Start here if you've never thought about points
If you're reading this with a newborn on your shoulder and you've never opened a credit card for points before, you're in the easiest position you'll ever be in. Your credit history is probably clean. Your spend is about to grow significantly (formula, diapers, daycare). And every major issuer has a 5/24-clean welcome bonus waiting for you.
The mistake most parents make at this stage is one of two extremes:
- Open a card with an $895 AF because they read that the perks are amazing. The math rarely works in year one for new optimizers — you don't yet have a system for using lounges, credits, or transfers.
- Open a no-AF cashback card and stop there, missing out on $500–$1,000 in welcome bonus value that's available for one extra application.
The right starting move is almost always one mid-tier transferable-points card ($95 AF, ~60K welcome bonus, ecosystem you can grow into). That's where this list starts.
What about authorized users and credit?
Adding your partner as an authorized user (AU) on your starter card extends their credit history with no application of their own. It's worth doing if their FICO is weaker than yours, or if you want them to have a card on the same account for joint expenses. Don't add a child as an AU yet — there are better strategies for building your kid's credit before 18 once they're older.