Credit Card Annual Fees: What You Need to Know
- Brian Page
- 3 days ago
- 4 min read
Many credit cards with annual fees offer valuable perks, including higher cashback rates, travel rewards, airport lounge access, and purchase protections. But these benefits only matter if you actually use them. If you're not traveling often or spending in the right categories, those perks might not justify the extra cost.
When evaluating whether a credit card with an annual fee is right for you, ask yourself a few key questions:
Will the rewards or savings you earn outweigh the cost of the fee?
Are you consistent in your spending habits, or do they vary from month to month?
Do you plan to carry a balance, or will you pay the card off in full each month?
Are you organized enough to use the appropriate card for the appropriate purchase and conduct a cost-benefit analysis?
Remember, the best credit card for you isn’t necessarily the one with the flashiest perks; it’s the one that aligns with your lifestyle and helps you manage money more effectively, not less.
For those who have carried a credit card with an annual membership fee, you might have noticed that credit card annual fees have quietly risen, especially for premium cards, while the number of cards that charge a fee has actually gone down.
Here's what you need to know about how fees have changed for Mastercard, Visa, American Express (Amex), and Discover over the last decade.
With that said, what follows are the credit card annual fee averages over the past decade, allowing you to make an informed decision about whether you want to commit to a credit card that includes an annual fee, and how much you can expect to pay.
Average Annual Fees by Network (2015 to 2024)
Click here to skip to the citations for the research conducted to construct this post.
Visa and Mastercard: Most Cards Still Have No Annual Fee
Visa and Mastercard don't issue cards themselves—banks like Chase, Citi, and Capital One do. Most of their entry-level cards are still free, especially those focused on cashback or credit building.
Common annual fee: $95 on mid-tier travel or rewards cards
Premium cards: Fees have jumped. The Chase Sapphire Reserve (Visa) launched at $450 in 2016 and now costs $550 (with rumors of a future jump to $795).
Overall trend: Average annual fees crept up from around $15–$18 in 2015 to mid-$20s by 2024, driven by more people adopting premium cards.
American Express: The Premium Card King
Amex directly issues all its cards, and it leans heavily into premium and mid-tier products. In 2015, its average annual fee was about $45 per card. By 2024, it’s crossed the $100 mark.
Fee trends on popular cards:
Amex Platinum: $450 in 2015 → $550 in 2017 → $695 since 2021
Amex Gold: $0 (old version) → now $250 annually
Delta Reserve: $450 → $550
Amex has stayed competitive by adding benefits like lounge access, Uber credits, and streaming perks, which help justify higher fees.
Discover: Still $0 Since Day One
Discover has taken a clear path: no annual fees, ever. Whether it's the Cashback card, the student card, or the travel card, the annual fee is always $0.
This strategy appeals to people who want rewards without worrying about whether they're "getting their money's worth."
Why Are Fees Going Up?
There are four major reasons:
Premium perks cost more: Airport lounges, concierge services, and travel credits aren't cheap for banks to offer.
Inflation: Just like everything else, the cost of delivering credit card benefits has gone up.
Consumer demand: People are more willing to pay for perks. Cardholders now expect value in return for fees.
Regulatory changes: Rules cracked down on hidden fees in subprime cards, so banks shifted their fee strategies toward premium cardholders instead.
A Two-Tiered Market Has Emerged
Since 2015, the credit card world has become more polarized:
No-fee cards dominate for casual users and credit-builders.
High-fee cards ($95–$695+) are packed with travel rewards and luxury perks for big spenders.
Most Americans still carry at least one no-fee card. But among those paying annual fees, the average is now well over $100.
What Should You Do?
Before applying for a card with an annual fee, ask yourself:
Will I use the benefits enough to make it worth it?
Am I spending enough in the reward categories to offset the fee?
Are there no-fee alternatives that meet my needs?
If you're strategic, a card with a fee can be totally worth it. But if you aren't using the perks, that fee is just money out the door.
Additional Support
I am proud to have used our credit cards strategically to earn a perfect FICO 8 credit score. I encourage you to contact me if you want to understand how to do the same.
Citations
Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. The Consumer Credit Card Market Report. U.S. Government Publishing Office, 2023. https://www.consumerfinance.gov
Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. Annual Report of Credit Card Fees and Practices. Various years, 2015–2023. https://www.consumerfinance.gov/data-research/credit-card-reports
American Express. Annual Reports and Investor Presentations. 2015–2023. https://ir.americanexpress.com
CreditCards.com Staff. “What Is the Average Credit Card Annual Fee?” CreditCards.com, 2023. https://www.creditcards.com
WalletHub Research Team. “2024 Credit Card Landscape Report.” WalletHub, Jan. 2024. https://wallethub.com
