What's your favorite credit card?

"What's your favorite card?" is not the question you want to ask, since there are different products that work well for different people. For instance, my favorite card is my American Express TrueEarnings card, which is a Costco joint venture and gives me 2% back on Costco purchases, 3% back on gas, and 2% back on restaurants and travel. I spend a bit in all those categories so it works for me. If you spend most of your money on Amazon and groceries, you want a card that gives you rewards on those categories. The Amazon card might be the best for you if that's the bulk of your spending, or if groceries are the bigger spending category, there are cards out there that give 3-5% back on groceries. Note that if you ever carry a balance (in other words if you do not pay your balance in full every month) then the interest will negate any rewards you get. So it's only worth it to get rewards if you also pay the full amount due on your bill every month.

If you travel outside of the US often, USAA issues MasterCards with EMV ("Chip-and-Pin") upon request, which greatly eases payment in Canada, Europe, etc. In Brussels, for instance, it's impossible to buy a bus ticket at an automated kiosk without EMV.

http://www.nerdwallet.com/credit-cards/ has a decent search function that lets you filter by different criteria, including reward type, fees, and monthly balance.

I have the Chase Freedom Card, which has no annual fee and gives me 1% cash back, and 5% cash back on certain categories every quarter. Does it for me.

Dropped in to give some of the same advice you've already gotten in the thread. Two aspects I'll pile onto: #1 You didn't mention whether you plan to carry a balance. If you plan to pay it off every month, I would agree with the generic "no annual fee" advice; if you don't plan to pay it off, I expect you'll find that you'll be better off with a card with an annual fee but a lower interest rate. #2 Are you wedded to the idea of a card tied to airline miles? My opinion is that these cards make sense for people who are already flying a lot. Often some of the card benefits are intangibles like free checked baggage or early boarding or discounted/free access to the airline's lounge. If you are trying to compare cards with cash back against cards that give you miles, there are a number of sites around the web that try to assign a dollar value to frequent flyer miles. Typically that value is calculated to be between about $0.01 and $0.02 per mile.

If you carry a balance, interest rates will more than cover the cash back, points, etc. for the bank, so shop by low interest rate.

To answer some of your specific questions, USAA cards are not the best for maximizing points, but with no annual fee, a high credit limit relative to what other companies offer, and excellent customer service, it's worth applying to boost your credit score and have an emergency credit reserve. The Amazon Rewards card is excellent if you shop frequently at Amazon as it amounts to a 3% discount. Points are extremely simple to redeem - you link the card to your Amazon account, and will see an option to "pay with points". I usually let them collect until the holiday season, and then use them to make my gift shopping slightly less painful.

If you are interested in miles, rather than cash back, and if you have any big purchases coming up, I highly recommend the Chase Sapphire card. It's expensive at $95 a year, but I think the fee is waived the first year, and you get a huge amount of miles, like 40 or 50,000 if you spend $3000 within the first few months. I don't ordinarily spend so much, but it made sense to me since I had to do some dental surgery anyhow -- and now I have like 60 or 70K miles that I can use with any airline. All the above are correct, though -- what works for one doesn't work for another. And the point that paying off your balance each month is crucial is an important one. Good luck!

Since you mentioned it, I thought I'd pipe in that I've had the Amazon Rewards card (offered through Chase) as my primary credit card for many years, started it in college, and have had nothing but positive experiences with it. The rewards on Amazon stack up fast for me (it's 3x for Amazon purchases, 2x for groceries & resturants, and 1x for everything else), and every time I've had to call Chase for support, I've gotten someone right away and they've always been helpful, clear, and friendly. I'm always mildly surprised since they're such a big company, but it's been a great experience.