Earning sign-up bonuses is the fastest way to earn credit card points and frequent flyer miles. You can use points from cards like the Chase Sapphire Preferred or the Platinum Card from American Express for virtually free travel, upgrades, cash back, gift cards, or more. Here are some of the best bonuses available for May. Earning credit card rewards points for your everyday spending is easy, especially with cards offering bonus earning on things like dining or at supermarkets.

Credit card issuers like Chase and Amex offer huge bonuses to attract customers, and while each card may have different eligibility requirements, in most cases if you haven't had that card before, you're good to go. You can read more about earning sign-up bonuses and how that will affect your credit score here, or scroll down to find some of the best offers available this month. Keep in mind that we're focusing on the rewards and perks that make these cards great options, not things like interest rates and late fees, which can far outweigh the value of any rewards.

When you're working to earn credit-card rewards, it's important to practice financial discipline, like paying your balances off in full each month, making payments on time, and not spending more than you can afford to pay back. Basically, treat your credit card like a debit card. After announcing a new, integrated loyalty program that combined Marriott Rewards with the recently-acquired Starwood Preferred Guest program, Chase and Marriott launched a new co-branded credit card this month.

The new Marriott Rewards Premier Plus credit card offers similar benefits as the old card with a few improvements. It earns 6x points for every dollar spent at Marriott or Starwood hotels, and 2x points on other purchases. It also offers a free night certificate each year on your account anniversary, which is good at any hotel property that normally costs up to 35,000 points.

30,000 on the card in a calendar year, you'll be upgraded to Gold status. Starting in 2019, you'll get credited for 15 nights stayed each year towards your next elite level. The 100,000 points sign-up bonus — which is available for a limited time — is not available if you earned a sign-up bonus on the old Marriott card within the past 24 months.

However, if you have a Marriott card and fall within the 24 months, Marriott is offering bonus points to cardholders who upgrade to the new product. Everyone gets a different bonus, which seems to be anything from 0-50,000 points, according to the blog Doctor of Credit. Check here to see what your offer is.

95, but is more than offset by the sign-up bonus. The Sapphire Preferred is one of the most popular all-around rewards credit cards, and it's easy to see why. This card earns 2x points per dollar spent on just about all travel and dining purchases, and 1x point on everything else.

It also comes with a ton of travel and purchase protections, such as rental car insurance, trip delay coverage, and extended warranty. 500 as cash back or gift cards. However, if you book travel through the Chase Ultimate Rewards portal and use points to pay, you'll get a 25% bonus, making points worth 1.25 cents each.

Even more lucrative — the Chase Sapphire Preferred lets you transfer your UR points to a few different frequent flyer and hotel loyalty programs. This comes in handy because, in many cases, it costs fewer points to book a trip if you go through one of those programs, as opposed to using the points as cash.

You can read more about why transferring points to frequent flyer programs gets you more value here. 95, which is waived the first year. The Sapphire Reserve is basically a beefier version of the Preferred. While the card comes with the same sign-up bonus, it earns points on everyday spending faster, nabbing a higher 3x points per dollar spent on travel and dining purchases, and 1x on everything else.