How we rate cards
Five measures, one score: how the Atelier rating for every card is worked out.
Every card on Points Atelier carries an Atelier rating from 1 to 5: an editorial judgment, applied the same way to every card. It never depends on whether Points Atelier earns from a card.
Five measures
Each card is scored from 1 to 5, in half steps, on five measures. The overall rating is their weighted average.
25%
Earning
What the card returns on realistic spending, in the categories most people actually spend in. Bonuses that only apply through a bank's travel portal count for less than ones earned anywhere.
20%
Point value
What the card's points or miles are worth and how many ways they can be used, including which airlines and hotels they transfer to, and at what rate. Airline and hotel points are not marked down twice: their lower value per point is already counted in Earning.
20%
Perks and protection
Lounges, status, free nights, free bags, and the insurance that pays out when a trip goes wrong. Coverage with published limits counts for more than coverage without them.
15%
Fee value
Whether the annual fee pays for itself without changing habits. Free night and companion certificates count at what a typical redemption is worth; credits that need tracking count for less than their face value. A card with no annual fee scores full marks here.
20%
Welcome offer
What the card's usual welcome offer is worth, and how reachable the spending is. The score follows the offer a card usually carries, not a short-lived peak or dip, so it does not move with every change.
What the numbers mean
- 5 Among the best in the market on this measure
- 4 Clearly above average
- 3 Fair, with real trade-offs
- 2 Below average
- 1 A reason to choose another card
A few rules
- Cards with no annual fee are judged for the price: full marks on fee value, and no heavy penalty for carrying few perks.
- Business cards are rated against other business cards.
- Airline and hotel cards are rated for someone who uses that airline or hotel group as their home program.
- Ratings are reviewed whenever a card's earning, benefits, fee or usual welcome offer changes.