The easiest credit card sign-up bonuses to earn for low spenders

One of the best ways to quickly bolster credit card rewards is by taking advantage of welcome bonus offers.

The best credit card welcome bonuses can be worth $1,000 or more, but there's a catch — you'll need to meet the card's bonus requirements. To earn a bonus for the best credit cards you'll usually need to spend thousands of dollars on the card within the first few months after opening it. Even if you have excellent credit and won't have an issue getting approved for a top travel card, the spending requirements might be out of reach.

However, there are plenty of rewards credit cards with easy-to-earn welcome bonuses. Below are CNBC Select's top picks for credit cards with intro bonuses worth at least $100 and a spending requirement of $500 or less.

The Capital One SavorOne Cash Rewards Credit Card is a perfect card to use for a night out or a night in. It earns bonus cash back on dining, entertainment, groceries and streaming services.

Other great perks: Through Nov. 14, 2024, this card comes with a free Uber One membership and 10% back on Uber and Uber Eats purchases. It has no annual fee, no foreign transaction fees and grants cardmembers access to exclusive entertainment events through Capital One Entertainment. There's also an introductory 0% intro APR on purchases and eligible balance transfers for the first 15 months. After the interest-free period expires, there's a 19.99% - 29.99% variable APR.

The Wells Fargo Active Cash® Card is a simple and lucrative cash rewards credit card. Plus, it has no annual fee, so the cash rewards you earn are straight profit from day one.

Other great perks: When you pay for your cell phone bill with your Wells Fargo Active Cash Card, you can use the card's built-in cell phone protection. It will reimburse you up to $600 ($25 deductible) for damage or theft. It also has a 0% intro APR for 15 months from account opening on purchases and qualifying balance transfers; (20.24%, 25.24%, or 29.99% Variable APR thereafter; balance transfers made within 120 days qualify for the intro rate and fee of 3% then a BT fee of up to 5%, min: $5).

The Capital One VentureOne Rewards Credit Card is a beginner-friendly no-annual-fee travel credit card. What makes this card so valuable is that the Capital One miles it earns can be transferred to a range of airline and hotel travel partners, which is rare for a credit card with no annual fee. This gives you the opportunity to potentially increase the value of the card's welcome bonus.

Other great perks: New card members can take advantage of 0% intro APR on purchases and balance transfers for 15 months; 19.99% - 29.99% variable APR after that; balance transfer fee applies (3% for the first 15 months; 4% at a promotional APR that Capital One may offer you at any other time. The Capital One VentureOne card also has no foreign transaction fees.

The Chase Freedom Flex® is a solid cash-back card with an easy-to-earn $200 bonus after you spend $500 on purchases in your first three months from account opening. It also offers rotating 5% bonus categories on up to $1,500 in combined spending each quarter (then 1%).

Other great perks: Cardholders can take advantage of cell phone protection, trip cancellation/interruption insurance, purchase protection and extended warranty protection on eligible purchases. Plus, cardholders can save on grocery deliveries with up to $10 back each quarter in Instacart statement credits and three free months of Instacart+ (when activated by July 31, 2024), and enjoy waived delivery fees with free months of DoorDash DashPass (when you activate by Dec. 31, 2024).

The AAdvantage® Aviator® Red World Elite Mastercard® has what might be the easiest welcome bonus requirements of any rewards credit card. Once you're approved for the card, you just need to make a single purchase (of any amount) and pay the card's $99 annual fee within the first 90 days of opening the account to earn 70,000 bonus miles.

Other great perks: This card's benefits are geared toward American Airlines travelers. Cardholders get the first checked bag free for themselves and up to four companions, preferred boarding and 25% back on inflight food and beverage purchases. There's also up to $25 in annual credit for inflight Wi-Fi purchases and an annual companion certificate that's earned after spending $20,000+ on the card within your cardmember year.

Credit card issuers offer welcome bonuses to entice people to sign up for their credit cards. These bonuses can be quite lucrative and may be worth more than $1,000. However, the higher the welcome bonus, the more difficult it usually is to earn.

But there are rewards credit cards with bonuses that have much lower spending requirements. So if you don't anticipate being able to meet the bonus requirements for one of the top travel cards, consider opening one of these cards instead.

At CNBC Select, our mission is to provide our readers with high-quality service journalism and comprehensive consumer advice so they can make informed decisions with their money. Every credit card review is based on rigorous reporting by our team of expert writers and editors with extensive knowledge of credit card products. While CNBC Select earns a commission from affiliate partners on many offers and links, we create all our content without input from our commercial team or any outside third parties, and we pride ourselves on our journalistic standards and ethics. See our methodology for more information on how we choose the best credit card sign-up bonuses.

To determine which cards offer the best value, CNBC Select analyzed over 250 of the most popular credit cards available in the U.S. that are open to anyone and offer welcome bonuses. We narrowed down our picks by only considering those cards that offer welcome bonuses worth at least $100 and require $500 or less in spending to earn. We compared each card on a range of features, including: rewards, welcome bonus, introductory and standard APR, balance transfer fee and foreign transaction fees, as well as factors such as required credit and customer reviews when available. We also considered additional perks, the application process and how easy it is for the consumer to redeem points.

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