Why a bigger multiplier can earn less
On car rental, the Hilton Honors Aspire advertises 7x and the Ink Business Preferred advertises 3x. The second one earns more: $6.00 against $2.80 per $100 spent.
A multiplier is in the card's own currency, and currencies aren't worth the same. Every pair below is two cards that swap places once converted to dollars.
The short version
- Never compare a points multiplier with a cash-back percentage as written. They are quoted in different currencies.
- Convert first: the rate times what one point is worth gives cents back per dollar — the one number two cards can be compared on.
- Be wary of the biggest multiplier. Programs with cheap points advertise the largest numbers; the table below shows real cases where the louder card earns less.
- Count only rates you will actually get. Rotating categories, travel-portal bookings and single-store rules need an extra step; leave them out unless you will take it.
| On | Louder rateThe card advertising the bigger multiplier on this category. | EarnsWhat the louder card actually earns per $100 spent, in dollars. | Quieter rateThe card advertising the smaller multiplier, which earns more once each card's points are converted to dollars. | EarnsWhat the quieter card actually earns per $100 spent, in dollars. |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Car Rental | 7x
Hilton Honors Aspire
Hilton Honors at 0.40¢ |
$2.80 | 3x
Ink Business Preferred
Chase Ultimate Rewards at 2.00¢ |
$6.00 |
| Grocery Delivery | 5x
Hilton Honors Business Card
Hilton Honors at 0.40¢ |
$2.00 | 2x
Blue Business Plus
Amex Membership Rewards at 2.00¢ |
$4.00 |
| Gas Stations | 6x
Hilton Honors Surpass
Hilton Honors at 0.40¢ |
$2.40 | 3x
Sapphire Preferred
Chase Ultimate Rewards at 2.00¢ |
$6.00 |
| Groceries | 6%
Blue Cash Preferred
Cash Back at 1.00¢ |
$6.00 | 4x
Gold Card
Amex Membership Rewards at 2.00¢ |
$8.00 |
| Rideshare & Taxis | 5x
IHG One Rewards Business
IHG One Rewards at 0.60¢ |
$3.00 | 3x
Ink Business Preferred
Chase Ultimate Rewards at 2.00¢ |
$6.00 |
| Hotels | 5x
Autograph Journey
Wells Fargo Rewards at 1.50¢ |
$7.50 | 4x
Sapphire Reserve
Chase Ultimate Rewards at 2.00¢ |
$8.00 |
The conversion, in one line
Multiply the rate by what one unit of that currency is worth, and you have cents earned per dollar spent. That is the only number two cards can be compared on, and it is the number every ranking on this site and in the extension is sorted by. Cash back is the easy case: a cent is a cent, so 1% really does mean what it says.
The reason this is not obvious is that issuers have no reason to make it obvious. A program whose points are worth less has to advertise a larger number to stay comparable on a billboard, and the billboard is where most people meet the card.
What the table deliberately leaves out
Rotating bonus categories, which only pay in quarters the issuer picked and only after you have switched them on; travel-portal rates, which need the booking rerouted through the issuer's own site; and merchant-specific rules, which pay at one store. A ranking that credited a card with a rate its holder has to do something else to get is a ranking that recommends the wrong card.
Point values: published industry valuations, most recently read 2026-09. We track The Points Guy, Upgraded Points, NerdWallet, Frequent Miler and AwardWallet. Every figure on this page is recomputed from that data when the site is built, so it cannot quietly disagree with what Cardful tells you at a checkout.