There are generally two types of credit cards: Rewards and Cash Back.
Cash Back cards are just what they sound like, they will earn you cash that you can use to pay down your next credit card bill.
Rewards cards earn you points. These points can be used for a variety of things including cash back. But their value is in their other uses. Each rewards point currency is different, but the best ones let you buy travel and transfer them to other rewards programs. This flexibility is what makes them so great. You can use them for exactly what you need when you’ve need them.
There is another key difference. This flexible usage means a given point has different cash value depending on how it’s used. The best points will have lots of opportunities to get more than 1 cents per point. Some up to 2 cents or more. This may not seem like a lot, but it adds up to free travel. This is why all the cards we recommend in our combos are rewards cards.
Further Reading
Our friends at OneMileAtATime have lots more information about this including their estimations one the value of each reward programs points.