How statement credits work

What a statement credit is

A statement credit is money the bank takes off your balance after you buy something that qualifies. You pay for the purchase as usual. A few days or weeks later, a separate line shows up on your statement, like “Uber Cash” or “Travel credit”, and your balance goes down by that amount.

It isn’t cash you can withdraw, and it only covers what it’s for: an airline fee credit does nothing for a hotel stay.

How often they come back

• Monthly: a set amount every month, like $15 in Uber Cash or a $10 dining credit. A month you don’t use is gone; it doesn’t roll over.
• Every quarter or every 6 months: January to March, April to June and so on, or January to June and July to December.
• Once a year: the bigger credits, like a travel or airline credit.
• Every few years: Global Entry and TSA PreCheck credits, usually every 4 years.

Calendar year or card year

Yearly credits reset in one of two ways. Calendar-year credits come back on January 1 for everyone, so whatever you haven’t used by December 31 is lost. Card-year credits come back on or around the anniversary of when you were approved, so the deadline is different for every cardholder.

The difference matters. With a calendar-year credit you can use this year’s in December and next year’s in January. With a card-year credit, you need to know your own approval date. Each card’s page on this site says which way each of its credits resets.

The small rules that cost people money

• Activation. Many credits do nothing until you enroll, add the card in a partner’s app or pick an airline. A purchase made before that usually doesn’t count.
• Where you buy. Credits are triggered by how the store codes the purchase. Buying through a third-party site, with a gift card or through a different booking channel often won’t count, even at the same company.
• Timing. Credits can take days or weeks to post. Don’t leave a credit to the last day of its period: a purchase that posts after the period ends may not count.
• Returns. If you return something that triggered a credit, the bank can take the credit back.
• Extra cards. Most credits belong to the account, not to each card, so adding an authorized user usually doesn’t double them. See authorized users, explained.

Set it and forget it

The easiest credits to collect are bills you’d pay anyway: a streaming service, a wireless bill or a membership charged to the card every month. Set it up once and the credit posts by itself each time.

What they’re really worth

A credit is worth its full amount only if you’d have spent that money anyway. A dining credit at a restaurant you’d never visit is worth nothing to you, however big the number looks. We go through how to judge that in do the credits cover the annual fee?