rewarding and fun ways to build credit. How many people can say they are helping their long-term financial health while also funding their next tropical getaway?

If you pay off your credit card every month, you don’t have to worry about interest charges piling up. However, sometimes things happen and you end up carrying a balance on your card — at least for a few months. In those cases, it’s important to understand what your APR is and how much interest you’ll be charged on your card.

When you carry a balance, your credit card issuer will charge you a percentage of that each month until you pay off your card. The amount of interest you are charged is based on the credit card’s annual percentage rate, or APR.

Typically speaking, a card will advertise a variable APR that is listed as a range. Variable means that your rate can change over time based on an index interest rate — such as the prime lending rate that’s determined by the Federal Reserve Board (commonly referred to as “the Fed”). The better your credit score, the lower your APR on your credit card will likely be.

However, if you follow our advice and pay your balance in full and on time every month, the APR on your card will never come into play.

At the end of the day, having a credit card is the equivalent of borrowing money (even if you pay that money back at the end of each month). Because of this, there are restrictions in place to make sure you are old enough to understand and manage the consequences of having a line of credit open in your name.

The Credit Card Accountability Responsibility and Disclosure Act of 2009 states that if you aren’t at least 21 years of age, you can be subjected to additional qualification rules, such as showing you can independently repay charges (as opposed to your parents paying while you are in college). So, if you aren’t old enough to buy a glass of wine at dinner and don’t yet have the ability to pay off your bills on your own, you may not yet be able to open one of these rewards cards.

However, you can apply for a credit card at 18 years old if you have a co-signer or can provide proof of your own income to your issuer. If you are under 18, the only way to start building credit is by becoming an authorized user on someone else’s account.

If you’re a parent, adding your children as authorized users to your credit cards will help them build a credit history and will (hopefully) lead to better credit scores as they transition to adulthood. 

We know there are many options out there, and it can be hard to find your Cinderella slipper when it comes to a first credit card. However, no matter how you start your points and miles journey, these cards can help you earn rewards without getting overwhelmed with complicated card details.

There’s no need to go straight to the big leagues with a premium travel credit card just yet. Start small and build your credit, and we promise these points will add up faster than you can say “award redemption.”